[Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents Volume 38, Number 31 (Monday, August 5, 2002)]
[Pages 1288-1290]
[Online from the Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]

<R04>
Remarks Following a Cabinet Meeting and an Exchange With Reporters

July 31, 2002

    The President. Thank you all for coming. First, I want to condemn in 
the strongest possible terms the attack that took place in Israel. There 
are clearly killers who hate the thought of peace and, therefore, are 
willing to take their hatred to all kinds of places, including a 
university. And this country condemns that kind of killing, and we send 
our

[[Page 1289]]

deepest sympathy to the students and their families.
    I also want to make it clear to the killers, they won't stop us from 
rallying the world to fight their kind of terror, nor will they stop us 
from having a vision of peace.
    I look forward to continuing to work with all responsibility parties 
in the region, starting to insist that they work with us to stop this 
terror--use all their power to stop organizations such as Hamas from 
taking innocent life. And at the same time that we do so, we must 
continue to work to put the institutions in place necessary for the 
evolution of a state which can live at peace with Israel.
    Secondly, we met today and talked about our economy. There is some 
statistics out today that showed our economy continues to grow. Second 
quarter growth was 1.1 percent. When you combine that with the first 
quarter growth, it's a 3-percent growth. This is a positive trend. We're 
heading in the right direction. But the growth isn't strong enough, as 
far as I'm concerned.
    And so I look forward to working with Congress to pass a trade bill, 
a bill which will be good for American workers, American farmers, 
American ranchers. I look forward to working with Congress to pass a 
terrorism insurance bill, a bill which will help stimulate construction 
work, which will help our workers--those who build buildings, and 
construction people who work on projects. I look forward to working with 
Congress to show fiscal restraint when it comes to budgeting and 
spending the taxpayers' money. I believe Congress ought to make the tax 
cuts permanent, so our small businesses and taxpayers can plan with 
certainty.
    As well, we discussed this Corporate Fraud Task Force with the 
Attorney General, and he and I share the same strong commitment to 
ferret out those who have cheated employees and workers and bring them 
to justice, which we will continue to do.
    So I appreciate my Cabinet coming and sharing ideas about how we can 
continue the positive trends, so that the people who want to find a job 
can find one here in America.
    I'll answer some questions. Lindlaw [Scott Lindlaw, Associated 
Press].

Foreign Tax Havens

    Q. Mr. President, what's your position on American companies moving 
their headquarters to foreign tax havens? Should it be outlawed? Did 
Harken do this while you were a director?
    The President. Moving their headquarters?
    Q. Yes, to foreign tax----
    The President. I don't recall Harken moving their headquarters. I 
think there was an issue over a arrangement with Bahrain, a drilling 
venture there, which I opposed, as you may recall, when I was a director 
of the company.
    Q. Should the practice be outlawed now?
    The President. I think we ought to look at people who are trying to 
avoid U.S. taxes as a problem. I think American companies ought to pay 
taxes here, and be a part--good citizens. But as far as the Harken 
issue, we'll try to answer all your questions on that.
    Q. Mr. President----
    The President. Excuse me for a second.
    Q. I'm sorry, sir.
    The President. Yes.

Reform of the Palestinian Authority

    Q. The Jordanian Foreign Minister is pressing for a detailed work 
plan for a Middle East peace accord. Is this something that's worth 
pursuing?
    The President. Well, I think it's interesting. What's worth pursuing 
is a detailed plan toward achieving these objectives: a security force 
that exists to fight terror, not keep certain officials who haven't been 
able to deliver on the war against terror in office, a security force 
that will cooperate with people who care about achieving peace and will 
provide security, not only for the Palestinians but for the 
neighborhood; secondly, progress toward the writing of a constitution, 
which will enable a state to evolve that is--that will be at peace with 
its neighbor. These institutions, by the way, are incredibly important 
to--because it's--peace is bigger than an individual. There needs to be 
institutions in place that last longer than a particular individual.
    And the Palestinians--the voice of the Palestinians, those who 
desire peace, needs to be heard. And so reform of these institutions

[[Page 1290]]

are an incredible part of achieving what I believe His Majesty wants, 
which is two states living side by side in peace. Eventually there will 
be a peace conference, but there needs to be steps leading up to the 
peace conference, where all of us do our jobs about putting those 
institutions in place that will lead to peace, so that we all have 
confidence.
    Listen, one of the things that we care deeply about is the plight of 
the Palestinian family and Palestinian people. These people live in 
squalor, and they're poor, and they're downtrodden. And there's nothing 
more that we'd like to do is to work with our friends to provide 
humanitarian assistance, a strong package of aid to help these poor 
people that have, frankly, been used as pawns in the peace process over 
the decades.
    However, it's so important before we spend money that we're 
confident the money is not going to be stolen, that it be--that the 
anti-corruption reforms be in place. So these are all steps necessary, 
Steve [Steve Holland, Reuters], to get to where we want to get.
    Yes, Dick [Richard Keil, Bloomberg News].

Consumer Confidence/National Economy

    Q. Mr. President, are you concerned at all that consumer confidence, 
which came in at kind of a low number yesterday, is a harbinger of 
things to come, particularly as people watch their stock portfolios 
erode and vanish? Will this make them less likely to spend and put more 
pressure on the recovery?
    The President. I think--look, let me just give you my own consumer 
confidence index. I am positive about the--our economy. I feel very 
optimistic about it, because I look at the facts. And the facts are that 
inflation is low; interest rates low; productivity is high. We're going 
to get a trade bill which will help, presuming the Senate acts this 
week. I feel strongly that they're--that having--now it turns out, 
having been through three quarters of negative growth, when I first came 
into office, we've had three quarters of positive growth. I think that's 
the right trend, Dick.
     So I'm optimistic about this, and I think when the American people 
take a look at the facts and are confident about those facts, like I am, 
they will--they're going to realize we've got a bright future ahead of 
us. And I am upbeat. And I think most of the people around this table 
are upbeat about the prospects for people being able to find work.
    Thank you all.

Note: The President spoke at 11:34 a.m. in the Cabinet Room at the White 
House. During the exchange, a reporter referred to Minister of Foreign 
Affairs Marwan Muasher of Jordan.