    [Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States: George W. Bush (2002, Book II)]
    [July 31, 2002]
    [Pages 1325-1327]
    [From the U.S. Government Publishing Office www.gpo.gov]

    Remarks Following a Cabinet Meeting and an Exchange With Reporters
    July 31, 2002

        The President. Thank you all for coming. First, I want to condemn in
    the strongest possible terms the attack that took place in Israel. There
    are clearly killers who hate the thought of peace and, therefore, are
    willing to take their hatred to all kinds of places, including a
    university. And this country condemns that kind of killing, and we send
    our deepest sympathy to the students and their families.
        I also want to make it clear to the killers, they won't stop us from
    rallying the world to fight their kind of terror, nor will they stop us
    from having a vision of peace.
        I look forward to continuing to work with all responsibility parties
    in the region, starting to insist that they work with us to stop this
    terror--use all their power to stop organizations such as Hamas from
    taking innocent life. And at the same time that we do so, we must
    continue to work to put the institutions in place necessary for the
    evolution of a state which can live at peace with Israel.
        Secondly, we met today and talked about our economy. There is some
    statistics out today that showed our economy continues to grow. Second
    quarter growth was 1.1 percent. When you combine that with the first
    quarter growth, it's a 3-percent growth. This is a positive trend. We're
    heading in the right direction, but the growth isn't strong enough, as
    far as I'm concerned.
        And so I look forward to working with Congress to pass a trade bill,
    a bill which will be good for American workers, American farmers,
    American ranchers. I look forward to working with Congress to pass a
    terrorism insurance bill, a bill which will help stimulate construction
    work, which will help our workers, those who build buildings and
    construction people who work on projects. I look forward to working with
    Congress to show fiscal restraint when it comes to budgeting and
    spending the taxpayers' money. I believe Congress ought to make the tax
    cuts permanent, so our small businesses and taxpayers can plan with
    certainty.
        As well, we discussed this Corporate Fraud Task Force with the
    Attorney General, and he and I share the same
    strong commitment to ferret out those who have cheated employees and
    workers and bring them to justice, which we will continue to do.
        So I appreciate my Cabinet coming and sharing ideas about how we can
    continue

    [[Page 1326]]

    the positive trends, so that the people who want to find a job can find
    one here in America.
        I'll answer some questions. Lindlaw [Scott Lindlaw, Associated
    Press].

    Foreign Tax Havens

        Q. Mr. President, what's your position on American companies moving
    their headquarters to foreign tax havens? Should it be outlawed? Did
    Harken do this while you were a director?
        The President. Moving their headquarters?
        Q. Yes, to foreign tax----
        The President. I don't recall Harken moving their headquarters. I
    think there was an issue over a arrangement with Bahrain, a drilling
    venture there, which I opposed, as you may recall, when I was a director
    of the company.
        Q. Should the practice be outlawed now?
        The President. I think we ought to look at people who are trying to
    avoid U.S. taxes as a problem. I think American companies ought to pay
    taxes here and be a part--good citizens. But as far as the Harken issue,
    we'll try to answer all your questions on that.
        Q. Mr. President----
        The President. Excuse me for a second.
        Q. I'm sorry, sir.
        The President. Yes.

    Reform of the Palestinian Authority

        Q. The Jordanian Foreign Minister is pressing for a detailed work
    plan for a Middle East peace accord. Is this something that's worth
    pursuing?
        The President. Well, I think it's interesting. What's worth pursuing
    is a detailed plan toward achieving these objectives: a security force
    that exists to fight terror, not keep certain officials who haven't been
    able to deliver on the war against terror in office, a security force
    that will cooperate with people who care about achieving peace and will
    provide security, not only for the Palestinians but for the
    neighborhood; secondly, progress toward the writing of a constitution,
    which will enable a state to evolve that is--that will be at peace with
    its neighbor. These institutions, by the way, are incredibly important
    to--because it's--peace is bigger than an individual. There needs to be
    institutions in place that last longer than a particular individual.
        And the Palestinians--the voice of the Palestinians, those who
    desire peace, needs to be heard. And so reform of these institutions are
    an incredible part of achieving what I believe His Majesty wants, which is two states living side by side in peace.
    Eventually there will be a peace conference, but there needs to be steps
    leading up to the peace conference, where all of us do our jobs about
    putting those institutions in place that will lead to peace, so that we
    all have confidence.
        Listen, one of the things that we care deeply about is the plight of
    the Palestinian family and Palestinian people. These people live in
    squalor, and they're poor, and they're downtrodden. And there's nothing
    more that we'd like to do is to work with our friends to provide
    humanitarian assistance, a strong package of aid to help these poor
    people that have, frankly, been used as pawns in the peace process over
    the decades.
        However, it's so important before we spend money that we're
    confident the money is not going to be stolen, that it be--that the
    anti-corruption reforms be in place. So these are all steps necessary,
    Steve [Steve Holland, Reuters], to get to where we want to get.
        Yes, Dick [Richard Keil, Bloomberg News].

    Consumer Confidence/National Economy

        Q. Mr. President, are you concerned at all that consumer confidence,
    which came in at kind of a low number yesterday, is a harbinger of
    things to come, particularly as people watch their stock portfolios
    erode and vanish? Will this make them less likely

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    to spend and put more pressure on the recovery?
        The President. I think--look, let me just give you my own consumer
    confidence index. I am positive about the--our economy. I feel very
    optimistic about it, because I look at the facts. And the facts are that
    inflation is low; interest rates low; productivity is high. We're going
    to get a trade bill which will help, presuming the Senate acts this
    week. I feel strongly that they're--that having--now it turns out,
    having been through three quarters of negative growth, when I first came
    into office, we've had three quarters of positive growth. I think that's
    the right trend, Dick.
         So I'm optimistic about this, and I think when the American people
    take a look at the facts and are confident about those facts, like I am,
    they will--they're going to realize we've got a bright future ahead of
    us. And I am upbeat. And I think most of the people around this table
    are upbeat about the prospects for people being able to find work.
        Thank you all.

    Note: The President spoke at 11:34 a.m. in the Cabinet Room at the White
    House. During the exchange, a reporter referred to Minister of Foreign
    Affairs Marwan Muasher of Jordan.