[Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents Volume 37, Number 42 (Monday, October 22, 2001)]
[Pages 1477-1479]
[Online from the Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]

<R04>
Remarks Following Discussions With Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi of 
Italy and an Exchange With Reporters

October 15, 2001

    President Bush. It's my honor to welcome the leader of one of our 
Nation's best friends, the Prime Minister of a country that has had so 
much to do with our Nation and its development. I'm also pleased to be 
able to give him a lunch. After all, I had one of the best lunches I've 
had at his--since I've been the President because of the Prime Minister.
    We had a long discussion about our mutual desire to rout out 
terrorism where it might exist. He understands as well as I understand 
that the war on terrorism will be waged on many fronts, and I'm so 
pleased with the efforts of his Government to join with us in disrupting 
the financial networks of terrorist organizations. I'm pleased that 
we're sharing intelligence. I'm pleased that the Prime Minister 
understands that Al Qaida has cells all around the world, and he's more 
than willing to work with us to disrupt those cells, to bring people to 
justice. We're making progress. One reason we're making progress is 
because we've got good, strong friends such as the Italians and the 
Italian Government.
    So Mr. Prime Minister, welcome. It's my honor to have you here.
    Prime Minister Berlusconi. Thank you, Mr. President, I am here, 
first of all, to express our great pain and sadness for the attack on 
September the 11th and to say to you that if the same attack had been--
had occurred on an Italian city, we would have felt the same pain as you 
are.
    And also I'm here to express to you our desire to be as close as 
possible and to provide both moral and material support. As I mentioned 
earlier this morning, this attack was an attack not only against 
citizens but also against freedom and liberty. The U.S.

[[Page 1478]]

is the defensor of liberty all over the world, and that's what this 
attack was about.
    President Bush. We'll answer a couple of questions.

Anthrax

    Q. These anthrax attacks, sir, do you believe that there is any 
connection to bin Laden's organization? Your Vice President, on Friday, 
seemed to indicate there may be some possible link.
    President Bush. There may be some possible link. We have no hard 
data yet, but it's clear that Mr. bin Laden is a man who is an evil man. 
He and his spokesmen are openly bragging about how they hope to inflict 
more pain on our country. So we're watching every piece of evidence. 
We're making sure that we connect any dots that we have to find out 
who's doing this. I wouldn't put it past him, but we don't have hard 
evidence, yet.
    Yes, Ron [Ron Fournier, Associated Press].
    Q. Do you have anything that points towards bin Laden, besides your 
gut? And has there been any other reports of anthrax tainted mail being 
received by U.S. businesses or Government offices today?
    President Bush. There has been today. I just talked to Leader 
Daschle. His office received a letter, and it had anthrax in it. The 
letter was field tested. The staffers that have been exposed are being 
treated. The powder that had been field tested is now, obviously, going 
to the CDC lab.
    Beyond that, I don't know more about it. I spoke to the leader. He 
is, obviously, concerned, as am I. The key thing for the American people 
is to be cautious about letters that come from somebody you may not 
know, unmarked letters, letters that have got--that look suspicious. And 
give those letters and packages to local law authorities.
    Again, the process is working, but today the Senate majority 
leader--his office did receive a letter.
    Q. Was it definitely anthrax, or just a preliminary test, do you 
know?
    President Bush. The field test shows it to be anthrax. Ron, there's 
more tests being conducted as we speak. The leader believes it is 
anthrax, but we'll find out more as time goes on.
    They've got the letter. As he said, it was a letter that had been 
wrapped a lot and that the powder was within the confines of the--within 
the envelope. It wasn't on the outside of the envelope; it was within 
the envelope. And a staffer opened the letter. They obviously became 
suspicious of the material within the letter and immediately called in 
for a field test. The field test was done, shows it to be anthrax, and 
then all people are being treated.

India and Pakistan

    Q. India says it opened fire on Pakistani positions in the Kashmir 
region today, this just an hour or 2 after Secretary Powell landed in 
Pakistan. How helpful is something like that?
    President Bush. I haven't see a report yet, John [John King, Cable 
News Network]. And I think it is very important that India and Pakistan 
stand down during our activities in Afghanistan--down, for that matter, 
forever.
    But I am--I need to find out more about the report; I will find out 
more about the report. As you noted, our Secretary of State is in the 
region. One reason he's there is to talk to both sides about making sure 
that there is no--that if there are tensions--and obviously, there are--
that they be reduced, that we are mindful that activities around Kashmir 
could create issues in that part of the region, particularly as we're 
conducting our operations in Afghanistan.
    Yes, sir.

National Economy/Italian Cooperation

    Q. Mr. President, you have mentioned that you would--the other 
evening in your press conference, that you would like to see more action 
from the allies, and you mentioned what the U.K. is doing. What would 
you say about what Italy has done? And what was the subject of your 
conversation? Would you like to see something more done by Italy? And 
also, from Europe, would you like to see more economic action from the 
European side to help the U.S. economy? Thank you.
    President Bush. Thank you. First of all, we're taking measures here 
at home to get

[[Page 1479]]

our economy started. There is some optimism, as some numbers recently 
have shown that consumer confidence is getting stronger, that people are 
beginning to get on the airways more, that people are traveling. So 
there are some positive signs.
    I hope to work with--I am working with Congress and hope to get a 
stimulus package that will dovetail nicely with the tax cuts we had this 
summer, coupled with some of the spending measures we've taken since 
September the 11th.
    First of all, I'm very pleased with the cooperation and support of 
Italy. They have been very strong from the beginning. The Prime Minister 
has been very--not only supportive but has asked how to help in 
significant ways to fight terrorism.
    Again, I repeat to you, this is a war that's going to be fought on a 
variety of fronts. One such front will be to disrupt financial--the 
finances of the terrorist organizations. And he was discussing with me 
some Executive orders that had been taken recently that showed Italy's 
desire to be very firm about disrupting finances. There is a sharing of 
information that goes on.
    I'm confident that if we put out the word that we needed more help 
from Italy, they would be more than willing to help. Each of us has a 
role to play. And the Italian Government, under this good man's 
leadership, is playing a very significant role.
    We're going to go eat lunch. Thank you.
    Prime Minister Berlusconi. Grazie.

Note: The President spoke at 12:11 p.m. on the Colonnade at the White 
House. In his remarks, he referred to Usama bin Laden, leader of the Al 
Qaida terrorist organization. The Prime Minister spoke in Italian, and 
his remarks were translated by an interpreter.