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February 2004
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For Immediate Release
February 5, 2004
Global Message
From remarks by President Bush, Library of Congress, 2/4/04
True democratic reform must come from within and reformers across the Middle East are pushing for change.
The stakes in the Middle East could not be higher. As long as the region is a place of tyranny, despair and anger, it will produce men and movements that threaten the safety of America and our friends.
We seek the advance of democracy because democracies do not support terrorists or threaten the world with weapons of mass murder.
America is challenging the enemies of reform, confronting the allies of terror, and expecting a higher standard from our friends.
We can be confident: As in Germany, Japan, and Eastern Europe, liberty will overcome oppression in the Middle East.
President Bush has asked Congress to double the budget for the National Endowment for Democracy, raising its annual total to $80 million.
Freedom of the press and the free flow of ideas are vital foundations of liberty.
To cut through hateful propaganda that fills the airwaves in the Muslim world, we are broadcasting the message of tolerance and truth to tens of millions. Next week, the United States will launch a new Middle East television network called Alhurra -- which is Arabic for "the free one."
