    [Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States: George W. Bush (2005, Book II)]
    [November 4, 2005]
    [Pages 1649-1652]
    [From the U.S. Government Publishing Office www.gpo.gov]

    Remarks at the Summit of the Americas and an Exchange With Reporters in
    Mar del Plata
    November 4, 2005

        The President. Thank you all for coming. I'll answer a couple of
    questions in a second. I do want to say how pleased I am to be here in
    Argentina, advancing an agenda that is based upon my belief and our
    country's belief that there are certain universal values.
        One of those values is that free societies are important to the
    progress of men and women, but free societies also require institutions
    that are solid and sound, institutions such as the right to worship
    freely, the right to write, say what you want in the press freely, the
    right to campaign and express your opinions freely. It's very important
    that there be solid rule of law and independent judiciary.
        And so I'm pleased to be down here. It's a good place to spend
    Laura's birthday, which is today. I don't know if
    you knew that--no, I know you didn't, okay--but anyway, don't bring it
    up when you see her. [Laughter]
        But it's--I just had a meeting earlier with the Central American
    countries--young democracies, struggling to succeed, making good
    progress toward making sure institutions are well-rooted. I say Central
    American, plus Dominican Republic. And we talked about how pleased we
    were that we got the free trade agreement through, at least through the
    United States Congress. Most of the countries have ratified it. We're
    looking forward to implementing the trade agreement.
        I had a good visit with President Kirchner. You know, Argentina is an amazing country. It's a vast
    land with a lot of natural resources. And he's done a very good job of
    helping to--helping this economy of theirs and their financial picture
    improve. And I congratulated him on it. We talked--well, you heard him,
    I'm not going to repeat what we talked about. We talked about a lot of
    subjects. It was a good, honest discussion.

    [[Page 1650]]

        And finally, I just met with our friends from the Andean nations.
    Good, young democracies, again struggling to fight narcotrafficking, and
    they were very interested in making sure that we didn't forget them and
    that we continued to pursue a free trade agreement. That was the main
    topic of discussion. All those countries recognize the importance of
    having a free trade agreement with the United States, and I assured them
    that our negotiators are negotiating in good faith and will continue to
    negotiate in good faith. That's what I've done so far today.
         Nedra [Nedra Pickler, Associated Press].

    CIA Employee's Identity Disclosure Investigation

        Q. Hi, Mr. President. Thank you. Did Karl Rove tell you the truth
    about his role in the CIA leak case? And do you owe the American people
    an apology for your administration's assertations that Karl Rove and
    Scooter Libby weren't involved?
        The President. We're going through a very serious investigation. And
    I will--I have told you before that I'm not going to discuss the
    investigation until it's completed. And we have got a--my obligation is
    to set an agenda, and I've done that. And the agenda is fighting and
    winning the war on terror and keeping the economic vitality and growth
    alive, dealing with the energy problem, nominating people to the Supreme
    Court that adhere to the philosophy that I can depend on--Judge
    Alito being such a person. I noticed
    today that they've got a date. I'm disappointed in the date but happy
    they do have a firm date for his confirmation hearing. We've got to
    recover from the hurricanes. So I've got a lot to do and will continue
    to focus on the people's business.
        Steve [Steve Holland, Reuters].
        Q. You've taken a beating in recent weeks, sir. What are you going
    to do for a fresh start? Are there going to be any staff changes? Would
    it help if the special prosecutor would wrap up his probe quickly?
        The President. Well, again, you're trying to get me to comment on
    the investigation, which I'm not going to do. And I hope you understand
    this. It's a serious investigation, and it's an important investigation,
    but it's not yet over.
        Again, I think it's important for the American people to know that I
    understand my job is to set clear goals and deal with the problems we
    face. Now, look, we've got an ongoing war on terror, and my
    administration is working with friends and allies to find these
    terrorists and bring them to justice before they strike us again. We're
    fighting the terrorists in Iraq. And as you know, we've got a two-
    pronged strategy, an important strategy, that one--on the one hand, has
    a political solution to it, on the other hand has a security solution to
    it. And we're working hard to achieve those objectives. We're laying
    what I have called the foundation for peace, because democratic nations
    don't war; democratic nations will be allies with each other in fighting
    off an ideology that is dark and grim in its vision and is willing to
    use murder as its tool.
        Elisabeth [Elisabeth Bumiller, New York Times].
        Q. Okay, this is not a question about the investigation, but it's
    about Karl.
        The President. It sounds like one, though.
        Q. Are there discussions in the White House about whether or not
    Karl will remain in his job?
        The President. Elisabeth, the investigation on Karl, as you know, is not complete. And therefore, I will not
    comment upon--about him and/or the investigation. Again, I understand
    the anxiety and angst by the press corps to talk about this. On the
    other hand, it is a serious investigation, and we take it seriously, and
    we're cooperating to the extent that the special prosecutor wants us to cooperate.

    [[Page 1651]]

    President's Agenda

        Q. The American people, though--sir, the American people, though,
    are beginning to question your honesty, according to the polls, 58
    percent. And your approval rating is at an alltime low, primarily
    because, it seems, of this investigation. They are wondering whether you
    can keep on track and whether to believe you, sir.
        The President. Well, no, I understand there is a preoccupation by
    polls by some. I think this may be--I think we've got--this is maybe the
    fourth or fifth consecutive semi-press conference--press conference or
    semi-press conference that I've been asked about polls. The way you earn
    credibility with the American people is to set a clear agenda that
    everybody can understand, an agenda that relates to their lives, and get
    the job done. And the agenda that I'm working on now is one that is
    important to the American people.
        First of all is to protect our country, is to understand that we're
    at war with a radical ideology that wants to inflict harm on America
    and, at the same time, use that harm they inflict to achieve territorial
    ambition. I've talked a lot recently about the Zawahiri letter to Zarqawi,
    which is a clear statement of purpose by these terrorists. It should be
    viewed for what it is, a open warning to the free world that this is a
    very vital war, and we need to win it. So I spend a lot of time talking
    about that--and more than talking about it, acting on it.
        Secondly, you know, our economy has shown amazing resilience in the
    face of natural disaster, as well as rising energy prices. But we've got
    to have policies in place that make it possible for the economy to
    continue to grow. You know, we're down here talking about trade. It's
    hard to trade with somebody if they're broke. And I've told our partners
    that we've got good economic growth now.
        But what we need to do is to work with Congress to make sure that we
    deal with the energy crisis. What can we do to deal with the energy
    crisis? Well, we can expand refinery capacity in the United States. I
    mean, it should be apparent to the Members of Congress that when the--
    Katrina hit, there was massive disruptions of our own capacity to make
    gasoline, which put us in a precarious position for the consumers, which
    would affect the economy, by the way. And so we'll be talking to
    Congress about a further energy initiative to make sure we've got
    economic growth. We've obviously got work to do with Katrina and Rita,
    the damage from those hurricanes.
        And I mentioned the Supreme Court. This is a very vital issue for
    the United States Senate and for the country. Sam Alito, Jr., is an incredibly intelligent, well-qualified
    person who should be on the Court. I told the leadership I thought it
    would be best to have the hearings before Christmas. They didn't feel
    like they could get the job done. I talked to Chairman Specter, and the reason why, at least he explained to me, that
    he couldn't get the hearings done before Christmas is because Alito had
    written so many opinions, and he wanted to make sure he had time to read
    them. And they made that decision. Fortunately, there is a firm date,
    and we look forward to working on that date.
        And finally, an issue that is of concern to the American people is
    the border--is border security. I signed an appropriations bill for
    border security and during that signature ceremony talked about our
    strategy to use technology and border patrol and wise policies to do our
    job, which is to prevent people from illegally--not only people but, by
    the way, contraband, guns and drugs--from coming into our country
    illegally. And so that's the agenda before us, and that's the agenda
    that I will continue to work on.
        One more. Yes, Matt [Matt Cooper, Time].

    [[Page 1652]]

    President Hugo Chavez of Venezuela

        Q. Mr. President, you're likely to cross paths with Venezuelan
    President Hugo Chavez at this summit. How should Americans think about
    this President, who has said many hostile things about you and your
    administration? Do you think of him as another Castro? And if you see
    him this afternoon, do you have any words for him?
        The President. Well, I will, of course, be polite. That's what the
    American people expect their President to do, is to be a polite person.
    And I will--if I run across him, I will do just that. My attitude toward
    any leader--toward leaders, and I judge leaders based upon their
    willingness to protect institutions that will--for a viable democratic
    society. And to the extent that any leader undermines the free press, we
    will speak out. To the extent that any leader makes it difficult to
    worship freely, we will make our positions known. To the extent that the
    judiciary is not an independent organization--in other words, to the
    extent that there's not proper checks and balances, we will express our
    positions.
        And there's ways to do so. We can do so through our embassies. We
    can do so in forums--not necessarily singling out a particular country
    or person but talking on the positive about how important it is to have
    checks and balances in society, about how important it is to have these
    institutions so that a single person cannot become the ruler of all
    people. I will remind people today at this important summit that--as we
    talk about poverty and minority rights, which is of concern to many
    countries here, that one--such concerns are our concerns, and that if
    you're interested in minority rights, the best way to allow minorities
    to have rights is in a democratic society, where the people actually
    make the decisions for government.
        And so it's a--I think this is a good forum and a good opportunity
    to express--for me to express our country's values. But they're not
    American values, I keep telling you, these are universal values that are
    true. That's why my meeting with President Kirchner was--one of the reasons it was so positive is because
    Argentina shares the same values that America shares. They've been
    through some difficult experiences and making sure that those values are
    rooted in their societies. Of course I've reminded others, we went
    through difficult experiences in the past. And we had a Constitution
    that said everybody is free, but they weren't.
        And so it's a--so what I'll search for in the world, as I think
    about world leaders, is that commitment, firm commitment to values and
    institutions that make democracy viable.
        Thank you all very much. Thanks.

    Note: The President spoke at 12:35 p.m. at the Sheraton Mar del Plata.
    In his remarks, he referred to President Nestor Kirchner of Argentina;
    Patrick J. Fitzgerald, U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of
    Illinois, and Department of Justice CIA leak investigation Special
    Prosecutor; Ayman Al-Zawahiri, founder of the Egyptian Islamic Jihad and
    senior Al Qaida associate; and senior Al Qaida associate Abu Musab Al
    Zarqawi.