[Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States: GEORGE W. BUSH (2001, Book I)]
[April 20, 2001]
[Pages 424-426]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office www.gpo.gov]



Remarks Prior to Discussions With Central American Leaders and an 
Exchange With Reporters in Quebec City
April 20, 2001

    The President. I want to thank the Presidents from some of the 
Central American countries for coming here. It's my honor to say, once 
again, hello to the President of El Salvador, the President of Panama, 
and the President of Honduras. Thank you all 
very much. I look forward to wide-ranging discussions on the benefits of 
trade, the need for us to continue to think about how best to have in 
place measures that will help in the case of future natural disasters, 
ways to continue to cooperate on issues of trafficking of people and 
arms and drugs.
    So I look forward to a very fruitful discussion. I'm honored you all 
are here. El placir es mio.
    I'll try to answer a few questions. Sandra [Sandra Sobieraj, 
Associated Press], have you got something?

[[Page 425]]

Quebec Demonstrations

    Q. Sir, the protests have really flared up outside. What do you have 
to say to the protesters?
    The President. Well, if they are--if they're protesting because of 
free trade, I would say I disagree. I think trade is very important for 
this hemisphere. Trade not only helps spread prosperity, but trade helps 
spread freedom. And so I would just disagree with those who think that 
trade--somehow trade is going to negatively affect the working people 
and people for whom hope doesn't exist in some places. So we need trade, 
and I am convinced that the leadership that I met with agrees. And we 
can work together, because they understand that working together, we can 
bring prosperity throughout our entire hemisphere.
    Secondly, I would hope that those out there expressing their opinion 
realize how important it is for the United States and Canada and Mexico 
to extend our agreements beyond our borders, to Central America and 
South America, where it's important to keep our neighborhood intact and 
to have a strong neighborhood. And these are our neighbors. I grew up in 
a world where if you treat your neighbor well, it's a good start to 
developing a wholesome community.
    So I understand some people don't like trade; I just strongly 
disagree with them.

Trade Promotion Authority

    Q. Mr. President, what are you telling summit leaders when they ask 
you how likely are you to get fast-track?
    The President. Well, first of all, they understand that trade 
promotion authority, or fast-track, will be very important for us in 
order to make sure that we can fulfill our hopes to have a free-trading 
hemisphere. But we also can and will discuss bilateral agreements or 
agreements with groups of countries. So it's a dual-track strategy.
    I hope Congress understands the hope and promise of trade promotion 
authority. It's important for the President to have trade promotion 
authority. It will make it a lot easier for us to complete the 
agreements that we're all discussing here in summits such as this.
    Press Secretary Ari Fleischer. Final 
question.
    Q. Mr. President, when you met with the President of Brazil----
    The President. You again.
    Q. Yes, it's me again--and the other Andean leaders, were they--just 
following up on fast-track, the fact that you don't have fast-track, did 
they express that as a concern?
    The President. Well, not really. They were more interested in, one, 
our commitment to the neighborhood. Secondly, they were--we spent a lot 
of time talking about drugs and drug trafficking, and I assured them I 
understood that our Nation must do a better job of reducing demand and, 
at the same time, working with the Andean nations to eradicate supply. 
An issue that came up, and one that I was aware of, is that Plan 
Colombia could have the opportunity to spread the problems to 
neighboring countries outside of Colombia. And therefore, we have to put 
together an Andean initiative which recognizes that and, thirdly, that 
relations are--that we must have relations beyond just drug eradication. 
In other words, that we've got to work together to make sure the 
education systems in our respective countries fulfill their promise, 
that legal reforms are needed in some parts of the world.
    And so we had a very wide-ranging discussion, and I was most 
pleased, by the way, that the President of Brazil joined in the discussion, because it was--I thought 
it was a very good signal of his understanding the importance of the 
Andean region. And he plays a very--his country plays a very important 
part and a very important role in that part of the world.
    Q. Thank you.
    The President. You got your wish. [Laughter]

[[Page 426]]

Note: The President spoke at 5 p.m. in the Montcalm Room at the Loews le 
Concorde Hotel. In his remarks, he referred to Presidents Francisco 
Flores Perez of El Salvador, Mireya Moscoso of Panama, Carlos Flores of 
Honduras, and Fernando Henrique Cardoso of Brazil. Prime Minister Said 
Wilbert Musa of Belize and Presidents Miguel Rodriguez of Costa Rica, 
Arnoldo Aleman of Nicaragua, and Alfonso Antonio Portillo of Guatemala 
also participated in the discussions. A tape was not available for 
verification of the content of these remarks.