[Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents Volume 43, Number 11 (Monday, March 19, 2007)]
[Page 338]
[Online from the Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]

<R04>
Remarks Following a Meeting With Vice President Adil Abd Al-Mahdi of 
Iraq

March 15, 2007

    The President. It is such an honor to welcome the Vice President of 
a free Iraq to the Oval Office.
    Mr. Vice President, I appreciate your courage. I don't know if the 
citizens of my country know, but the other day, a killer tried to take 
your life. And fortunately, you sit here, and you speak with enthusiasm 
and optimism about the future of your country.
    One of the reasons why--the main reason why I've reinforced our 
troops in Iraq is to give leaders such as yourself the opportunity to do 
the hard work of reconciliation. I appreciate very much the progress 
that you're making. I know it's hard work. It's hard work to overcome 
distrust that has built up over the years because your country was ruled 
by a tyrant that created distrust amongst people.
    But you, Mr. Vice President, are showing strong vision and a vision 
of peace and reconciliation. And I welcome you to the Oval Office. I 
thank you for your courage, and I thank you for the conversation we've 
had.
    Vice President Abd Al-Mahdi. Thank you. Thank you, President. Thank 
you for receiving me, and the present occasion to thank you personally 
and to thank the American people for all the support you've given to 
Iraq, the sacrifices. Also, I visited yesterday some soldiers in the 
hospital, and I saw their high spirit. They had, really, better morality 
than I had, talking about their mission.
    We are working hard together. Our security plan is marking some 
points. We are not finished, but we are doing better than expected in 
this plan. This will not solve the whole problem; the reconciliation 
process will take our political agenda forward. We are working on many 
issues: the hydrocarbon bill, which we approved in the Cabinet; we are 
working on a de-Baathification bill, and it will be presented later. We 
are working on so many things.
    So, really, I want to take this occasion to thank all Americans--the 
United States, you, Mr. President, the Congress, the administration--for 
all the sacrifices, effort, assistance given to help my country. Thank 
you.
    The President. Thank you, sir. Thank you.

Note: The President spoke at 10:55 a.m. in the Oval Office at the White 
House.