[Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States: George W. Bush (2008, Book II)]
[January 13, 2009]
[Pages 1565-1567]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office www.gpo.gov]



Remarks Following a Meeting With President Felipe de Jesus Calderon 
Hinojosa of Mexico
January 13, 2009

    President Bush. Bienvenido a mi amigo. Mr. President, welcome.
    President Calderon. Thank you.
    President Bush. It has been a true pleasure to work with President 
Calderon. He's a man of conviction, he is a man of principle, and he is 
a man who's willing to take on tough challenges. I have appreciated 
every meeting I've had with him.
    I want to take--talk about two subjects quickly. One, Americans are 
concerned about the battle that's taking place in Mexico, and I want our 
fellow citizens to understand that this man understands the 
responsibilities of government to provide security; that he will not 
allow his country, or parts of his country, to be taken over by 
narcotraffickers; and that the United States of America wants to share 
and help deal with the issue on both sides of the border. The less drugs 
we use, the less pressure there will be in Mexico. We have got 
responsibilities to help prevent guns from going from the United States 
into Mexico.
    And so, Mr. President, you and I have laid the foundation for a 
constructive, mutual engagement on this issue.
    And secondly, I want to thank you for your steadfast support of 
trade. I'm a big, strong believer in NAFTA. NAFTA has been good for the 
United States of America, and NAFTA has been good for Mexico. And I want 
to thank you for that.
    And so, Mr. President, it has been a pleasure to work with you. 
Thank you for your friendship.
    President Calderon. Thank you.
    President Bush. Yes. Y ahora en el espanol.
    President Calderon. Como no.

[At this point, President Calderon made remarks in Spanish. He then 
spoke in English, as follows.]

    President Calderon. We have a strong commitment in order to fight 
and defeat the criminals in Mexico, and we will do so. And we have a 
strong commitment with the rule of law, enforcement of the law in our 
country.

[President Calderon continued in Spanish. He then concluded in English, 
as follows.]

    President Calderon. Thank you, President Bush----
    President Bush. Yes, sir.
    President Calderon. ----and good luck in the future.
    President Bush. Thank you, sir. Thank you.
    White House Staff Member. Okay, guys, thank you----
    President Bush. Hold on. Un momento, un momento.
    President Calderon. Wait. Hold on.

[[Page 1566]]

[An interpreter then provided the translation of President Calderon's 
previously delivered remarks.]

    Interpreter. Good afternoon, friends. I wanted to say that I came 
here to Washington, DC, to wish President Bush the very best. I want to 
wish him and his family all the best in this new phase. And I want to 
thank him especially for the friendship that he has shown me over the 
last 2 years in facing our common challenges together----
    President Calderon. And his support.
    Interpreter. ----and for his support. [Laughter]
    With regard to the issues that President Bush has raised, I want to 
say that our administration has made a crucial decision in this regard. 
We are going to be promoting law; we are going to be promoting order in 
our country. We will be promoting the rule of law for all Mexicans.
    We have worked jointly in this regard. We have worked together on 
the drug-trafficking combat front. We have worked together to combat 
organized crime.
    This is not an isolated problem for any country. This is a common 
problem that affects us both. And in order to do so, we have worked 
together, and we have made this resolution.
    We are committed to fighting criminals and to overcoming them once 
and for all. And the rule of law is the one thing that I want to stress 
we are going to promote, no matter what, in our country.
    I agree with what the President has said with regard to the North 
America Free Trade Agreement. It has proved to be very useful, both for 
the United States and for Mexico. In that regard, millions of jobs were 
created here in the United States. Mexico is the second largest 
purchaser of U.S. goods. We buy, in fact, twice as many U.S. products as 
the People's Republic of China. Two million jobs based on exports were 
created in Mexico----
    President Calderon. No, in the United States.
    Interpreter. ----in the United States, excuse me, as a result of 
NAFTA. [Laughter] And yesterday I was discussing with President-elect 
Obama the fact that we are willing to continue working on future 
additions of a way to continue to build on the achievements that NAFTA 
has created--benefits, issues of concern to both of our citizens. I 
understand that there are issues of concern to Mexicans, as well as to 
U.S. citizens, on the issue of the environment and on labor.
    I want to wish the very best to President Bush, to his family, as 
well as to the United States. The U.S. will continue to solve its 
problems with success, I have no doubt about that. And we in Mexico can 
only wish the very best for this country, a great country, and for its 
citizens in overcoming the economic crisis it is now facing, overcoming 
other problems, as well as drug consumption, because any problems 
arising in the United States in some way will also affect Mexican 
citizens as well.
    And so we can only wish you the very best in every area. Thank you.
    President Calderon. Thank you.
    President Bush. Thank you, thank you. Adios.

Note: The President spoke at 10:58 a.m. in the Oval Office at the White 
House. In his remarks, President Calderon referred to President-elect 
Barack Obama. The Office of the Press Secretary also released a Spanish 
language transcript of these remarks.

[[Page 1567]]