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For Immediate Release
Office of the Press Secretary
September 23, 2008
President Bush Attends Meeting on Food Security
Millennium U.N. Plaza Hotel
New York, New York
10:57 A.M. EDT
THE PRESIDENT: Today, Laura and I and Condi, and other members of the administration are really honored to be at a table with folks from the private sector and the public sector and NGOs who are all concerned about hunger.
The United States has made a very strong and powerful commitment to help those who need food. We've committed about $5 billion of taxpayers' money over the next two years to make sure people don't go hungry. And it's in our interest that we do that. On the other hand, is it always in our interest to promote a second Green Revolution.
And how do you do that? Well, you use good science to get farmers in
sub-Sahara Africa, for example, the tools necessary to be able to deal with
the conditions in which they have to farm. You use government aid to build
infrastructure so farmers can get products to market. You have good trade
policy so that farm goods can travel freely across national borders. You
have good agricultural policy that -- combined with good trade policy,
which reduces the subsidies that sometimes make it hard for, you know,
indigenous farming communities to take off. You have -- promote
value-added processing.
And so this is the strategy that's being discussed here at this table. The United States is a compassionate nation. When citizens around the world suffer, we suffer with them. We're a strong enough nation to help people in our own country who are having trouble, but we're also strong enough to help others as well. And a cornerstone of good foreign policy and a good compassionate philosophy is making sure that people don't go hungry.
And so I thank you all very much for sharing that passion. I thank you for the leadership roles you have taken. And may the Good Lord continue to bless your work. Thank you. (Applause.)
END 10:59 A.M. EDT
