    [Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States: George W. Bush (2006, Book I)]
    [June 5, 2006]
    [Pages 1073-1074]
    [From the U.S. Government Publishing Office www.gpo.gov]

    Remarks Following Discussions With President Denis Sassou-
    Nguesso of the Republic of the Congo
    June 5, 2006

        President Bush. It's been my honor to welcome the President of the
    Congo here to the Oval Office. Mr. President, welcome. Thank you for
    coming. I welcome you not only as the President of your country but as a
    leader of the African Union.
        We had a very constructive discussion about a variety of issues. We
    talked about our common commitment to help end the genocide in Darfur. I
    appreciate the President's leadership in helping negotiate a peace
    agreement, and I appreciate his leadership in working with the United
    Nations so we can get the AU forces blue-helmeted as quickly as
    possible.
        And one of my interests, of course, is to join with African nations
    in combating HIV/AIDS, and I want to congratulate the President for the
    low infection rate in Congo. Thank you for your leadership on that
    issue.
        We've had a very good visit here, and I look forward to seeing you
    in St. Petersburg, Russia, where we can continue our discussions. So,
    welcome.
        President Sassou-Nguesso. I, first of all, thank you, Mr. President,
    and I want to say to everyone that I'm very happy and honored to be
    here, actually for the second time, because in 1990, President Bush--
    father of President Bush now--welcomed me to this house on a state
    visit. So I'm very happy to be here, Mr. President.
        Indeed, President Bush is absolutely right; we discussed a lot of
    issues that we're all interested in: peace, security, and not just in
    Africa, but beyond Africa, in the world. We talked about terrorism; we
    talked about the Iranian nuclear issue; we talked about the dialog
    that's about to open up, I hope, and that will bring good results to
    that problem.
        And on behalf of all of Africa, I thank President Bush for his
    commitment in fighting AIDS, the commitment of the United States in the
    fight against HIV/AIDS. As you know, we had a special meeting on AIDS at
    the United Nations General Assembly, and as you know also, Africa is the
    continent that suffers the most from this scourge.
        And we also talked about African development issues. We talked about
    the situation in the Gulf of Guinea and the Congo Basin, the NEPAD,
    Project for African Development in Africa. And I was happy to

    [[Page 1074]]

    see President Bush give his entire support to the development of Africa.
        And I'm, again, very happy with this very useful meeting that we had
    with President Bush here. And I'm very happy for the fact that we're
    going to see each other in St. Petersburg, because President Putin
    invited me to come to the G-8 summit as a representative for Africa.
        I thank President Bush for his very friendly and warm welcome. And
    I'm veryhappy to be here, back in the White House.

    Note: The President spoke at 9:51 a.m. in the Oval Office at the White
    House. President Sassou-Nguesso spoke in French, and his remarks were
    translated by an interpreter. President Sassou-Nguesso referred to
    President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia.