Bush: Faith-based groups 'have delivered'

WASHINGTON, June 28 (UPI) -- U.S. President George W. Bush says faith-based organizations using public funds "have delivered" on expectations during his administration.

Speaking Saturday in his weekly radio address, Bush recounted the formation of the White House Office of Faith-Based and Community Initiatives -- which held a conference this week to showcase what the president called "the work being done by our nation's armies of compassion, with help from the federal government."

"This conference demonstrated the remarkable difference these groups have made over the past eight years," Bush said.

"We held these groups to high standards and insisted on demonstrable results," he said. "And they have delivered on those expectations."

Bush said the faith-based and community organizations "have helped reduce the number of chronically homeless by nearly 12 percent -- getting more than 20,000 Americans off the streets."

"They have helped match nearly 90,000 children of prisoners with adult mentors," he said. "And they have helped provide services such as job placement for thousands of former inmates."

Bush also said such groups have "had a powerful impact overseas," participating in his administration's Malaria Initiative in Africa.

Submit to