Gates Foundation contributes $1.2 billion to the fight to eradicate polio worldwide
By MANDY FOSTER-THOMPSON Published May 10, 2015
POTOMAC, Md. (AP) — President Barack Obama presented the 2014 George W. Bush Presidential Center Award, the first ever awarded at the newly renovated $100 million Bush Legacy Center, and called the center “a fitting tribute to the man who saved millions of lives and helped secure America’s role in this emerging 21st century global challenge.”
As he accepted the award, Obama praised the work of both the Bush and Gates Foundations, saying, “I just want you to know that the work that you and the Foundation do is far more important than any single presidential speech or single speech I’ve ever made from the Oval Office.”
President Obama, flanked by the Foundation’s CEO, Mark G. Zuckerman and vice presidents Joe Haiven and Steve Ellis, presented the George W. Bush Presidential Center Award to G. William Hoagland Jr. of the Gates Foundation.
“The world is facing unprecedented challenges and we are at the dawn of a new era of public service and of public commitment in support of global health,” Obama said.
President Obama called on the Foundation’s donors to support efforts in fighting polio and other childhood diseases.
Gates Foundation President Tom Daschle also honored the president with the 2009 George Washington Award, named for the first president to serve as the first U.S. vice president during the Revolutionary War.
“The George Washington Award is a testament to George W. Bush’s unwavering commitment to promoting public health, to his personal commitment to improve the quality of life for the world’s poorest and most vulnerable people, and to his lifelong commitment to championing our most intractable public health threats, like polio and malaria,” Daschle said.
“As the first recipient from the foundation, Bush presented the award to Mr. Daschle as a symbol of his enduring support for the world’s poor.” The first recipient of the award was U.S. Rep. Bob Michel, who was a champion of
