Former President of the United States, George W. Bush To Keynote at the GBTA 2012 Convention

ALEXANDRIA, Va., Feb. 16, 2012 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The Global Business Travel Association (GBTA) – the voice of the global business travel industry – today announced that the 43rd President of the United States, George W. Bush, will be featured as a keynote speaker at the annual 2012 GBTA International Convention & Exposition at the Boston Convention Center in Boston, MA, July 22-25, 2012. President Bush's appearance is made possible by Orbitz for Business. 

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"The GBTA Convention is a forum to hear from some of the most influential leaders in the world and this year's Convention is no exception. We are honored to be hosting President George W. Bush at our annual convention in Boston and we look forward to hearing his views on his legacy," said Michael W. McCormick, GBTA executive director and COO.

George W. Bush began his career in politics as the 46th Governor of Texas and made history as the first governor in Texas to be elected to consecutive four-year terms. In Austin, he earned a reputation for his bipartisan governing approach and his compassionate conservative philosophy.

As President, George W. Bush worked to expand freedom, opportunity and security at home and abroad. His first initiative as President was the No Child Left Behind Act, a bipartisan measure that raised standards in schools, insisted on accountability in return for federal dollars, and led to measurable gains in achievement—especially among minority students. Faced with a recession when he took office, President Bush cut taxes for every federal income taxpayer, which helped lead to an unprecedented 52 straight months of job creation. President Bush also modernized Medicare by adding a prescription drug benefit that provided access to needed medicine for 40 million seniors and other beneficiaries.

President Bush has many other notable accomplishments including implementing free trade agreements with more than a dozen nations; empowered America's armies of compassion by creating USA Freedom Corps and the Office of Faith-Based and Community Initiatives; improved air quality and made America's energy supply more secure; designated more ocean area habitats for environmental protection than any predecessor; transformed the military to meet the changing threats of the 21st century and nearly doubled government support for veterans; pioneered a new development strategy that tied American foreign aid to reform and good governance; launched global HIV/AIDS and malaria initiatives that have saved millions of lives; expanded the NATO alliance; and forged a historic new partnership with India.

The most significant event of President Bush's tenure came on September 11, 2001, when terrorists killed nearly 3,000 people on American soil. President Bush responded with a comprehensive strategy to protect the American people. He led the most dramatic reorganization of the federal government since the beginning of the Cold War, reforming the intelligence community and establishing new institutions like the Department of Homeland Security. He built global coalitions to remove violent regimes in Afghanistan and Iraq that threatened America, liberating more than 50 million people from tyranny. Recognizing that freedom and hope are the best alternatives to the extremist ideology of the terrorists, he provided unprecedented American support for young democracies and dissidents in the Middle East, Eastern Europe, and elsewhere. In the more than seven years President Bush remained in office following September 11, 2001, the United States was not attacked again.

Since leaving office, President Bush has focused his attention on developing the George W. Bush Presidential Center at Southern Methodist University in Dallas, Texas, which will encompass the Presidential Library and Museum, Archives, and the George W. Bush Institute. The Institute, which President Bush announced in the fall of 2009 seeks to improve the human condition through education reform, global health, human freedom, and economic growth.

About the Global Business Travel Association Convention

The GBTA Convention, with nearly than 6,000 attendees, is the largest, most comprehensive annual gathering of business travel and meetings managers, meeting planners, procurement professionals and suppliers anywhere in the world. The Business Travel Event of the Year® features: more than 60 industry-leading education sessions organized into 15+ specialized tracks geared to specific levels of experience and a variety of disciplines; a 400+ company Exposition showcasing market choices not available at other industry gatherings; sessions featuring world-renowned speakers and industry leaders; a wide selection of professional development opportunities; and, much more. For more information on the GBTA Convention, visit www.gbta.org/convention.

About the Global Business Travel Association

The Global Business Travel Association (GBTA) is the world's premier business travel and meetings organization. Collectively, GBTA's 5,000-plus members manage over $340 billion of global business travel and meetings expenditures annually. GBTA provides its network of 17,000 business and government travel and meetings managers, as well as travel service providers, with networking events, news, education & professional development, research, and advocacy.  For more information, visit www.gbta.org.

SOURCE Global Business Travel Association

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