[Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents Volume 41, Number 2 (Monday, January 17, 2005)]
[Pages 33-35]
[Online from the Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]

<R04>
Remarks Following a Briefing on Indian Ocean Earthquake and Tsunamis 
Disaster Relief and an Exchange With Reporters

January 10, 2005

    The President. Mr. Secretary, welcome back. I want to thank 
Secretary Powell and Andrew Natsios and Mike Brown and Marc Grossman for 
taking the lead on behalf of our Government and the American people and 
providing relief for the victims of the tsunamis.
    The Secretary has given me a extensive briefing on what he has seen, 
on the unbelievable damage, particularly in Banda Aceh.

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He's also brought me up to date on the extraordinary efforts by the 
United States Government and the United States people, along with 
governments around the world, to provide much needed relief to those 
who've suffered. We're now entering a second phase of providing for 
rehabilitation to these affected societies as well as a reconstruction 
effort.
    And as the Secretary said yesterday, the Government of the United 
States is committed to helping the people who suffer. We're committed 
today, and we will be committed tomorrow. The outpouring of support from 
the citizens of our country has been more than heartening. It has been 
very strong. And I want to thank those who have felt like--felt the need 
to contribute directly to the relief efforts. I urge them to go to the 
usafreedomcorps.gov web site to make sure that their cash contributions 
are funneled to programs which are having the necessary effect of 
providing relief, eventually rehabilitation and reconstruction, to those 
who have suffered.
    And so, Mr. Secretary, I want to thank you. Andrew, I'm looking 
forward to going over to your headquarters to thank those NGOs who have 
been working hard as well as those in your agency who have worked so 
incredibly hard to show the compassion and decency of the American 
people during this time of extraordinary crisis.
    I'll answer a couple of questions. Jennifer [Jennifer Loven, 
Associated Press].

Indian Ocean Earthquake and Tsunamis Disaster Relief

    Q. Thank you, Mr. President. This long-term commitment by the United 
States to the Indian Ocean region--what specifically does that mean? 
Does it mean more dollars above the $350 million? What are you--what are 
you prepared to do?
    The President. Well, we'll see. I think the important thing is to 
make sure that, as one person noted the other day, that the dollars are 
demand-driven. In other words, the key is to provide immediate relief, 
which we are doing, and then to work with governments and the United 
Nations to assess the needs, the intermediate-term needs and the long-
term needs, to make sure the money that is available actually achieves a 
coordinated objective. And that's what we're in the process of doing.
    In other words, these men went in--in to make sure that the money 
that we had put up is being applied to provide necessary relief. And now 
we're in the process of helping to rehabilitate and reconstruct the 
societies. And they're beginning to focus--the demand is beginning to 
focus, particularly on the Banda Aceh region. That is the part of the 
world that is going to require the most intense effort by our--by the 
governments around the world.
    Rosey [James Rosen, FOX News].

Palestinian Presidential Elections

    Q. Sir, is there a lesson--is there a lesson in the Palestinian 
elections that the Iraqi people should see? And what is this 
administration going to do to build on this election in the Middle East 
region?
    The President. Well, first, I want to offer my congratulations to 
Mr. Abu Mazen. I look forward to talking with him at the appropriate 
time. I look forward to welcoming him here to Washington if he chooses 
to come here. I look forward to helping to make sure that the conference 
in London, a conference all aimed at helping the Palestinians develop 
the institutions necessary to support Abu Mazen's vision of a peaceful, 
active, vibrant state, to become reality. And so we are--this is a man 
who has been elected by what appears to be a good-sized vote. I'm 
heartened by the elections, and I'm also looking forward to the Iraqi 
elections on January the 30th.
    This is an extraordinary year, when you think about it. In the first 
month of a new year, there will be an election in the Palestinian 
territory and there will be an election in Iraq. Who could have possibly 
envisioned an election in Iraq at this point in history? And yet we're 
going to have an election. And I'm sure there are--a lot of people are 
incredibly excited about the thought of having an election in Iraq 
inside the Iraqi territory, except for a handful who want to stop 
democracy, because they understand what an election means.
    And so I'm--as a democrat, as a person who believes in democracy--a 
Republican

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democrat, I might add--as someone who believes that everybody has a 
right to live in a free society and everybody wants to live in a free 
society, the month of January 2005 is an extraordinary month.
    Steve [Steve Holland, Reuters].

Israeli and Palestinian Roles Following Elections

    Q. Are there any steps that Israel can take to help the Abbas 
position, any confidence-building measures? And Abbas called Israel the 
``Zionist enemy'' on the campaign trail. Was that rhetoric helpful?
    The President. I think Israel did help with the elections. I know 
the Secretary worked hard on making it clear to Israel that it was very 
important that voters in Jerusalem be allowed to have access to the 
polls. And the initial reports we got back, and on the briefing that the 
Secretary gave me today about the initial reports on the election, was 
that there was better than good movement. I mean, it was better than we 
thought a month ago, that the Israelis did understand the need to have 
an election.
    I think it's going to be very important for Israel to fulfill its 
obligation on the withdrawal from the territories that they have pledged 
to withdraw from. It is essential that Israel keep a vision of two 
states, living side by side in peace, and that as the Palestinians begin 
to develop the institutions of a state, that the Israeli Government 
support the development of those institutions and recognize that it is 
essential that there be a viable economy, that there be a viable health 
care system, that people be--that people be allowed to start building a 
society that meets their hopes and needs. And Israel can play and must 
play an important part of the development of a Palestinian state.
    At the same time, it's essential that the Palestinian leadership 
consolidate security forces, so that they can fight off those few who 
still have the desire to destroy Israel as a part of their philosophy 
and those few who fear there to be a free vote amongst the Palestinian 
people.
    Thank you all.

Note: The President spoke at 10:20 a.m. in the Oval Office at the White 
House. In his remarks, he referred to President-elect Mahmoud Abbas (Abu 
Mazen) of the Palestinian Authority. The Office of the Press Secretary 
also released a Spanish language transcript of these remarks. A tape was 
not available for verification of the content of these remarks.