[Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents Volume 38, Number 26 (Monday, July 1, 2002)]
[Pages 1099-1101]
[Online from the Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]

<R04>
Remarks Prior to Discussions With President Vladimir Putin of Russia and 
an Exchange With Reporters in Kananaskis

June 27, 2002

    President Bush. First----
    Q. Okay, President Bush----
    President Bush. Wait a minute, please. I first want to say how 
pleased I am to meet with Vladimir Putin again. Every time we meet, we 
have a very constructive dialog, and we have a very important dialog. 
And I appreciate so very much his leadership and his continued 
willingness to find a new common ground in this most important 
relationship.
    Yesterday a court in America made a ruling that I want to comment 
on. America is a nation that is--a nation that values our relationship 
with an Almighty. Declaration of God in the Pledge of Allegiance doesn't 
violate rights. As a matter of fact, it's a confirmation of the fact 
that we received our rights from God, as proclaimed in our Declaration 
of Independence. I--I believe that it points up the fact that we need 
commonsense judges who understand that our rights were derived from God. 
And those are the kind of judges I intend to put on the bench.
    Mr. President, do you want to make a comment or just answer 
questions?

[At this point, President Putin began his remarks in Russian.]

    President Bush. Do you want to interpret this for the American 
press?
    President Putin. I want to say that I'm also very glad to meet with 
President Bush. And moreover, I'd like to emphasize that the President 
and I are having very good personal relations, and our colleagues in our 
capitals also note that interaction between our countries is becoming 
very efficient, not only from the viewpoint of bilateral relations and 
solving bilateral issues but also as regards to resolution of major 
international problems.
    And there is one subject that is of particular importance and 
responsibility the U.S. and Russia undertook; that is the promotion of 
international security. And during the time since the signature of our 
international treaties on stability, international stability between our 
countries, we have had an opportunity to evaluate these documents and 
pass them to the parliament for further ratification--I mean the treaty 
between the United States and Russia on cutting strategic offenses.
    And I'm simply very glad to meet George again and have a chat with 
him and discuss all the problems that are of concern for both our 
nations.
    President Bush. Thank you.
    Patience, please. Terry [Terry Moran, ABC News].

WorldCom/Corporate Responsibility

    Q. Mr. President, there are some Democrats who think they can make 
some political hay out of the WorldCom failure and other business 
scandals by, first, noting that polls show a lot of Americans think 
you're too close to big business and, second, arguing that because of 
that, your reform proposals aren't tough enough. What do you think the 
political impact of WorldCom will be? Are you concerned about it?
    President Bush. I'm concerned about the economic impact of the fact 
that there are some corporate leaders who have not upheld their 
responsibility. If you are a responsible citizen and you run a 
corporation in America, you must fully disclose all assets and 
liabilities, and you must treat your shareholders and employees with 
respect.
    President Putin. During the general discussion at the G-8 meeting, 
the President paid attention to this issue. And for me and my other 
colleagues, it was very important to listen to the President's opinion, 
because under the circumstances of the globalized community and world, a 
lot depends on the state of the U.S. economy these days. And therefore, 
the willingness of the President of the United States to secure the 
stock market and market of the securities is very important, as well as 
the notion of transparency in the U.S. business, and is a very good 
signal.
    President Bush. Do you want to call on a Russian media?

Middle East Peace Proposal

    Q. President Bush, were you astonished by the European reaction 
towards your proposal in regards to Arafat?

[[Page 1100]]

    President Bush. I'm very pleased with my--the response to my 
proposal in the Middle East. The response has been very positive. And 
the reason why is, most European leaders understand something has to 
change in order for there to be peace. And that starts with free 
elections, a new constitution, transparency, rule of law amongst the 
Palestinians. And that's the hopeful way to get to where we need to get, 
which is two states living side by side in peace. The response has been 
very positive, and for that I'm grateful.
    Q. And one question to you, Mr. Bush.
    Press Secretary Ari Fleischer. A question from the American 
reporters.
    President Bush. Martha [Martha Brant, Newsweek].

President's Personal Faith

    Q. Thank you, sir. In light of the comments you just made about the 
Pledge of Allegiance, I'm wondering if you could talk about how your 
personal faith has helped you as President.
    President Bush. Well, I appreciate you saying that, Martha. I--know, 
yesterday when I went to see the--or 2 days ago when I was--or 
yesterday--[laughter]--2 days ago, I went----
    Q. Mr. President----
    President Bush. Please, let me at least finish the answers.
    I was amongst people whose lives were hurting a lot. And I was 
trying to figure out how to bring a sense of hope, and I thought that 
the best thing I could say was that there is a God who loves them. And I 
believe that's the case. And as a result, I feel comfortable in my life 
because I have that belief and that understanding.
    You know, it's interesting, there is a universal God, in my opinion, 
and the first conversation I ever had with Vladimir Putin was about 
God--in Slovenia. It was a way that we--we'd never met each other, and 
the first discussion we had was about our personal beliefs.
    I appreciate--you hear me say that I appreciate the fact that our 
country prays for me and Laura. And I do. I do. I feel the prayers of 
the people. And so there is a--I think that the Almighty is important--
obviously, important part of my life but very important part of the life 
of our country. And that's why the ruling of the courts was out of step 
with the traditions and history of America.
    Press Secretary Fleischer. Final question from a Russian reporter.

Russia-U.S. Cooperation in the War on Terrorism

    Q. Mr. Bush, the G-8 was supposed to carry out the six points having 
to do with terrorism. What is the relationship of the United States and 
Russia vis-a-vis this battle against terrorism, jointly? I only ask the 
Russian translation when you're speaking. Thank you.
    President Bush. It sounds like you speak better English than some of 
us. [Laughter]
    Q. Thank you very much.
    President Bush. Fournier [Ron Fournier, Associated Press] included. 
[Laughter]
    First of all, President Putin has been a stalwart in the fight 
against terror. He understands the threat of terror, because he has 
lived through terror. He's seen terror firsthand, and he knows the 
threat of terrorism. One of the first--go ahead, do you want to 
translate?
    He understands what I understand, that there won't be peace if 
terrorists are allowed to kill and take innocent life. And therefore, I 
view President Putin as an ally, strong ally in the war against terror. 
And his actions are more than--speak louder than his words. He has been 
a man of action when it comes to fighting terror, and I appreciate that 
very much.
    Thank you all. We've got to have our bilateral. Thank you.

[At this point, a question was asked in Russian, and no translation was 
provided.]

    President Putin. What I would like to say--that the military of our 
nations and special services of our countries are built up in a way so 
that they carry this global nature. And unfortunately, terrorism is of a 
global nature as well today. And therefore, we have repeatedly mentioned 
that joint efforts are essential if you want to be a success in this 
fight.
    Therefore, we welcome the firm position of the U.S. President in 
this regard. And

[[Page 1101]]

therefore, we welcome his courage and consistency with which he persists 
his policies, in spite of any elements that interfere with that. And we 
expect that our interaction will have--will make a significant and 
decisive contribution to the elimination of terrorism worldwide.

Note: The President spoke at 7:54 a.m. in the Delta Lodge at the 
Kananaskis Village resort. A reporter referred to Chairman Yasser Arafat 
of the Palestinian Authority. A tape was not available for verification 
of the content of these remarks.