    [Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States: George W. Bush (2005, Book II)]
    [December 15, 2005]
    [Pages 1858-1859]
    [From the U.S. Government Publishing Office www.gpo.gov]

    Remarks Following a Meeting With Iraqi Out-of-Country Voters
    December 15, 2005

        I've just had the really enjoyable experience of visiting with some
    Iraqi citizens who voted in the elections today. And you might notice,
    they've got their--got the little ink-stained fingers there.

        And, first of all, I was struck by how joyous they were to be able
    to vote for a Government, a permanent Government under a new
    Constitution. We take it for granted in America because we tend to--we
    vote quite often in this country. These good folks got to vote for the
    first time for a permanent Government.
        And there's a lot of joy, as far as I'm concerned, in seeing the
    Iraqi people accomplish this major milestone in the march to democracy.
    Millions of people voted. And I haven't seen all the tabulations of the
    vote, but we're certain that the turnout was significant and that the
    violence was down.
        And, first, I want to congratulate the Iraqi citizens for being
    courageous and--

    [[Page 1859]]

    in defying the terrorists and refusing to be cowed into not voting. I
    believe freedom is universal. I believe the Iraqi citizen cares just as
    much about freedom and living a free life as the American citizen does.
        Secondly, I want to thank our Embassy for doing such good work there
    and working with the Iraqi citizens to get this vote off. And I want to
    thank the international community for participating in these elections.
    This is a major step forward in achieving our objective, which is an
    ally--having a democratic Iraq, a country able to sustain itself and
    defend itself, a country that will be an ally in the war on terror, and
    a country which will send such a powerful example to others in the
    region, whether they live in Iran or Syria, for example.
        I've assured these good Iraqis citizens that the United States will
    stay with them and complete this job. They've expressed concern about
    listening to the commentary that we'll leave before the job is done;
    they don't have to worry. We're doing the right thing. And we've got
    partners in peace with the Iraqi citizens.
        This is a crucial part of the war on terror, as is the PATRIOT Act.
    The PATRIOT Act was passed 4 years ago. It gave our law enforcement the
    tools necessary to help protect the--America, the same tools that law
    enforcement uses, for example, against drug dealers. The PATRIOT Act is
    set to expire. The House of Representatives, recognizing the value of
    the PATRIOT Act, voted in a bipartisan way to extend the PATRIOT Act,
    and now there are Senators who are filibustering the PATRIOT Act. That
    is a bad decision for the security of the United States. I call upon the
    Senate to end the filibuster and to pass this important legislation so
    that we have the tools necessary to defend the United States of America
    in a time of war.
        I want to thank you all again for coming. May God bless your
    citizens. May God bless a free Iraq. I appreciate you being here.

    Note: The President spoke at 1:47 p.m. in the Oval Office at the White
    House.