    [Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States: George W. Bush (2005, Book I)]
    [January 7, 2005]
    [Pages 16-19]
    [From the U.S. Government Publishing Office www.gpo.gov]

    Remarks on the Appointment of Connie Mack
    as Chairman and John B. Breaux as Vice
    Chairman of the President's Advisory Panel on Federal Tax Reform and an
    Exchange With Reporters
    January 7, 2005

        The President. I want to thank the Secretary of the Treasury, John
    Snow, for being here today. I also want to
    thank my friend Senator--Senators Connie Mack and John Breaux for
    agreeing to head a group of citizens who will be exploring ways to
    simplify the Tax Code. I believe this is an essential task for our
    country. It's a task that will treat our taxpayers more fairly. A simple
    code will make it easier on the taxpayers. But it's an important task in
    order to make sure the economic growth we are seeing in the United
    States continues forward.
        Today we had a very positive set of numbers to--come out to show
    that more and more Americans are finding work; 159,000 new jobs were
    added in December, and that doesn't include the revisions from previous
    months. And that's positive news. And

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    the fundamental question is how can the administration and the Congress
    continue to make changes so--to keep this economy growing, to make sure
    we're the best place in the world to do business.
        Today I'm going to Detroit to talk about legal reform. These fine,
    distinguished citizens will be taking a good, hard look at the Tax Code
    and coming up with recommendations as to how to make sure the Tax Code
    encourages economic vitality and growth. It seems like to me the Tax
    Code today discourages economic vitality and growth when you spend
    billions of hours filling out the forms. And so I want to thank you all
    for taking on this important job.
        I told the members--the former Senators and members of this
    committee that I am firm in my desire to get something done. We're going
    to take their work, and we'll go to the Congress and say, ``Let's work
    together to achieve something very constructive for the American
    people.'' And so thanks for taking this on.
        Senator Breaux. Glad to do it.
        The President. These are distinguished citizens of our country, and
    I'm proud you're here.
        Senator Breaux. Thank you.
        Senator Mack. Look forward to doing it.
        The President. Yes, you're doing a good job.
        Let me answer some questions. Hunt [Terence Hunt, Associated Press].

    Upcoming Iraqi Elections

        Q. Mr. President, former National Security Adviser Brent Scowcroft
    had a gloomy assessment about Iraq's elections. He said that they would
    probably deepen the conflict, increase divisions between the Shiite and
    Sunni Muslims, and that Iraq would slip into an incipient civil war. Do
    you share those concerns?
        The President. Quite the opposite. I think elections will be such an
    incredibly hopeful experience for the Iraqi people. Remember, these are
    people that lived in a society where, if they didn't toe the line of the
    leadership, they'd be tortured or killed or maimed. And all of a sudden,
    a new way of life is being introduced into Iraq, a chance for people to
    express their beliefs and their opinions. I believe democracies can take
    hold in parts of the world that have been condemned to tyranny. And I
    believe when democracies take hold, it leads to peace. That's been the
    proven example around the world. Democracies equal peace, and that's
    what we're trying to achieve in this administration.
        Steve Holland [Reuters].

    Threat of Terrorist Attacks During Upcoming Iraqi Elections

        Q. Yes, sir.
        The President. Yes, there you are.
        Q. General Metz says he can't guarantee that every Iraqi who wants
    to vote will be able to because of security. Can there be a legitimate
    election if not everybody is able to vote?
        The President. Fourteen of the eighteen Provinces appear to be
    relatively calm. Four of the eighteen Provinces are places where the
    terrorists are trying to stop people from voting. And the reason they're
    trying to stop people from voting is because they understand that
    democracies stand in the exact opposite to what they believe. These are
    people who want to try to impose their will on people. These are
    people--just like the Taliban, just like Usama bin Laden--who have this dim vision of the world that says,
    ``If you do not agree with us, then you're of no count.'' And they're
    trying to stop people from voting. And the job of the United States
    military is to do the best job we can to give every citizen the best
    chance they can to vote and to participate. Democracy is hard. Our own
    country has had a history of kind of a bumpy road toward democracy. And
    we'll do the very best we can, but what is important is that the Iraqi
    people for the first time have a chance to vote.

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        And it was hard leading up the Afghan elections, as you remember.
    There was a lot of talk about how the--somebody was going to get killed,
    and they couldn't vote. And sure enough, when people were given a
    chance, millions of people showed up, and the first voter was a woman in
    a country where women had been savaged by the former government run by
    the Taliban. So, look, I know it's hard, but it's hard for a reason. And
    the reason it's hard is because there are a handful of folks who fear
    freedom. And the job of the world that--that those of us in the world
    who desire for there to be peace is to be aggressive in the spread of
    freedom, is to stand with those brave citizens in Iraq who want to vote.
    And that's exactly what we will do.
        Go ahead. Followup?

    Spread of Democracy in the Middle East

        Q. Are you worried about Sunni participation? You were talking to
    President Mubarak and King Abdullah earlier in the week.
        The President. Well, I want everybody to vote. And I understand that
    parts of the Sunni area are being targeted by these killers. And their
    message is, ``If you vote, we'll kill you.'' But their real message is,
    is that, ``We can't stand democracy.'' And if the free world steps back
    and lets these people have their way, it will be, ``We can't stand
    democracy here,'' and then ``We can't democracy there.'' And we'll never
    address the root causes of terror and hatred, which is frustration
    caused by tyranny.
        This administration firmly believes that if people are given a right
    to express themselves in a ballot--in the ballot box and in the public
    square and through a free and open press, it will lead to peace. If we
    step back and allow for tyrannies to exist and people not to be free,
    the world our children will grow up in will be a hostile world. And this
    is a big moment for the Iraqi people.
        It wasn't all that long ago that a lot of people said, ``Iraqi
    people will never vote at all.'' I think it's constructive now we're
    beginning to worry about the size of the turnout. It's something I was
    worried about right here two months ago, the size of the turnout. But
    the positive, incredibly amazing development, when you take a step back
    and look at history, is that Iraqi citizens will actually be allowed to
    go vote. And they will elect an assembly. And I think one of the things,
    Steve, you ought to be looking at is the nature of the assembly, who
    gets elected. And that's what we're certainly going to be looking at
    because this assembly will then be deciding the constitution of the
    country of Iraq. And I look at the elections as a historical marker for
    our Iraq policy. It is an interesting point.
        And we look forward to working with the new Government that comes
    out of that--out of these elections.
        Yes, John [John Cochran, ABC News].

    Democratically Elected Government in Iraq

        Q. If I could follow that up, sir, a couple of things. You said,
    ``Look at the assembly.'' Are you concerned that maybe the Sunnis won't
    vote enough and that the Sunnis will not be well represented in the
    assembly? And are you concerned, as Secretary Rumsfeld is--he's sending
    this retired four-star general over--are you concerned about our
    military policy in Iraq that it's not doing enough to control the
    insurgents?
        The President. Look, I think what you're beginning to see is a--an
    assessment of how to make sure our policy dovetails with the elections
    and the post-election period. You see, our policy all along has been:
    We'll help these people get to the elections, and there will be
    elections. And then once the elections take place, we look forward to
    working with the newly constituted Government to help train Iraqis as
    fast as possible so they can defend themselves. See, part of a
    successful strategy is one that says there'll be elections and the
    political process will be going forward but one in which the Iraqis
    assume more and more responsibility for their own security. And

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    that's precisely why the assessment team is going to Iraq, to make sure
    that at this historic moment in the history of Iraq, there is a focused,
    determined strategy to help the new Government and the new and the--the
    new Government to stand up the forces necessary to defend themselves
    because ultimately the success in Iraq is going to be the willingness of
    the Iraqi citizens to fight for their own freedom.
        Q. So you're not dissatisfied?
        The President. I think we're making great progress. We're having
    elections on January the 30th. It's going to be an historic moment. I
    suspect if you were asking me questions 18 months ago and I said there
    was going to be elections in Iraq, you would have had trouble containing
    yourself from laughing out loud at the President. But here we are at
    this moment, and it's exciting times for the Iraqi people. And it's so
    exciting, there are some who are trying to intimidate people from going
    to the polls.
        And I appreciate--listen, our military is doing great work over
    there.
        Q. And the Sunnis?
        The President. Well, I talked to President Yawr the other day. He's a Sunni. I said, ``How's your
    campaign going?'' He said, ``It's going fine.'' He's out there trying to
    convince people to vote for him. There are Sunnis throughout the
    different tickets and slates, and we, of course, hope everybody votes.
    And our job is to try to provide as much security along with the Iraqis
    to give people a chance to express their will. And no doubt about it,
    there are people trying to kill people who want to vote. That's--and
    they make it clear, ``If you vote, we'll kill you.'' But it's very
    important to understand why they're doing that, John. They're doing that
    because the thought of a democracy in that part of the world is the most
    frightening thing to the terrorists. They cannot stand the thought of
    freedom in their midst. And there's a reason, because free societies are
    societies that actually listen to the will of the people. The people get
    to decide the course of their--of the history of their country, not a
    few tyrants who are willing to use brutality in order to set the
    direction of the country. And we're going to stand with those who love
    freedom. And we'll stand with those who want to vote.
        Thank you all very much.

    Note: The President spoke at 9:30 a.m. in the Oval Office at the White
    House. In his remarks, he referred to President Ghazi al-Ujayl al-Yawr
    of the Iraqi Interim Government. Reporters referred to Lt. Gen. Thomas
    F. Metz, USA, commander, Multi-National Corps--Iraq; President Hosni
    Mubarak of Egypt; and King Abdullah II of Jordan. A reporter referred to
    Gen. Gary E. Luck, USA (Ret.), head of a Department of Defense Iraqi
    security forces development assessment team. The Executive order of
    January 7 establishing the President's Advisory Panel on Federal Tax
    Reform is listed in Appendix D at the end of this volume.