Five New Plans to Assist Afghanistan - 2004-06-16

President Bush, the President of the United States, announced five new plans to assist Afghanistan and stated that the U.S. has a strong commitment to the success of that country. Mr. Bush made these remarks on Tuesday during a joint press conference with Hamid Karzai, the head of the transitional government of Afghanistan, at the White House. Mr. Bush said that the U.S. will provide schools and textbooks for Afghan children, offer educational and financial assistance to Afghan women engaged in business, and implement a training program for Afghan politicians. The U.S. President added that the two countries also intend to pursue a trade agreement between them and expand a program for exchanging experts between the two countries. Mr. Karzai, prior to his meeting with President Bush, stated in a rare joint session of the U.S. Congress that Afghanistan, while striving to rebuild itself after years of war, needs more foreign investment. The head of the transitional government of Afghanistan thanked the U.S. for its support and said that Afghanistan could never have ended the Taliban regime or begun to rebuild its destroyed roads, schools, and health system without U.S. support. In another event, President Bush also had a separate meeting at the White House with King Abdullah of Jordan, who is currently on a private visit to the U.S.