[Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents Volume 43, Number 6 (Monday, February 12, 2007)]
[Page 120]
[Online from the Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]

<R04>
Remarks Following a Meeting at the House Democratic Caucus Issues 
Conference in Williamsburg

February 3, 2007

    The President. Speaker, thank you. First of all, thanks for the 
invitation, Madam Speaker and Rahm; thank you very much. I enjoyed 
sharing ideas with Members of Congress.
    One of the things I wanted to tell the members very clearly was, 
one, I appreciate their service to the country. Oftentimes, their 
service and the service that their families provide is taken for 
granted, and I want them to know how much I appreciate a willingness to 
be in politics. Politics is hard. It's hard because of the campaign; 
it's hard, in many cases, because of the travel. These are hard times 
because of the big issues we face. And so thank you for giving me a 
chance to come and share in a recognition that a lot of folks appreciate 
them, including the President.
    Secondly, I enjoyed sharing some priorities. My message really was 
that these are big goals that Democrats care about and Republicans care 
about, and we've got to work hard to find ways to achieve big goals. And 
I also was pleased to take questions, and I thought the questions were 
very good and gave me a chance to share philosophy as well as how I 
think we can advance some very important issues.
    I've met with the Speaker and Congressman Hoyer--Steny--quite a few 
times since I have been the President. We're going to--hopefully we 
will--not hopefully--we will continue to meet. In my meetings I--look, 
we don't always agree, and that's why we're in different parties. 
[Laughter] But we do agree about our country, and we do agree about the 
desire to work together.
    And so I really appreciate you letting me come by. I really do. I 
felt welcomed. I felt like people understood that I've got pressures on 
me, like I understand they have pressures on them. And I really hope 
that the members out there get a sense that I bear no ill will, I bring 
no animosity about the fact that we may not agree on every position, and 
that I am appreciative of the contributions they make.
    And so thanks a lot for letting me come. I answered five or six 
questions. I was able to shake hands with a lot of members. I got to hug 
a few babies. [Laughter] I kind of remembered--help me remember the good 
old days. [Laughter]
    Speaker of the House of Representatives Nancy Pelosi. Still has the 
touch.
    The President. Well, I don't know. [Laughter] One of the babies I 
got to hug was the Speaker's grandchild. But it was a--I would define 
the moment for me as relaxed, informative, and enjoyable.
    So thank you very much for having me. I appreciate it. Thank you 
very much.

Note: The President spoke at 11:47 a.m. in the Burwell Ballroom at the 
Kingsmill Resort & Spa. In his remarks, he referred to Representative 
Rahm Emanuel, chairman, House Democratic Caucus.