    [Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States: George W. Bush (2008, Book I)]
    [May 6, 2008]
    [Pages 644-645]
    [From the U.S. Government Publishing Office www.gpo.gov]

    Remarks in a Discussion With President Martin Torrijos Espino of Panama
    May 6, 2008

        President Bush. It's been my pleasure to welcome my friend, the
    President of Panama. Mr. President, welcome back. It's good to see you,
    sir. I can't thank you enough for your friendship and your leadership.
    Under your leadership, relations between the United States and Panama
    are strong and healthy and vibrant.
        I'll never forget being your guest in your beautiful country and
    going to see the Panama Canal. It's a engineering marvel. And then when
    you shared with me your vision about the expansion of the Canal, I said,
    now here's a man who thinks big. And, in fact, not only do you think
    big, but you act. And the President has shared with me the expansion
    plans, the progress being made, and I congratulate you very much for
    that progress.
        Secondly, we talked about trade. The Panamanian free trade vote is a
    priority of this Government. It is--it should be a priority of the
    United States Congress. The President has heard a lot of talk about
    whether or not trade bills will move or not. And I assured him that we
    will do everything in our capacity to move the trade bills, not only the
    Panamanian bill but the Colombian bill and the Korean bill. It's in this
    country's interest, Mr. President. I want to thank you for going up to
    the Hill to work the issue.
        We talked about food prices. The President is deeply concerned about
    the cost of food for the citizens of his country. I expressed the same
    concerns. I told him that if there's any way that we can help with food
    shortages, we'll try to help. And--but I appreciate your compassion and
    corazon grande.
        And finally, we talked about drugs--drogas. And I assured him I
    understood that the drug issue is two way. One, that because too many of
    our citizens use drugs, it provides an avenue for the movement of drugs.
    And we've got to do a better job in America of reducing the demand for
    drugs. And we must also help our friends in the neighborhood deal with
    the suppliers of drugs. The President is committed to sharing
    intelligence and working closely--and so are we--working closely
    together to prevent drugs from being transshipped through Panama, which
    is bad for his country and bad for ours.
        And there's a bill, a funding issue up on Congress called the Merida
    project, that not only works with Mexico but also works with our Central
    American friends, including Panama. It's a strategy designed by experts
    on both sides. It's a strategy that we're convinced will work. And I ask
    Congress to pass the Merida project in whole, as written.
        And, Mr. President, I'm honored you're here, and I thank you again
    for coming.
        President Torrijos. Thank you, Mr. President.
        President Bush. Bueno hombre.
        President Torrijos. Thank you, Mr. President. I want to thank you
    for your interest in the region--in Latin America. You have not only
    studied the problems of Latin

    [[Page 645]]

    America, but you have visited Latin America. It's been part of your
    concern. And I want to thank you for your commitment on free trade and
    on the hopes that we can successfully conclude the--[inaudible]--trade
    that we have together.
        I want to thank you for the cooperation that we are experience in
    this difficult time regarding food prices and exchanging ideas, the
    projects that we have on the bilateral agenda--projects on education,
    projects on health--and of course, a mutual commitment of fighting drug
    trafficking in benefit of both countries and building the capacity of
    the region to be able to handle the problems related to drugs and crime.
        So thank you, President. It's been really a privilege, the
    friendship that Panama has with the United States. And we hope that this
    success story of Panama and the United States solving the issue of the
    Panama Canal, and now looking forward for the future of the canal
    expansion, it's something that we always keep in mind of how we can
    build a mutual future.
        President Bush. Thank you, sir. Gracias.
        President Torrijos. Thank you.
        President Bush. Yes. Thank you.

    Note: The President spoke at 3:07 p.m. in the Oval Office at the White
    House.