[Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents Volume 41, Number 14 (Monday, April 11, 2005)]
[Pages 566-568]
[Online from the Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]

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

April 5, 2005

    The President. Just concluded our second Cabinet meeting of the 
second term. I want to thank my Cabinet officials for doing such a fine 
job. I appreciate your hard work, and thank you for your dedication to 
the country.
    Tomorrow I will be leaving for Rome, leading a delegation to attend 
the services for His Holiness Pope John Paul II. What a great man. It 
will be my honor to represent our country at a ceremony marking a 
remarkable life, a person who stood for freedom and human dignity.
    I also urge the Congress to successfully conclude budget 
negotiations. The House passed a budget resolution; the Senate has 
passed a resolution. We look forward to working with the leadership to 
successfully conclude those negotiations. It's important we get a 
budget, a budget which will show the American people that we will spend 
their money wisely, a budget that shows that we know how to set 
priorities--winning the war on terror, protecting our homeland--a budget 
that says we can cut the deficit in half in 5 years, and a budget that 
will encourage economic growth and vitality.
    I appreciate the fact that it looks like that we're going to get a 
solid cap on discretionary spending, one that we agree with. It's also 
important for the Senators and the Members of the House of 
Representatives to understand that a good, solid budget that helps us 
meet objectives is one that deals with mandatory spending items. And 
we've presented some meaningful, realistic, commonsense reforms on the 
mandatory spending side.
    And so, as Congress returns, I look forward to working with them to 
get a good, solid budget. It's important for the country.
    Now I'll answer a few questions. Jennifer [Jennifer Loven, 
Associated Press].

Terrorist Attack at Iraq's Abu Ghraib Prison

    Q. Yes, sir. Al Qaida has claimed--[inaudible]--responsibility for 
the attack on Abu Ghraib prison. Is this a sign that they're becoming 
more sophisticated in Iraq?

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    The President. No, I think it's a sign that they're still deadly, 
that these people will kill. They kill innocent life. Their strategy 
hasn't really changed. Their strategy has been one to kill as many 
innocent people as they possibly can, in the hopes that it shakes our 
confidence and shakes our will and, equally importantly, shakes the will 
and confidence of those brave souls who are helping lead this new 
country--or lead this new democracy.
    And we are--we're after them. And equally importantly, the Iraqi 
citizens are after them now. More and more citizens understand that 
these terrorists like Al Qaida and Zarqawi don't have their interests at 
heart. They don't believe in democracy, these killers. They believe in a 
society in which people aren't going to be free to practice their 
religion or free to speak in the public square.
    And so I think the American people ought to take heart to know that 
we have now more allies in defeating these few, and those allies are the 
Iraqi citizens. And perhaps the most notable step that the Iraqi 
citizens took toward complete defiance of the point of view of Zarqawi, 
who is an Al Qaida type, was when they went to the polls.
    Adam [Adam Entous, Reuters].

Israeli West Bank Settlements

    Q. Mr. President, Prime Minister Sharon has said he intends to 
expand the largest Jewish settlement in the West Bank. Other officials 
say no construction is imminent. Are you satisfied? And what will you 
tell Sharon when you see him, about the settlements?
    The President. Our position is very clear that the roadmap is 
important, and the roadmap calls for no expansion of the settlements. 
I'm optimistic we can achieve a peace in the Holy Land. I'm optimistic 
because I firmly believe that Ariel Sharon wants to have a peaceful 
partner, wants there to be a democracy in the Palestinian Territories, 
and I believe President Abbas wants the same thing. And there's a lot of 
hard work to be done, but we're making progress. And I look forward to 
meeting the Prime Minister in Crawford to continue to work with the 
parties to advance peace.
    Carl [Carl Cameron, FOX News].

Federal Deficit/Strengthening Social Security

    Q. Thank you, Mr. President. You mentioned the deficit. Insofar as 
the deficit has been going up, can you talk about how that affects both 
the budget resolution talks on the Hill and what it does to your pitch 
for Social Security reform in terms of complicating the message and the 
criticism you've gotten, particularly from Democrats?
    The President. Well, one of the things that people must understand 
on Social Security is there is a huge unfunded liability of trillions of 
dollars. In other words, because baby boomers like me are getting ready 
to retire and we're living longer and we're getting greater benefits, 
there is a significant obligation by the Government. And the fundamental 
question is, will Congress have the will to take on this very important 
issue and solve this problem now, before that significant obligation 
becomes more significant?
    Now, we're dealing with the deficit by presenting a good, lean 
budget that sets priorities. I want to thank Josh Bolten of the OMB, and 
I want to thank all my Cabinet Secretaries for having worked with the 
OMB to deliver to Congress a budget that will work on behalf of the 
American people. And now it's up to Congress. It's up to Congress to 
show the American people that we have the capacity to de-fund programs 
which don't work and fund programs which do work.
    And I'm looking forward to working with Members of both the House 
and the Senate. It's going to be an interesting set of negotiations. But 
we're firm in our belief that we can cut this deficit in half over a 5-
year period of time, grow this economy, and meet our primary objective, 
which is defending America.
    Listen, thank you all very much.

Note: The President spoke at 3:14 p.m. in the Cabinet Room at the White 
House. In his remarks, he referred to senior Al Qaida associate Abu 
Musab Al Zarqawi; Prime Minister Ariel Sharon of Israel; and President 
Mahmoud Abbas (Abu Mazen) of the Palestinian Authority. The Office of 
the Press Secretary also released a Spanish language transcript of these 
remarks.

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