Bush ties poverty aid boost to social reform

Bush spoke Friday morning about giving additional U.S. aid to poor countries.

MONTERREY, Mexico (CNN) -- President Bush told world leaders at a conference on world poverty Friday that he has proposed a 50 percent increase in "core development assistance" to poor countries over the next three budget years.

That translates into an annual $5 billion increase over current levels, he told more than 50 heads of state or government on the final day of a five-day United Nations-sponsored International Conference on Financing for Development. But he warned that money alone will not solve the problems of developing countries, and being poor does not necessarily qualify nations for the money.

The resources will be "devoted to projects in nations that govern justly, invest in their people and encourage economic freedom," Bush said.

"Pouring money into a failed status quo does little to help the poor," he said.

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The value of development aid must be measured by results achieved, not just by resources spent, he said.

Bush made his comments on the first full day of a tour of Latin America that will include stops in El Salvador and Peru. His visit to Lima was preceded by a fatal bomb blast outside the U.S. Embassy in that city. Peru is linking the bombing to the Bush visit.(Full Story)

Bush's announcement of increased aid drew applause from one of his predecessors.

"This administration is doing more than any administration in the last 20 years," said former president Jimmy Carter.

"I am deeply grateful that President Bush has taken this initiative and this bold step, because I know that some key people in his administration didn't even want to increase development assistance at all," Carter told CNN.

Hope, freedom are weapons against terror

In his Friday speech, Bush also said that in addition to simply giving aid to impoverished countries, developed nations must "encourage sources that produce wealth, economic freedom, political liberty, the rule of law and human rights," Bush said. The president said boosting trade would attract new technology, new ideas and "expectations of freedom."

The results can be immediate and immense, he said, citing the African Growth and Opportunity Act, which increased African exports to the United States by more than 10 times in one year, generated nearly $1 billion in investment and created thousands of jobs.

Another way to improve the lot of the world's poor is for poor and rich alike to lower trade barriers, Bush said. "By one estimate, a new global trade pact could lift 300 million lives out of poverty. When trade advances, there is no question about the fact that poverty retreats."

Bush said investments in health can also pay off. He singled out AIDS, "which threatens to undermine whole societies."

Battling poverty is not an altogether altruistic mission, Bush said. "We fight against poverty because hope is an answer to terror."

Freedom too is a powerful weapon in the battle against poverty and terror, Bush said. "Men and women were made for freedom and prosperity comes as freedom triumphs. And that is why the United States of America is leading the fight for freedom from terror."

By beefing up the world's institutions of freedom -- legal, social and economic -- "we'll help defeat despair and resentment, we'll draw whole nations into an expanding circle of opportunity and enterprise, we'll gain true partners in development and add a hopeful new chapter to the history of our times."

America not a leader in giving

Despite the increase in giving, the United States "is at the very bottom of all the rich countries in being generous to others," Carter said. "We give about one one-thousandth of our gross national product to humanitarian aid in other countries, including AIDS and everything else."

Japanese and Europeans average four times as much, and Scandinavian countries give seven times as much, Carter said.

"What I would like to see is for the United States and Europe and Japan to be competing with each other about who can be the most responsible in providing necessary assistance to these people," he said.

He called on Americans to call their congressional representatives and ask them "to increase the generosity of our country."