[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

[[Page 1517]]

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.