[Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States: George W. Bush (2005, Book I)]
[January 10, 2005]
[Pages 28-30]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office www.gpo.gov]



Remarks Following a Briefing on Indian Ocean Earthquake and Tsunamis 
Disaster Relief and an Exchange With Reporters
January 10, 2005

    The President. Mr. Secretary, welcome back. I want to thank 
Secretary Powell and Andrew Natsios and Mike Brown and Marc 
Grossman for taking the lead on behalf of 
our Government and the American people and providing relief for the 
victims of the tsunamis.
    The Secretary has given me a extensive 
briefing on what he has seen, on the unbelievable damage, particularly 
in Banda Aceh. He's also brought me up to date on the extraordinary 
efforts by the United States Government and the United States people, 
along with governments around the world, to provide much needed relief 
to those who've suffered. We're now entering a second phase of providing 
for rehabilitation to these affected societies as well as a 
reconstruction effort.
    And as the Secretary said yesterday, the 
Government of the United States is committed to helping the people who 
suffer. We're committed today, and we will be committed tomorrow. The 
outpouring of support from the citizens of our country has been more 
than heartening. It has been very strong. And I want to thank those who 
have felt like--felt the need to contribute directly to the relief 
efforts. I urge them to go to the usafreedomcorps.gov web site to make 
sure that their cash contributions are funneled to programs which are 
having the necessary effect of providing relief, eventually 
rehabilitation and reconstruction, to those who have suffered.
    And so, Mr. Secretary, I want to thank 
you. Andrew, I'm looking forward to going 
over to your headquarters to thank those NGOs who have been working hard 
as well as those in your agency who have worked so incredibly hard to 
show the compassion and decency of the American people during this time 
of extraordinary crisis.
    I'll answer a couple of questions. Jennifer [Jennifer Loven, 
Associated Press].

Indian Ocean Earthquake and Tsunamis Disaster Relief

    Q. Thank you, Mr. President. This long-term commitment by the United 
States to

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the Indian Ocean region--what specifically does that mean? Does it mean 
more dollars above the 350 million? What are you prepared to do?
    The President. Well, we'll see. I think the important thing is to 
make sure that, as one person noted the other day, that the dollars are 
demand-driven. In other words, the key is to provide immediate relief, 
which we are doing, and then to work with governments and the United 
Nations to assess the needs, the intermediate-term needs and the long-
term needs, to make sure the money that is available actually achieves a 
coordinated objective. And that's what we're in the process of doing.
    In other words, these men went in to make sure that the money that 
we had put up is being applied to provide necessary relief. And now 
we're in the process of helping to rehabilitate and reconstruct the 
societies. And they're beginning to focus--the demand is beginning to 
focus, particularly on the Banda Aceh region. That is the part of the 
world that is going to require the most intense effort by our--by the 
governments around the world.
    Rosey [James Rosen, FOX News].

Palestinian Presidential Elections

    Q. Sir, is there a lesson--is there a lesson in the Palestinian 
elections that the Iraqi people should see? And what is this 
administration going to do to build on this election in the Middle East 
region?
    The President. Well, first, I want to offer my congratulations to 
Mr. Abu Mazen. I look forward to 
talking with him at the appropriate time. I look forward to welcoming 
him here to Washington if he chooses to come here. I look forward to 
helping to make sure that the conference in London, a conference all 
aimed at helping the Palestinians develop the institutions necessary to 
support Abu Mazen's vision of a peaceful, active, vibrant state, to 
become reality. And so we are--this is a man who has been elected by 
what appears to be a good-sized vote. I'm heartened by the elections, 
and I'm also looking forward to the Iraqi elections on January the 30th.
    This is an extraordinary year, when you think about it. In the first 
month of a new year, there will be an election in the Palestinian 
territory and there will be an election in Iraq. Who could have possibly 
envisioned an election in Iraq at this point in history? And yet we're 
going to have an election. And I'm sure there are--a lot of people are 
incredibly excited about the thought of having an election in Iraq--
inside the Iraqi territory, except for a handful who want to stop 
democracy, because they understand what an election means.
    And so I'm--as a democrat, as a person who believes in democracy--a 
Republican democrat, I might add--as someone who believes that everybody 
has a right to live in a free society and everybody wants to live in a 
free society, the month of January 2005 is an extraordinary month.
    Steve [Steve Holland, Reuters].

Israeli and Palestinian Roles Following Elections

    Q. Are there any steps that Israel can take to help the Abbas 
position, any confidence-building measures? And Abbas called Israel the 
``Zionist enemy'' on the campaign trail. Was that rhetoric helpful?
    The President. I think Israel did help with the elections. I know 
the Secretary worked hard on making it clear 
to Israel that it was very important that voters in Jerusalem be allowed 
to have access to the polls. And the initial reports we got back, and on 
the briefing that the Secretary gave me today about the initial reports 
on the election, was that there was better than good movement. I mean, 
it was better than we thought a month ago, that the Israelis did 
understand the need to have an election.
    I think it's going to be very important for Israel to fulfill its 
obligation on the withdrawal from the territories that they have pledged 
to withdraw from. It is essential that Israel keep a vision of two 
states,

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living side by side in peace, and that as the Palestinians begin to 
develop the institutions of a state, that the Israeli Government support 
the development of those institutions and recognize that it is essential 
that there be a viable economy, that there be a viable health care 
system, that people be allowed to start building a society that meets 
their hopes and needs. And Israel can play and must play an important 
part of the development of a Palestinian state.
    At the same time, it's essential that the Palestinian leadership 
consolidate security forces, so that they can fight off those few who 
still have the desire to destroy Israel as a part of their philosophy 
and those few who fear there to be a free vote amongst the Palestinian 
people.
    Thank you all.

Note: The President spoke at 10:20 a.m. in the Oval Office at the White 
House. In his remarks, he referred to President-elect Mahmoud Abbas (Abu 
Mazen) of the Palestinian Authority. The Office of the Press Secretary 
also released a Spanish language transcript of these remarks.