National headlines:
President Welcomes Students from Partnership for Learning Youth
Exchange and Study.
THE PRESIDENT: Nice and
warm today, isn't it? Glad you're here.
Almost a year living and studying in America -- I hope you've come to
realize this isn't my house. This is the people's house. And Laura
and I are just temporary residents here. That's how democracy works.
I really think you're
part of an important program that is bringing
students from Muslim countries to the United States. I think it's
important, and I hope you think it's important, too. I'm amazed by the
number of countries represented amongst you all -- Afghanistan, Iraq,
Jordan, Kuwait, Lebanon, Morocco, Oman, Pakistan, Syria, Tunisia,
Yemen, West Bank, Gaza, Arab communities in Israel. You represent a
lot of countries and a lot of people. Here's what I think. I think
your generation is going to help shape one of the most exciting periods
of history in the broader Middle East and the world. It's a period of
time when the hope of liberty is spreading to millions.
 And I've heard
your stories, and people who know your program have
talked to me about your experiences and your attitudes. So let me make
a prediction -- that I should be able to say to the world, I have
confidence in the spread of freedom because there's a young group of
people who love freedom and want to do something about seeing freedom
spread. That's what I think.
I'm really pleased that
Dina Powell is here. Dina is the --
Egyptian American, by the way -- she ran the presidential personnel
department. In other words, she's the person that brought names to me
that would serve in our government. It's a pretty powerful position
when you think about it. I nominated her to be the Assistant Secretary
of State for Educational and Cultural Affairs. That's a big job here
in America. I'm going to miss her in the White House, but our country
will be well-served by her serving in the State Department.
I appreciate the staff
of the Department of State Bureau for
Educational and Cultural Affairs. I want to thank the representatives
from AYUSA for being here. And I appreciate the representatives from
the Close Up Foundation for coming. I want to thank your chaperones
for being here, as well -- caring adults, people who want you to enjoy
your experience here in America.
The American people
probably don't know this program well, so I'm
going to say some things that's obvious to you. First, you've been
here for 10 months; and secondly, you've attended American high
schools, and you've stayed with American families, and you made
American friends -- which means that you have made contributions,
you've contributed to better understanding.
 You've also
done some interesting things. I've been told you
volunteered in local charities. You found out one of the great
strengths of this country is the fact that people volunteer to make
somebody else's life better. We all got hearts and care deeply about a
neighbor in need, and there's a universal call in the Good Books
throughout the world that says, love a neighbor like you'd like to be
loved yourself. And I understand some of you did that. And I want to
thank you for contributing to our country.
I want to thank you for
teaching -- being teachers, just by telling
people your life story. It really wasn't all that hard to be a good
teacher, was it -- say, here's how I was raised, and here's what I
believe, and here's what my culture is like, and here's what my faith
teaches me. So, thanks for being a teacher, as well as a helper.
I know there's a student
here who went to Grayling High School in
Michigan, Abdul Rahman. He's from Syria. He took on a special
project; he decided -- and I'm sure maybe some of you all did the same
thing during the holy month of Ramadan -- explained to students what
that means. A lot of kids your age here in this country really aren't
sure what Ramadan means, and it's important for them to understand what
Ramadan means. And so Abdul -- here's what he said. He said, "When I
got to one of my classes on the first day of Ramadan, I was totally
amazed. There were signs everywhere in the class saying 'Happy Ramadan
Abdul.' Some students even tried to fast with me on the first day."
Getting a high school
kid in America to fast is kind of hard to
do. (Laughter.) But the point there of the story is, somebody -- some
kids in that high school class have a better understanding of a
different culture.
Many of you have shown
young Americans how Islam inspires you to
live -- to lead lives based on honesty and justice and compassion.
Because you came to this country, thousands of Americans better
understand your faith and your heritage, and that's really important.
So I want to thank you. I want to thank you for reaching out. I want
to thank you for taking a little bit of a risk. It's not easy to come
to a foreign country, is it, to leave home. It must be kind of hard --
you say, well, I can't imagine what it's going to be like to go to
school in America and be teamed up with a family I've never met
before. And so you were risk-takers for the sake of understanding and
world peace, and I want to thank you for that.
I suspect during your
stay here you came across Americans who hail
from your home countries. If you didn't, it's only because you didn't
get enough exposure, because I can assure you, for every country
represented here, there are hundreds of Americans -- at least hundreds
of Americans from your native land; men and women who came to America
because they know this is a land where hard work will be rewarded,
where faith will be respected, and where cultural heritage will be
valued.
Maria -- a young girl
named Maria, from Pakistan -- I don't think
she's here with us today -- put it well in an essay she wrote about her
experience. There's some Americans who may be watching this on TV now,
and I want them to hear what Maria wrote. She says, "The very
important thing I learned about America is that it's a melting pot
where you can find the world in one place living together. I really
appreciate this," she said. "Now if someone says anything negative
about America, I would stand up, because I love America." That's one
of the lessons she learned about her trip here.
I don't know if you -- I
guess you all were here during the
presidential election. It must have been an interesting experience for
you. It was certainly an interesting one for me. (Laughter.) You got
to see candidates travel the country asking for the vote, working day
in and day out -- in my case, saying to the people, I got something to
do; in my opponent's case -- my opponents' cases, saying, I think I can
do a better job than old George W. But that's what democracy is
about. It's about understanding the boss -- in our form of government,
the people decide. And that's a form of government that's healthy and
good
I know some of you got
involved in the campaign. Cowtar from
Morocco volunteered on election day, helping make sure Oregon voters
had rides to the polls. And I want to thank you for participating. I
was told that a fellow named Butan from Iraq, who's with us, actually
volunteered at a local political headquarters in the state of
Pennsylvania. I hope you found that an exciting experience. It's
called grassroots politics. It probably doesn't translate very well in
some of your native tongues, but it means getting involved at the local
level to convince people to participate in the democratic process.
We're seeing the
democracy campaigns like the one I went through
taking place now in other parts of the world. I mean, Afghanistan had
a vote. It was a fantastic experience for a lot of people -- folks.
And I know some of you lived under the clutches of the Taliban; it must
have been an incredibly refreshing experience to be able to go and
express yourself at the polls, say, this is what I think; this is my
opinion. Not the opinion of tyrants, but, this is my opinion. And
it's the collective opinion of thousands which decided the fate of that
country.
People in Iraq voted.
People in that country defied the car
bombers, the suiciders, the killers, those who fear freedom, and said,
I'm going to go to the polls, no matter what the risk is. Democracy is
on the march. Freedom is on the march. And I'm convinced we're just
seeing the beginnings of it, and the world is going to be more peaceful
because of it.
I know you're looking
forward to going home. But when you get
home, I hope you remind people about what you found here -- that the
people of this country care deeply about others; that we respect
religion; that we believe in human rights and human dignity; that we
believe every person has worth; and that we do want to have a world
that's more peaceful and more free.
I hope you go home and
say that Americans are proud of watching the
progress that is being made of people assuming liberty. One of the
lessons I hope you share with the people back home, your buddies and
your families, is that we understand that it's hard to go from tyranny
to freedom. We had a little trouble on our own -- if you've studied
American history, you'll realize that our path to democracy wasn't all
that smooth. In other words, we had setbacks and hard work to try to
achieve as good a government as we can possibly have. It's hard work.
It's really hard work.
I hope when you go home
you explain to people that we understand
that the form of democracy your country takes will reflect your values
and your history -- not American values and American history. In other
words, we love the concept of people being free; we believe democracy
is the best form of government; but we fully understand that it's got
to be a democracy that suits the needs of the people in the countries
from which you're from.
I believe freedom is
universal. I don't believe freedom is
America's gift to the world; I believe there's an Almighty God who
speaks to different faiths, and I believe freedom is a gift from that
Almighty. And that's why I'm so confident and optimistic that freedom
will prevail.
I hope you realize the
impact you've made on some people. A lot of
people -- you know, there's such a thing called "word of mouth."
People get talking, I met so-and-so, I met old Abdul. He seemed like a
good fellow to me. And the word gets out about the values that you
brought to America. There's a lot of people here in this country, now
when they start thinking about the Middle East, they're going to think
about it differently because of the impact you've had on them, because
you were willing to share your culture and your way of life.
I hope you look at
yourself as bridge builders. And as
importantly, I hope you look at this experience as the beginning of a
journey that will -- in which you'll become leaders. You know, old
guys like me will be moving on, but someday -- I plan to live for quite
a while -- someday I hope to turn on my TV and see you standing up
leading your country, or talking about human rights and minority
rights, and human dignity in the countries where you're from. I hope
you understand that you have a fantastic opportunity to make a
difference. You've already made a difference here in America. And
with this experience, go home and continue making differences.
By the way, if you feel
like going to college, come back. We've
got some great universities here. We want people from all around the
world coming to our universities. Tell your buddies, your friends and
neighbors, to think about coming to America to go to university. The
more exchanges there are of people of like age, the better off the
world will be.
Anyway, welcome to the Rose Garden. I hope
you loved our country.
I hope you enjoyed your experience. I hope you come back. In the
meantime, I ask for God's blessings on you all, and your families, and
the peoples of your country. Thank you for being here. (Applause.)
Thank you all. (Applause.)
(from
the White House.Gov webpage)
|
(A
publication of Ripley Enterprises, marketing toward your success, click
on lion to our homepage.)
Editor's
Box
Classifieds
Place your ads here for just $9.95 a month! E-mail 
