    [Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States: George W. Bush (2006, Book I)]
    [January 30, 2006]
    [Pages 143-145]
    [From the U.S. Government Publishing Office www.gpo.gov]

    Remarks Following a Cabinet Meeting and an Exchange With Reporters
    January 30, 2006

        The President. I want to thank the members of my Cabinet for being
    here. We just had a really good discussion about the year 2006. Tomorrow
    night I'm going to be speaking to the Congress, giving the country my
    State of the Union Address. I can't tell you how upbeat I am about our
    future, so long as we're willing to lead.
        We talked about how to make sure that America continues to spread
    the peace andto protect ourselves. I heard from the Secretary of
    Defense and Deputy Secretary of
    State about very positive initiatives,
    not only in the Middle East but in the Far East as well. We talked about
    how to make sure this economy of ours stays the strongest economy in the
    world and that we recognize we can't just sit back and hope for the
    best, that we've got to lead. And so we had a good discussion about
    matters

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    such as health care and energy and education, all of which I'll address
    tomorrow night.
        I'm looking forward to speaking to the country. We've got a lot to
    be proud of. We've got a lot of work to do. One of the things I will do
    is call for Congress and the executive branch to have a good, honest
    dialog but to speak candidly with each other, but to do so in a way that
    brings credit to the process. And I'll do my best to elevate the tone
    here in Washington, DC, so we can work together to achieve big things
    for the American people.
        I'll answer a couple of questions. Nedra Pickler [Associated Press].

    Iran

        Q. Thank you, Mr. President. The talks between Iran and the EU-3
    appear to be making little progress. A senior British official there
    said that they detect nothing new in their approach. What can be done
    now?
        The President. Well, obviously, one option is to--for the Perm 5 to
    work together to bring Iran to the U.N. Security Council. That's an
    option. And we're going to continue to work with our friends and allies
    to present a united front to the Iranians. And the message is, give up
    your nuclear weapons ambitions. And the good news is, most of the world
    recognizes that Iran, being the nontransparent society that it is, a
    Government that had violated IAEA rules, is one that cannot be trusted
    with technology that could enable it to develop a nuclear weapon. And so
    we're united in our goal to keep the Iranians from having a weapon, and
    we're working on the tactics necessary to continue putting a united
    front out.
        The other thing is that we want the people of Iran to be able to
    live in a free society. And so tomorrow night I am going to talk about
    this issue and make clear the policy of the United States.
        Patsy [Patricia Wilson, Reuters].

    Palestinian Elections/Hamas

        Q. Mr. President, Israeli officials are seeking an international
    boycott of a Palestinian Government that includes Hamas. Do you support
    this? And if so, isn't that punishing the Palestinian people for
    exercising the democratic rights that you've called for in the region?
        The President. The Hamas party has made it clear that they do not
    support the right of Israel to exist. And I have made it clear, so long
    as that's their policy, that we will not support a Palestinian
    Government made up of Hamas. We want to work with a government that is a
    partner in peace, not a government that is--whose declared intentions
    might be the destruction of Israel.
        Secondly, this new democracy that's emerging in the Palestinian
    Territories must understand that you can't have a political party that
    also has got a armed wing to it; that democracies yield peace. And so
    the second half of our message to Hamas is, get rid of your arms;
    disavow terrorism; work to bring what you promised to the people of the
    Palestinian Territories. Listen, these folks ran on the campaign,
    ``We're going to get rid of corruption,'' and that ``We're going to
    provide services to the people,'' and that's positive. But what isn't
    positive is that they've got parts of their platform that will make it
    impossible for them to be a peaceful partner.
        Thank you all very much.

    Note: The President spoke at 11:06 a.m. in the Cabinet Room at the White
    House.

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