[Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States: George W. Bush (2003, Book II)]
[November 13, 2003]
[Pages 1515-1517]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office www.gpo.gov]
[[Page 1515]]
Remarks Following a Meeting With Judicial Nominees and an Exchange With
Reporters
November 13, 2003
The President. I have the job of nominating people to serve on the
Federal benches. I have handled my duty in the right way by picking
superb men and women to serve our country as Federal judges, people of
integrity and honor, people of high intelligence, three of whom are with
me today. Carolyn Kuhl, Janice Brown, Priscilla Owen really represent the best of America--superb, superb
women.
And yet, these three women are being
denied a chance to serve on the bench because of ugly politics in the
United States Senate. These folks deserve an up-or-down vote on the
Senate floor. If they get an up-or-down vote on the Senate floor, they
will be confirmed because the majority of justices believe they should
serve. And yet a few Senators are playing politics. And it's wrong, and
it's shameful, and it's hurting the system.
I have told these three ladies I will stand
with them until the bitter end because they're the absolute right pick
for their respective positions. And the Senators who are playing
politics with their nominations are acting shamefully. And I want to
thank you all for being such stalwarts for justice and fairness and
decency, and I appreciate you standing here.
Carolyn Kuhl. Thank you, Mr. President.
The President. Let me answer a couple quick--please.
Iraq
Q. Mr. President, could you tell us your ideas about how you would
like to see--speed up the transfer of power in Iraq? Are you interested
in setting up, for example, an interim government before a constitution
is written?
The President. What I'm interested in doing is working with
Ambassador Bremer and the
Governing Council to work on a plan that will encourage the Iraqis to
assume more responsibility. Ambassador Bremer sat right here yesterday
and talked to me about the Iraqis' desire to be more involved in the
governance of their country. And that's a positive development because
actually that's what we want. We want the Iraqis to be more involved in
the governance of their country. And so Ambassador Bremer, with my
instructions, is going back to talk to the Governing Council to develop
a strategy. And he'll report back after he's consulted with the very
people that we want to assume more responsibility.
Yes.
Steel Tariffs
Q. Mr. President----
The President. You're in there, Stretch [David Gregory, NBC News].
Q. What's your timetable for deciding on whether to lift the steel
sanctions? And how far do you think the U.S. industry has gone now in
restructuring toward----
The President. Well, that's exactly what I'm reviewing now. Part of
the--the decision was based upon the International Trade Commission's
finding that our industry had been harmed, and therefore, I imposed some
tariffs in order to allow for a restructuring of the industry. I'm in
the process of reviewing the extent to which the industry has been
restructured. I'm going to make a decision within a reasonable period of
time.
Q. Mr. President?
The President. Yes, Stretch.
Q. Thank you, sir.
The President. Excuse me, I couldn't tell if you wanted to ask a
question or not today. [Laughter]
Iraq
Q. How worried----
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The President. Is this about the judges?
Q. Yes, right.
The President. Okay.
Q. I would--if I had time, I would. What are you prepared to do
about the fact and how worried are you about the fact that ordinary
Iraqis appear to be more irritated with the presence of U.S. troops and
more supportive of Iraqi insurgents?
The President. Well, first of all, the goal of the terrorists,
whether they be Ba'athists or mujahideen fighters or Al-Qaida-type
fighters, is to create terror and fear amongst average Iraqis, is to
create the conditions where people are just so fearful for their lives
that they cannot think positively about freedom. That's their goal.
Our goal, of course, is to continue to work with those Iraqi
citizens who understand that freedom is a precious commodity, those who
understand that there is a hopeful life possible in a part of the world
where a lot of hope has been diminished in the past. And that's the
struggle--that's the struggle. And we're going to prevail because, well,
one, we got a good strategy to deal with these killers. Two, I believe
by far the vast majority of Iraqis do understand the stakes and do want
their children to grow up in a peaceful environment and do want their
children going to a school and do want to be able to live a free life
that is prosperous. That's what I believe. And I--recently, I was told
by--for example, Bremer was
telling me about a survey done by an American firm in Baghdad, for
example, and it said that by far the vast majority of people understand
that if America were to leave and the terrorists were to prevail in
their desire to drive us out, the country would fall into chaos. And no
one wants that, and so I'm confident we'll prevail in the long run. And
I'm confident we're doing good work right now.
Yes.
Q. Mr. President, are you----
Judicial Nominations
The President. Do you have a followup on the judges?
Q. Yes, well, the Democrats say they have confirmed 98 percent of
your judges----
The President. Yes.
Q. ----and by focusing on the few that they are opposing, that
you're picking essentially an unfair fight.
The President. Well, our circuits--circuit courts remain, in some
cases, dangerously vacant. And here are three cases where people are
being treated unfairly. My question is, why won't they give these three ladies an up-or-down vote? Where's the justice?
These are eminently qualified people. These are three women who are--
represent the best of American jurisprudence. And why won't they let
them come to the floor? If they're so fair, bring them up to a vote--
today. Let these three nominees get onto the floor of the United States
Senate for an up-or-down vote, and then I will listen to whether or not
they're fair or not.
Yes, last question, then I've got to go.
President's Upcoming Visit to the United Kingdom
Q. Are you concerned, Mr. President, that the massive amount of
protesters that are going to be in London next week will undercut your
message of unity in Iraq?
The President. I am so pleased to be going to a country which says
that people are allowed to express their mind. That's fantastic. You
know, freedom is a beautiful thing. And the fact that people are willing
to come out and express themselves says I'm going to a great country.
And secondly, I don't expect everybody in the world to agree with
the positions I've taken. But certainly, those should agree with the
goals of the United States, which is peace and freedom. You see, we
believe that freedom is not America's gift to the world. We believe
freedom is the Almighty's gift to everybody in the world. We
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believe free societies are peaceful societies. We believe in human
justice and human dignity and human rights. We cry when we hear stories
about people being tortured, women being raped in rape rooms. We weep
when we discover mass graves of innocent Iraqis. We understand that
tyranny is not the form of government that will bring hope and justice.
And therefore, we're not only willing to defend our own security; we're
also willing to defend the rights of others.
Thank you.
Note: The President spoke at 8:30 a.m. in the Oval Office at the White
House, following a meeting with Carolyn B. Kuhl, nominee to be U.S.
Circuit Judge for the Ninth Circuit; Janice Brown, nominee to be U.S.
Circuit Judge for the District of Columbia Circuit; and Priscilla Owen,
nominee to be U.S. Circuit Judge for the Fifth Circuit. In his remarks,
he referred to L. Paul Bremer III, Presidential Envoy to Iraq.