[Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents Volume 44, Number 7 (Monday, February 25, 2008)]
[Pages 257-261]
[Online from the Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]

<R04>
Interview With Reporters Aboard Air Force One

February 21, 2008

    Press Secretary Dana Perino. So I thought the President and Mrs. 
Bush would spend a little bit of time with you, with their reflections, 
on the record. We don't have a lot of time, especially because Ben 
Feller [Associated Press] is not feeling well.
    The President. I would say this is one of the most exciting trips of 
my Presidency. Exciting because when we first got to Washington, Africa 
was--parts of Africa were in turmoil, not much had been to arrest 
disease, there wasn't intense world focus on the continent. The second 
trip to Africa for me, the fifth for Laura, was a chance to herald 
courageous people in their efforts to deal with hopelessness. And what 
really made me happy was that the people of Africa have come to 
appreciate the generosity of the American people.
    I had a couple of goals. One was to encourage people to continue to 
make difficult choices--democracy is hard work--but also assure them 
that we'd stay with them if they made the right choices.
    Secondly, I wanted to highlight for the American people what the--
that great compassionate work is being done. And I'll give you some--
Laura can share some anecdotes too. You know, in the hospital in 
Tanzania, to see a 3-year-old baby survive a mosquito bite when years 
earlier probably wouldn't have was a very compelling moment for me.
    To have the little orphans in Rwanda put on such a cheerless--a 
cheery face because somebody is trying to provide them love was 
inspiring to me. To watch their little guys play tee-ball--all of whom 
were orphans--against the little school and see how inspired they were, 
but also see the concern and care of their mentors and coaches, was very 
inspiring to me.
    All of these programs are supported by the American taxpayer, and 
all of them matter.

[[Page 258]]

To hear the testimony of these kids and teachers in Liberia about how 
our aid has helped them regain confidence--I don't know if you all were 
in there when the mother of three talked about--her husband left her, 
she said, because she was illiterate, so he just left her with the three 
kids. And she's a part of this adult literacy program that USAID is 
helping with. She talked about being able to read, fill out bank checks, 
her deposit slips; then announced she wanted to go to college, and then 
announced she wanted to take Ellen Johnson Sirleaf's job. [Laughter]
    Anyway, it's the human condition that matters. You heard me say a 
lot on the trip that we're on a mission of mercy, and that's what I 
think we are. And I think it's in our national interest to do it. I know 
this: I know that when you volunteer as an individual to help somebody 
who hurts, it helps you. Well, I believe the same when it comes to 
collective hearts of America. So it's been a--it's an exciting trip. I 
mean, you saw the crowds; you saw the enthusiasm.
    But that's not what's important. You know, people say--Bob Geldof 
asked me, he said, ``Why don't you take credit for it? Why don't you 
show what you have done for Africa?'' Well, it's not me, for starters. 
And you don't act out of the desire to enhance your own standing; that's 
not exactly why one is called into service. It doesn't matter about me. 
What matters is, are we saving people's lives? That's what matters. And 
we are.
    And so I'm really pleased with it and had great meetings with the 
leaders. It seems like a couple of months ago that we went to Benin. 
[Laughter] But he's a good guy. He's enthusiastic. And of course, 
Kikwete in Tanzania and Kagame in--look, the other thing about the 
Rwanda stop and the Liberia stop is, these are societies that only 
recently have been ravished by unbelievable and unspeakable violence. 
And yet they're getting back on their feet. And it's hard work, and 
we'll help them. That was what I told them. And these were five very 
strong leaders that we visited with.
    Which leads me to conclude this--and Laura can share some thoughts--
America should not be dictating to these countries. America ought to be 
helping leaders make decisions. And that's what we're doing. And we go 
to Africa with a belief in the capacity of human beings to meet high 
standards. That's what I kept trying to say to you out there in code. We 
didn't go guilt-ridden. We go with a positive sense about the capacity 
of leaders to rise to the challenge and meet certain basic criteria, 
such as honest government, investing in children, investing in health, 
and understanding that marketplace economics and trade is more powerful 
than accepting relief from countries.
    Anyway--and how about the Liberian troops? You talk about proud 
people. Wasn't it unbelievable? ``Yeah, Mr. President, it was.'' 
[Laughter]
    Yes, Laura.

[At this point, the First Lady made brief remarks.]

    The President. Okay, we'll do a round robin here. Yes, Ann [Ann 
Compton, ABC News], you're the senior person.

Africa's View of the 2008 U.S. Presidential Election/Texas Presidential 
Primary

    Q. One of the things that we heard from people--I guess they do 
consider the United States a democracy, a role model. What if an 
American--African American were elected President? Did they talk to 
you----
    The President. That never came up.
    Q. It never came up?
    The First Lady. It never came up to us at all. They said they were 
very fascinated with the election, one group that I talked to.
    The President. I'd just like to remind you what Kikwete said. He 
said, ``I hope the next President is as good as this one.'' Now, I'm not 
blowing my own horn--[laughter]--and I'm sure it was a screaming 
headline. [Laughter]
    Q. Are you going to vote in the Texas primary?
    The President. Yes, I am.
    Q. As a Democrat or a Republican?
    The President. I think I'll be in the Republican primary this year.
    No--but it never came up. It seemed like a good storyline at the 
time. Somebody must be putting something out there in the pool, and 
everybody starts chatting about it.

[[Page 259]]

    Q. People would mention it to us.
    The President. If you asked them, yes, ``What do you think about 
Obama?'' Yes, they mentioned it to you all right. Yes. [Laughter]
    Q. I asked them--I went out on the street, and two of the four 
people I asked about--you know, I'd say, Obama----
    The President. What?
    Q. McCain--they like--they volunteered, two of them----
    The President. Really?
    The First Lady. What country?
    Q. Dar es Salaam.
    The President. Look, my mind was not on U.S. politics on this trip; 
it's just not. It is on yours, not mine. I'm focused on conducting 
foreign policy. Look, I understand this is the way it's going to be. 
We'll be having roundtables, and you're going to be fascinated on the 
latest thing on politics, and I'm going to be fascinated on trying to 
lay the foundation for lasting foreign policy that will make a 
significant difference to the United States. I'm not going to be 
frustrated about it--except every time. No. [Laughter]

President's Legacy/U.S. Foreign Policy

    Q. A question on that--is this how, in the end, you would like this 
effort--or this kind of effort, if this not specific one--this is what 
your Presidency is ultimately about?
    The President. We just have to let history be the judge. But we've 
been a very active--we've had a very active foreign policy, whether it 
be liberating people from tyranny in order to protect ourselves or 
liberating people from disease, we've been active and strong and bold. 
And we'll let history judge the results.
    I would just tell you this, and you've heard me say it, and it's 
true: There's no such thing as short-term political history. I mean, 
short-term history of an administration--forget ``political''--there is 
such thing as short-term political history because there's an end 
result, win or lose. There's no such thing as an accurate history of an 
administration until time has lapsed, unless you're doing little-bitty 
things.

[The First Lady made further remarks.]

    The President. The other thing about--one of the things I hope 
people, when they are able to take an objective look at an 
administration--which I'm not sure is possible, if you happen to have 
been living at the time of the administration; maybe you can, I don't 
think so--is whether or not an administration makes decisions based upon 
certain fundamental principles from which it will not vary. And you've 
heard me say over and over again, freedom is universal, or to whom much 
is given, much is required. Those are fundamental principles on which 
one can have a foreign policy.
    And one of the great dangers for America is to become isolationist 
or protectionist. And the purpose of--on trips like this is to remind 
people of the need not to become isolationist. And so it's--I view this 
as--this was a trip that heralded results. But it was also a trip that 
gives us an opportunity to explain over and over again the foundations 
of the foreign policy of the Bush administration.
    Yes, Feller. How you feeling, man? I've asked you twice. You look 
like you're a little pale.

Intelligence Reform Legislation

    Q. I'm hanging in there.
    The President. Have you vomited yet today? [Laughter]
    Q. That's off the record. [Laughter]
    Q. No, that's on the record. [Laughter]
    Q. I see a big microphone. [Laughter]
    I'd like to ask you about an issue they're raising back home, and 
it's not the '08 campaign.
    The President. Okay.
    Q. On FISA, I understand your position, but what I'm unclear about 
is whether you're doing something to break the deadlock. Do you see 
yourself engaging with the other side, compromising? Or where do we go 
from here?
    The President. How do you compromise on something like granting 
liability for a telecommunications company? You can't. If we do not give 
liability protection to those who are helping us, they won't help us. 
And if they don't help us, there will be no program. And if there's no 
program, America is more vulnerable.
    What I'm going to do is continue to remind people that unless they 
get this program done, we're going to be vulnerable to attack.

[[Page 260]]

    Q. Do you see an opportunity to work with the Democrats and----
    The President. I mean, there may be one; I don't know. But I will 
just tell you, there's no compromise on whether or not these phone 
companies get liability protection. See, what the American people must 
understand is that without help from the phone companies, there is no 
program. And these companies are going to be subject to multibillion 
dollar lawsuits by trial lawyers, plaintiffs' attorneys. And it's going 
to drive them away from helping us, unless they get liability 
protection, prospective and retroactive.
    It's just so important for people to understand the dangers. If we 
don't have the capacity to listen to these terrorists, we're not going 
to be able to protect ourselves.
    Press Secretary Perino. Just a reminder that they have the votes to 
pass it in the House.
    The President. They've got enough votes to pass the bill in the 
House. So, yes, I'm going to talk about it a lot and keep reminding the 
American--I'm glad you asked the question, because this will give 
everybody a chance to know the dangers of the course that some in the 
House have put us on. And I'll keep talking about it.
    You know what? The American people understand that we need to be 
listening to the enemy.

Situation in Kenya

    Q. Back to Africa, on Kenya--on Kenya, I'm trying to understand----
    The President. Kenya?
    Q. Kenya, yes.
    The President. That's why you've got the Secretary sitting here.
    Q. Exactly. I mean, are you going to send her back? Where are we? 
What's next? And how realistic is it--I still don't understand how 
anyone is really thinking that the Government, which has been so 
stubborn, is actually going to----
    The President. ----the opposition.
    Q. Yes.
    The President. That's the dilemma; how you get two people to sit 
down at a table and work on what's best for Africa--I mean, for Kenya.
    Q. But realistically, how do you? I mean, are you going to----
    The President. She was in the room with them.
    Q. Are you going to go back?
    The President. We got Frazer, who's plenty competent.

[Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice made brief remarks.]

    The President. I was going to say that, you know, the most effective 
way to get these issues resolved is for these leaders to feel pressure 
from their own people. And it's one thing for Kofi and Condi and people 
making phone calls, but Kenya is a society; it's got a--for example, 
Kenya is the economic engine for East Africa. I don't know if you saw 
all those ships in Dar es Salaam. Those were originally--many of them 
were originally headed for Nairobi, interestingly enough. And I suspect 
these leaders are beginning to feel a lot of pressure internal.
    Secondly, they're actually hearing from African leaders about the 
dangers of allowing these kind of conflicts to not be nipped in the bud 
early, to be prevented from happening. And we will help. We sent people 
over. And we'll stay engaged. It's really up to the Kenyan society 
itself and the leaders there to get their leaders with them.
    Q. Doesn't it seem to be that they're pressuring with violence?
    The President. With what?
    Q. The way that they're pressuring, it seems to be with violence.
    The President. No, no, no, you're missing it. There is a civil 
society in Nairobi. You're talking about some of the splinter groups on 
some of the parties. There is a civil society, and it's a relatively 
sophisticated civil society that is exerting pressure, that is not 
resorting to violence.
    Secretary Rice. The Kenyan press is very tough on these leaders to 
resolve this--[inaudible]--civil society--[inaudible]--people who are 
pressing for peaceful change and saying, you cannot let our society 
collapse into anarchy.

Return Trip From Africa

    The President. I get to ask a question. Will you be taking a nap on 
the way back?

[[Page 261]]

    Q. I didn't sleep one wink last night, but if I sleep on the flight 
home, I won't sleep when I get home, and I have to be at the office at 
6:15 a.m.
    The President. You're going to go around the clock?
    Q. Well, I might try.
    The President. I'm actually promoting--I've obviously got a nap on 
my mind. [Laughter] I was just trying to, like, plant the seed.
    Yes, Rog [Roger Runningen, Bloomberg News].

U.S. View of the President's Visit to Africa

    Q. I want to go back to Africa. You talked about Americans and their 
generosity----
    The President. What's that?
    Q. Americans and their generosity--what do you think that Americans 
think of your trip?
    The President. I don't have any idea. What are you writing about it? 
I don't know what they think of it. Ask another question. I really don't 
know. I'm focused on the trip.
    When I get home, I pick up a book and start reading it, and I'm 
sound asleep shortly thereafter. So I'm not--I don't know. I really 
don't know.
    The First Lady. Depends on what you all are showing.
    The President. I don't know. I hope they think--here's what I hope 
they think: It's worthwhile to be supportive of a robust policy on the 
continent of Africa. It's worth our national security interest, and it's 
worth our interest to help people learn to read and write and save 
babies' lives from mosquito bites. That's what I hope they realize, and 
that's one of the main--that's a critical reason to go on the trip. I 
would hope that the country never says, well, it's not worth it over 
there, what happens over there--or it says, well, we've got to take care 
of our own first, exclusively.
    And my answer is, we can do both. We're a generous country. And we 
do, do both.

U.S. Aid for Africa

    Q. Do you have everything in place so that the next the President, 
who might not look at Africa in the first 6 months--everything is in 
place to continue?
    The President. ----you know, getting this funding from PEPFAR. And I 
think we will. The PEPFAR program has been great. It's a bipartisan 
success. Congress funded the thing--not the ``thing,'' Congress funded 
the program, and they ought to take great pride in the success of 
PEPFAR. There's a process that goes on to get it reauthorized, and we'll 
try to get it funded, and will get it funded. I feel pretty good about 
getting it funded.
    Same with the malaria initiative; it's making a huge difference, and 
the success is unbelievable. In Zanzibar, 20 percent of the kids were 
infected, had gotten malaria. Now it's one [percent] *, in a pretty 
quick period of time.
    * White House correction.
    Okay, guys.

Note: The interview began at 4:42 p.m. en route from Monrovia, Liberia, 
to Andrews Air Force Base, MD. In his remarks, the President referred to 
President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf of Liberia; musician and activist Robert 
Geldof; President Thomas Yayi Boni of Benin; President Jakaya Mrisho 
Kikwete of Tanzania; President Paul Kagame of Rwanda; Senator Barack 
Obama of Illinois; Assistant Secretary of State for African Affairs 
Jendayi E. Frazer; and former Secretary-General Kofi Annan of the United 
Nations. A reporter referred to Senator John McCain of Arizona. A tape 
was not available for verification of the content of this interview.