[Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents Volume 41, Number 50 (Monday, December 19, 2005)]
[Pages 1865-1866]
[Online from the Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]

<R04>
Remarks Following a Meeting With Iraqi Out-of-Country Voters

December 15, 2005

    I've just had the really enjoyable experience of visiting with some 
Iraqi citizens who voted in the elections today. And you might notice, 
they've got their--got the little ink-stained fingers there.
    And, first of all, I was struck by how joyous they were to be able 
to vote for a Government, a permanent Government under a new 
Constitution. We take it for granted in America because we tend to--we 
vote quite often in this country. These good folks got to vote for the 
first time for a permanent Government.
    And there's a lot of joy, as far as I'm concerned, in seeing the 
Iraqi people accomplish this major milestone in the march to democracy. 
Millions of people voted. And I haven't seen all the tabulations of the 
vote, but we're

[[Page 1866]]

certain that the turnout was significant and that the violence was down.
    And, first, I want to congratulate the Iraqi citizens for being 
courageous and--in defying the terrorists and refusing to be cowed into 
not voting. I believe freedom is universal. I believe the Iraqi citizen 
cares just as much about freedom and living a free life as the American 
citizen does.
    Secondly, I want to thank our Embassy for doing such good work there 
and working with the Iraqi citizens to get this vote off. And I want to 
thank the international community for participating in these elections. 
This is a major step forward in achieving our objective, which is an 
ally--having a democratic Iraq, a country able to sustain itself and 
defend itself, a country that will be an ally in the war on terror, and 
a country which will send such a powerful example to others in the 
region, whether they live in Iran or Syria, for example.
    I've assured these good Iraqis citizens that the United States will 
stay with them and complete this job. They've expressed concern about 
listening to the commentary that we'll leave before the job is done; 
they don't have to worry. We're doing the right thing. And we've got 
partners in peace with the Iraqi citizens.
    This is a crucial part of the war on terror, as is the PATRIOT Act. 
The PATRIOT Act was passed 4 years ago. It gave our law enforcement the 
tools necessary to help protect the--America, the same tools that law 
enforcement uses, for example, against drug dealers. The PATRIOT Act is 
set to expire. The House of Representatives, recognizing the value of 
the PATRIOT Act, voted in a bipartisan way to extend the PATRIOT Act, 
and now there are Senators who are filibustering the PATRIOT Act. That 
is a bad decision for the security of the United States. I call upon the 
Senate to end the filibuster and to pass this important legislation so 
that we have the tools necessary to defend the United States of America 
in a time of war.
    I want to thank you all again for coming. May God bless your 
citizens. May God bless a free Iraq. I appreciate you being here.

Note: The President spoke at 1:47 p.m. in the Oval Office at the White 
House.