‘Bono, You Are the Dessert Here’

ABC News’ Teddy Davis Reports: U2′s Bono joined Sen. Hillary Clinton, D-N.Y., Rep. Nita Lowey, D-N.Y., and Rep. Spencer Bachus, R-Ala., on a conference call Tuesday to promote legislation which would provide $10 billion over the next five years to help developing countries meet the goal of universal basic education by 2015.

"It’s new money, but it’s smart money," said Bono. "If you are talking about bang for the buck, this is about as good value as you’ll get.”

Keying off of the 9/11 Commission’s finding that ensuring educational opportunity is essential to U.S. efforts to defeat global terrorism, the speakers on Tuesday’s call made an effort to frame the "Education for All Act" in national security as much as humanitarian terms.

"There are two possibilities," said Bono in reference to schools in places like Nigeria where children are taught to hate the West. "If we don’t provide an opportunity for an education either no one will, which would be tragic, or someone else will, and that could be very, very dangerous." 

There are "at least 77 million children of primary school age" who are not in school with "hundreds of millions more" not receiving a secondary school education, according to statistics provided by Clinton’s Senate office.

Clinton hailed U2′s lead singer as "such a force for change" and promoted universal basic education as a key solution to resolving the "inequities that exist between men and women and the failure to permit women to live up to their God given potential."

When the floor was accidentally turned over to Bono after Lowey and Clinton had spoken but before Bachus had been given an opportunity to weigh in, Lowey jumped in to correct things.

"Bono, you are the dessert here," said Lowey. "You are the grand finale."