[Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States: George W. Bush (2002, Book I)]
[February 27, 2002]
[Pages 294-297]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office www.gpo.gov]



Remarks Following a Roundtable Discussion on Welfare Reform and an 
Exchange With Reporters in Charlotte, North Carolina
February 27, 2002

    The President. We are honored--I am honored to be here. We just had 
a great discussion with folks here in Charlotte, Mecklenburg County. I 
am very impressed by the welfare-to-work program that has been 
instituted. There's obviously a sense

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of corporate responsibility in this community that is powerful, that 
recognizes that the bottom line is one thing but taking care of their 
fellow humans is another. The county--leadership in the county is 
forward-thinking and aggressive as to providing resources to help 
people, help each individual succeed. They've got a spirit of innovation 
here in this county that needs to be heralded because of the successes.
    So I'm proud to be here. But I'm most proud of the individuals who 
have made a conscious decision to improve their lives and therefore, in 
many cases, improve the lives of their children; women who have overcome 
terrible odds to become successful role models, articulate spokespeople 
for themselves, their families, a system that cares about their 
successes.
    And so I want to thank you all for sharing with me your stories and 
your history. Ella, today she works at the 
Park Hotel. She was down and out. She made a decision to succeed. She 
received the help necessary. And she read us a poem today that was so 
moving to all of us that we asked her to share that, if you don't mind.

[At this point, participant Ella Currence 
recited her poem entitled ``The Struggle to Independence.'']

    Q. Sir----
    The President. A couple of quick ones.

Republic of Georgia and the War on Terrorism

    Q. Yes, if you don't mind. Do you think there's Al Qaida influence 
in Georgia?
    The President. I do. So long as there's Al Qaida influence anywhere, 
we will help the host countries rout them out and bring them to justice.
    Q. What specifically are we doing to help Georgia?
    The President. Mainly, equipment and technical advice. Obviously, in 
order for us to work closely with governments that have been invaded by 
Al Qaida cells, they're going to have to request--request help. And 
we've made it very clear that either you're with us, or you're against 
us. And we've made it very clear that we hope that nations step up and 
do their jobs.
    Obviously, we've got a presence in the Philippines because there's 
an Al Qaida-affiliated group of people there. And we've had some 
successes in Yemen, where we're working. We're working around the world.
    When this war started, I told the American people that there would 
be a variety of fronts on the war against terrorism, some of which would 
be very visible, some of which we wouldn't see much about. And the 
American people need to know that, one, we're maintaining our coalition 
and the efforts of the coalition, and two, anytime we find terrorist 
organizations like Al Qaida, we will do everything we can to bring them 
to justice.
    And so, yes.

Colombia

    Q. Mr. President, what about Colombia? What can you do there? You 
have some legal constraints as to how far you can go.
    The President. Well, we did have legal constraints. We were 
providing advice to the Colombian Government as to drug eradication, and 
we need to keep it that way. The law is very clear. If the Colombian 
Government decides to take military action against the FARC, which 
they--it looks like they may decide to do and continue to do, that is 
their business to do so. I applaud the efforts of the 
President, by the way, to try to bring order 
to the country. But we are restricted by law, and I intend to adhere to 
that law.

National Debt Ceiling

    Q. Mr. President, what did you tell the congressional leaders this 
morning about the debt limit? And what ceiling are you comfortable with?
    The President. Well, we'll leave the size of the debt ceiling to the 
Treasury officials. They will make the recommendation. But I told the--
recommended to the Members

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of the legislation that we not play politics with the debt ceiling, that 
we're at war, we've got troops all around the world, we've got men and 
women whose lives are at risk. And now is not the time to be playing 
politics or using the debt ceiling as an excuse for some individual's 
cause.
    We need to have a good, sane policy. And I think the Members there 
at breakfast agreed with me, that now is an inappropriate time to play 
politics with the debt ceiling. It's happened in the past. Both parties 
are guilty about playing politics with the debt ceiling. And I urge the 
Congress deal with the debt ceiling, deal with it in a professional way, 
and move it on.
    Yes, Terry [Terry Moran, ABC News].

World Perception of United States

    Q. Mr. President, the Gallup organization has run a poll in Arab 
nations showing that there is deep suspicion and resentment of the 
United States. What do you make of that? How big a problem? What can you 
do about it?
    The President. Well, Terry, I saw that, briefly looked at--I haven't 
analyzed the sampling and who was asked and all that stuff. But here's 
my attitude. If the United States shows strong leadership when it comes 
to fighting terrorist organizations, the world will follow. And if we're 
determined and resolute at routing out murderers and killers, people who 
want to destabilize legitimate governments, the world, regardless of the 
nature of their population, the religious nature of their population, 
will respect that.
    Secondly, there is no question that we must do a better job of 
telling the compassionate side of the American story. And I will give 
you one example. This kind and great Nation provides 300,000 tons of 
food a year to starving North Korean citizens. And yet, the North Korean 
citizen has no idea that we provided the food. We don't even know 
whether or not the food has gotten to the starving North Korean people. 
All we know is, we made a strong commitment, followed through on that 
commitment.
    My point, Terry, is that it is essential for us to not assume that 
the kindness of the country is known. And therefore, we've got to do a 
better job of telling the story. And I'll give you one good example of 
how we perhaps can do that. Colin Powell 
went on international MTV, and the first question he was asked, by a 
lady from Brazil--and I'll paraphrase--was basically, ``Why is the 
nation of America so evil?'' And it floored him, like it would floor 
most Americans to think that people would think of our Nation is evil, 
when, in fact, defending freedom is good. We're the largest supplier of 
help and food and medicine in the world. But Colin was able, in his 
classy fashion, to answer the question and all of a sudden was part of 
an education process.
    So we've got work to do. And people will realize we're peaceful, yet 
we're determined and patient, and we use our strength for positive 
reasons.
    Last question. I know you're awaiting my speech.

2002 Elections

    Q. Mr. President, later today you're going to a fundraiser. As we 
move deeper into an election year that's also a year of war against 
terrorism, how much support can Republicans count on from their popular 
President?
    The President. I'm interested in making sure that the Speaker of the 
House is Denny Hastert. I've made that 
very clear. I think my job will be easier if Denny Hastert is the 
Speaker. I'd like to see Trent Lott be the 
majority leader, and I will work to those ends.

Note: The President spoke at 11:01 a.m. at the Chamber of Commerce. In 
his remarks, he referred to President Andres Pastrana of Colombia. He 
also referred to FARC, Fuerzas Armadas Revolucionarias de Colombia. A 
tape was not available for verification of the content of these remarks.



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