He recently appointed the Reverend Jesse Jackson as his special envoy to Africa. First Lady Hillary Clinton visited earlier this year. Secretary of State Albright will be there next month. And I plan to lead a trade and investment mission there soon. At the Department of Transportation, we recently launched our own Africa transportation initiative.
Good infrastructure is a bread and butter issue, that all too often is taken for granted.
We want our friends in Africa to know they must have good highways and ports and airports and railroads to succeed in the global economy of the 21st century. We want them to know that transportation is about more than concrete, asphalt and steel. It is about people. It is about providing opportunity and mobility of people and ideas. It is about advancing the cause of freedom.