Bush says Obama’s Texas visit not about politics

COLLEGE STATION, Texas — Former President George H.W. Bush says President Barack Obama’s upcoming visit to Texas A&M is about community service, not politics.

Obama is scheduled to visit Texas A&M in College Station on Friday after Bush invited him to speak at a presidential forum on community service. Some local Republican and anti-tax Tea Party groups have said they will protest the event.

In a letter addressed to the “Texas A&M Family” on Wednesday, Bush said Obama’s visit is not about politics but “about the importance of service to our communities and our country.”

Friday’s event will honor the 20th anniversary of Bush’s “thousand points of light” volunteer service movement he first mentioned in his 1989 inaugural address.