    [Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States: George W. Bush (2005, Book II)]
    [September 22, 2005]
    [Pages 1476-1477]
    [From the U.S. Government Publishing Office www.gpo.gov]

    Remarks Following Discussions With King Abdullah II of Jordan
    September 22, 2005

        President Bush. Your Majesty, welcome back. We have just had a wide-
    ranging and fruitful discussion about the Middle East. I want to thank
    you very much for your vision of a peaceful world, one in which people
    are able to practice their religion freely and one in which women are
    empowered. Your Majesty is a leader, and the United States of America
    respects his leadership a lot.
        One of the things I asked His Majesty to do was to go to visit with
    Prime Minister Sharon and President
    Abbas, to help in the peace
    process there, and he's graciously agreed to go. I want to thank you,
    sir, for taking a leadership role. It will be very helpful to have your
    voice of reason there to talk to both leaders.

        Relations between Jordan and America are strong and important and
    vital. And again, I want to welcome you and thank you very much for your
    advice and counsel on a lot of different subjects.

    [[Page 1477]]

        King Abdullah. Thank you, Mr. President, always a pleasure to be
    back. And thank you very much for always the kind support that you've
    given me and all Jordanians.
        As you said so, we've had some very fruitful discussions on the
    peace process and Iraq. And I want to thank you again for the support
    that we have gotten from you for so many years on giving hope to
    Israelis and Palestinians. And I know that you want to find a solution
    that Israelis and Palestinians can live in peace and harmony, and I hope
    that, if we can help in that respect, that is a great honor for us.
        Thank you for allowing us to see you again, sir.
        President Bush. Thank you.

    Note: The President spoke at 1:48 p.m. in the Oval Office at the White
    House. In his remarks, he referred to Prime Minister Ariel Sharon of
    Israel; and President Mahmoud Abbas (Abu Mazen) of the Palestinian
    Authority.