[Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States: George W. Bush (2006, Book II)]
[November 9, 2006]
[Pages 2069-2070]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office www.gpo.gov]



Remarks Following Discussions With President-Elect Felipe de Jesus 
Calderon Hinojosa of 
Mexico
November 9, 2006

    President Bush. It is my pleasure to have welcomed the President-
elect of Mexico here to the Oval Office. I have had a fascinating and 
important conversation. This is a man who won a very good election. I'm 
proud of the Mexican people for conducting an election that is--was open 
and honest. We've spent a lot of time talking about vital issues. I have 
made it very clear to the President-elect that Mexico is a priority of 
this administration.
    I know a fair amount about Mexico; after all, I was the Governor of 
Texas. I assured him that we will work very closely together. We talked 
about trade. We talked about mutual interests, fighting drugs, and we 
talked, of course, about migration. And I assured the President-elect 
that the words I said in the very Oval Office that we sit, about a 
comprehensive immigration vision, are words I still believe strongly.
    And so I want to welcome you here. I wish you all the best as you--
on your inauguration, on your big day. And I'm looking forward to 
working very closely with you.
    President-elect Calderon. Yes. Thank you, Mr. President.

[At this point, President-elect Calderon spoke in Spanish, and no 
translation was provided.]

    President Bush. Si, senor. Gracias.
    Did you understand that?
    Q. No.

[President-elect Calderon spoke in Spanish, and his remarks were 
translated by an interpreter as follows.]

    President-elect Calderon. President Bush and I had a very good 
conversation today. And we reaffirmed the purpose that we both had, 
which is to strengthen the bilateral relationship between Mexico and the 
United States even more.
    I expressed to President Bush my concern regarding the issue of 
migration. President Bush was very open to all the arguments that I have 
presented to him. And we both stressed the need to have a comprehensive 
vision with which we can move forward. This is, of course, an extremely 
important issue. It is not the only issue in our bilateral relationship.
    We want to foster our trade relationship, our economic relationship 
even more. We both understand that the only solution to many of the 
problems that we have is to create well-paid jobs in Mexico. And for 
that, we need even more investment. We will continue to show the 
importance of democracy, the importance of free trade, the importance of 
all of these issues that will make us an even stronger nation, which 
will also strengthen the bilateral relationship.
    And we were able to have a conversation between two people--two 
people who have very much in common. And we both look forward to a very 
constructive relationship in the future.
    President Bush. Gracias. Thank you.

Note: The President spoke at 2:31 p.m. in the Oval Office at the White 
House.

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