    [Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States: George W. Bush (2001, Book II)]
    [October 4, 2001]
    [Pages 1191-1193]
    [From the U.S. Government Publishing Office www.gpo.gov]

    Remarks Following Discussions With President Vicente Fox of Mexico
    October 4, 2001

        President Bush. It is my honor to welcome my friend back to the
    White House. It wasn't all that long ago that we were standing out here
    for the opening ceremony of the first and only state dinner I've had
    since I've been the President. He came as a friend then, and he's come
    back as a loyal friend to the United States.
        September 11th really changed America. President Fox understood that
    right off the

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    bat. One of the first calls I got was from Vicente Fox. He called
    expressing his deep condolences to the American people. He was very kind
    to me. He wished me well.
        President Fox understands that an attack on America affects Mexico
    in a significant way. After all, there are millions of Mexican Americans
    and Mexican nationals living in America, men and women who saw a land
    they love attacked, men and women who have united around a great cause
    of defending freedom. In this country we don't ask the question, what is
    your religion, or where are you from? We ask the question, are you
    united to defend freedom? And there are millions of Mexican Americans
    who understand that call. So when the President said, ``We stand with
    you,'' he is not only saying, ``We stand with the United States
    Government''; he's saying, ``We stand with millions of people living in
    our country as well.''
        President Fox and I had a great discussion about ways we can
    continue to cooperate. We need to cooperate on security matters along
    our border, which we are. We need to continue working on other agenda
    items that we have been working on, and we will. Obviously, our Nation
    is now focused on the incidents of September 11th. But I assured him our
    relationship will go forward, that we'll work on the issues that we had
    discussed the last time we were here.
        I talked to my friend about our economy. It has been affected
    significantly by the actions of September the 11th. But I assured him
    that we will take an aggressive role at the Federal level to try to spur
    economic growth, which is very important since we've got a significant
    amount of trade between our nations.
        In sum, I'm so glad he came back. It's comforting to know that our
    friend to the south is going to be a friend in good times and in tough
    times.
        So, Mr. President, welcome back. Thank you for coming.
        President Fox. Thank you. And thank you, President, for the
    opportunity to be back here again, the opportunity to express very
    clearly, loudly, our sorrow, our solidarity with your Government, with
    the American people, with the victims and all those who suffered under
    these attacks, but also the opportunity to reaffirm our commitments.
        We are a friend; we are neighbors; we are partners. And we want to
    make very clear that this means commitment all the way and that we will
    keep our commitments. And we are working on an everyday basis, either in
    the border, either in customs, either in migration, either--on each of
    the subjects that have to do with security. We will be side by side in
    your efforts to defeat terrorism in the world and wherever it is. We
    will be coordinating, participating, collaborating on our side with our
    resources that we have at hand.
        And we know of your efforts not only to meet this challenge; we know
    the efforts also to keep America moving. And that's something that we
    very proudly see, that this Nation does not know about defeat, on the
    contrary. But it's working to come back to be the leader, to be that
    strong spirit and economy that is an example for all of us.
        And we're working in the same direction. We know that in economic
    terms, things are interactive; as well, as we buy a lot of products,
    services from the United States, we sell a lot of products to the United
    States, being one of the largest trading two economies in the world. And
    through working in that direction, we can also contribute to overcoming
    this situation.
        So, thanks again for giving us this opportunity. And we go back
    knowing that we have a lot of work to do, that we've been doing and that
    we will keep on doing. So, thank you, President.
        President Bush. Thank you, Mr. President.

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    Note: The President spoke at 11:45 a.m. in the Colonnade at the White
    House. A tape was not available for verification of the content of these
    remarks.