[Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents Volume 40, Number 1 (Monday, January 5, 2004)]
[Pages 10-12]
[Online from the Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]

<R04>
Remarks on New Year's Day and an Exchange With Reporters in Falfurrias, 
Texas

January 1, 2004

    The President. Wish everybody a happy New Year. It's a good way to 
start the new year, outdoors--in my case, with my dad. And it's--I know 
this part of Texas real well. It's a spectacular part of our State. And 
we were just on a ranch with--owned by a lady who knows it's important 
to protect the environment by taking care of the land. And as a result 
of her taking care of the land, worrying about bird habitats, we 
happened to see a lot of birds today. But most importantly, I was with 
my dad. It's a great way to start 2004.
    I'm looking forward to 2004. We'll continue to stay focused on our 
economy, so people can find work, and stay focused on working to keep 
the peace and--by spreading freedom and by holding people to account who 
are willing to harm innocent people around the world. But it's a--I 
think 2004 is going to be a great year.
    And in the spirit of great years, I'll answer a few questions.

President's Hunting Trip

    Q. How was the hunt?
    The President. It was good fun. You know, when you hunt quail, you 
get a lot of exercise. As you know, I like exercise. And so my dad and I 
and Ms. Negley, whose ranch we were on, walked a lot of territory, 
watched the dogs work, and knocked down some birds.
    Q. How many?
    The President. I think I shot five. The limit in Texas, I believe, 
is 15. I'm not that good a shot, but it was a lot of fun.

Iraqi Debt Relief

    Q. Did you talk to Mr. Baker?
    The President. Pardon me?
    Q. Did you talk to Secretary Baker?
    The President. I did talk to Secretary Baker. He came by for lunch. 
First, I thanked him for spending as much time as he did on the road for 
our country. As you know, he went to Europe first and then recently went 
to the Far East. He reported on his visits with Prime Minister Koizumi 
and President Hu Jintao. And he was very positive about his meetings. 
He's going to come back up and brief Condi and me in a little bit of 
time.
    Yes, ma'am.

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Special Presidential Envoy James A. Baker III's Upcoming Travel

    Q. Where's he going next?
    The President. Where's he going next? He's yet to go to the Middle 
East, and he's going to let me know when he thinks the timing is good 
for that.

Iranian Earthquake

    Q. Can I ask you about what you did for Iran, in terms of the easing 
restrictions for humanitarian aid?
    The President. Yes.
    Q. Does this ease--represent an easing of our relationship with 
Iran?
    The President. What we're doing in Iran is we're showing the Iranian 
people the American people care, that we've got great compassion for 
human suffering. And I eased restrictions in order to be able to get 
humanitarian aid into the country. The Iranian Government must listen to 
the voices of those who long for freedom, must turn over Al Qaida that 
are in their custody, and must abandon their nuclear weapons program. In 
the meantime, we appreciate the fact the Iranian Government is willing 
to allow our humanitarian aid flights into their country. And it's a 
good thing to do. It's right to take care of people when they hurt, and 
we're doing that.

Iran-U.S. Relations

    Q. Do you see any signs that the Iranian Government is doing any of 
the things that could lead to a stronger relationship?
    The President. My hope is, is that they will hand over Al Qaida to 
their countries of origin, that they will get rid of their nuclear 
weapons program in a verifiable way, that they will listen to the IAEA 
and the United Nations and get rid of the programs they said that 
they're willing to do.
    And as well it's very important for them to listen to those voices 
in their country who are demanding freedom. And we stand strongly with 
those who demand freedom.
    Yes, Mark [Mark Knoller, CBS Radio].

Assassination Attempts on Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf

    Q. Mr. President, how worried are you about the attempts on the life 
of President Musharraf, and what does it mean for the security of 
Pakistan's nuclear weapons?
    The President. Well, I appreciated talking to President Musharraf. I 
told him how much I was hopeful that he continued to join us in the war 
on terror. Obviously, terrorists are after him. And he sounded very 
confident that his security forces would be able to deal with the 
threat.
    President Musharraf has been a friend of the United States. He's 
been a standup guy when it comes to dealing with the terrorists. We are 
making progress against the Al Qaida because of his cooperation. We need 
to do more, particularly on the Pakistan-Afghan border. He sounded 
confident, and therefore I feel confident about his security situation.

Pakistan-India Relations

    Q. And what about Pakistan's nuclear weapons? Are they secure?
    The President. Yes, they are secure. He is--and that's important. 
It's also important that India as well have a secure nuclear weapons 
program. We're hopeful that the Indians and the Pakistanis in upcoming 
meetings will be able to begin a dialog on a variety of issues. It looks 
like they're making progress toward reconciling differences. Slowly but 
surely, positive things are taking place, and I commend the leaders of 
both countries for taking steps toward a peaceful reconciliation of 
major issues that have divided them.

CIA Employee Identity Disclosure Investigation

    Q. Did Attorney General Ashcroft take too long to recuse himself 
from the leak investigation?
    The President. Did he take too long?
    Q. Why did he take so long to recuse himself?
    The President. You're going to have to ask him. I mean, I don't know 
the details which caused him to recuse himself. That's up to people 
inside of DC to tell you what's going on with the case. He doesn't talk 
to me about it; he doesn't brief me on it. My only point is, is that I'd 
like to find out the truth as quickly as possible.
    Q. Are you concerned that it's taking as long as it is?

[[Page 12]]

    The President. I'm not involved with the investigation in any way, 
shape, or form. I've told the members of the White House to totally 
cooperate. I think you'll find that there has been total cooperation. 
And the Justice Department and the investigative team--which, by the 
way, is a team comprised of professionals who have done this in the 
past--will proceed at a pace necessary to find out the truth. And the 
sooner they find out the truth, the better, as far as I'm concerned.
    Last question, and then we've got to go back to Crawford.

Mad Cow Disease

    Q. Your administration has announced some measures with regard to 
mad cow.
    The President. Did we do what?
    Q. With regard to mad cow, do you think there is more that needs to 
be done, and----
    The President. Well, I've talked to Secretary Veneman about this 
issue. I told her that I want her to take the steps necessary to make 
sure that the food supply is safe and that the American consumer can be 
confident. And she is looking at different ways to do that. As a matter 
of fact, she announced some measures the other day.
    Q. How much time do you think Americans can feel safe eating beef?
    The President. I think they should be. As a matter of fact, I ate 
beef today and will continue to eat beef.
    Thank you all very much.

President's New Year's Resolution

    Q. What are you going to do for your New Year's resolution?
    The President. Oh, my New Year's resolution this year is to work--
stay physically fit to the point where I can run--in other words, rehab 
my knee. I miss running. The elliptical machine is good, but it just 
doesn't have that same sense of--that running gave me. So that's one of 
my resolutions, which may require eating less desserts, kind of getting 
a little trimmer, to take the pressure off the knee.
    I wish everybody a happy New Year, and 2004 is going to be a great 
year for this country. It's going to be a year in which the world will 
become more peaceful and more people will be able to find work, and 
that's important.
    Thank you all.

Note: The President spoke at 2:32 p.m. at the Brooks County Airport. In 
his remarks, he referred to Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi of Japan; 
and President Hu Jintao of China. A tape was not available for 
verification of the content of these remarks.