[Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States: George W. Bush (2007, Book I)]
[May 8, 2007]
[Pages 545-546]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office www.gpo.gov]



Remarks Following a Meeting With President Rene Garcia Preval of Haiti
May 8, 2007

    President Bush. I appreciate very much the President of Haiti 
joining us here in the Oval Office. Mr. President, welcome. I thank you 
for your courage. I thank you for having one of the toughest jobs in the 
world, and that is to bring prosperity and security to your country.
    While there is still a lot of work to be done, there's progress 
being made on a variety of fronts. The security situation is improving 
somewhat, and the United States supports the U.N. mission in Haiti. The 
economy is improving, inflation is down, exports are up. Yet there's 
still a lot of work to be done. And, Mr. President, I praise your 
efforts on establishing rule of law and routing out corruption. And the 
United States wants to help you.
    The United States is proud to support the men and women of Haiti in 
a variety of ways. One among the most notable programs and one of which 
I'm particularly proud is our PEPFAR program, the program to help deal 
with HIV/AIDS. The President mentioned other ways that we can help in 
fighting drugs, drug traffickers. I was particularly pleased that he 
brought up the idea of helping the education system in Haiti. And I have 
instructed Secretary Rice, along with our 
Ambassador, to work with the Government, 
see if we can help.
    And finally, the President was very concerned about the status of 
Haitians who are here in America. I assured him that I am working hard 
to get a comprehensive immigration bill passed out of the Congress this 
year. As a man who cares deeply about the people of Haiti, it's--I am 
pleased that he has expressed his concerns. And I think, Mr. President, 
with hard work and good will, we can get a bill that will satisfy your 
concerns.
    We welcome you. Thanks for coming.
    President Preval. I thank President Bush for his invitation. And 
this was a chance for me to describe to him our situation and the 
expectations of the Haitian people.
    The purpose of this mission was to explain the situation in Haiti, 
and President Bush noted with interest the points that were raised. I'm 
not going to come back to them right now, but I would like to thank the 
United States for the fraternal aid it has given Haiti. And I would 
particularly like to thank President Bush for the HOPE bill and for the 
efforts made for its reinforcing the judicial system, the police force, 
and also to help strengthen the Haitian State.
    I also took this chance to express my condolences to President Bush 
and to the American people for the tragedy that we've been through in 
Kansas. Each time someone suffers, we all suffer. And I would like to 
ask President Bush to transmit in my name and in the name of the Haitian 
people our condolences to the American people.
    Peace has been restored, and the conditions for investment are here. 
Haiti is awaiting American investors. We've opened a campaign to fight 
against corruption and contraband so that all can be on a level playing 
field and for conditions for competition to be right. Therefore, 
investors will not have to fear in terms of security or corruption, and 
they can come to Haiti, because what we need in Haiti are jobs.
    And I would also like to thank the President for his in--assistance 
in the fight against the plague, which is the drug trade. Drugs in Haiti 
represent a force, and Haiti alone cannot fight against the drug trade. 
It always weakens the state and corrupts the state. And it doesn't--the 
drug trade does not function well with a strong state or a healthy 
state. It tries to corrupt the police force; it tries to corrupt the 
judiciary and the executive. And drug trafficking thrives in a weak 
state. Drug traffickers

[[Page 546]]

invest in weakening and destabilizing the state. And I would like to 
thank the President who, through the DEA, is helping us in this effort 
against the plague of drugs.
    And I will end on a note of hope, because we have countrymen who are 
here illegally and are living in a difficult situation. The President 
has promised to work on an immigration bill that will help improve the 
lives of our countrymen here in the United States.
    Thank you.
    President Bush. Good job. Thank you, sir. Thank you.

Note: The President spoke at 4:45 p.m. in the Oval Office at the White 
House. In his remarks, he referred to U.S. Ambassador to Haiti Janet A. 
Sanderson. President Preval spoke in French, and his remarks were 
translated by an interpreter.