    [Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States: George W. Bush (2006, Book I)]
    [January 13, 2006]
    [Pages 74-75]
    [From the U.S. Government Publishing Office www.gpo.gov]

    Remarks Following a Meeting Business Leaders on Central American Relief
    and Reconstruction Efforts
    January 13, 2006

        I want to thank Secretary Rice and
    Ambassador Hughes for joining three of our
    Nation's most distinguished business leaders here at the White House to
    discuss a very important project, and that's raising money for those
    affected by the storms and natural disaster in Guatemala and Honduras.
        Ours is a Nation that when we see human suffering, we respond. And
    we responded at the governmental level, because we had our military help
    provide infrastructure and logistics and get supplies to people who were
    hurting. We helped through USAID. And now it's time for the private
    sector in our country to step up and support the efforts of those
    Guatemalans struggling to get their lives back together and those in
    Honduras doing the same thing.
        The fund that's going to be raised is made up of private donations.
    People can find out more about it on what's called--a web site called
    hurricaneaction.org. I think the site went up today, if I'm not
    mistaken. It's a place for people to come and access and to find out how
    they can join other Americans as to how to contribute. The money will go
    for things such as education of displaced families or infrastructure
    rebuilding, with a particular emphasis on reforestation or on microloans
    to help the economy get back on its feet in these countries.
        So I want to thank you all very much for coming. I appreciate your
    interest. Thank you for traveling down to the region to take an
    assessment of the needs. And most importantly, thanks for coming back
    and calling our citizens to action. Appreciate it.

    Note: The President spoke at 1:34 p.m. in the Oval Office at the White
    House. A tape

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    was not available for verification of the content of these remarks.