Remarks by Mrs. Laura Bush at "The Wave of Freedom: Early Lessons from the Middle East"

Thank you all. Thanks so much, Jim.

I have the chance to introduce everyone here to Dr. Gerald Turner. I thought I saw him right there. There he is, Dr. Gerald Turner. Dr. Turner has just joined us. He’s the president of SMU. He’s been a terrific partner with the Bush Center and the Bush Institute, and so thank you very much, Gerald, for joining us today.

I also, of course, want to thank all of the speakers and the freedom activists who are here, who have joined us. George and I both believe that the desire for freedom is universal, and that the work of extending freedom is the calling of our time. And I say that to everyone in the room—to the people who are citizens of the United States, and the many, many people who have joined us today who are citizens of many other countries around the world.

We’re encouraged by recent events in the Middle East. The scenes from Egypt’s Tahrir Square and from Tunisia’s Bourguiba Avenue remind us that tyranny and injustice cannot crush the spirit of freedom.

George and I are especially grateful to all of the panelists who’ve spoken before me and who will join us after this, and we’re happy that several people have been able to join us via video conference. And I want to thank each and every one of you for sharing your stories with us about the wave of freedom that is occurring across the Middle East. We appreciate your unique perspectives that each one of you has been able to provide. And of course, we thank all of our audience members as well—many people who are our good friends and supporters of the Bush Institute, from Dallas and from all across the United States. Thank you all for joining us, because I know that many of you are here because you’ve also watched the news closely and you’ve read about the events that are taking place in North Africa and the Middle East, and you all want to know what we can do as United States citizens to support our brothers and sisters in freedom around the world.

In addition to today’s speakers, we have several audience participants whose stories remind us that the work of democracy is ongoing. Dr. Rice’s story reminds us of that. And still, of course, in the United States, we work every day to perfect and continue the work of democracy in our own country.

There are many people here who’ve organized networks and assembled lawyers and journalists and bloggers and students and homemakers and human rights activists, and I thank you all for that. Together, you’ve fought to end political corruption in your countries and ensure government transparency. You’ve lobbied governments and international organizations to speak out against tyranny. Many United States citizens have done that, and I thank you all as well.

Our panelists and many others here in the audience have leveraged traditional media and new media to give the people of countries around the world a megaphone, so that all of us can hear the calls for justice and freedom. And of course, some of you have endured interrogation, harassment, imprisonment, or exile.

And certainly one of the people I really am so thrilled I had the chance to meet, because my husband was president, is Václav Havel, who we just heard from as part of our new Freedom Collection. And his story reminds us that freedom can be won.

One of his friends, who’s a very famous now American director—a Czech defector who left Czechoslovakia—told me that Václav Havel used to say he dreamt about him when he was in prison. And his friend, who’s the director, said that he thought maybe Havel dreamt about him when he was in prison because Václav Havel thought he had made a mistake—that he should have defected, that he should have left Czechoslovakia and lived the life of freedom that his friends who did leave got to live in the United States.

And then, of course, what happened was he stayed. He was a freedom fighter and he ended up being the president of a free Czech Republic. He’s an inspiration for all of us.

All of these stories that we’ve heard today are also inspirations for us, and I want everyone here today to know that we stand with you. Some of you have chosen anonymity to avoid greater oppression by unjust leaders, but we see you for who you are—and that is the new leaders of your free countries.

Only four decades ago, less than 30 percent of the world was considered free. But today, 115 of the world’s—and we know from Jacob—194 countries are electoral democracies. At the height of the Cold War, many of us would never imagine that the Berlin Wall would one day crumble. But in 1989, we watched as residents of East Berlin held up chunks of concrete in their hands in the cold November air.

For years, scholars and politicians had argued that democracy could not succeed in sub-Saharan Africa or in Latin America. But today, both of these regions boast more democracies than non-democracies. And the people who reside there know that the fruits of freedom—including those that were once excluded from society, whose voices were silenced by authoritarian regimes—are worth the struggle.

In all of these countries, the transition to democracy was paved by freedom advocates—men and women who risked their lives to extend freedom.

Ambassador Glassman has already told us today about the Bush Institute’s freedom repository. We’ve assembled a repository of these stories of courage and determination in our Freedom Collection. You’ve seen just a few of these clips between our sessions, and I want you to know that, of course, among the voices included in the Freedom Collection are amazing women who’ve endured confinement and suffered violence. They met hostility with dignity and grace.

And some, like Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, have seen a new day dawn in their homeland. In 2006, Dr. Rice and I represented the United States at her inauguration as president of Liberia—the first woman president of an African nation. It was a remarkable moment of promise, as President Sirleaf spoke with great passion and conviction, determined to lead her country out of the ruin of decades of war and conflict.

The Freedom Collection includes testimonies of other women, like Aung San Suu Kyi from Burma, who remained steadfast in her dissent despite years of oppression. And all of these women continue to inspire the world with their grace and courage.

Last November, Aung San Suu Kyi, the head of the democratically elected National League for Democracy in Burma, was finally released after spending more than 14 years under house arrest since 1989. Despite outrage from all the world, Burma’s junta has used captivity and isolation to suffocate the Nobel Peace Prize winner’s influence among the people of Burma.

Like many around the world, President Bush and I celebrate Aung San Suu Kyi’s freedom, and I was thrilled to have the chance to finally speak with her on the telephone following her release in November. She told me how she listened to Voice of America radio while under house arrest, and how she was encouraged always during all those years by the support she had from around the world.

Although Aung San Suu Kyi has been released from her detention, the Burmese people are still subject to tyranny. Aung San Suu Kyi’s protest is an example of the strength of nonviolent opposition, and we fervently hope that the day of a free Burma for all of its citizens is soon a reality.

In Burma and elsewhere, women play a vital role in advancing democracy and in ensuring peace and prosperity for their countries. And promoting freedom for women is vital to the future of the Middle East and of the wider world.

In too many places around the world, we still see women subjugated or forced to endure second-class citizenship. A democracy that allows half of its population to be silenced by fear and intimidation is not democracy. And a society that fails to protect the rights of women is not a free society.

Offenses against women erode security for everyone—men and women. And a culture that tolerates injustice against one group of people ultimately fails to respect and value all of its citizens.

During recent events in the Middle East, women have stood shoulder to shoulder with men demanding equal rights and representative government. Ending tyranny in our world demands this kind of mutual respect and cooperation between men and women. True freedom cannot be achieved without it.

To the extent that women are empowered to fully participate in their countries, they’ll contribute to the stability and the prosperity of their nations. The benefit of their involvement is exponential. Their influence extends from their homes, through their communities, and across their countries.

The Women’s Initiative at the Bush Institute seeks to create and strengthen civil society by empowering women. We’re partnering with women in the Middle East and elsewhere to advance education, to improve women’s health, to further economic opportunity, and to encourage greater civic participation.

I’ve met with businesswomen who played a critical role in the revitalization of Rwanda in the 15 years since the genocide. In Afghanistan, I met with women who were in training to become police officers. And I met with some of the first female candidates for parliament in Kuwait since women there were granted the right to vote.

All around the world, women are changing their countries, and we want all those fighting for liberty and justice to know that the people of the United States stand with you. We applaud your persistence in pursuing nothing less than full equality and opportunity for all people—men and women, boys and girls.

Thanks to everyone who’s joined us today for your support for the voices of freedom.

Thank you all.

[Applause.]