[Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents Volume 39, Number 32 (Monday, August 11, 2003)]
[Pages 1032-1034]
[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 in Crawford, Texas

August 6, 2003

    The President. First, it's been my real privilege and honor to 
welcome the Secretary of State back to Crawford. He and Dick Armitage 
came, and we spent yesterday evening and this morning talking about our 
country's desire to promote peace and freedom, our obligations as a 
prosperous and strong nation to help the less fortunate. And we had a 
good strategy session, and now we're about to go out and brand some 
cows--well, not exactly. [Laughter]

Liberia

    Q. Sir, what are your thoughts----
    The President. Let me answer a couple of questions and we'll--a 
little more order here to this particular press coverage, because this 
is Crawford.
    Q. I'm sorry.
    Q. Thanks, Mr. President. You sent an advance force, or you're 
authorizing an advance force in Liberia. Does this signal the start of a 
larger force in Liberia?
    The President. This is all part of determining what is necessary to 
help ECOWAS--now called ECOMIL--to go in and provide the conditions 
necessary for humanitarian relief to arrive, whether it be by sea or by 
air. And it's part of what we said we would do.
    Q. Do you still want Taylor out? Is that still a condition, a hard 
condition?
    The President. Yes, we would like Taylor out. And the Secretary may 
want to comment on this; he's working hard with the--you know, the U.N. 
and others to insist that Mr. Taylor leave.
    Secretary Powell. We still expect President Taylor to leave. I'm 
pleased at what ECOWAS has been able to do. The Nigerians showed up in 
good order; more forces are arriving; and they're starting to establish 
a sense of security and I think put hope back in the hearts of the 
Liberian people. And we want to support them and assist them, as the 
President said.
    The President. Patsy [Patricia Wilson, Reuters].
    Q. Sir----
    Q. I'm sorry, what do you want from the American troops?
    The President. [Inaudible]--you seem to be dominating here. 
[Laughter]
    Q. Sir, do you want the--sorry.
    The President.  It's okay; it's good; it's very aggressive. Your 
editors appreciate it.

Israeli Security Fence

    Q. Do you want the Israelis to stop construction of the fence or 
just reroute it? And will you use loan guarantees to persuade them?
    The President. We're talking to Israel about all aspects of the 
fence. I made it clear I thought the fence was a problem, and so we're 
talking with them, and we'll continue to work on this issue as well as 
other issues. I do believe we're making progress. The key for a peace to 
happen is for both parties to assume their necessary obligations and 
responsibilities to create the conditions so that

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people have confidence, that people know that their lives will be safe, 
and that prosperity can break out. And we're making progress there.
    Stretch [Richard Keil, Bloomberg News], and then we'll go to you, 
John, and then Elizabeth. You've got to speak above the train.

Tax Relief/National Economy

    Q. I'm competing here with the train. Do you think you've done 
enough at this point to stimulate the economy? Is it a matter of just 
kind of letting things that you've put into place take effect, take 
hold, or is there more that needs to be done?
    The President. Look, there's no question that the tax relief----

[At this point, a passing train whistled.]

    The President. First, we've got to have better rail transportation. 
[Laughter]
    The tax cuts will help a lot. And the second round of tax relief is 
now ending up in the pockets of our fellow citizens. The child tax 
credit checks are now being mailed. And that's going to help. But there 
needs to be more. And there needs to be an energy plan. There needs to 
be good litigation reform. I believe we can get a good class action 
lawsuit out of the Senate if we continue to work the issue. I also know 
that we need to make sure we continue this notion of reminding the 
investors and consumers alike that we're going to have fiscal discipline 
in Washington, DC. So yes, there's more we can do and will do.

Secretary Powell's Tenure

    Q. Sir, you've seen the report that Secretary Powell and Secretary 
Armitage are going to leave at the end of this administration. Do you 
expect them to stay on if there is a second Bush administration? Would 
you like them to?
    The President. Well, first things first; we hope there is a second 
Bush administration. And I will work hard to convince the American 
people that their confidence in me is justified. And we'll deal with it 
at the right time.
    Listen, this guy has done a fabulous job. And I--Washington, 
particularly in August, is a dangerous period--a dangerous time because 
there's a lot of speculation. And all I can tell you is, the man flies 
to Crawford and we spent a good 24 hours talking about how we're going 
to work together to make the world a better place.
    Q. But Mr. President, you said, ``We'll deal with it''----
    The President. Yes, Elizabeth.
    Q. ----``we'll deal with it at the right time.'' That isn't ``yes.''
    The President. Deal with what at the right time?
    Q. With whether Secretary Powell will serve in a second term. Is 
that ``yes'' or ``no?'' I mean, are you going to offer him a spot in the 
second term?
    Secretary Powell. I don't have a term. I serve the President. 
[Laughter]
    Q. No, the President----
    The President. Elizabeth, look, first things first, and that is, 
we've got a year and a while during my first term to make the world a 
more peaceful place, and we'll deal with it. Washington loves 
speculation. Clearly, you love speculation. You love it. You love to 
speculate about----
    Q. It wasn't my story. [Laughter]
    The President. Let me finish, please. You love to speculate about 
whether so-and-so is going to be a part of the administration or not. 
And I understand the game. But I have got to do my job, and I'm going to 
do it. And I'm going to do it with the Secretary of State. And the fact 
that he is here in Crawford, Texas, talking about issues of importance, 
should say loud and clear to the American people that he's completely 
engaged in doing what he needs to do, and that is serve as a great 
Secretary of State.
    Q. Do you want to serve more than 4 years, Mr. Secretary?
    Secretary Powell. I serve at the pleasure of the President, and this 
is all August speculation with no basis in fact. There was no basis for 
this story to begin with, and we're doing our jobs together.
    The President. All right. We're going to get a burger. Thank you.

Note: The President spoke at 11:45 a.m. at the Coffee Station 
restaurant. In his remarks, he referred to President Charles Taylor of 
Liberia. A portion of these remarks could not be verified because the 
tape was incomplete.

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