[Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States: George W. Bush (2005, Book II)]
[October 7, 2005]
[Pages 1529-1531]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office www.gpo.gov]



Remarks Following Discussions With Prime Minister Ferenc 
Gyurcsany of Hungary and an Exchange With 
Reporters
October 7, 2005

    President Bush. We'll have opening statements, and we'll both take 
questions--two a side.
    Mr. Prime Minister, welcome. I thank you for coming. We have just 
had a very lengthy discussion, and it should be a lengthy discussion. 
After all, we're friends and allies. I appreciate very much your 
understanding of the importance of democracy and freedom. I want to 
thank you for your leadership.
    I am pleased with the economic progress that you've made. I say 
``pleased'' because there is a lot of U.S. investment in Hungary. People 
have chosen to invest in Hungary because it's a place that honors rule 
of law. It's got reasonable taxation and reasonable regulation. I'm not 
surprised that the country has got a good economic environment. After 
all, the Prime Minister is somebody who understands economics and 
business. And so congratulations on setting an environment that people--
in which people feel comfortable about investing.
    We talked about the world. And again, I want to thank Hungary for 
its contributions in Afghanistan and Iraq.
    The Prime Minister also brought up some issues of concern to the 
people of Hungary, one of which, of course, is visa policy. He 
understands that his job, when talking to the President, is to--is to 
say, ``The people of my country''--which he did--``are concerned about 
the visa policy.'' And I told him that we recognize that we need to move 
forward and work with our friend. We have set up a roadmap, a way 
forward, to make sure our visa policy works for the people of Hungary.
    Mr. Prime Minister, thank you for bringing up the issue. I assured 
him that I will continue to work with Secretary Rice to put a plan in 
place, to cooperate with Hungary, and to have a plan in place that is a 
fair and reasonable plan for the people of Hungary.
    All in all, I found it to be a great visit. The visit, by the way, 
started yesterday when his good wife and my 
wife visit--had a--had a strong visit. She laid 
the groundwork for this diplomacy that's being conducted today, and she 
did a great job. So welcome to you and your wife, here to America.
    Prime Minister Gyurcsany. Mr. President, ladies and gentlemen, let 
me use my mother tongue, mainly because I would like all the Hungarian 
people understand what I'm saying here in the Oval Office. Please 
understand, just--Hungarian sometimes is very hard.

[At this point, the Prime Minister continued his remarks in Hungarian, 
and they were translated by an interpreter.]

[[Page 1530]]

    So we came to the United States to strengthen our friendship and our 
ally. We came to emphasize once again that we understand that we have 
joint matters, joint affairs in this world to do. And maybe the two 
countries have different possibilities, but we have equal responsibility 
to sustain stability and peace in the world and to represent the case of 
democracy.
    Now in these matters, the United States and Hungary are not just 
allies but are also good, understanding friends. We did reinforce our 
former agreement about our presence in Iraq and Afghanistan. We did not 
introduce any new elements to that field.
    I think we also would like to see that besides security elements, 
the cooperation, the partnership between the United States and Hungary 
are more and more about business and good relations. And also, American 
investors, the largest American businesses, have played a key role in 
making sure that Hungary has reached a record high in terms of--
[inaudible]--capital influx over the past year.
    Many similarities and some differences between our two countries, 
but there is one thing where we are completely identical in our ideas. 
Both President Bush and myself want to make sure that our people in 
the--in the United States and in Hungary live in security, that they 
have peaceful lives, prosperity, democracy. And these are the key 
issues, really.
    Many thanks, Mr. President.
    President Bush. Thank you. Thanks for coming. A couple of questions.
    Jennifer [Jennifer Loven, Associated Press].

Associate Justice-Designate Harriet E. Miers

    Q. Thank you, sir. The criticism, from some conservatives, of 
Harriet Miers is continuing and getting rather sharp, as you know. Are 
you willing to rule out ever letting her nomination be withdrawn?
    President Bush. Harriet Miers is an extraordinary nominee. She is a 
very bright woman. She is a pioneer in the law in Texas. In other words, 
she was the first woman hire of her firm, first partner of the firm. 
She's the first head of the Texas Bar Association. I mean, she has got a 
record of accomplishment that is extraordinary, in my judgment. She is a 
woman of deep character and strength. She is--she didn't come from the 
bench, but so did--you know, a lot of other people didn't come from the 
bench when they were named for the Supreme Court. I would ask people to 
look at Byron White, for example, or Judge Rehnquist himself.
    And I'm confident she's going to be a Supreme Court judge who will 
not legislate from the bench and will strictly interpret the 
Constitution. I am incredibly proud of my friend being willing to take 
on this task. She's going to be a great judge.
    Q. So are you ruling it out, any withdrawal?
    President Bush. No, she is going to be on the bench. She'll be 
confirmed. And when she's on the bench, people will see a fantastic 
woman who is honest, open, humble, and capable of being a great Supreme 
Court judge.

Visa Issue

    Q. Have you set a deadline for the visa issue to be solved?
    Prime Minister Gyurcsany. We agreed on a roadmap which makes sure 
that Hungarian people can really perceive that it's easier and more 
equitable to have access to American visas. I could feel that Mr. 
President has a very clear understanding about why this is important for 
Hungarians. And I was completely sure that we will achieve the fastest 
possible progress which is allowed by legislative background and laws 
here in the United States.
    President Bush. Good answer. Steve [Steve Holland, Reuters].

[[Page 1531]]

Terrorist Threat Against New York City Subway System

    Q. How significant was the threat against New York yesterday, and 
did New York overreact?
    President Bush. I'm getting a little older, Steve, I can't hear you. 
[Laughter]
    Q. Sorry. Did New York City overreact to the threat yesterday? And 
how significant was that threat, and are there any suspects?
    President Bush. Well, our job is to gather intelligence and pass 
them on to local authorities. And they make the judgments necessary to 
respond. The level of cooperation between the Federal Government and the 
local government is getting better and better. And part of that level of 
cooperation is the ability to pass information on. And we did, and they 
responded.
    Q. So you don't think they overreacted?
    President Bush. I think they took the information that we gave and 
made the judgments they thought were necessary. And the American people 
have got to know that, one, that we're collecting information and 
sharing it with local authorities on a timely basis, and that's 
important.

50th Anniversary of the 1956 Hungarian Revolution

    Q. I would like to raise the question to President Bush as well, if, 
as far as you know, you've got an invitation from the Hungarian 
Government for next year for the 50th anniversary of the 1956 
revolution? So would you accept this invitation?
    Prime Minister Gyurcsany. We certainly spoke about the invitation; 
1956 is a huge achievement for the Hungarian nation. And the impact of 
that goes far beyond the borders of Hungary. We certainly want to make 
sure that our friends, friends of democracy are there next year in 
Hungary. Therefore, I extended an invitation to the President for next 
year to Hungary, and I'm completely certain that he would come. 
[Laughter]
    President Bush. Well, he did extend the invitation, and I appreciate 
the invitation, because 1956 means a lot to a lot of Americans. A lot of 
Americans came from Hungary to live here after the '56 incidents. They 
can trace their history to our country because of those--of what took 
place in Hungary. Plus, a lot of Americans followed the incidents in 
1956 and appreciated and respected the courage of folks who were willing 
to stand up for freedom and liberty.
    See, 1956 says to us, there are key moments in history when ordinary 
citizens are willing to defend the right for all to be free. And so it's 
an important event. I told the Prime Minister, I'm not my own scheduler. 
I will pass the word on how important this event is, and I will look 
very carefully at the invitation.
    Listen, thank you all. Mr. Prime Minister, thanks for coming. 
Appreciate it.

Note: The President spoke at 10:50 a.m. in the Oval Office at the White 
House. In his remarks, the President referred to Klara Dobrev, wife of 
Prime Minister Gyurcsany. Prime Minister Gyurcsany spoke partly in 
Hungarian, and those portions of his remarks were translated by an 
interpreter.