[Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents Volume 38, Number 38 (Monday, September 23, 2002)]
[Pages 1579-1580]
[Online from the Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]

<R04>
Remarks Following a Meeting With Secretary of State Colin L. Powell and 
an Exchange With Reporters

September 19, 2002

    The President. Good morning. I appreciate our Secretary of State 
coming by to brief the Vice President and me and Condoleezza Rice about 
our progress in working with the United Nations, convincing the United 
Nations Security Council to firmly deal with a threat to world peace.
    Before we talk about that, I do want to express our condolences to 
those who lost their lives in Israel. It's been back-to-back suicide 
bombings. We strongly condemn terror. We strongly condemn violence. And 
we continue to send our message to the good people of that region that 
if you're interested in peace, that if you want people to be able to 
grow up in a peaceful world, all parties must do everything they can to 
reject and stop violence.
    At the United Nations Security Council, it is very important that 
the members understand that the credibility of the United Nations is at 
stake; that the Security Council must be firm in its resolve to deal 
with a true threat to world peace, and that is Saddam Hussein; that the 
United Nations Security Council must work with the United States and 
Britain and other concerned parties to send a clear message that we 
expect Saddam to disarm. And if the United Nations Security Council 
won't deal with the problem, the United States and some of our friends 
will. That's the message the Secretary of State has delivered 
forcefully. That's the message that he will continue to carry.
    And Mr. Secretary, I appreciate your hard work. You're doing a fine 
job.
    Secretary Powell. Thank you, Mr. President.
    The President. And we're proud of your efforts.
    Secretary Powell. Thank you, sir.
    The President. I'll be glad to answer a few calls--answers, starting 
with Ron [Ron Fournier, Associated Press].

Coalition Against Iraq

    Q. How many of our friends are willing to join the United States in 
this effort?
    The President. Ron, I think time will tell. I think you're going to 
see a lot of nations--that a lot of nations love freedom. They 
understand the threat. They understand that the credibility of the 
United Nations is at stake. They heard me loud and clear when I said, 
``Either you can be the United Nations, a capable body, a body able to 
keep the peace, or you can be the League of Nations.'' And we're 
confident that people will follow our lead.
    Campbell [Campbell Brown, NBC News].
    Q. Mr. President----
    The President. Good to see you, Campbell, for starters. Glad you're 
here--finally showed up. [Laughter]

Iraq

    Q. The chief weapons inspector is going to be briefing the U.N. 
Security Council today, and there have already been some reports that, 
in his talks with the Iraqis, that they're limiting access to certain 
sites. Are those reports true? And do you think they're trying to----
    The President. Well, I haven't gotten a report from what he intends 
to say. But let me give you just some general observations. First of 
all, there are no negotiations to be held with Iraq. They have nothing 
to negotiate. They're the people who said that they would not have 
weapons of mass destruction. The negotiations are over. It is up to the 
U.N. Security Council to lay out resolutions that confirms what Iraq has 
already agreed to, see.
    Secondly, I don't trust Iraq, and neither should the free world. For 
11 years, they have deceived the world. They have said, ``We'll conform 
to resolutions.'' They've never conformed to resolutions. They've never 
conformed to the agreement that they laid out 11 years ago. Sixteen 
times they've defied Security resolutions.
    And so, they--the burden of proof is--must be placed squarely on 
their shoulders. But there's no negotiations about whether or not 
they've been telling the truth or not.
    Let's see here--Mark [Mark Knoller, CBS Radio].

[[Page 1580]]

Congressional Resolution on Iraq

    Q. Mr. President, are you going to send Congress your proposed 
resolution today?
    The President. I am.
    Q. And are you asking for a blank check, sir?
    The President. I am sending suggested language for a resolution. I 
want--I've asked for Congress' support to enable the administration to 
keep the peace. And we look forward to a good, constructive debate in 
Congress. I appreciate the fact that the leadership recognizes we've got 
to move before the elections. I appreciate the strong support we're 
getting from both Republicans and Democrats and look forward to working 
with them.
    Q. Mr. President, how important is it that that resolution give you 
an authorization to use force?
    The President. That will be part of the resolution, the 
authorization to use force. If you want to keep the peace, you've got to 
have the authorization to use force. But it's--this will be--this is a 
chance for Congress to indicate support. It's a chance for Congress to 
say, ``We support the administration's ability to keep the peace.'' 
That's what this is all about.
    Q. Will regime change be part of it?
    The President. Yes. That's the policy of the Government.
    Campbell, congratulations, you got two questions in one day.
    Q. Thank you, sir.
    The President. And it wasn't even a followup. That's a brilliant 
performance.

Note: The President spoke at 9:50 a.m. in the Oval Office at the White 
House. In his remarks, he referred to President Saddam Hussein of Iraq. 
A reporter referred to Hans Blix, Executive Chairman, United Nations 
Monitoring, Verification, and Inspection Commission for Iraq.