[Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States: GEORGE W. BUSH (2001, Book I)]
[March 29, 2001]
[Pages 335-338]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office www.gpo.gov]



[[Page 335]]


Remarks Prior to Discussions With Chancellor Gerhard 
Schroeder of Germany and an Exchange With 
Reporters
March 29, 2001

    President Bush. It's my honor to welcome the German Chancellor here 
to the Oval Office. We've just had a very constructive lunch. The 
briefers told me that the Chancellor is a very straightforward person. 
They were right, and for that I am grateful, because we were able to get 
to the point.
    And the first point we made--and you'll see this in the joint 
communique we issued--is that our countries are strong friends. I 
assured the Chancellor that my administration will work to keep our 
relations strong. We agree on many, many issues; there's a few we didn't 
agree on. But as good friends, we can disagree and yet still be friends.
    I appreciate the leadership of the Chancellor. I appreciate so very 
much Germany's role, for example, in trying to keep the peace in 
Macedonia. By working together, we can stabilize that region. The 
Government of Macedonia is a government made up of different factions. 
We, of course, are working together to make sure that the legitimate 
rights of all people in Macedonia are recognized. Germany has done more 
than just work the diplomatic side; they've also provided troops in the 
KFOR, along with the United States, to enforce the border. And as a 
result of our joint efforts, there is good hope that the region will be 
stable.
    And for that, Mr. Chancellor, thank you for your leadership. It's an 
honor to welcome you here, sir.
    Chancellor Schroeder. Thank you very much, Mr. President, for those 
very kind words. Ladies and gentlemen, now let me share with you how 
very pleased, indeed, I am that after having two phone calls so far, I 
now had an opportunity of finally meeting the President in person.
    Let me also share with you that it was a very, very pleasant 
impression I had, indeed. It was wonderful to see the degree of openness 
that we had, the frankness we had in the meeting, and also the level of 
agreement that there was between us.
    Mr. President is very right, indeed, when he emphasizes the fact 
that the ties between the United States of America and Germany are very, 
very firm. They're very friendly ties which are, in fact, based on joint 
values that we share and that are deeply rooted in each of our 
Constitutions, too.
    Now, we have obviously addressed a wide range of international 
topics, questions, and international political affairs. There was a lot 
of agreement. I can agree with Mr. President; we agreed on practically 
everything, except, obviously, for one thing, and that was no surprise 
to you, the Kyoto Protocol.
    But here, yet as well, we have different opinions, and we are happy 
to admit to you that we hold different opinions regarding this. We were 
also happy to admit to one another that we had different positions on 
this. But here, too, we very much would like to see to it that we, 
hopefully, jointly act on other fields in and around--on climate policy. 
We have addressed the subject of solar energy, for example. We have said 
that there would be ways of energy efficiency, of more efficient use of 
energy as such. So we will be conjointly looking at some topics that 
could all contribute to a better climate in the future.
    And to all of that, yet again, we have done on the basis of this 
very, very friendly spirit that reigned between us; a basis is not only 
one that can take the strain of this, but it will, indeed, and happily 
so.
    In a nutshell, one last thing I would like to say. We are both 
firmly convinced that

[[Page 336]]

it is a prime aspect of both of our jobs to make sure that the economies 
in our respective countries are going well and strongly, and we have to 
keep them robust. And where that is not the case, we have to get them 
back on track.
    President Bush. We'll take two questions from the Americans and two 
questions from the German press, alternating.

Kyoto Protocol on Climate Change

    Q. Mr. President, on the Kyoto Protocol, the friendly atmosphere 
here is not matched in some statements in the German Government in 
Berlin and in other capitals. What's your reaction to the criticism that 
you've abandoned the effort to contain global warming? And what in 
particular don't you like about the Kyoto Protocols?
    And Mr. Chancellor, what practical, pragmatic effect will this 
difference of opinion have on the effort against global warming?
    President Bush. Well, first, I explained this as clearly as I could 
to the Chancellor, and I'm glad to do it again to you. I did so earlier 
in a press conference, as you may remember.
    Our economy has slowed down in a country--in our country. We also 
have an energy crisis. And the idea of placing caps on 
CO2 does not make economic sense for America. And while I 
worry about emissions--and we'll work together to achieve efficiencies 
through new technologies, and I'm confident we can do that--I'm also 
worried about the fact that people may not be finding jobs in America.
    And I will consult with our friends. We will work together. But it's 
going to be in what's in the interest of our country, first and 
foremost, Terry [Terry Moran, ABC News]. And the idea that somehow we're 
supposed to get enormous amounts of natural gas on line immediately, in 
order to be able to conform to a treaty that our own Senate sent a very 
overwhelming message against and many other countries haven't signed, 
makes no economic sense; it makes no common sense.
    So I'm worried about our economy. I'm worried about our own domestic 
energy situation. But I'm confident we can find new ways to think about 
reducing greenhouse gases. And I look forward to working with a country 
like Germany. Germany is on the leading edge of technology. They've got 
some of the greatest engineers in the world. And together we can work 
together to come up with new efficiencies.
    Chancellor Schroeder. Obviously, those are all the fields of 
cooperation which the President just mentioned and which I obviously 
very highly welcome.
    Regarding the Kyoto Protocol, we have the pleasure of hosting the 
successor conference to the one in The Hague, in Germany this year. And, 
well, when it comes to that, His Excellency the President and his 
government will be called upon to take a decision as to how they, to put 
it casually, want to play it with protocol and with the ongoing 
conference in Germany--whether they will, on the one-hand side, which 
would be a possibility, give an opportunity to others to still continue 
with what they think is right by not voting against it, or to not do so.
    Now, obviously, this is an issue for the President and his country 
to decide. But we very strongly have agreed that the conference, as I 
just said, is going to take place, I think, in June or July, in Germany, 
that our respective staff are going to get together and talk about the 
issue.
    President Bush. Somebody from the German press?
    Q. How are the 14 EU heads of state going to feel about the reaction 
that you just stated to the Kyoto problem and to the President's 
attitude about it? I would have so clearly expected you to be against it 
and speak up against it, obviously, so how are they now going to feel?
    Chancellor Schroeder. No, I certainly have no headache about that 
whatsoever. I have heard what the President has said

[[Page 337]]

regarding this matter. Not only I have heard it, people in Europe have 
heard it, too. And some of the European governments have heard it and 
have criticized it, obviously. That is a normal process in politics. And 
we'll take it on from there. Obviously, we'll continue discussing these 
issues.

National Missile Defense/European Strike Force

    Q. Mr. President, did military matters come up today, specifically, 
missile defense, European strike force?
    President Bush. Missile defense came up, you bet. And we'll talk 
about the European strike force after you clear the room. But I'm 
looking forward to it. Our joint communique addresses a lot of these 
issues.
    I explained this to the Chancellor, that we want to help folks think 
differently about the post-cold-war era and we want to develop defenses 
that are capable defending ourselves, defenses that are capable of 
defending others who so choose to, against the true threats of the 21st 
century. Russia is not our enemy. The true threat of the 21st century is 
the extremists who can't stand what Germany or America believes in. They 
resent our freedoms. They resent our successes. They resent our 
prosperity. And I look forward to working with our friend as we move 
down the road toward assessing and addressing the true threats that face 
us.
    I'll let the Chancellor speak for himself on his view. But I've 
found there to be somebody who is at least interested in our point of 
view, and for that, I'm grateful.
    Chancellor Schroeder. Here, too, yet again, I can say that I cannot 
recommend taking a lump-sum view, a generic view at whatever we're 
talking about. And we shouldn't have a generic view regarding NMD or 
missile defense, either.
    Now, obviously, I think in assessing such a comprehensive topic we 
also have to look at things like the defensive potential that lies 
within a potential system. We have to see the potential upside in terms 
of disarmament opportunities that might be in there.
    Obviously, we'll also have to look into lots of technical aspects, 
such as the threat scenario that is behind the whole system. Is it 
technologically feasible? Can we truly implement it? Who is going to be 
covered under the shelter? Who's going to be invited to be included by 
the shelter that we're going to build? What are going to be 
repercussions for the global disarmament process? What are going to be 
the repercussions on Russia and on China, for example?
    Those are all things that I think we need to think about and talk 
about in an ongoing process. And I can only say how very pleased, 
indeed, I was to see that the President declared himself ready for an 
open, ongoing discussion about all of these things.
    President Bush. Okay, since Terry asked two questions, it's over. 
[Laughter]
    Q. Mr. President, were you able--concerning the U.S. defense system, 
would Europe and Germany, as part of Europe, be able to contribute and 
to participate in? Was that something you were able to offer and assure 
the Chancellor of?
    And Mr. Chancellor, would you be able to say that you'd be willing 
to participate when the time comes?
    President Bush. Well, first of all, it's my first chance to sit down 
with the Chancellor and explain our philosophy about how we're trying to 
shape the thinking in the post-cold-war era.
    I did explain to him what I've explained to the American people, 
that not only do we need to develop defenses, but we're also going to 
reduce our own offensive capability. And maybe people will follow; maybe 
they won't. But we're going to move, anyway, once the Defense Department 
puts a thorough review as to what we need to keep the peace.
    In terms of whether or not we develop a technology that will help 
make Europe more peaceful or America more peaceful

[[Page 338]]

or the Middle East more peaceful, whatever it is, I'd be more than 
willing to discuss the technologies and share technologies with our 
friends.
    But we haven't gotten--you know, today was the first step toward me 
making the rationale as to why I took the position I took. And the 
positive development, I thought, was that the Chancellor was listening 
and understood--I believe understood the philosophy and the peaceful 
philosophy inherent in our strategy.
    Chancellor Schroeder. I think it would be wrong at this point in 
time to assume that what we're trying to do here is that we're kick-
starting an armament process for the whole of the world. My personal 
perspective is that I think the contrary will be the case. And I think 
the debate about involvement and who does what in the process is one 
that will come subsequent to having discussed the general, basic things. 
But then, certainly, when it comes to the involvement and also 
participation in terms of industrial policy, certainly we'll be 
interested.
    President Bush. Nice to see you all.

Note: The President spoke at 12:53 p.m. in the Oval Office at the White 
House. Chancellor Schroeder spoke in German, and his remarks were 
translated by an interpreter. A tape was not available for verification 
of the content of these remarks.