[Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents Volume 38, Number 13 (Monday, April 1, 2002)]
[Pages 516-517]
[Online from the Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]

<R04>
Remarks and an Exchange With Reporters in Greenville, South Carolina

March 27, 2002

President's Visit

    The President. I'm looking forward to getting down to Texas. But 
first, I'm really looking forward to campaigning here in South Carolina 
for Lindsey Graham. And I'm looking forward to making some announcements 
about homeland security, both in South Carolina and in Georgia. And then 
I'm going on from there to help my friend Saxby Chambliss. Then I'll be 
heading home tonight.
    It's good to be back in South Carolina. I've got a lot of friends 
down here, and it's always good to stay in touch with your friends.

Campaign Finance Reform

    Q. On campaign finance----
    The President. Yes, I signed the bill this morning.
    Q. But without much fanfare--a signal that you're really unhappy 
with it?
    The President. No, I wouldn't have signed it if I was really unhappy 
with it. I think it improves the system. And it improves the system 
because it enables an individual to give more money. And I want to do--
is have a system that encourages more individual participation as well 
as more disclosure.
    I've always been concerned about a system where money is given to 
entities and stakeholders have no say. So I was concerned about 
shareholders of corporate America not having a say, as well as labor 
union members not having a say about how their money is being spent. 
This bill improves the system.
    Q. Mr. President, the objection you raised in the last week of 
debate on the bill is that it didn't take effect immediately, the ban on 
soft money would not take effect until after the election. Do you find 
it ironic that given that that was your opposition, today, right after 
signing the bill, you're out raising----
    The President. I'm not going to lay down my arms. I'm going to 
participate in the rules of the system. The Senate races are very 
important for me. I want the Republicans to take control of the Senate, 
and I want Denny Hastert to be the Speaker of the House. And these are 
the rules. And that's why I'm going to campaign for like-minded people.

Situation in the Middle East

    Q. Do you have any plans to talk to Prime Minister Sharon?
    The President. I don't today. I'm sure the Secretary of State is in 
touch in the area, with the leaders of the area. But let me say this--
and I think the important thing about the Middle East is that we're 
making very good progress on the Tenet accord. In other words, there's a 
chance we'll have an agreement on the security arrangements necessary to 
hopefully then get into Mitchell.
    General Zinni is still in the area. Let me put it this way: I'm 
optimistic that progress is being made. And I've asked General Zinni

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to continue to work with both parties, regardless of whether or not 
they're headed to Beirut or not. The most important thing is getting 
into Tenet, getting into a security arrangement. And we're optimistic, 
and we'll see.
    Q. ----Arafat's absence today?
    The President. That the most important thing for my administration 
is to--is to work with both parties to make progress on a settlement in 
the area. And the first stage of any progress is going to be an 
agreement on what's been called the Tenet agreement, which is the 
security arrangements. And I believe we're making--I know we're making 
very good progress. Whether or not we're able to sign an accord soon or 
not remains to be seen. But progress has been made, and that is where 
the focus of this administration is, to get into Tenet.

Textile Industry

    Q. Mr. President, are you going to do anything for the textile 
industry, like you did for the steel industry, in terms of tariffs?
    The President. One of the things that I want the people of 
Greenville to know is, I've worked very closely with Jim DeMint, and 
we've laid out a strategy to help the textile industry. And 
Representative DeMint, Congressman DeMint, has been very forceful about 
this. We had a very good agreement with the Commerce Department. The 
Commerce Department is now following through.

Crown Prince Abdullah of Saudi Arabia

    Q. Mr. President, what was your reaction to Crown Prince Abdullah's 
speech in Beirut?
    The President. You mean the one this morning? I haven't seen the 
text yet. I haven't seen the speech--let me get the speech. I may have a 
comment later on, once I get the text of the speech.

Note: The President spoke at 10:10 a.m. at the city's main firehouse. In 
his remarks, he referred to Prime Minister Ariel Sharon of Israel; and 
U.S. Special Envoy to the Middle East Gen. Anthony Zinni, USMC (Ret.). 
The President also referred to the Tenet plan, the Israeli-Palestinian 
cease-fire and security plan of June 13, 2001, negotiated by Director of 
Central Intelligence George J. Tenet; and the Mitchell report, the 
Report of the Sharm el-Sheikh Fact-Finding Committee, issued April 30, 
2001. A reporter referred to Chairman Yasser Arafat of the Palestinian 
Authority; and Crown Prince Abdullah of Saudi Arabia. A tape was not 
available for verification of the content of these remarks.