[Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents Volume 41, Number 21 (Monday, May 30, 2005)]
[Pages 878-880]
[Online from the Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]

<R04>
Remarks Following Discussions With President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono of 
Indonesia and an Exchange With Reporters

May 25, 2005

    President Bush. Mr. President, welcome to the Oval Office. It's an 
honor to meet with you again. Last time I was with you, I congratulated 
you on winning a hard-fought Presidential campaign. Now I had a chance 
to congratulate you on fulfilling your campaign promises. I want to 
thank you for your impressive record.
    I also want to thank you for the strength and the leadership you 
showed during what must have been an incredibly difficult period for the 
government and the people of Indonesia during the catastrophe after the 
tsunami. You showed good--great courage. And it's been an honor to work 
with you to help save lives and to bring people order out of the chaos 
that ensued after the terrible disaster.
    We had a very good conversation today. We talked about a variety of 
subjects, all aimed about making our countries more peaceful and more 
prosperous and the world more peaceful. Indonesia will play a large role 
and a significant role in helping us understand that great religions 
should coexist in a peaceful way.
    Mr. President, thank you for coming, and welcome to the Oval Office.
    President Yudhoyono. Mr. President, I'm also pleased to have the 
opportunity to meet you again, after we met in Chile during the APEC 
meeting.
    As I have said during this meeting, that I do hope that our 
cooperation can be strengthened from time to time. And as we discussed 
on many subjects--the education, the economic cooperations, the

[[Page 879]]

counterterrorism, regional situation, and others--I extremely hope that 
Indonesia can continue its reforms, democratizations, and economic 
reconstruction. And I do hope that you could maintain your contribution 
and support to us in continuing our reforms and democratizations.
    President Bush. Thank you, sir. We'll answer two questions a side. 
We'll start with the American person, Jennifer [Jennifer Loven, 
Associated Press].

Bioethics/Stem Cell Research

    Q. Thank you, sir. With 400,000 frozen embryos in this country 
unlikely to all get adopted, why do you think that either storing them 
or even discarding them is better than using them for research?
    President Bush. She's asking about a very delicate subject called 
embryonic stem cell research. I have made my position very clear on that 
issue. I believe that the use of Federal monies that end up destroying 
life is not--is not positive, is not good. And so, therefore, I'm 
against the extension of the research of using more Federal dollars on 
new embryonic stem cell lines.
    As you know, I made the decision that existing lines should receive 
Federal dollars, and we've had about 600 different experiments, maybe 
3,000 more to go. And so you asked about frozen embryos--that would 
entail the destruction of life, and the use of Federal dollars to 
destroy life is something I simply do not support.

Indonesia-U.S. Military Relations

    Q. How about good will for relation of our military?
    President Yudhoyono. Yes, we discussed with President Bush on the 
effort in normalizing our military-to-military relations. Of course 
Indonesia has to be thankful for the resumptions of IMET program. And we 
have to do more along with the reforms of the military that is conducted 
in Indonesia. I do hope that in the future we are moving ahead for fully 
normalizations of the military-to-military relations.
    Actually, the atmosphere is positive that of course in part of 
Indonesia, we have to continue our reform to many things--toward the 
normalization of our military-to-military relations.

    President Bush. The President did mention that we're revitalizing 
the military education training program. It makes sense that we have 
mil-to-mil exchanges, military-to-military exchanges. We want young 
officers from Indonesia coming to the United States. We want there to be 
exchanges between our military corps. That will help lead to better 
understandings. And so I--the President told me he's in the process of 
reforming the military, and I believe him. So this is the first step 
toward what will be fuller mil-to-mil cooperation.
    Cameron [Carl Cameron, Fox News].

Bioethics/Stem Cell Research

    Q. Again on stem cells, Mr. President. If I understood you 
correctly, the embryos put together for in vitro fertilization do 
contain life. And if that's the case, do you believe that those people 
who create those embryos for in vitro fertilization have an obligation 
to ensure that they are brought to term, if they are, in fact, not 
needed by the original----

    President Bush. No, the issue that involves the Federal Government 
is whether or not we use taxpayers' money that would end up destroying 
that life. That's the issue at hand. And as you know, I'm the first 
President to say we could use Federal dollars on embryonic stem cells, 
but those stem cells had already--had been created, so that--it's from 
the moment I made the declaration forward that we would not use Federal 
taxpayers' money to destroy life. That's the issue. And the Congress has 
made its position clear, and I've made my position clear. And I will be 
vetoing the bill they send to me if it were to pass the United States 
Senate.

    Now, there is research going on in the private sector. There's a lot 
of research on adult stem cells that appears to be very promising. And 
my Government strongly supports stem cells. There must be a balance--
strongly supports adult stem cell research--but there must be a balance 
between science and ethics. And I've made my decision as to how best 
achieve that balance.

[[Page 880]]

Indian Ocean Earthquake and Tsunamis Disaster Relief

    Q. We understand that United States has pledged a commitment--a lot 
have pledged a commitment to the tsunami relief reconstruction and 
effort. I would like to ask, how is it going to be realized, the 
commitment?
    President Bush. Well, the commitment was first realized when we 
moved an aircraft carrier with a lot of equipment into the neighborhood. 
And many of our Navy officers and Marine officers and Marine enlisted, 
Navy enlisted personnel were the first people on the ground to start 
helping in coordination with the Indonesian Government.
    That commitment is further being met by expenditures out of the 
United States Congress. Plus, I put together kind of an interesting 
group of private citizens to help raise money for the tsunami relief--
that would be my father and President Clinton, number 41 and 42. And 
they have worked hard to convince our fellow citizens to contribute--
these are private-sector citizens--to contribute to help provide relief 
as well. I'm proud of my Government's--more importantly, my country's 
commitment to help the people who suffer.
    And the President and I talked a lot about the ongoing relief 
efforts. We thanked the Government for their hard work, and I told him 
the American people will stand with these folks.
    Thank you all very much.

Note: The President spoke at 3:36 p.m. in the Oval Office at the White 
House.