[Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents Volume 37, Number 9 (Monday, March 5, 2001)]
[Pages 348-350]
[Online from the Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]

<R04>
Remarks Following Discussions With President Andres Pastrana of Colombia 
and an Exchange With Reporters

February 27, 2001

    President Bush. It's my honor to welcome a friend of our country to 
the Oval Office, President Pastrana. We've had a very good discussion 
about Colombia--Plan Colombia--the renewal of a Trade Preference Act for 
the Andean nations to help their economies grow. President Pastrana is a 
courageous leader who is dealing with very difficult problems. I'm 
confident that with his leadership, his nation will be better off.
    And Mr. President, I can't thank you enough for taking a lead in 
your country, for having the heart that you have and the compassion for 
the Colombian people, and the ability to make tough decisions.
    I explained to the President that we're fully aware of the narcotics 
that are manufactured in his country but also told him that many of them 
wouldn't be manufactured if our Nation didn't use them, and we've got to 
work together to not only help Colombia but help our own country.
    So, Mr. President, you're welcome to come--if you'd like to make a 
few comments, you're welcome to.
    President Pastrana. Thank you, Mr. President. Once again, it is a 
great pleasure to be back with now-President Bush. We had the 
opportunity to meet in 1999 when President Bush was Governor. So once 
again, Mr. President, thank you for this opportunity in which we could 
exchange a lot of ideas of what's happening in our country, and how can 
we deal with a common enemy that is narcotrafficking; that in the end, 
that is the one that is financing the violence in my country and maybe 
also in part of your country; and that we are going to put all the 
efforts to continue our fight, as we have done in our commitment against 
narcotrafficking, trying to reach a peace agreement in our country and 
strengthening our economy, creating new jobs and better jobs for our 
people.
    So I want to thank you publicly, also, Mr. President, for all the 
help that you are giving us and the U.S. to get forward in this process.
    Thank you very much.
    President Bush. A couple questions.

Colombia

    Q. Mr. President, would you be part of the negotiation table--will 
the U.S. be part of the negotiation table as President Pastrana----
    President Bush. No, we will not be.

[[Page 349]]

    Q. Why?
    President Bush. This is an issue that the Colombian people and the 
Colombian President can deal with. We'll be glad to help Colombia in any 
way to make the peace. We'll be glad to help the Colombian economy 
through trade. But I won't be present for the discussions.

National Debt/Social Security

    Q. Mr. President, on the budget, your chief economic adviser is 
saying that your administration will not seek to retire all of the 
outstanding Federal debt, which is something that President Clinton had 
promised. Can you explain why that is----
    President Bush. Yes.
    Q. ----and what you would suggest doing with the hundreds of 
billions of dollars that would be left over in the Social Security 
surplus that would have gone to retire it?
    President Bush. Yes. Mr. President, I'm giving a speech tonight on 
the budget. I don't know if you have to give budget speeches, but 
sometimes it's hard to make those budget speeches very poetic. 
[Laughter]
    It does not make sense to pay down debt prematurely and, therefore, 
have to pay a premium on the debt that you prepay. And so we've 
calculated the amount of debt that our Nation can pay off over the next 
10 years, and that's $2 trillion, leaving about $800 billion unpaid.
    The second followup question to that was Social Security. And 
tonight during my speech, I will lay out the part of the vision for 
modernizing the Social Security system.
    We have an issue in this country, Mr. President, because people my 
age, affectionately known as baby boomers, will be retiring soon. And in 
my case, later rather than sooner, I hope. But anyway, we have trouble 
enough--there won't be enough money being put in the system to take care 
of the baby boomers when we retire. And therefore, the question is, how 
do we make the system work?
    And I want to give younger workers the opportunity to manage some of 
their own money in the private markets. And to answer your question, 
some of that money could be used as part of a modernization plan.
    Q. Do you and your economic advisers think that maybe some of this--
[inaudible]--on the table--[inaudible]--short term or long term----
    President Bush. No, we don't at all. As a matter of fact, we think 
it's the wise, wise thing to do. Again, American people have got to 
understand that we'll be paying down the debt as it comes due. But the 
idea of prepaying debt at a premium to the taxpayers makes no sense to 
do that.
    Q. But no impact on interest rates because of the consequent----
    President Bush. No, I don't think so. As a matter of fact, the 
interest rates would more likely be affected by monetary policy. The 
economy would be affected by good, sound fiscal policy because one of 
the things--I don't want to give you the whole speech, because I, of 
course, want you to pay attention to it. But I do believe we ought to 
accelerate the tax relief plan. The sooner we get money into the pockets 
of our taxpayers, the more likely it is our economy will even out.
    We've got an economic problem, Mr. President, that is of concern. It 
should be a concern to our neighbors. I discussed this with President 
Fox. We've got a mutual friend in President Fox, the President of 
Mexico. And he is concerned about the nature of the U.S. economy, as 
well. And we're going to do everything we can to make sure our economy 
recovers quickly, which will be beneficial. As our trading partner, it 
will be very beneficial.
    Si.

Temporary Protected Status

    Q. Did you discuss anything about the TPS for the Colombia----
    President Bush. We did. And the President made a very strong case. 
He was very plain spoken. He brought up the case, the concerns of over a 
million Colombians who live here in the United States, mainly in Queens, 
New York, and in the State of Florida, and I listened carefully.

[At this point, a question to President Pastrana was asked and answered 
in Spanish, and no translation was provided.]

[[Page 350]]

Upcoming Address to Congress

    Q. Do you expect Democrats to give your speech a fair chance 
tonight? Or do you suspect that they're just ready to pounce? [Laughter]
    President Bush. I, of course, will be giving the speech in the 
Chamber, and there will be Republicans and Democrats, but I'm really 
speaking to the American people. This is a speech--hold on a second--
this is a speech that I want to make it clear to the American people 
that I have a reasonable plan for the budget.
    I'm going to make it clear we meet priorities, and I'll explain what 
many of those priorities are; that we make sure that Social Security, 
the money aimed for Social Security goes only to Social Security; that 
we pay down debt and it will be the largest repayment of debt ever; that 
we've got money for contingencies in the budget; and that there is still 
money left over for the tax relief plan.
    The problem we have oftentimes in America is that people will be 
asked the question, ``Do you want tax relief, or do you want somebody 
not to get their Medicare check?'' I'm going to be making the case that 
with the right leadership, the right priorities, and the right focus, 
that we will fund important programs and have money left over for tax 
relief.
    And it's important--it's important for the American people to get 
some of their own money back. One, it will help the economy. Secondly, 
it will help the American taxpayers pay off their own personal debt.
    One of the issues we have, Mr. President, in the United States is 
high energy bills. The cost of energy is going up because we haven't had 
enough exploration relative to demand. And this cash that people will 
get back through tax relief will help the American families manage their 
budgets.
    I really am looking forward to giving this speech. I hope you're 
looking forward to listening to it.
    Q. [Inaudible]--most important speech so far, sir?
    President Bush. Every one of them are important.

Andean Free Trade Treaty

    Q. [Inaudible].
    President Bush. For trade? Absolutely. It's a very important treaty. 
She is asking about the free trade treaty of the Andean nations. Yes, 
sir--yes, ma'am, I'll be pushing it. I'm a free trader.
    Q. [Inaudible]--to help the economy?
    President Bush. Through trade, absolutely. And the President made a 
very strong case for broadening the trade agreement. I will bring up the 
matter with Ambassador Zoellick, who is my trade negotiator.
    Adios.

Note: The President spoke at 2:10 p.m. in the Oval Office at the White 
House. In his remarks, he referred to President Vicente Fox of Mexico. A 
tape was not available for verification of the content of these remarks.