[Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents Volume 43, Number 3 (Monday, January 22, 2007)]
[Pages 42-43]
[Online from the Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]

<R04>
Remarks Following a Meeting With United Nations Secretary-General Ban 
Ki-moon

January 16, 2007

    President Bush. Mr. Secretary-General, welcome. The last time I 
visited with you in this Oval Office, you were the Foreign Minister of 
an important country. Now you come representing the United Nations, and 
I welcome you. Thank you for your willingness to serve. Thank you for 
this very important discussion we just had. I appreciated so very much 
how you opened up the discussion with a strong commitment to democracy 
and freedom. And the United States is willing--wants to work with the 
United Nations to achieve a peace through the spread of freedom.
    And I want to thank you very much for the wise advice that you have 
given on a variety of issues. We talked about the Middle East, of 
course, and the importance of the Quartet. We talked about Darfur. Mr. 
Secretary-General, I want to thank you for your commitment to help the 
suffering people in Darfur, and I wish you all the best as you work hard 
to convince the President of the

[[Page 43]]

Sudan that it's in his interest, and in the world's interest, that he 
allow enhanced African Union peacekeepers in to provide peace and 
security for people who are suffering.
    I want to thank you very much, as well, for our discussions about 
Iran and North Korea. I wish you all the best in this important job. I 
admired the way you handled your previous job, and I'm confident you'll 
do a fine job now.

    Secretary-General Ban. Thank you very much, Mr. President. It's a 
great honor and privilege for me to visit the White House and meet with 
you, Mr. President, in my new capacity as Secretary-General of the 
United Nations. I feel it a great honor for me to serve this 
organization, our global body, United Nations. At the same time, I'm 
very much humbled by all the challenges which I have to deal with and we 
are facing in the 21st century.

    I would need strong participation and support of the United States 
in all activities of the United Nations. In fact, I believe that the 
United Nations and United States have shared objectives: peace and 
security; freedom; democracy. All these important goals and ideas are 
what the United States is also trying to achieve.

    I hope to work very closely with the U.S. Government, including Mr. 
President, in realizing and achieving this shared goal. As I start my 
new administration as Secretary-General, I get to have strong commitment 
and support from U.S. Government, and I'm committed to devote all my 
time and energy to the address--to address all these important issues--
Middle East and Darfur, Lebanon and Somalia, North Korea, Millennium 
Development Goals, and the climate changes. All are global issues which 
require global, collective wisdom and effort.
    Thank you very much for this opportunity.

    President Bush. You're welcome, sir. Thank you.

Note: The President spoke at 2 p.m. in the Oval Office at the White 
House. In his remarks, he referred to President Umar Hassan Ahmad al-
Bashir of Sudan.