George W. Bush

“ Arabic TV does not do our country justice. They put out some kind — sometimes put out propaganda that just is — just isn't right, it isn't fair, and it doesn't give people the impression of what we're about. You bring somebody here to college, it doesn't matter what's on TV, they see firsthand the compassion of the United States of America. They get to see firsthand that we don't discriminate based upon religion. They get to see firsthand the multicultural society in which we live, all united under the fabric of freedom. ”

“ It's an exciting time to be here in Washington, D.C. It's a fantastic opportunity to serve our country. And I want to thank those of you who are serving it in government. And I want to thank those of you who serve it through higher education. There's no greater gift to give a child than the chance to succeed and realize his or her dreams. ”

“ You see, freedom is the ideology that wins. We got to have confidence in that as we go out. But you can't win in the long run for democracy unless you've got the capacity to help spread democracy. You see, we got to convince people of the benefits of a free society. I believe everybody desires to be free. But I also know people need to be convincing — convinced — I told you I needed to go to language school. And you can't convince people unless you can talk to them. And I'm not talking to them right now directly; I'm talking through an interpreter on some of these Arabic TV stations. ”

“ In order to convince people we care about them, we've got to understand their culture and show them we care about their culture. When somebody comes to me and speaks Texan, I know they appreciate the Texas culture. I mean, somebody takes time to figure out how to speak Arabic, it means they're interested in somebody else's culture. Learning a language — somebody else's language is a kind gesture. ”

“ We need diplomats — when we send them out to help us convince governments that we've got to join together and fight these terrorists who want to destroy life and promote an ideology that is so backwards it's hard to believe. These diplomats need to speak that language. ”

“ There's no doubt in my mind that Afghanistan will remain a democracy and serve as an incredible example. For those of you in education, you might remember this was a country that refused to educate young girls. And now, young girls in most of Afghanistan are going to school. ”

“ In order for this country to be able to convince others, people have got to be able to see our true worth in our heart. And when Americans learn to speak a language, learn to speak Arabic, those in the Arabic region will say, gosh, America is interested in us. They care enough to learn how we speak.
One of the great programs we've got here in America in terms of people understanding how we think and how we act is these scholarships we provide to our universities. ”

“ It makes it so much easier to be able to advance the interests of this country when you're dealing with a leader who doesn't have a preconceived notion about what America is all about, because he spent time studying here in the United States. ”

“ What I'm trying to suggest to you that this program is a part of a strategic goal, and that is to protect this country in the short-term and protect it in the long-term by spreading freedom. We're facing an ideological struggle, and we're going to win. Our ideology is a heck of a lot more hopeful than theirs. ”

“ And the reason it's tough is because a handful of killers wants to stop the advance of freedom for a reason. Democracy in the heart of the Middle East is a major defeat to their ideology and their ambitions. ”

“ That's what people in this country expect of our government. They expect us to be wise about how we use our resources, and a good use of resources is to promote this language initiative in K through 12, in our universities. And a good use of resources is to encourage foreign language speakers from important regions of the world to come here and teach us how to speak their language. ”

“ We've got to be unyielding and never give them a, you know, a breath of fresh air, never give them a hope that they can succeed. It's the only way to do it. We must defeat them in foreign battlefields so they don't strike us here at home. ”

“ We want young kids from around the world coming to our universities. It's in our national interest that we solve visa issues and make sure that --. We have been calibrating the proper balance after September the 11th, and I fully understand some of your frustrations, particularly when you say the balance wasn't actually calibrated well. But we're going to get it right, because the more youngsters who come to America to get educated, the more likely it is people in the world will understand the true nature of America. ”