[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

[[Page 75]]

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