In a written statement prepared for the Senate Foreign Relations Committee hearing with Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice on Wednesday, Sen. Lamar Alexander (R-TN) applauded the Administration’s 2006 budget for increasing education and cultural exchanges by $74 million. He stressed that “to defeat terrorism, we need more cultural exchange with the Middle East. As more Arabs study and visit the United States, they will understand our character and desire to be a force for freedom – not tyranny – in their part of the world. As more Americans visit the Arab world, we will come to understand their culture, and respect their religious choices.”