    [Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States: George W. Bush (2007, Book I)]
    [January 16, 2007]
    [Pages 32-33]
    [From the U.S. Government Publishing Office www.gpo.gov]

    Remarks Following a Meeting With United Nations Secretary-General Ban
    Ki-moon
    January 16, 2007

        President Bush. Mr. Secretary-General, welcome. The last time I
    visited with you in this Oval Office, you were the Foreign Minister of
    an important country. Now you come representing the United Nations, and
    I welcome you. Thank you for your willingness to serve. Thank you for
    this very important discussion we just had. I appreciated so very much
    how you opened up the discussion with a strong commitment to democracy
    and freedom. And the United States is willing--wants to work with the
    United Nations to achieve a peace through the spread of freedom.
        And I want to thank you very much for the wise advice that you have
    given on a variety of issues. We talked about the Middle East, of
    course, and the importance of the Quartet. We talked about Darfur. Mr.
    Secretary-General, I want to thank you for your commitment to help the
    suffering people in Darfur, and I wish you all the best as you work hard
    to convince the President of
    the Sudan that it's in his interest, and in the world's interest, that
    he allow enhanced African Union peacekeepers in to provide peace and
    security for people who are suffering.
        I want to thank you very much, as well, for our discussions about
    Iran and North Korea. I wish you all the best in this important job. I
    admired the way you handled your previous job, and I'm confident you'll
    do a fine job now.
        Secretary-General Ban. Thank you very much, Mr. President. It's a
    great honor and privilege for me to visit the White House and meet with
    you, Mr. President, in my new capacity as Secretary-General of the
    United Nations. I feel it a great honor for me to serve this
    organization, our global body, United Nations. At the same time, I'm
    very much humbled by all the challenges which I have to deal with and we
    are facing in the 21st century.
        I would need strong participation and support of the United States
    in all activities of the United Nations. In fact, I believe that the
    United Nations and United States have shared objectives: peace and
    security, freedom, democracy. All these important goals and ideas are
    what the United States is also trying to achieve.
        I hope to work very closely with the U.S. Government, including Mr.
    President, in realizing and achieving this shared goal. As I start my
    new administration as Secretary-General, I'd like to have strong
    commitment and support from U.S. Government, and I'm committed to devote
    all my time and energy to the address--to address all these important
    issues--Middle East and Darfur, Lebanon and Somalia, North Korea,
    Millennium Development Goals, and the climate changes. All are global
    issues which require global, collective wisdom and effort.
        Thank you very much for this opportunity.
        President Bush. You're welcome, sir. Thank you.

    Note: The President spoke at 2 p.m. in the Oval Office at the White
    House. In his remarks, he referred to President Umar Hassan Ahmad al-
    Bashir of Sudan.

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