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Bush praises hi-tech workers from India

Evidently in United States President George W Bush's book, India information technology workers in the US are number one and are responsible for giving Americans the competitive edge in the global marketplace.

In a speech to the Los Angeles World Affairs Council, a copy of which was made available here by the White House, Bush declared that "education reform is essential to keep faith with our country's promise of equality and opportunity. And education reform is essential to our economic progress."

He said, "We're grateful that the world's most skilled workers want to come to the United States," and rattled off countries whose immigrants have made tangible contributions to the success of the American economy. Heading his list was India.

"Our technology advantage rests on the contributions of immigrants from places like India or China, Russia, Iran and hundreds of other countries," Bush noted.

But he argued that ''while we're importing the world's best, too many Americans are locked out of the economy of a future by schools that don't teach and won't change''.

He promised that his administration's "prosperity agenda will equip every American child with the skills he or she needs to do valuable work and earn a good wage."

Bush also said that he would on June 1, recommend to Congress to extend normal trading relations legislation with China for another year.

He argued that the "growth of the world economy depends on world trade. The growth of world trade depends on American leadership. And America will lead -- toward freer trade, toward wider and more lasting prosperity for ourselves and for the world."

"We need to advance free trade globally, regionally and bilaterally, and it is time to initiate a new global trade round," he added.

Bush said, "To demonstrate American leadership on these issues, I'm asking the United States Congress to approve the US trade promotion authority this year. And because trade creates prosperity, and prosperity promotes democracy, I will notify Congress on June 1 that I intend to extend normal trade relation status with China for another year."

Defending his decision and obviously sensitive to the opposition he is likely to encounter in Congress, particularly after a series of spats with Beijing, least of all being the confrontation between a US surveillance aircraft and a Chinese fighter plane over the South China sea recently, Bush said, "Open trade is a force for freedom in China, a force for stability in Asia, and a force for prosperity in the United States."

"And this is not just my personal view," he said. "The institutions and individuals in China who are the least friendly to freedom are often the least friendly to trade. The institutions and individuals most sympathetic to freedom are often the most friendly to trade. They know what I know: Free trade supports and sustains freedom in all its forms."

Bush claimed that "free trade has expanded the portion of China's economy that is independent of the state. Free trade has swelled the ranks of independent businessmen. Free trade has introduced new technologies that offer Chinese people access to uncensored information and democratic ideas."

According to Bush, "When we open trade, we open minds. We trade with China because trade is good policy for our economy, because trade is good policy for democracy, and because trade is good policy for our national security."

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