President of the United States George W. Bush will be the keynote speaker at an event sponsored by the National Endowment for Democracy (NED) on Thursday, October 6 at 9:45 a.m. in Amphitheater of the Ronald Reagan Building and International Trade Center in Washington, D.C. The speech was originally scheduled for September 12 to commemorate the 4th anniversary of the attacks of September 11, 2001, and was postponed due to Hurricane Katrina.
“The attacks of September 11, 2001 forever changed so many things — and the work of the Endowment is no exception,” said NED Chairman and former US Representative Vin Weber. “President Bush has made the promotion of democracy in the Middle East and the world at large a centerpiece of the war on terror, giving NED’s mission an increased urgency. We are eager to hear what the President has to say about this important work.”
Two members of NED’s Board of Directors, former Democratic Leader Richard Gephardt and SEC Chairman Christopher Cox, will make brief remarks prior to President Bush’s address.
Founded in 1983, NED is a bipartisan not-for-profit foundation that supports the advance of democracy abroad through grants to nongovernmental organizations, and to its four affiliated core institutes, the American Center for International Labor Solidarity (ACILS), the Center for International Private Enterprise (CIPE), the International Republican Institute (IRI), and the National Democratic Institute for International Affairs (NDI), who are also cosponsors of the Thursday event. NED receives an annual appropriation from the US Congress and is governed by an independent board of directors that includes prominent members of Congress as well as major figures in the fields of international affairs, business, and politics.
NED, through its grant-making program, supports the strengthening of political parties, free market reforms, worker rights, civic education, independent media, the rule of law, good governance and the other essential elements of democracy in over 80 countries. More information about NED and its work can be found at the NED Web site: www.ned.org.
The Ronald Reagan Building and International Trade Center is located at 1300 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW, Washington, DC. Media wishing to cover the event must present national media accreditation and photo identification. Media preset will take place between 5:00 – 6:00 a.m. Credentialing will begin at 9:00 a.m. and media must be in place by 9:45 a.m.
