    [Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States: George W. Bush (2005, Book I)]
    [April 5, 2005]
    [Pages 566-568]
    [From the U.S. Government Publishing Office www.gpo.gov]

    Remarks Following a Cabinet Meeting and an Exchange With Reporters
    April 5, 2005

        The President. Just concluded our second Cabinet meeting of the
    second term. I want to thank my Cabinet officials for doing such a fine
    job. I appreciate your hard work, and thank you for your dedication to
    the country.
        Tomorrow I will be leaving for Rome, leading a delegation to attend
    the services for His Holiness Pope John Paul II. What a great man. It will be my honor to represent our
    country at a ceremony marking a remarkable life, a person who stood for
    freedom and human dignity.
        I also urge the Congress to successfully conclude budget
    negotiations. The House passed a budget resolution; the Senate has
    passed a resolution. We look forward to working with the leadership to
    successfully conclude those negotiations. It's important we get a
    budget, a budget which will show the American people that we will spend
    their money wisely, a budget that shows that we know how to set
    priorities--winning the war on terror, protecting our homeland--a budget
    that says we can cut the deficit in half in 5 years, and a budget that
    will encourage economic growth and vitality.

        I appreciate the fact that it looks like that we're going to get a
    solid cap on discretionary spending, one that we agree with. It's also
    important for the Senators and the Members of the House of
    Representatives to understand that a good, solid budget that helps us
    meet objectives is one that deals with mandatory spending items. And
    we've presented some meaningful, realistic, commonsense reforms on the
    mandatory spending side.

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        And so, as Congress returns, I look forward to working with them to
    get a good, solid budget. It's important for the country.
        Now I'll answer a few questions. Jennifer [Jennifer Loven,
    Associated Press].

    Terrorist Attack at Abu Ghraib Prison in Iraq

        Q. Yes, sir. Al Qaida has claimed--[inaudible]--responsibility for
    the attack on Abu Ghraib prison. Is this a sign that they're becoming
    more sophisticated in Iraq?
        The President. No, I think it's a sign that they're still deadly,
    that these people will kill. They kill innocent life. Their strategy
    hasn't really changed. Their strategy has been one to kill as many
    innocent people as they possibly can, in the hopes that it shakes our
    confidence and shakes our will and, equally importantly, shakes the will
    and confidence of those brave souls who are helping lead this new
    country--or lead this new democracy.
        And we are--we're after them. And equally importantly, the Iraqi
    citizens are after them now. More and more citizens understand that
    these terrorists like Al Qaida and Zarqawi don't have their interests at heart. They don't believe in
    democracy, these killers. They believe in a society in which people
    aren't going to be free to practice their religion or free to speak in
    the public square.
        And so I think the American people ought to take heart to know that
    we have now more allies in defeating these few, and those allies are the
    Iraqi citizens. And perhaps the most notable step that the Iraqi
    citizens took toward complete defiance of the point of view of
    Zarqawi, who is an Al Qaida-type, was
    when they went to the polls.
        Adam [Adam Entous, Reuters].

    Israeli West Bank Settlements

        Q. Mr. President, Prime Minister Sharon has said he intends to
    expand the largest Jewish settlement in the West Bank. Other officials
    say no construction is imminent. Are you satisfied? And what will you
    tell Sharon when you see him, about the settlements?
        The President. Our position is very clear that the roadmap is
    important, and the roadmap calls for no expansion of the settlements.
    I'm optimistic we can achieve a peace in the Holy Land. I'm optimistic
    because I firmly believe that Ariel Sharon
    wants to have a peaceful partner, wants there to be a democracy in the
    Palestinian Territories, and I believe President Abbas wants the same thing. And there's a lot of hard
    work to be done, but we're making progress. And I look forward to
    meeting the Prime Minister in Crawford to continue to work with the
    parties to advance peace.
        Carl [Carl Cameron, FOX News].

    Federal Deficit/Strengthening Social Security

        Q. Thank you, Mr. President. You mentioned the deficit. Insofar as
    the deficit has been going up, can you talk about how that affects both
    the budget resolution talks on the Hill and what it does to your pitch
    for Social Security reform in terms of complicating the message and the
    criticism you've gotten, particularly from Democrats?
        The President. Well, one of the things that people must understand
    on Social Security is there is a huge unfunded liability of trillions of
    dollars. In other words, because baby boomers like me are getting ready
    to retire and we're living longer and we're getting greater benefits,
    there is a significant obligation by the Government. And the fundamental
    question is, will Congress have the will to take on this very important
    issue and solve this problem now, before that significant obligation
    becomes more significant?
        Now, we're dealing with the deficit by presenting a good, lean
    budget that sets priorities. I want to thank Josh Bolten of the OMB, and I want to thank all my Cabinet Secretaries
    for having worked with the OMB to deliver to Congress a budget that

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    will work on behalf of the American people. And now it's up to Congress.
    It's up to Congress to show the American people that we have the
    capacity to de-fund programs which don't work and fund programs which do
    work.
        And I'm looking forward to working with Members of both the House
    and the Senate. It's going to be an interesting set of negotiations. But
    we're firm in our belief that we can cut this deficit in half over a 5-
    year period of time, grow this economy, and meet our primary objective,
    which is defending America.
        Listen, thank you all very much.

    Note: The President spoke at 3:14 p.m. in the Cabinet Room at the White
    House. In his remarks, he referred to senior Al Qaida associate Abu
    Musab Al Zarqawi; Prime Minister Ariel Sharon of Israel; and President
    Mahmoud Abbas (Abu Mazen) of the Palestinian Authority. The Office of
    the Press Secretary also released a Spanish language transcript of these
    remarks.