Secretary Albright spoke about the importance of presidential leadership and the challenges of building a constituency for fighting poverty and promoting development. She said that she knows from experience how hard it is to make fighting global poverty a priority. In particular, we need to stop talking about “foreign assistance” and refer instead to “national security support.” She commended the president for pledging increased funding for a number of international assistance programs, but expressed concern that the growing deficit and budgetary constraints could make continued funding difficult.

Secretary Albright also spoke about the role of U.S. business in developing countries and said that companies often have a better grasp of what is going on in various countries than do the diplomats. She has also become an advocate for business and government working together on solving problems. She commended IGD for taking the longer-term approach of expanding economic opportunity in developing countries. This kind of work is all the more important now that U.S. diplomacy is failing; the more that U.S. business is seen as a positive force abroad it can counteract the negative view that many have of U.S. government policies.

Secretary Albright argued that if the Millennium Challenge Corporation (MCC) is to succeed, it must raise the living standards of those it seeks to help. She said that President Bush truly believes in the importance of spreading democracy, but added that democracy must deliver if it is to take root - people would rather eat than vote. If we are to elevate the priority of foreign assistance we need to persuade people that it is not a giveaway program. The president, she said, needs to get out and explain that the MCC will help build more stable countries, which is in our national security interest.

“Especially since 9/11, it’s important to be hard-headed about the relationship between poverty and security.”

-Secretary Madeleine Albright