    [Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States: George W. Bush (2008, Book II)]
    [September 26, 2008]
    [Pages 1250-1251]
    [From the U.S. Government Publishing Office www.gpo.gov]

    Remarks Following a Meeting With Prime Minister Gordon Brown of the United Kingdom
    September 26, 2008

        President Bush. Mr. Prime Minister, welcome. The United States has
    got a great friendship with Great Britain, and you and I have worked
    hard to make sure that friendship stays strong. And I appreciate you
    coming down from New York, and I thank you for the consultations on this
    current economic issue.
        What the Prime Minister wants to know is, is the plan we've devised
    big enough to make a difference, and is it going to be passed? And I
    told him the plan is big enough to make a difference, and I believe it
    is going to be passed. And I really want to thank you very much for
    staying in touch during this difficult period of time, not only for us,
    but for people all around the world.
        Secondly, we talked about trade. There's no stronger advocate for
    free and fair trade than Prime Minister Brown has been. And I appreciate
    your strong support for trade; because he knows what I know: That if--
    the best way to help deal with poverty and hopelessness is to give
    people opportunity through free and fair trade.
        And so I thank your steadfast support on Doha. I told him that we
    are still optimistic that the Doha round can be reinvigorated, and we
    strategized as to how to do that. And I thank you for your advice on
    that.
        Finally, we talked about Iraq and Afghanistan. Both our nations
    still have troops in those two countries. We're helping young
    democracies not only survive, but grow and thrive. And I fully believe
    that when people look back at this period of history, they will say,
    thank goodness the United States and Great Britain stood strong, because
    we're helping to lay the foundation of peace for generations to come.
        So I welcome you back to the Oval Office. Thank you for coming.
        Prime Minister Brown. It's a great privilege to be here this
    afternoon. And I thank you for your hospitality, President Bush.
        We talked about a number of issues: Iraq, Afghanistan, the trade
    talks, what's happening in Russia and in the--in Georgia, and about the
    general situation in the world economy. And we concentrated on the
    financial issues that are being raised in every country of the world by
    what's happening because of financial turbulence on the markets.
        America and Britain have always stood together and as one in times
    of difficulty and challenge. And I said to President Bush this afternoon
    that facing this global turbulence, Britain supports the financial plan.
    And whatever the details of it, it's the right thing to do to take us
    through these difficult circumstances.
        I was also able to tell President Bush that other countries whom
    I've talked to during the course of the last week in New York--every
    continent, all the members of the G-7, believe that America deserves the
    support of the rest of the world in the

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    action it's taking to secure stability and to deal with the turbulence
    in the financial markets. And we will continue to support the
    administration and the Government in everything that it's doing to try
    to restabilize the financial markets and to bring about economic growth
    in all our countries.
        We also talked about what is the pathway forward. Our G-7 finance
    leaders--ministers will meet on October the 9th. The International
    Monetary Fund will meet on October the 10th. And the issues that have
    been raised by the problems in the financial system and the principles
    that might underlie future policy--transparency, good housekeeping,
    integrity, and at the same time, of course, international cooperation
    for the future--these are all issues that will be discussed in detail by
    our finance ministers, and they will bring proposals for the future to
    us.
        Stability is the first duty of governments, and we are determined
    that our continuing cooperation will enhance the stability of our
    economies and bring the prosperity that is what we want for every single
    citizen of the world.
        President Bush. Thank you, Gordon. Good job.

    Note: The President spoke at 5:46 p.m. in the Oval Office at the White
    House.