[Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States: George W. Bush (2007, Book I)]
[March 12, 2007]
[Pages 292-300]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office www.gpo.gov]



The President's News Conference With President Oscar Berger 
Perdomo of Guatemala in Guatemala City
March 12, 2007

    President Berger. Distinguished members of the media, welcome, and 
thank you for honoring us with your presence. A very fruitful, 
interesting, and productive day with President Bush. Today's visit to 
the Department of Chimaltenango, Iximche, the contact that we were able 
to have with our people, the cultural legacy that we were able to 
witness together, and that the special meaning that it is together 
closer to the Guatemalan people, and hear from them of their history 
with President Bush and Mrs. Bush, has been very important today.
    After that very interesting visit, we met with teams of Presidents 
Bush and Berger, and evidently, on the table were extremely important 
topics, particularly as regards Guatemala. And we were able to discuss 
security and our efforts to fight drug trafficking. In that sense, 
President Bush expressed his full support for--expressed his support, 
also, for the Maya Jaguar plan that is already in operation, and has 
told us that he is going to make a regional proposal to fight drug 
trafficking, regionally, where he is inviting Mexico and the Central 
American countries to join the United States in that fight. Part of this 
strategy seeks to train the security bodies that are in charge of 
fighting drug trafficking and the intelligence that is going to surround 
these teams, and then be able to identify these sources in a permanent 
strategy--and I insist, regional strategy--which I think is key: We 
should no longer work in isolation; we should work jointly, that is, the 
countries that face this very serious problem.
    Likewise, we talked about the Millennium Challenge Account. And 
Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice told us that Guatemala continues to 
be among the countries that could be elected. In the coming 2 months, we 
are going to receive a response. We expect that it might be favorable 
for Guatemala.
    Today President Bush, who is participating in this productive 
effort, we were able to see how these Guatemalan workers produce the 
best vegetables in the world and have been able to enter a very 
important market, particularly the Central American market, the effort 
of whose integration President Bush is also aware of.
    Of course, President Bush's visit brings us closer to the most 
important and largest economic power and the largest market in the 
world, with many possibilities, through CAFTA, where we can have--give 
better access to the U.S. market to Guatemalan produce, where we 
highlighted snow peas and berries, chili peppers and tomatoes. We had a 
limitation, and there was--as of a couple of months, we are exporting 
significant amounts of Guatemalan produce. So we also mentioned support 
by U.S. Customs to control Guatemalan port and customs services. This 
gives us a better rating and makes it possible for us to exercise a more 
efficient trade effort.
    We've mentioned to President Bush, and we've invited the United 
States to become the partner of the Central American Economic 
Integration Bank--CABEI--one that he favored. And he is well aware of 
the fact that this bank and it's resources are used to build 
infrastructure, to promote investment, and to give support to 
governments as well.
    I believe that everyone will probably be waiting to hear from the--
about the topic of migrants. This is a topic that we discussed at 
greater length with President Bush during the trip this morning and 
during this afternoon's meeting. It is a concern for President Bush; it 
is a concern for the Guatemalans and the 13 million illegal

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aliens who are currently living in the United States.
    President Bush has confirmed that there are no express instructions 
to persecute Guatemalan illegal aliens; that is, somebody is acting 
beyond the scope of the law, he has to be brought before the law. But 
if--there is no intention to persecute undocumented workers. He has 
convinced us that the best proposal is the migration law reform. He 
extensively explained the efforts that the--what the efforts will need 
to be engaged by the Democratic groups and the Republican groups in the 
Senate, but that should not be an issue that should be on the agenda 
next year. That should be taken care of, and he expects that by August, 
we will have a reform for the immigration act, where a legal status will 
be considered for those who are already living there and regulations of 
how to become a legal worker in the United States.
    I would like to take this opportunity, President Bush, to thank you 
for your visit. Guatemala feels honored. We feel highly satisfied and 
deeply committed with this effort. We have been in the eyes and the 
minds of the entire world during these couple of hours that we have been 
sharing with you. And what is most important, I believe that for the 
people in the highlands of Guatemala today, there was a message of 
closeness, of rapport with President Bush, and of a hope. Together, we 
can achieve great things, as Mariano Canu said in Tecpan, where he 
showed us what he can do with his work team, how he can give added value 
to the wonderful vegetables of the highlands of Guatemala, to be able to 
send it to the great U.S. market.
    Once again, for President Berger, this has been a wonderful 
opportunity to have been able to share with Mrs. Bush and President 
Bush. And for Guatemala, it is a reason for pride. Once again, thank you 
very much for your visit.
    President Bush. Senor Presidente, thank you very much for your warm 
welcome. I agree with you; it's been a great day for Laura and me. And we really loved traveling with you and 
Wendy, and it's just a wonderful 
experience.
    I appreciate your kindness on this first official visit to your 
country. Relations between the United States and Guatemala are stronger 
than ever. We're friends, and that's important. Our countries are fellow 
democracies. We're partners in trade. We're allies in the cause of 
social justice. Today President Berger and I discussed some of the ways 
that the United States and Guatemala can continue to work together to 
build a more hopeful future for the people in our respective countries.
    Guatemala is a strong and vibrant democracy of more than 12 million 
people. President Berger understands the importance of building a 
government that is accountable to all its citizens, and I appreciate 
that commitment. I appreciate the steps you've taken to increase 
transparency, to reduce corruption, to modernize the civil service, and 
to help improve Guatemala's record on human rights. You've got strong 
leadership, Mr. President.
    In September, you elect a new President, who will face the task of 
building on your successes. The United States and the international 
community will support the people of Guatemala in holding free and fair 
elections.
    Your President and I both believe that a strong democracy requires 
security from drug lords and violent criminals. So we spent a lot of 
time talking about that today. I appreciate the fact that you have 
renewed the fight against the drug trade, that you've worked to 
eradicate opium poppy, and you fired hundreds of corrupt police 
officers. That's what leaders do; you find problems and you address them 
for the good of the people. We appreciate Guatemala's commitment to this 
work, and we'll continue to stand with you.
    President Berger is working with the United Nations to form an 
international commission to help investigate and prosecute organized 
crime in Guatemala, and

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the United States strongly supports this effort. Our countries are 
working together to fight transnational gangs. And the President was 
right: I suggested we think about this issue regionally. You've got to 
understand that these gangs are able to move throughout Central America 
and up through Mexico into our own country, and therefore, we've got to 
think regionally and act regionally.
    The first thing we can do is share information so we can help track 
down gang members, and we can increase communications; we can develop 
effective ways to protect children from gangs. There's a lot of work to 
be done, but it first starts with making a sincere commitment to 
addressing the problem.
    Improving education is an important goal for both our nations. We 
spent a lot of time today talking about education. And the President and 
First Lady of Guatemala are 
absolutely committed to extending education's reach beyond just the 
capital city. And I appreciate that commitment, Mr. President. More than 
40 percent of the population of this country is under 15 years old--it's 
an interesting statistic, isn't it?--which means that a more hopeful 
future depends on teaching the younger generation the skills necessary 
to be able to succeed in the 21st century.
    And we want to help. We've done some interesting work here, and the 
American people need to know that our commitment, our bilateral aid in 
Guatemala, goes toward helping meet education goals. It's in the 
interest of the United States that there be literate populations in our 
neighborhood. In the city, in the Department of Iximche, we established 
a project that helped raise the number of children who complete first 
grade from 51 percent to 71 percent. It's not a well-known program, but 
it worked. And this country of mine is committed to helping make these 
kind of programs successful, Mr. President.
    We also want to expand access to health care. Today, as the 
President mentioned, we went to Santa Cruz Balanya; it was a really 
interesting moment. The American people would have been incredibly proud 
of watching our military folks dispense with basic health care needs to 
people who needed help. And the people of Guatemala would be especially 
proud to have seen your military working side by side with our troops to 
do the same thing. There's a great mission of compassion, and it's 
making a difference to people's lives.
    Imagine not being able to see, and all of a sudden, somebody appears 
in your life, gives you an eye test, and fits you for glasses so you can 
see better. Or you have a perpetual toothache, and somebody shows up, in 
this case in military uniforms, and says, ``How can I help?'' It is in 
the interest of the United States to continue these kinds of missions, 
Mr. President.
    It is estimated that we have served more than 160,000 Guatemalans 
since 2001, providing health care, basic health care needs. And I was 
sharing with the President a little earlier that we're going to set up a 
health care training mission in Panama, so that we can train trainers, 
so that people in Guatemala can come and get just the basic skills 
necessary to take back to their towns and villages to be able to 
dispense with basic health care.
    The United States and Guatemala trade a lot, especially now that 
Guatemala has become a full member of CAFTA-DR. President Berger and I 
believe that CAFTA can spread opportunity, provide jobs, and help lift 
people out of poverty. We saw how trade can transform the small village 
of Chirijuyu, part of our experience in traveling with the President was 
to get outside the capital. It was really, really fun and really 
heartwarming. As a matter of fact, it was one of the great experiences 
of my Presidency. The town has grown from subsistence farming to selling 
high-value crops like lettuce and carrots and celery. As a matter of 
fact, I got to pack some lettuce. The President and I were hauling boxes

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of lettuce; we were putting them in the truck.
    I met Mariano Canu. See, I talked about 
this man, Mariano Canu, in my speech in Washington, DC. I'd never met 
him, but I was intrigued by his story about how a fellow had gone from 
being a subsistence farmer, just scratching out a living, barely making 
it, the father of six kids wondering whether or not they would have a 
future, and then he organized an organization of small farmers called 
Labradores Mayas. And they came together and became more efficient, and 
then they found markets. They found markets throughout Central America 
as a result of CAFTA, and into the United States as a result of CAFTA.
    And the guy is making a living. He's making 
more than a living; he's built a thriving enterprise. You should have 
seen the look on his face, about how proud he was to show to the 
President of his country and the President of the United States the 
great progress being made.
    As the President mentioned, I'm working with the United States 
Congress on comprehensive immigration reform. He asked me about an 
incident that took place up in Massachusetts the other day. I said, 
``Yes, we're going to enforce the laws in our country, just like you 
should enforce the laws in yours.'' It is against the law for somebody 
to hire somebody who is in our country illegally to work. And therefore, 
the deportations took place as a result of law enforcement enforcing the 
law. This wasn't--they didn't say, ``Oh, maybe there's Guatemalans 
there; let's go get them.'' That wasn't what happened, just so you know. 
You've got to understand that when we enforce the law, we do so in a 
fair and rational way. It just so happened that Guatemalans were working 
there illegally.
    He also mentioned to me that there's some conspiracies about how 
children are being left behind in Guatemala. No es la verdad. That's not 
the way America operates. We're a decent, compassionate country. Those 
are the kind of things we do not do. We believe in families, and we'll 
treat people with dignity. And the system needs to be fixed. And so we 
spent time talking about our strategy to get comprehensive immigration 
reform out of the Congress.
    As I told the President, it seems like to me, we've got to get this 
done by August. I hope so. I don't want to put a timetable on the 
legislative process. Timetables are generally meant to be broken. We 
don't believe in timetables, but I do believe in pressing hard and 
working with Democrats and Republicans to get it done, Mr. President. 
And we want there to be a rational way for people to come and do jobs 
Americans aren't doing. We don't want people to feel like they have to 
get stuffed into the back of a truck and pay exorbitant fees to coyotes 
to come and try to realize dreams. There's got to be a better system.
    And I told him the biggest problem in the debate is going to be what 
to do with the people who are already in our country illegally. And I 
explained to him, there will not be amnesty, automatic citizenship; it's 
just not going to happen. Nor is it feasible to try to kick everybody 
out of our country. That's not possible. And so I'm going to work with 
members of both parties to find a rational middle ground to have a 
comprehensive plan, Mr. President. It's important to you, but it's 
important to the United States of America to do this as well.
    We also talked about adoption. I don't know if my fellow citizens 
understand this, but there are a lot of U.S. families who adopt babies 
from Guatemala--thousands of babies. This year, it is very important for 
the United States and Guatemala to implement the Hague Convention on 
adoptions to help protect children and families during the adoption 
process. We found common ground on that issue. And I appreciate your 
strong stand, Mr. President, and I assured the President we would follow 
through ourselves.
    I can't thank you enough for your leadership. I appreciate the 
vision you have for

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your country. When you speak, you speak with passion, because you care 
deeply about the future of Guatemala, and you care deeply about the 
people of Guatemala. It's an honor to be with you. It's been a joyful 
trip for us. I'm looking forward to the dinner that you're hosting for 
Laura and me. I'm not going to talk too long 
because I might get too hungry. [Laughter] But thank you for your time.
    President Berger. Thank you, Mr. President. Very nice--[inaudible]. 
Thank you. Thank you, President Bush. I have here a note where I'm asked 
to make reference to the members of the media who are going to ask 
questions.
    Go ahead, Francisco.

Illegal Immigrants

    Q. President Bush, good afternoon. Mr. President, deportations 
continue. At the end of 2006, and only a week ago, this practice of 
deporting, of arresting immigrants and beginning a process of 
deportation, continued. In Guatemala, information of abuse of authority 
and lack of respect for the right of the Guatemalan immigrants has been 
disseminated. My question is, now that you are in Guatemala, is there a 
commitment from your country to the 13 million Guatemalans to cease 
these deportations since you expect to have a comprehensive immigration 
reform?
    President Bush. The commitment is, people will be treated with 
respect, but the United States will enforce our law. It's against the 
law to hire somebody who is in our country illegally, and we are a 
nation of law.
    The best way to solve the concerns of the citizens of Guatemala--
listen, I fully understand that the citizens of Guatemala are concerned 
about their relatives or friends who are in the United States. And I 
appreciate that. The best way to address the concerns inherent in your 
question is for me to work with Congress to get a comprehensive bill. 
And I'm optimistic we can do so. It's going to be tough work--don't get 
me wrong--but I believe we can get a comprehensive bill out of the 
Congress.
    And I think you'll find that--let me say, I certainly hope you'll 
find that people who are in the--that are interfacing with our 
Government are treated with respect and decency. That's certainly the 
instructions. Now, I'm sure they don't want to be sent home, but, 
nevertheless, we enforce laws. And I readily concede the system needs to 
be changed, and I hope I can convince the majority of both the House and 
the Senate to change the law in a rational way.
    Massimo [Massimo Calabresi, Time].

Congressional Action on Immigration Reform

    Q. Thank you, Mr. President. May I extend good wishes to your 
father's health.
    President Bush. Thank you.
    Q. You've spoken throughout this trip about the----
    President Bush. That's actually a kind gesture. Thank you.
    Q. You've spoken throughout the trip about the need for 
comprehensive immigration reform. It's been a big subject here in 
Guatemala City. Can you provide a little more detail, sir, if you would, 
about how you intend to overcome congressional opposition? There is 
opposition in both parties, specifically at the moment. A bill has been 
expected for some time now. You've been working with Senators, and your 
staff have been working with Senators. Is there a holdup? How are you 
tackling the problem at the moment, sir?
    President Bush. Yes. No, I appreciate that. He's referring to the 
process at this point in time, about why hadn't a consensus bill in the 
Senate began to emerge. And it's because this is a complicated issue 
that requires both parties learning to work together on this issue. I 
believe it is, first of all, incumbent to find, as best as possible, a 
coherent Republican position in the Senate. And that's where we're 
spending a lot of time right now. And then, as I

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understand it, Senator Kennedy will be 
carrying the bill on the Democrat side, and then once we can get a 
coherent Republican position, one that most Republicans are comfortable 
with, then we'll start working with the Senator.
    As you know full well that if we don't have enough consensus, 
nothing is going to move out of the Senate. And if nothing moves out of 
the Senate, nothing is going to happen in the House. And so therefore, 
the initial stages of getting a bill that meets objections is time 
consuming, but it is worth it and necessary in order for us to be able 
to address the concerns, many of which were expressed during the last 
debate on immigration reform.
    Now, I'm optimistic, I really am. I believe we can get something 
done, and I believe we're beginning to find consensus. I think there is 
pretty widespread consensus that there ought to be a temporary-worker 
plan that says, you can come legally to the United States to do a job 
Americans are not doing, for a period of time. That will help a lot of 
the Guatemalan citizens. It will mean somebody, first of all, doesn't 
have to sneak in the country in the first place and pay a coyote or buy 
forged documents or sleep in some sleazy place hiding from authorities 
until you're able to make destination. You'll be able to come in, in a 
rational way.
    Secondly, that once you're in the United States, if you have to come 
home to be with your family, you'll be able to do so in a legal way; in 
other words, you'll be able to come back and forth without fear. Now, 
you won't be able to--there will be a time limit on the amount of time, 
and that's part of the negotiations.
    The hard issue, as the President noted and I just talked about, was 
what to do with the people who've been in our country for more than a 
limited period of time. And that's a difficult issue, and it's one 
that's got a lot of politics in the country. The idea of giving someone 
automatic citizenship is just not acceptable. It's not acceptable to a 
lot of people in our country, and, Massimo, you understand that. And yet 
the fundamental question is, how do you design a system that doesn't 
raise those fears? And yes, obviously, he didn't like my answer. Oh, you 
did like it? Well, good. [Laughter]
    My dad had been ill, and he kindly 
brought greetings, for which I am grateful.

Legislative Agenda on Immigration Reform

    Q. Thank you, sir. That was very specific. That's a lot, though. Do 
you think you can get that done by August?
    President Bush. Well, I--you know, August is a date that I was 
musing about, and that date came to mind because I understand how 
difficult it can be coming down the stretch in the legislative session 
in a calendar year, because the appropriations bill--you're learning 
more about this than you probably want to know--but the appropriations 
bills begin to crowd out the calendar in the latter part of the year. 
And they can consume a lot of time.
    And therefore, my hope is--it's certainly not a promise, but my hope 
would be-- that we'd be able to get something out of the Senate and then 
into the House, and something--then they can work the conference in the 
fall. That would be the hope.
    And--but I'm not the person that sets the calendar. I'm just a 
simple member of the executive branch. [Laughter] It's the legislative 
branch that decides the calendar.
    And--go ahead.
    President Berger. I would like to say that, in fact, the Guatemalan 
people would have preferred a more clear and positive response, no more 
deportations, so to say. But, as the President has said, there is a 
legal framework that needs to be respected. But historically, I think 
that we have never been so close to finding a solution to this problem 
as now.
    I was very pleased to hear President Bush say that this is a problem 
that they

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also have. It is not only a problem for migrants, it is a problem for 
the American citizens who have--and a problem that has to be resolved. 
We have never before been as close as we are at this time of seeing a 
light at the end of the tunnel and, in a near future, in getting the 
undocumented status changed for 13 million illegal aliens who are living 
in the U.S.

Narcotics and Drug Trafficking/Death of Salvadoran Congressmen

    Q. Good afternoon, President Bush and President Berger. President 
Bush, in Guatemala, there is a very serious problem of drug trafficking. 
You talk about a regional strategy to tackle it. I would like to ask you 
to expand on this topic, also taking into account that the latest 
reports produced by the United States on Guatemala have not been very 
favorable. And also, the issue of drug trafficking has led to very 
serious security problems in Guatemala. The latest was the murder of 
three Salvadoran Congress Members. The U.S. is also participating in 
this investigation. How far will the U.S. cooperation go? Because there 
is also the request for a mini-Colombia Plan to face it.
    President Bush. Yes. The drug trafficking is very serious--a serious 
problem for the United States, and so--most of the drugs end up in the 
United States, which really says that we need to do a better job of 
convincing our citizens not to use drugs. If demand for the drugs went 
down, it could make it more difficult for the drug traffickers to find 
markets.
    Secondly, drug trafficking is a serious problem because 
narcotrafficking destabilizes areas. It's in our interests, in our 
country, to promote prosperity and peace and stability. Narcotraffickers 
promote instability and tensions, which make it hard for the general 
populous to become prosperous. It also turns out, narcotraffickers 
oftentimes leave behind the poison as they head to other markets; in 
other words, the local population can become deeply affected by drogas.
    And so this is a serious issue. We've had experience in dealing with 
one state that obviously had to deal with the potential of 
narcotraffickers undermining democracy, and that's Colombia. This is--in 
my judgment, the best way to deal with this problem and to convince 
others throughout our country that it makes a lot of sense to commit 
assets is to think regionally, because as the President mentioned, he 
said, one of the interesting dynamics that's taking place here is that 
people and goods are moving quite freely across borders. Well, if people 
and goods are moving quite freely, drug traffickers will be moving quite 
freely. And there's kind of almost a borderless domain for these people.
    And therefore, thinking regionally--and that includes the United 
States and Mexico and Central America. Now, I'll bring this up with 
President Calderon 
tomorrow, about how we can work constructively. A lot of this has to do 
with sharing of information; in other words, we pick up pretty good 
information at times. After all, the United States, oftentimes, is the 
endpoint, is the end of the distribution chain. And sometimes our DEA or 
folks can trace back movements of drugs, which might then be able to 
help the region be able to disrupt and affect.
    Look, I am a ``if they break the law, arrest them'' person. I think 
we ought to go find these people and bring them to justice. And it's 
tough, because the richer they become, the more lethal they become and 
the more dangerous they are to democracies. And that's why there needs 
to be a collaborative effort, the details of which will emerge as we 
continue to strategize. But step one is to share information.
    As to the Salvadorans, of course, I'm deeply concerned about their 
death, as is the President. And we have sent, I think, four FBI agents 
down here to help with forensics and to help track down the leads, so 
that wherever those killers may light,

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the authorities can go get them. And that's what we need to do.
    But this is a serious issue, and we spent a lot of time talking 
about it.
    Elaine [Elaine Quijano, Cable News Network].
    This will be your last question, Mr. President, and then we can 
start thinking about dinner, la cena. Que vamos a comer?
    President Berger. Tortillas.
    President Bush. Tortillas? Que bueno. [Laughter]
    President Berger. We have tortillas with guacamole and beans.
    President Bush. Con almuerzo, hoy.

Border Security/Immigration Reform/Trade

    Q. Thank you. President Bush, your decision to sign legislation 
authorizing construction of a fence along the U.S.-Mexico border was not 
viewed positively here in the region. How would you respond to critics 
who feel that that sent a message that Latin Americans are not welcome 
in the United States?
    And, President Berger, what are your thoughts on the idea of a 
fence, the U.S. border policy in regard to a fence?
    President Bush. I did sign legislation modernizing our border. It 
was more than just fence; it was infrastructure--kind of a novel 
infrastructure, like detection devices, berms. We've got a very long 
border, and it needs to be enforced. It needs to be enforced not only to 
stop coyotes, but it needs to be enforced to stop drugs. It needs to be 
enforced to stop potential terrorists, and it needs to be enforced to 
stop arms--by the way, arms that sometimes go the other way--I'm told. 
And so we've got to have border. That's what countries do; they enforce 
their borders.
    And so we modernized the border. It was more than just fence. And I 
understand it sent a signal that said, you're not welcome. Quite the 
contrary; people are welcome, but under the law. There are thousands of 
people in our country who are not citizens who are there legally. The 
question is, what do we do with people who have been there over years, 
the result of a law that isn't working well? And I've already given that 
answer.
    I will also explain that part of convincing people that a 
comprehensive plan can work is to assure the American people that we're 
doing our duty by enforcing law. In other words, a lot of citizens said, 
``You just don't care about whether or not we have a border that's 
secure.'' And the Congress responded by saying, ``Of course, we care.'' 
It is the first step toward a comprehensive bill. In other words, people 
in Congress were saying, ``Let us do something about border enforcement, 
and then let's go comprehensive.'' I hope that's what they're saying.
    In other words, that's what I'm pressing them to say. Okay, we've 
responded to the needs of border enforcement; there are people being 
sent back. As a matter of fact, I think it's interesting--and frankly, I 
didn't anticipate this--that the good press corps of Guatemala, 
reflecting the concerns of the Guatemalan people, and the President of 
Guatemala reflecting the concerns, asked me about deportations. I mean, 
that was a primary concern. It means that something is--the law is being 
enforced, is what that means.
    The American people need to be persuaded, Elaine, that the 
Government takes our responsibilities seriously, which then will make it 
easier to convince reluctant Members of Congress to come up with a 
comprehensive plan.
    Now I've always been for a comprehensive plan. You might remember, 
if you look back at some of my speeches--I know you didn't listen to any 
of them, but you might want to go back and read them. [Laughter] Well, 
that's not fair. Okay, anyway, but I've always felt it was important. 
And I learned firsthand how important it was as the Governor of Texas. I 
used to say, family values do not stop at the Rio Grande River and

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that people are coming to do jobs Americans are not doing because they 
want to feed their families. That's why I said that.
    By the way, the reason why trade is important in helping the 
programs like Labradores Mayas is that I also believe most citizens in 
Guatemala would rather find meaningful jobs at home instead of having to 
travel to a foreign land to work. And therefore, the more we can enhance 
prosperity in our neighborhood, the more we can encourage trade that 
actually yields jobs and stability, the less likely it is somebody who 
is worried about putting food on the table for their family will be 
coming to the United States.
    Anyway, I thank you for your interest on the topic, Mr. President. 
It's been a wonderful press conference. Thank you.
    President Berger. I would like to close with that topic: the 
American Dream for everyone. And we can have that American Dream in our 
own countries by promoting education, by improving infrastructure, by 
implementing CAFTA, which is a very interesting tool to produce and to 
export and also to attract investment and generate jobs. I would believe 
that we are firm along those lines and that the American Dream is going 
to be the dream for all the Americans living in the American Continent.
    Thank you very much.
    President Bush. Thank you all.

Note: The President's news conference began at 3:37 p.m. at the National 
Palace. In his remarks, he referred to Wendy Widmann de Berger, wife of 
President Berger; and President Felipe de Jesus Calderon Hinojosa of 
Mexico. President Berger and some reporters spoke in Spanish, and their 
remarks were translated by an interpreter.