Bush Stresses U.S. Role in World

For President Bush, Thursday was a day of prayer and Post-its.

By the time it was over, he had heard a polite pitch from rock star Bono to expand U.S. aid to the world’s poor, and had made a pitch himself to expand high-tech research.

The president encountered U2’s Irish frontman at the annual National Prayer Breakfast in Washington.

He then traveled here, seeking support at 3M Co. -- manufacturer of products such as Scotch tape and Post-its -- for policy initiatives built around what he is presenting as the reality of the changing global economy: that competition is coming from new corners, and that a surge in scientific education is necessary to guarantee continued U.S. leadership.

And with more high-tech jobs available in the United States than people to fill them, Bush said, the country should admit more foreigners seeking jobs in those fields.

He called for expanding the H-1B visa program -- which allows a specified number of foreign scientists and high-tech specialists to take jobs that Americans haven’t filled -- a position Bush has taken since the 2000 presidential campaign, but one that he has not addressed frequently.

“There’s a lot of bright engineers and chemists and physicists from other lands that are either educated here or received an education elsewhere but want to work here,” Bush said to about 500 engineers, chemists and other employees.

He said Congress should “be realistic and reasonable” and raise the cap on H-1B visas.

“It’s a mistake not to encourage more really bright folks who can fill the jobs that are having trouble being filled in America,” Bush said.

U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services has announced that it received sufficient applications by August 2005 to meet the 2006 cap of 65,000 H1-B visas -- and that it also received enough petitions for 20,000 more for people who met specific education requirements that would allow exemption from the cap.

The president is in the midst of three days of travel -- his customary journey to politically sensitive quarters after delivering the State of the Union address -- as he seeks to boost support for the policies unveiled in the annual message.

On Wednesday, he spoke in Nashville; today, he is scheduled to speak in Albuquerque and visit a math class in Dallas. He plans to spend the weekend at his Texas ranch.

As disparate as Thursday’s events and messages might appear, there was a common theme, drawn from Tuesday night’s speech: that the United States cannot wall itself off from the rest of the world and instead must reach out -- helping to solve other countries’ problems as it solves its own through education and scientific advances.

At the prayer breakfast, Bono drew from Jewish, Christian and Islamic texts as he called on the U.S. government to boost its aid to the world’s poor by giving an additional 1% of its budget. The United States now spends less than 1% of its budget on foreign aid.

He gave not an inch to Washington’s typical attire: He sported a brown suit and open-collar black shirt, and his customary tinted glasses -- an orange hue on this day.

“Please join me in praying that I don’t say something we all regret,” he said. “If you’re wondering what I’m doing at the prayer breakfast, so am I. I’m certainly not here as a man of the cloth -- unless that cloth is leather.”

Bono offered one possible explanation for his presence. “I’ve got a messianic complex,” he said jokingly.

But his purpose was serious.

Referring to trade restrictions that limit poor countries’ opportunities to sell low-cost goods in developed markets, Bono said such obstacles were unjust when richer nations advocated free markets. Similarly, he criticized restrictions that blocked poorer nations’ access to lifesaving medicines.

“God will not accept that,” he said. “Mine won’t. Will yours?”

Early in the Bush administration, Bono accompanied then-Treasury Secretary Paul H. O’Neill on a trip to Africa, and he has made the effort to improve conditions there a personal mission.

Bush, who spoke after Bono, said of the singer and activist: “He’s a doer. The thing about this good citizen of the world is he’s used his position to get things done. You’re an amazing guy, Bono. God bless you.”

The annual breakfast is sponsored by a foundation and regularly draws leading politicians from both parties as well as foreign leaders.

In Minnesota, Bush used 3M to illustrate his new goals.

“In order for us to keep the standard of living that we’re accustomed to ... we must remain a flexible, technologically based economy,” he said at the company, which in addition to developing Thinsulate and producing kitchen sponges, does research involving nanotechnology and metal composites.

As for one of the company’s better-known products, Bush let fly a yellow square from his text as he began his remarks.

“Got to take my Post-it note off my speech here,” he said.