[Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States: George W. Bush (2008, Book I)]
[April 17, 2008]
[Pages 511-519]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office www.gpo.gov]
The President's News Conference With Prime Minister Gordon Brown of the United Kingdom
April 17, 2008
President Bush. Thank you all. Mr. Prime Minister, welcome to the
Rose Garden. Glad you're here. It's a beautiful day. I'm--been a
pleasure to welcome a good friend to the Oval Office and had a good
discussion.
Appreciate our special relationship with Britain, and I believe that
the actions we've taken are making it stronger. We spent time talking
about the terrorists and extremists. I would remind my fellow citizens
that just days after the Prime Minister took office, his country was
attacked by murderers and extremists, and he handled the situation
brilliantly. Prime Minister Brown understands our enemies remain
determined to strike our countries and to kill our people. He and I
share a determination, a fierce determination that these evil men must
be stopped and that we can defeat their hateful ideology by the
spreading of liberty and freedom.
We're working together in Iraq. I want to--appreciate the sacrifice
of the British troops, their families, and the British people. During
the recent fighting in the Basra Province, our nations coordinated our
support for the Iraqi security forces as they took on extremists and
criminals. I was most thankful for the brilliance of the British
helicopter crews that fired under courage and helped evacuate wounded
Iraqi soldiers.
I talked to the Prime Minister about my meetings with General
Petraeus and Ambassador Crocker and why I made the decision I made about our troop
levels in Iraq. I appreciate the fact that the Prime Minister briefed me
on what the British commanders are saying about Iraq. The key thing
there is that we're working very closely together and that we're making
progress.
I also talked about Afghanistan with the Prime Minister. Appreciate
the 7,900 British troops that are serving bravely in that country. We
talked about the very successful NATO summit that we just concluded in
Romania. We talked about our commitment to see to it that we succeed in
Afghanistan.
Spent some time on Iran. Our position is clear: that we're going to
work together, along with other nations, to make it abundantly clear to
the Iranian regime that they must not have the capability of developing
a nuclear weapon.
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We talked about Zimbabwe, and I appreciate Gordon Brown's strong
position on that issue. And I appreciate the fact that he went to the
United Nations and made it abundantly clear that--which I feel as well,
which is, you can't have elections unless you're willing to put the
results out. What kind of election is it if you not let the will of the
people be known?
I appreciate those in the region who have spoken out on this issue.
Appreciate the fact that some in the region have spoken out against
violence. More leaders in the region need to speak out. And the United
Nations and the AU must play an active role in resolving the situation
in Zimbabwe.
We shared our deep concern about the people in Darfur. And I share
frustrations that the United Nations-AU peacekeeping force is slow in
arriving. I made the decision not to put our troops in there on the
expectation that the United Nations, along with the AU, could be
effective. And they haven't been as effective as they should be, and
we'll continue to work to help them.
We talked about our joint desire to train health care workers in
Ethiopia, Kenya, Mozambique, and Zambia, as well as our continued effort
to confront disease, whether it be malaria and HIV/AIDS.
And then, of course, we spent time on our economy--ies. [Laughter]
That would be two economies. We first spent some time on the global
financial markets. And then we spent time talking about what each of us
are doing in our respective countries to deal with our financial
circumstances.
We spent some time on trade. The worst signal we could send during
this global uncertainty is that the world is going to become more
protectionist and less willing to open up markets. And I want to thank
Gordon Brown for his strong belief that the Doha rounds ought to
proceed. I agree with you, sir, and believe we can make good progress
toward that end.
We talked about the climate change issue. I gave a speech right here
in the Rose Garden yesterday. I don't know whether any of our press
corps read it, but it was a far-reaching speech that talked about our
commitment to deal with the issue in such a way that we can develop
technologies without wrecking our economy. And it was in clear
recognition that unless countries like China and India are at the table,
any agreement is not going to work. And I assured the Prime Minister
that by the time the G-8 comes, we will work hard to make sure we can
reach an international consensus that will be effective.
All in all, we had a fabulous conversation. I'm looking forward to
dinner tonight. The Prime Minister is bringing his wife Sarah up here to the White House. And I'm--Laura and I are going to cook you up a meal. [Laughter] Well,
we'll eat one with you. [Laughter] Thanks for coming.
Prime Minister Brown. Thank you very much, sir. Mr. President, let
me first of all thank you for your warm welcome, for your hospitality,
and for your offer to cook the meal this evening. And let me thank you
most of all for your leadership. The world owes President George Bush a
huge debt of gratitude for leading the world in our determination to
root out terrorism and to ensure that there is no safe haven for
terrorism and no hiding place for terrorists.
It's my profound belief that over many decades, no international
partnership has served the world better than the special relationship
between our two countries, the United States and the United Kingdom. And
following our excellent meeting, I'm able to report that the bond
between our two countries is stronger than ever.
From the darkest days of the Second World War, when the strongest
transatlantic partnership was forged to defend freedom, to the
challenges we face together against terrorism in every part of the
world, our alliance will remain strong and steadfast in standing for
freedom and for justice. And we will continue to work together with
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the strenuous efforts we are making together in Iraq and Afghanistan.
Today we agreed our determination that in advance of the July G-8
meeting in Japan, where all the major economies will meet together, we
will do everything in our power to ensure economic stability and growth.
We should be vigilant in maintaining the proactive approach to monetary
and fiscal policy to enable our economies to resume their paths of
upward growth. We want all our international partners to do the same. To
ensure greater confidence in the financial system, all countries should
ensure the immediate implementation of the plans for transparency and
disclosure and risk management agreed by our finance ministers.
We agreed to work--and President Bush has just referred to this--for
an early world trade deal that will give new confidence to the
international economy at this time. An enhanced dialogue between oil
consumers and oil producers, with rising output from the oil-producing
countries, should help stabilize and then cut the price of oil, now at
over $110 a barrel.
We want to work with the World Bank and agricultural producers to
enhance food supply, tackle food shortages, and increase agricultural
production. And both Britain and America are taking action to help the
housing market for homeowners and those who want to buy their homes for
the first time.
President Bush and I also talked about and agreed new work programs
between our two governments on development. And let me acknowledge the
pioneering work of President Bush's administration in tackling on the
African continent HIV/AIDS and addressing the scandal of avoidable
deaths from malaria.
We agreed to work together, as President Bush has just said, to
increase the number of doctors, nurses, and midwives in Ethiopia, Kenya,
Mozambique, and Zambia, a down payment which, if extended to the whole
of Africa, would lead to 1\1/2\ million more health service--health care
workers.
At the same time, the professionalism and commitment of our brave
forces serving alongside America with determination in Iraq and
Afghanistan was a subject of much of our discussions. We praise the
commitment of the troops of both America and Britain and all who serve
in these two countries. And we believe that our program of overwatch in
Basra, in the south of Iraq, is making substantial progress. At the same
time, we've agreed at the NATO summit in Bucharest measures that we can
take so that we match the military effort in Afghanistan with proposals
that will enable economic and social development of that country.
America and Britain have the first and second largest number of forces
in both these countries, and we are determined on the success of our
missions.
We reiterated our common stand on Darfur, and we want to see talks
from the rebels and the Government working together. We reiterated our
common stand also on Burma, where it is important to repeat the call for
reconciliation. And on the situation in Zimbabwe, President Bush has
made a strong statement that I entirely endorse, calling for full
democratic rights of the Zimbabwean people to be respected, and that
elections that happen have got to be not only reported but be fair and
be seen to be fair in the interest of democracy, not just in Zimbabwe
but the reputation of democracy throughout Africa and the world.
We have repeated our common commitments in the fight against
terrorism and will continue to work together at every level to defeat
terrorism wherever it is. Iran continues to defy the will of the
international community. And we are agreed on the need to strengthen the
sanctions regime and ensure that these sanctions are effectively
implemented. I will be talking to my European colleagues in the next few
days about how we can move forward with both these issues throughout
Europe. And we
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want to extend measures to include investment in liquefied national gas.
We also discussed climate change, following President Bush's
announcement yesterday. And we agreed we must work internationally to
secure progress at the G-8 and towards a post-Kyoto deal on climate
change.
President, this is an ambitious agenda that we share together. It
can only be achieved by closer cooperation that will happen over these
next few months. I look forward to continuing to work with President
Bush and his administration in taking it forward. And thank you for your
warm welcome and hospitality.
President Bush. Yes, sir. We'll take two questions a side. Hunt.
Terry Hunt [Associated Press].
Military Operations in Iraq/2008 Presidential Election
Q. Thank you, Mr. President. You said last week that Iraq was not an
endless war, but others have called it an open-ended war and a war with
no end in sight. Do you agree with those descriptions?
And, Mr. Prime Minister, you met today with the three candidates who
want to succeed President Bush. Did you feel a special kinship with any
one of them? And do you think that the transatlantic relationship will
improve under the next President? Thank you.
President Bush. One of those three has a good
chance of winning. [Laughter] Look, I'm interested in succeeding in
Iraq. I mean, it's--this is a mission that is succeeding on the security
front, it's getting better on the economic front, and it's improving on
the political front.
And therefore, my statement has been, we'll have the troops there
necessary to succeed. It's--it hasn't been easy; it's been difficult.
It's taking longer than I anticipated, but it's worth it. A failure in
Iraq would embolden Al Qaida, would give Al Qaida a huge victory, enable
them to more likely establish safe haven in a wealthy country from which
to launch attacks against us.
And a failure in Iraq would send a message to Iran that the United
States and its allies were not intent upon making sure that they stay
within the borders of their country and stop promoting terrorism through
organizations like Hizballah. And they wouldn't take us seriously when
it came to stopping their desires to have a nuclear weapon. Failure in
Iraq would send a message to our friends: You can't count on America.
Success in Iraq will be a significant blow to both Al Qaida and
Iran's ambitions. And it's worth it, in my judgment, to succeed against
Al Qaida, the very country--the very group of people that attacked our
country and those who would like to do so again, even on a more massive
scale. And it's worth it to say to the theocrats in Iran that you must
reform and that we're going to work to prevent you from having a nuclear
weapon.
And so when it comes to troop levels and duration, my question is,
what does it take to win? And General Petraeus thinks we can win with fewer troops. That's why I accepted
the recommendation. General Petraeus and Ryan Crocker know that the troops were necessary to provide stability
for the political progress to be made--that's being made and for the
economy to improve. And so, so long as I'm the President, my measure of
success is victory and success.
Q. [Inaudible]
President Bush. I've only got 10 more months left of the Presidency.
Prime Minister Brown. There's no artificial timetable here. Let's
not forget that Iraq is now a democracy, that democratic rights have
been restored to the Iraqi people, that we're now building schools and
hospitals, seeing economic development. And I'm particularly referring
to the area where we have responsibility, and that is Basra.
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And let us also remember that there is progress in Iraqis now being
able to take more control of their own affairs. And we're now in a
situation where we've trained up 20,000 Iraqi forces, 22,000 Iraqi
police men and women. We've got more to do in that area. And so our role
in training the Iraqis, making it possible for them, as they did in the
Basra operation, to assume more control of their own affairs is the way
that we want to move from combat to overwatch in Iraq. And that's
exactly what we're going to do.
And we're going to combine that with building up local government
where there will be local government elections that will force militias
to make a choice between the democratic process and armed insurrection.
And at the same time, economic and social development will be pushed
forward. And we are having a conference in London in the next few days
where Iraqis and others will look at how we can move forward with the
reconstruction and economic development of the area, so that people have
a stake in the future, they have jobs, businesses are being created, and
Iraq--and Iraqis are now running their own affairs.
It is--if I might ask--answer your second question, it is for
Americans to decide who their President is going to be. I was delighted
to meet the three Presidential candidates who remain in the field. What
I was convinced of after talking to each of them--and talking about the
issues that concern them and concern the world--is that the relationship
between America and Britain will remain strong, remain steadfast. It
will be one that will be able to rise to the challenges of the future.
And I look forward to continuing my discussions with all three of them
over the next few months.
President Bush. Yes, call on one of these----
Prime Minister Brown. Nick. I thought you usually called Nick.
[Laughter]
Global Economy/British Government
President Bush. I was afraid Nick might ask me a question this time.
[Laughter]
Q. The last thing I'd like to do is disappoint you, Mr. President.
[Laughter]
President Bush. Nick, you need a hat, my boy, you need a hat.
[Laughter]
Q. I thought of getting one saying ``4 more years''----
President Bush. That's right. [Laughter]
Q. Mr. President, Prime Minister, Nick Robinson of BBC News. The
Prime Minister has repeatedly said that Britain's economic difficulties
started here in the United States. Do the solutions to them have to
begin here as well?
And, Prime Minister, if I could ask you: You've got a very important
agenda here on this trip, and yet at home, increasingly you're being
criticized from within your own political party. What is going wrong in
your party and Government, and what are you going to do about it?
Prime Minister Brown. I'm sticking to the job, and I'm getting on
with the job. And I think people understand that there is a difficult
situation around the world. We did have a credit crunch. It did mean
that there were problems that started in the financial institutions in
America, but these are problems now in Europe. There are problems in
Britain. There are problems in every country of the world. And one of
the issues that we're dealing with is that the issues that brought about
the credit crunch are combined to rising food prices around the world,
rising oil prices, and the threat of inflation in certain areas as well.
And I'm satisfied that the discussions we've had today with
President Bush, yesterday in Wall Street--I'm meeting Ben Bernanke, the
head of the Federal Reserve tomorrow--show the common ground we have in
dealing with the issues ahead and in getting the economy to a position
where markets are moving again, where growth is restored on an upward
path, and where
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people can feel more safe and more secure about their jobs.
What matters to me is that people feel safe and secure about the
future, about their prospects, and about their jobs. And that's why we
will not hesitate to take any action that is necessary to keep the
economy moving forward.
That's why I've outlined today measures that include what we can do
in the housing market, what we can do to tackle food price rises, what
we can do to tackle oil price rises. And that's why it's important that
there is coordination across the Atlantic--indeed, coordination between
all the major industrial powers--so that we can all contribute what each
of us can in each continent to the process of restoring both confidence
in the world economy and stability and growth. And we will continue to
do that.
And as far as the domestic situation back home, is it? I will
continue to do the right thing and do what is right for the British
economy and the British people.
President Bush. We're in a rough patch right now. We had a pretty
good run, as a matter of fact, had the most consecutive months of job
growth in the country's history. And our housing market went soft, and
it began to affect the financial markets.
So we've done a--taken a variety of steps. First, we're trying to
help creditworthy people stay in their homes. I don't know what it's
like in Britain, but here, the guy who gave you your mortgage generally
doesn't own the paper anymore. They bundled it up and sold it somewhere
else, and it's hard to find somebody to renegotiate with. So we put a
system in place that helps creditworthy homeowners renegotiate. In other
words, we want to help people stay in their homes.
I'm not particularly interested in bailing out lenders or
speculators. But I am interested in helping hard-working Americans be
able to find a way to stay in their homes. And it's been effective
program.
Secondly, we worked with Congress on a progrowth package, over $150
billion of tax cuts, most of which will start hitting people's mailboxes
and/or accounts in the second week of May. Some of the incentives in the
progrowth package are for small businesses and businesses with
accelerated appreciation, incentives to invest. And it's beginning to
kick in a little bit, but the program hasn't really taken effect. I
mean, the consumers don't have their checks yet. And we feel good that
this will help our economy.
And finally, the Fed, which is independent from the White House, I
might add, has taken some strong actions to enhance liquidity in the
system. And I'm--we'll work with Congress on pieces of legislation that
will actually help people, and I'll take a dim view of legislation that
will make it harder for the economy to correct.
Yes, Toby [Tabassum Zakaria, Reuters].
Iran/Global Food Prices/Energy
Q. Thank you, Mr. President. Mr. President, Mr. ElBaradei of the
IAEA said today that Iran's progress in developing uranium enrichment is
slow, and that its centrifuges are older models. So how do you reconcile
that with the U.S. view that Iran is a major nuclear threat?
President Bush. Yes.
Q. And, Prime Minister Brown, what concrete measures can Western
governments take to address the soaring food prices? And do you think
that there should be a rethinking of biofuel policy?
President Bush. Let me start on Iran here. If they learn how to
enrich, it is knowledge which can be used to develop a nuclear weapon.
They claimed that they've got a civilian program in place, that this is
only for civilian purposes. If that's the case, why did they have a
secret program? Why have they violated the IAEA? And so our objective is
to, on the one hand, recognize they have a sovereign right to have
civilian power by joining Russia and providing them with the fuel
necessary to
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run their civilian nuclear facility, and then having them honor the
agreements they've signed up to.
They have proven themselves to be untrustworthy. And you know, to
say that, well, okay, it's okay to let them learn to enrich, and assume
that that program and knowledge couldn't be transferred to a program, a
military program, is, in my judgment, naive. And that is why the United
States, in working with Britain and France and Germany and the United
Nations Security Council, is all aiming to say to the Iranians:
Verifiably suspend your program, and there's a better way forward for
you.
And so it's--our diplomatic efforts are ongoing, and I appreciate
the fact that Great Britain has been a great country to work with on
this issue, because Gordon Brown seriously sees the threat, as do I. And
now is the time to confront the threat. And I believe we can solve the
problem diplomatically, and that is why we're working to verifiably
suspend their enrichment.
Prime Minister Brown. Well, I make no apology for saying that we
will extend sanctions, where possible, on Iran. Iran is in breach of the
nonproliferation treaty. Iran has not told the truth to the
international community about what its plans are. And that's why I'm
talking to other European leaders about how we can extend European
sanctions against Iran over the next period of time and to ensure that
what sanctions are taken are effectively implemented and to monitor the
effect on the Iranian regime where we see high inflation in Iran that is
not properly disclosed by the regime and the effect that sanctions are
actually beginning to have on that country.
So in the next few weeks, we want to extend the measures and
sanctions to include investment in liquefied natural gas. I believe that
sends another signal to the regime that what is happening is
unacceptable. I'm pleased Secretary of State Rice is here with us today,
because we will support her in the efforts that are being made, working
with our other partners, including of course Russia and China, on this
to make sure that Iran recognizes that it cannot ignore the
international community and its obligations at its--without--with
impunity.
You also asked about food prices. I'm calling a meeting in London in
the next few days with the head of the World Food Programme to discuss
what we can do to deal with the situation that is producing food riots
in many countries, the lowest supplies of food for 30 years, shortages
of food in many continents and many countries that are making people
worried about whether, in some countries, they can actually feed the
people.
Now, there are long and detailed causes for why this is happening.
In Asia, people's demand for better and higher quality of food means
that more agricultural production is needed. Subsidies in some areas
have meant that there is less agricultural production in Africa than
there should be. The World Food Programme is wanting and has issued an
appeal for more support. And we and America have already offered more
support to help feed people who are in the greatest of difficulty.
And in the long term, yes, we will look at biofuels, where we've
withdrawn some of the subsidies for biofuels. We've got to get it
absolutely right, but we're dealing with the environmental issue as well
as dealing with the problem of increased production of food. And of
course, we've got to increase, generally, our ability to produce more
food for more of the world's people over the next few years.
So yes, we must act immediately, and yes, we must have a long-term
plan. The world needs to have more supply of food to meet the rising
demand of people around the world.
United Kingdom-U.S. Relations/British Economy
Q. Mr. President, I notice your warm words at the start there. Some
people would suggest that the special relationship
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is a little less special than it was under Mr. Brown's predecessor. Is
that true or false?
And, Prime Minister, a domestic question: I'm afraid----
President Bush. False. [Laughter]
Q. ----a member of your Government appears upset enough tonight
about the abolition of the 10p rate to consider resigning. Isn't it time
for you to at least consider unraveling that particular change?
President Bush. False, if you didn't hear me. Now, we got a great
relationship. And it's--we're working on a variety of issues. Listen,
our special relationship has been forged in common values in history,
and we're making history together. And we're dealing with a lot of
problems. The most severe problem, as far as I'm concerned, is the
willingness of people to murder innocent people to achieve their
political objectives. I mean, this is the fundamental threat facing
civilization in the 21st century.
And Prime Minister Brown sees the threat. I mean, he had to live
through the threat. And so it's--our relationship is very special, and
it's--I'm confident future Presidents will keep it that way. There's
just such a uniqueness in the relationship. That's not to say you can't
have other friends, and we do. But this is a unique relationship, truly
is. And I value my personal friendship as well as our--the relationship
between our countries.
Look, if there wasn't a personal relationship, I wouldn't be
inviting the man to a nice hamburger or something--[laughter]--well
done, I might add.
Prime Minister Brown. I'm very proud to be here today to celebrate a
special relationship. In 1941, Winston Churchill met Franklin Roosevelt
and inaugurated what is the modern phase of that special relationship.
And Churchill said at the time, ``Same language, same hymns.'' He said,
``Same ideals, same values, something big is happening.'' And what was
big that happened was that never before has a relationship yielded so
much in the 1940s against--in the fight against fascism and the cold war
that then followed, where we worked together. In the fight against
terrorism, we're--as Tony Blair said, we stand shoulder to shoulder with
the American people and with President Bush. And I continue to stand
shoulder to shoulder with him in rooting out terrorism wherever we find
it, in any part of the world which puts freedom, democracy, and justice
at risk.
And what I think is fascinating is that over the next few months, we
will be developing that special relationship in new ways, a special
relationship of peoples as well as of governments: more cooperation
between our universities and more exchanges between young people in
Britain and young people in America; more scientific cooperation; more
cooperation in the fight against cancer, whether a joint project--the
Human Genome Project--where we're working together; environmental
action, where the institutes in Britain and America are agreeing this
week to have more cooperation; and right across the board, as we take
the English language, Britain and America, and make it a gift and then
offer it to the rest of the world to make it possible for millions of
people in different parts of the world to learn the English language.
So this is a special relationship not just of governments, but of
peoples. And I look forward to its enhancement at all levels in the
years to come. And I will work as hard as President Bush to make that
relationship as strong and as enduring for the future.
You asked also about our economic policies. We have low inflation;
therefore, we've brought down interest rates. We have low debt;
therefore, we can afford to spend more.
We've made a major tax reform. And you ask about the 10p rate. Let's
not forget that this April, the tax rate in Britain, the basic rate of
tax is going down from 22 pence to 20 pence. We've virtually doubled
child benefit for families over the last 10 years and raised it again
this year, and we'll
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raise it next year. We're raising the child tax credit. We've got a new
winter allowance addition for pensioners so that they can meet the fuel
bills. And every area where the 10p rate has affected people, whether it
be low-paid workers or pensioners or whether it be families with
children, we have acted to see that we could do the best by people in
our country.
Now, of course, a tax reform is a big thing, but when you're
reducing the basic rate from 22 pence to 20 pence--the first time it's
been achieved, the lowest tax rate, basic tax rate for 75 years--it is
an important thing to do. And I'm satisfied that once people understand
the scale of the good things that we have been able to do in reforming
the tax system and making it better--and that we're tackling poverty, as
they do in America, by introducing and increasing tax credits for the
poorest people--then whatever questions people have about these changes
can be answered.
Yes, they're important changes. They move the British economy
forward. We have just seen this week that despite all the world
difficulties, we have the highest employment rates at any time in our
history. We have lower unemployment than at any time for 30 years. We
have more vacancies in the economy, and that, combined with low
inflation, a stable economy, lower interest rates--as we've managed to
achieve over the last few weeks--means that the British economy is well
positioned to face the challenges of the future and will continue to be
so.
And my answer to people who say what is happening domestically is,
we are taking the right long-term decisions for the British economy,
whether it's on nuclear power or on housing or on planning or
infrastructure. And of course, at some times, people ask questions about
whether you're doing the right thing. But we will see these long-term
changes through, and these are the right long-term changes for Britain
and for the British people.
President Bush. You guys want to sit out here for the afternoon or--
[laughter]. Thank you, Mr. Prime Minister.
Prime Minister Brown. Thank you very much.
President Bush. Yes. Thank you.
Prime Minister Brown. Thank you.
Note: The President's news conference began at 2:43 p.m. in the Rose
Garden at the White House. In his remarks, he referred to Gen. David H.
Petraeus, USA, commanding general, Multi-National Force--Iraq. Prime
Minister Brown referred to Executive Director Josette Sheeran of the
World Food Programme; and former Prime Minister Tony Blair of the United
Kingdom. A reporter referred to Director General Mohamed ElBaradei of
the International Atomic Energy Agency.