DATE=MARCH 20, 2002
TYPE=BACKGROUND REPORT
NUMBER=5-51289
TITLE=BUSH/ MONTERREY
BYLINE=SCOTT STEARNS
DATELINE=WHITE HOUSE
CONTENT:
VOICED AT:
INTRO: President Bush travels to Monterrey, Mexico Thursday for a United Nations development conference aimed at reducing poverty and more fairly spreading the benefits of free trade. VOA's Scott Stearns reports, Mr. Bush is asking Congress to increase U-S development aid by about 30 percent over three years.
TEXT: The president's Millennium Challenge Account rewards developing countries that reform their economies and encourage free trade. He is asking Congress to gradually build-up the program with ten billion dollars over the first three years, with annual contributions of five billion dollars a year starting in 2006.
It is a big jump in U-S development assistance, which has been on the decline for the last ten years. Ahead of the Mexico meeting, White House officials hope the plan will deflect criticism by allies that the Bush Administration is neglecting the needs of the developing world at the same time it is boosting the U-S defense budget.
Announcing the plan last week, President Bush said a world mobilized against the forces of terror must also embrace the forces of good.
/// BUSH ACT ///
Even as we fight to defeat terror, we must also fight for the values that make life worth living for education and health and economic opportunity. This is both the history of our country and the calling of our times.
/// END ACT ///
If Congress approves the plan, Mr. Bush says the money will only go to countries that root-out corruption, protect human rights, invest in schools and health care, and open more markets with budget policies that support the private sector.
/// SECOND BUSH ACT ///
Greater contributions from developed nations must be linked to greater responsibility from developing nations.
/// END ACT ///
Mr. Bush says Secretary of State Colin Powell and Treasury Secretary Paul O'Neill will work with the international community to establish what he calls "clear, concrete, and objective" criteria to measure the progress of developing countries. The president says those that rule justly, invest in their people, and encourage economic freedom will get more U-S aid.
The Mexico meeting will also address the impact of global trade, which some developing countries argue has done little to improve social conditions among the poor while increasing profits for the rich.
President Bush says free trade encourages creativity and economic development, which leads to greater democracy and respect for human rights. He says the new Millenium Challenge Account will reward nations with open markets and sustainable budget policies that focus on education and health care.
/// THIRD BUSH ACT ///
Trade is the engine of development, and by promoting it, we will help meet the needs of the world's poor. Successful development also requires citizens who are literate, who are healthy and prepared and able to work. Development assistance can help poor nations meet these education and health care needs.
/// END ACT ///
Mr. Bush says the increase in U-S development assistance will also help expand the fight against HIV/ AIDS and provide textbooks and training to students and young professionals in Islamic and African
countries. The president says donors must help close the gap between the world's richest and poorest nations because he says "failed states" that do not meet the basic needs of their people can become havens for terror.
/// FOURTH BUSH ACT ///
This growing divide between wealth and poverty, between opportunity and misery is both a challenge to our compassion and a source of instability. We must confront it. We must include every African, every Asian, every Latin American, every Muslim in an expanding circle of development.
/// END ACT ///
At the U-N meeting in Mexico, President Bush is also expected to repeat his call for donors to give half of their aid as grants rather than loans to help double the size of the world's poorest economies over the next decade. (SIGNED)
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