    [Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States: George W. Bush (2002, Book II)]
    [September 24, 2002]
    [Pages 1646-1649]
    [From the U.S. Government Publishing Office www.gpo.gov]

    Remarks Following a Cabinet Meeting and an Exchange With Reporters
    September 24, 2002

        The President. Thanks for coming. We just had a very productive
    Cabinet meeting. We realize there's little time left in--before the
    Senate and the House goes home, but we're optimistic a lot can get done
    between now and then. Congress must act now to pass a resolution which
    will hold Saddam Hussein to account for a decade of defiance.
        It's time to get a homeland security bill done, one which will allow
    this President and this administration, and future Presidents--give us
    the tools necessary to protect the homeland. And we're working as hard
    as we can with Phil Gramm and Zell Miller to get this bill moving. It's a good bill. It's a bill
    that both Republicans and Democrats can and should support.
        My message, of course, is that--to the Senators up here that are
    more interested in special interests--you better pay attention to the
    overall interests of protecting the American people.

    [[Page 1647]]

        We can get budget going. I need a defense bill. The Senate needs to
    get and the House needs to get their differences reconciled and get a
    defense bill to my desk before they go home. That's a very important
    signal to send. And at the same time, since there is no budget in the
    Senate, they've got to be mindful of overspending, very important for
    those up there who keep talking about budget--balanced budget and all
    that--to not overspend. If they're truly that concerned about the
    deficit, then one way they can help is to be fiscally sound with the
    people's money.
        We talked about the need to get pension reform and an energy bill,
    terrorism insurance. There's time to get all this done, and we look
    forward to working with the Members of Congress to get it done.
        I'll answer a couple of questions, starting with Fournier [Ron
    Fournier] of the AP.

    British Dossier on Iraq/Al Gore

        Q. Thank you, Mr. President. Can I have your reaction to two recent
    assessments on the situation in Iraq? First, Tony Blair said today that
    Saddam has tried to acquire significant quantities of uranium and can
    quickly deploy chemical and biological weapons. But there seems to be
    little new information in the dossier. Secondly, former Vice President
    Al Gore----
        The President. That might explain why.
        Q. Pardon me, sir?
        The President. Explain why he didn't put new
    information--to protect sources. Go ahead.
        Q. If you could explain why, I'd appreciate it. And secondly, Vice
    President Al Gore----
        The President. That's right, I forgot our different roles.
    [Laughter]
        Q. I couldn't even get on the ballot. [Laughter]
        The President. Did that have something to do with the background
    check? [Laughter]
        Q. When I have something on that, I'll let you know, sir. [Laughter]
        The Vice President yesterday said that you've managed to replace the
    world's sympathy on Iraq with fear, anxiety, and uncertainty. And you're
    using the issue to steer attention away from the inability to get Usama
    bin Laden.
        The President. I'm confident that a lot of Democrats here in
    Washington, DC, understand that Saddam is a
    true threat to America. And I look forward to working with them to get a
    strong resolution passed.
        Prime Minister Blair, first of all, is a very
    strong leader, and I admire his willingness to tell the truth and to
    lead. Secondly, he has--continues to make the case, like we make the
    case, that Saddam Hussein is a threat to
    peace, that for 11 years he has deceived the world. For 11 years he's
    ignored the United Nations, and for 11 years he has stockpiled weapons.
    And we shouldn't deceive ourselves about this man. He has poisoned his
    people before. He has poisoned his neighborhood. He is willing to use
    weapons of mass destruction. And the Prime Minister continues to make
    the case, and so will I.
        And I again call for the United Nations to pass a strong resolution
    holding this man to account. And if they're
    unable to do so, the United States and our friends will act, because we
    believe in peace. We want to keep the peace. We don't trust this man,
    and that's what the Blair report showed today.
        The reason why it wasn't specific is because--I understand why--
    he's not going to reveal sources and methods
    of collection of sensitive information. Those sources and methods may
    be--will be used later on, I'm confident, as we gather more information
    about how this man has deceived the world.
        Holland [Steve Holland, Reuters]. Yes. Sorry. Excuse me. Go ahead.
        Q. Sir, do you want to specifically respond, please, to Al Gore,
    instead of just generally about Democrats? What did you think about
    his----

    [[Page 1648]]

        The President. I just responded. I mean, there's a lot of Democrats
    in Washington, DC, who understand that Saddam Hussein is a true threat and that we must hold him to account.
    And I believe you'll see, as we work to get a strong resolution out of
    the Congress, that a lot of Democrats are willing to take the lead when
    it comes to keeping the peace.

    Situation in the Middle East

        Q. Sir, Arab leaders are warning the terrorism coalition and your
    efforts in Iraq are at risk because of the Arafat siege. Why didn't U.S.
    support last night's U.N. resolution, and what can you say to get Israel
    to end the siege?
        The President. What we do support is this, Steve--and our abstention
    should have sent a message that we hope that all parties stay on the
    path to peace. And I laid out what the path to peace--what the path to
    peace was here at the--in the Rose Garden. First of all, we all have got
    to fight terror. But as we fight terror, particularly in the Middle
    East, they've got to build the institution necessary for a Palestinian
    state to emerge, that we've got to promote the leadership that is
    willing to condemn terror and, at the same time, work toward the
    embetterment of the lives of the Palestinian people. There are a lot of
    suffering people there, and we've got to help end the suffering.
        And I thought the actions the Israelis take--the Israelis took were
    not helpful in terms of the establishment and development of the
    institutions necessary for a Palestinian state to emerge. We will
    continue to work with all parties in the region, Israel and everybody
    else who wants to fight off terror. We'll do that.
        In order for there to be peace, we must battle terror. But at the
    same time, we must have a hopeful response. And the most hopeful
    response of all for the Palestinian people is for--to work for a state
    to emerge. And that is possible. I believe strongly it can happen. I
    believe it's--I believe in peace in the Middle East. And I would urge
    all governments to work toward that peace.
        And we're making progress, and that's what's important for the world
    to know. We're making progress on the security front. We're making
    progress on the political reform front. We're making progress to make it
    clear that if there is to be a peaceful settlement, that the
    Palestinians must be given the opportunity to bring forth leadership
    which is willing to work toward peace. And it was not helpful what
    happened recently.
        Dick [Richard Keil, Bloomberg News].

    National Economy

        Q. Mr. President, we haven't asked you about the economy in quite
    some time. Consumer confidence numbers out today--not real good. Later
    this month, lots of Americans are going to receive their 401(k)
    statements, many of them probably cringing about what they're going to
    see in there. Do you feel like the economy is on the right track, that
    the stock market can mount any kind of a recovery in coming months? And
    if you are optimistic, what are your reasons for your optimism?
        The President. Yes. Well, I'm optimistic because, one, I'm
    optimistic about America in general. I mean, the American people are
    resilient; they're strong. We've got the best workers in the world.
    Inflation is down. Interest rates are low. So when you combine the
    productivity of the American people with low interest rates and low
    inflation, those are the ingredients for growth.
        But there's more to do. That's why we need a terrorism insurance
    bill. We need to get our hardhats working again. We need to make the tax
    cuts permanent so that entrepreneurs and small businesses have got
    certainty in the Tax Code. We need to make sure Congress doesn't
    overspend. If Congress overspends, it will send a chilling signal to
    markets. And so there are things that Congress and the administration

    [[Page 1649]]

    can do, working together to make sure people work.
        But I'm an optimist. I'm optimistic because this is America; that's
    what makes me optimistic. The entrepreneurial spirit is strong, and
    we're really good at a lot of things we do.
        But no question that, you know, that things changed, I mean, from
    the boom days. The market started to decline in March of 2000. That's
    when it peaked. The sellers outnumbered the buyers starting in March of
    2000. And then in the summer of 2000, the economy began to slow down,
    people began to see a serious slowdown. And then we came into office,
    and we had three quarters of negative growth. That's called a recession.
        And we're dealing with it. We're dealing with a sound--fiscal
    policies, starting with letting people have more of their own money.
    See, the tax cut was actually necessary, a necessary part of economic
    recovery. And there are some up here in Washington, DC, who would like
    to raise the taxes on the people. And that's just--that's bad economics;
    that's bad policy. People up here want to stop the reduction in income
    taxes for the American people. That's bad policy in the face of an
    economic slowdown.
        So you bet I'm optimistic. But I understand we've got a lot of work
    to do. And we will--we will continue to work hard to make sure that
    people can find work.
        Thank you all.

    Note: The President spoke at 11 a.m. in the Cabinet Room at the White
    House. In his remarks, he referred to President Saddam Hussein of Iraq;
    and Prime Minister Tony Blair of the United Kingdom. A reporter referred
    to Usama bin Laden, leader of the Al Qaida terrorist organization, and
    Chairman Yasser Arafat of the Palestinian Authority.