Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents

Monday, January 6, 2003 Volume 39—Number 1 Pages 1–26 Contents

Addresses and Remarks Letters and Messages Radio address—1 New Year’s Day, message—6 Texas Statements by the President Troops at Fort Hood in Killeen—22 Federal judiciary, calling for congressional Walking tour of the Bush Ranch—6 action on a pay increase—5 Kenyan democratic elections—4 Executive Orders Supplementary Materials Adjustments of Certain Rates of Pay—5 Acts approved by the President—26 Checklist of White House press releases—26 Interviews With the News Media Digest of other White House Exchanges with reporters in Crawford, TX— announcements—25 2, 6, 19 Nominations submitted to the Senate—26

Editor’s Note: The President was at the Bush Ranch in Crawford, TX, on January 3, the closing date of this issue. Releases and announcements issued by the Office of the Press Secretary but not received in time for inclusion in this issue will be printed next week.

WEEKLY COMPILATION OF regulations prescribed by the Administrative Committee of the Federal Register, approved by the President (37 FR 23607; 1 CFR Part 10). PRESIDENTIAL DOCUMENTS Distribution is made only by the Superintendent of Docu- ments, Government Printing Office, Washington, DC 20402. Published every Monday by the Office of the Federal Reg- The Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents will be ister, National Archives and Records Administration, Washing- furnished by mail to domestic subscribers for $80.00 per year ton, DC 20408, the Weekly Compilation of Presidential Docu- ($137.00 for mailing first class) and to foreign subscribers for ments contains statements, messages, and other Presidential $93.75 per year, payable to the Superintendent of Documents, materials released by the White House during the preceding Government Printing Office, Washington, DC 20402. The week. charge for a single copy is $3.00 ($3.75 for foreign mailing). The Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents is pub- There are no restrictions on the republication of material lished pursuant to the authority contained in the Federal Reg- appearing in the Weekly Compilation of Presidential Docu- ister Act (49 Stat. 500, as amended; 44 U.S.C. Ch. 15), under ments. Week Ending Friday, January 3, 2003

The President’s Radio Address destroyed terror training camps, and froze December 28, 2002 millions of dollars in terrorist assets. In the new year, we will prosecute the war Good morning. Two thousand two brought on terror with patience and focus and deter- great challenges to America, and we had mination. With the help of a broad coalition, many successes at home and abroad. In 2002, we will make certain that terrorists and their our economy was still recovering from the supporters are not safe in any cave or corner attacks of September the 11th, 2001, and it of the world. was pulling out of a recession that began be- The war on terror also requires us to con- fore I took office. front the danger of catastrophic violence Our Government came together to pass an posed by Iraq and its weapons of mass de- economic growth bill to jump-start the econ- struction. The United Nations Security omy. We extended unemployment benefits Council has unanimously affirmed that Sad- for workers who lost their jobs after the ter- dam Hussein is a danger to his neighbors and rorist attacks. Congress passed trade pro- to the peace of the world. The burden now motion authority, which gave me a stronger is on Iraq’s dictator to disclose and destroy hand to help America’s farmers and busi- his arsenal of weapons. If he refuses, then nesses sell their products abroad. And we for the sake of peace, the United States will worked together to enact terrorism insurance lead a coalition to disarm the Iraqi regime legislation, so our construction workers could and free the Iraqi people. get back on the job. As a result of these ac- Also in the new year, we will press on in tions, the United States economy is growing the effort to turn our economic recovery into again. sustained economic growth. This economy is Our Nation learned of scandalous abuses strong, and it can be stronger. I will work by some corporate leaders, and so I signed with Congress on a jobs and growth package the most sweeping corporate reforms in to add momentum to the recovery and to more than a half a century. We are strictly put people back to work. enforcing the laws against fraud and decep- And one of my first priorities for the new tion in corporate America because workers Congress will be an extension of unemploy- and investors must have confidence in Amer- ment benefits for Americans who need them. ica’s businesses and business leaders. We will also work to ensure that all Ameri- America in 2002 continued our efforts to cans have access to high quality, affordable confront the danger of terrorism. We in- health care. We will keep our commitment creased the security of our ports and coasts to America’s seniors by working to reform and airlines and created a new Department and modernize Medicare and include a pre- of Homeland Security. This Department will scription drug benefit to help seniors who unite dozens of Federal agencies behind a are squeezed by rising drug prices. single mission, protecting the American peo- We will tackle the crisis of frivolous law- ple. I hope the Senate will act quickly in the suits that drive up the cost of health care. new session to confirm Governor Tom Ridge We will continue to carry out the com- to serve as America’s first Secretary of prehensive education reforms signed into law Homeland Security. last January, so no child in America is left In 2002, the war on terror that began with behind. My administration will work to con- the liberation of Afghanistan continued on tinue to remove barriers that hinder the good many fronts. Working with our allies around work of faith-based and community groups. the world, we captured top Al Qaida leaders, And we will work to reauthorize the historic 1 2 Dec. 28 / Administration of George W. Bush, 2002 welfare reform law that has improved so ought to comply with international regula- many lives. tions. I believe this can be done peacefully, Our successes in the past year have pre- through diplomacy, and we will continue to pared the way for great progress in 2003. work that way. I take—all options, of course, Working together, we can make America are always on the table for any President, more prosperous and keep the peace in the but by working with these countries we can world. resolve this. Thank you for listening, and Happy New Q. So you’re not currently contemplating Year. military action? The President. Well, Ron, I believe this NOTE: The address was recorded at 10:05 a.m. is not a military showdown; this is a diplo- on December 27 at the Bush Ranch in Crawford, TX, for broadcast at 10:06 a.m. on December 28. matic showdown. And we can resolve this The transcript was made available by the Office peacefully. of the Press Secretary on December 27 but was Q. Sir, you—— embargoed for release until the broadcast. The The President. Hold on a second, please. Office of the Press Secretary also released a Span- Q. Sorry, excuse me. ish language transcript of this address. The President. And intend to work to re- solve it peacefully. We’ve got good progress Exchange With Reporters in in talking to our friends. And I look forward Crawford, Texas to the fact that President-elect Roh is send- ing some people over here, and then he, him- December 31, 2002 self, will come after he’s been inaugurated. The President. Hi, guys. Happy New Year Patsy, then John [John Roberts, CBS to everybody. Laura and I wish all our fellow News]. Americans a prosperous and peaceful and a happy new year. We are really happy to be North Korea/Iraq spending New Year here in Crawford, Texas. Q. Sir, why should we be more worried We’ll be having our New Year’s hamburger about Saddam Hussein, who has no nuclear here in a minute. [Laughter] weapons, than Kim Chong-il, who is unstable I’ll be glad to answer a few questions— and does have nuclear weapons? Ron [Ron Fournier, Associated Press] and Patsy [Patricia Wilson, Reuters] and Mike The President. Well, first of all, I think [Mike Allen, Washington Post]. it’s important to remember that Saddam Hussein was close to having a nuclear weap- Situation in North Korea on. We don’t know whether or not he has Q. Sir, I’d like to ask you if I could, why a nuclear weapon. We do expect him to dis- are you not considering military action arm his weapons of mass destruction; that’s against a defiant, unstable, unpredictable, what we expect. nuclear-armed North Korea? Secondly, the international community has The President. I view the North Korean been trying to resolve the situation in Iraq situation as one that can be resolved peace- through diplomacy for 11 years. And for 11 fully, through diplomacy. The international years, Saddam Hussein has defied the inter- community, particularly those countries close national community. And now we’ve brought to North Korea, understand the stakes in- the world together to send a clear signal: We volved. I had a very good visit with President- expect him to disarm, to get rid of his weap- elect Roh of South Korea. I’ve obviously ons of mass destruction. The first step in de- talked to Jiang Zemin right here in Crawford termining whether or not he will do that was about a nuclear-weapons-free Peninsula. discouraging. His declaration was short, and There is strong consensus, not only the international community recognized that, amongst the nations in the neighborhood and that he wasn’t forthcoming. our friends but also with international organi- Again, I hope this Iraq situation will be zations such as the IAEA, that North Korea resolved peacefully. One of my New Year’s Administration of George W. Bush, 2002 / Dec. 31 3 resolutions is to work to deal with these situa- information about the five, I would hope they tions in a way so that they’re resolved peace- would contact their local authorities. fully. But thus far, it appears that, first look, John, we don’t have any idea of what their that Saddam Hussein hasn’t heard the mes- intentions may be, but we are mindful that sage. there are still some out there who would try Q. Sir, can I ask a followup? to harm America and harm Americans. And The President. Yes. so, therefore, we take every threat seriously and every piece of evidence seriously. And National Economy and War With Iraq the American people need to know there’s Q. Your budget directors put the possible a lot of good people working hard, whether cost of a war with Iraq at in line with the it be on New Year’s Eve or any other time, first Gulf war. Why shouldn’t Americans view to protect the American people. this possible war as possibly crippling our Mike, you got anything? economy, that’s already very slow? The President. Well, an attack from Sad- Republican Party and Minorities dam Hussein or a surrogate of Saddam Hus- Q. Yes. Good afternoon, Mr. President. sein would cripple our economy. My biggest The President. Thank you. job and most important job is to protect the Q. What effect do you think that—— security of the American people, and I am The President. going to do that. And I had made the case That’s plenty. No. [Laugh- and will continue to make the case that Sad- ter] dam Hussein—a Saddam Hussein with Q. What effect do you think that the atten- weapons of mass destruction is a threat to tion to Senator Lott’s comment has had on the security of the American people. the image of the Republican Party across the Q. But can this economy afford to fight country? And what do you plan to do to re- a war? pair any damage? The President. This economy cannot af- The President. Well, first of all, I think ford to stand an attack. And I’m going to pro- that most people understand that their Re- tect the American people. The economy is publican Party cares deeply about each indi- strong; it’s resilient. Obviously, so long as vidual, regardless of the color of their skin somebody is looking for work, we’ve got to or their religion. And I will continue to pro- continue to make it strong and resilient. My mote policies that enable the American indi- most important job is to protect America and vidual to achieve his or her dreams. I believe Americans, and I take that job seriously. And in equal access to the greatness of America. that’s exactly what this administration is And this administration is committed to that going to do. and will continue to work toward that goal. John. Yes. I’ll show you how generous I am. [Laughter] FBI Persons of Interest Q. Sir, are you concerned about the report Domestic Safety in 2003 that had five people have come across the Q. Mr. President, looking ahead here, with Canadian border illegally? Are you con- a possible war with Iraq looming, North cerned that there’s any—there are any new Korea nuclear conflict, as well as Usama bin threats to the American security right now, Laden still at large, is the world safer as we as we go into this new year? look ahead to 2003? The President. I have authorized the Fed- The President. Yes, it’s a lot safer today eral Bureau of Investigation, the FBI, to put than it was a year ago, and it’s going to be out an all-points bulletin for five individuals safer after this year than it was this year be- who we believe have been smuggled into the cause the United States of America will con- country. We need to know why they have tinue to lead a vast coalition of freedom-lov- been smuggled into the country, what they’re ing countries to disrupt terrorist activities, to doing in the country. And if anybody has any hold dictators accountable, particularly those 4 Dec. 31 / Administration of George W. Bush, 2002 who ignore international norm and inter- to the extent that I’m now comfortable in national rule. And the American—this Gov- having a cheeseburger today. [Laughter] ernment will continue lead the world toward I hope you all are enjoying yourself here. more peace. And the American people need The First Lady. Happy New Year, every- to be mindful of the fact that our Govern- body. ment is committed to peace and committed to freedom. And we hope to resolve all the situations in which we find ourselves in a peaceful way. NOTE: The exchange began at 12:50 p.m. at the And so that’s my commitment, to try to do Coffee Station restaurant. In the exchange, the so peacefully. But I want to remind people President referred to President-elect Roh Moo- hyun of South Korea; President Jiang Zemin of that Saddam Hussein—the choice is his to China; and President Saddam Hussein of Iraq. A make as to whether or not the Iraqi situation reporter referred to Chairman Kim Chong-il of is resolved peacefully. North Korea; and Usama bin Laden, leader of the You said we’re headed to war in Iraq. I Al Qaida terrorist organization. A tape was not don’t know why you say that. I hope we’re available for verification of the content of this ex- not headed to war in Iraq. I’m the person change. who gets to decide, not you. I hope this can be done peacefully. We’ve got a military presence there to remind Saddam Hussein, Statement on the Kenyan however, that when I say we will lead a coali- Democratic Elections tion of the willing to disarm him if he chooses December 31, 2002 not to disarm, I mean it. And we will con- tinue to work to resolve the situation on the I congratulate President Mwai Kibaki on Korean Peninsula in a peaceful way. his election as the third President of the Re- And it was right here in Crawford, Texas, public of Kenya and look forward to working where I had a meaningful and good discus- with him. I also congratulate the Kenyan sions with Jiang Zemin. Heck, it wasn’t all people who on December 27th dem- that long ago that a U.S. leader never spoke onstrated their deep commitment to democ- to the Chinese leader. And right here in racy and provided to the world a clear exam- Crawford we had a dialog where we both ple of peaceful, democratic change. And I committed ourselves to working in a way to commend former President Moi for his lead- convince Kim Chong-il that it’s not in his country’s interests to arm up with nuclear ership and vision during this crucial period weapons. And I believe that can be resolved of democratic transition and for his years of peacefully. leadership in the region. Listen, thank you all. I’m thinking about a little nature walk in a couple of days. Any- The elections have opened a hopeful new body interested? chapter in Kenya’s history. I commend the Q. How far is it? How long is it? Presidential candidates, Uhuru Kenyatta and The President. About 4 miles. I know Simeon Nyachae, for peacefully accepting you’re interested. the outcome of the election and for pledging Q. I have a question for you. to work constructively within the democratic The President. Yes, Patsy. framework of the National Assembly. The United States will work closely with Kenya’s New Year’s Resolution new Government to deepen the strong and enduring friendship between the United Q. Did you keep last year’s resolution to States and Kenya and to help the new Gov- eat less cheeseburgers? ernment build a future of greater freedom, The President. A matter of fact, it’s an peace, and prosperity for all of Kenya’s citi- interesting question she asked: Did I keep zens. last year’s resolution to eat less cheese- burgers? [Laughter] And the answer is yes, Administration of George W. Bush, 2002 / Dec. 31 5

Statement Calling for Congressional (a) The Executive Schedule (5 U.S.C. Action on a Pay Increase for the 5311–5318) at Schedule 5; Federal Judiciary (b) The Vice President (3 U.S.C. 104) and December 31, 2002 the Congress (2 U.S.C. 31) at Schedule 6; and Today I have issued an Executive order (c) Justices and judges (28 U.S.C. 5, 44(d), entitled ‘‘Adjustments of Certain Rates of 135, 252, and 461(a), and section 140 of Pub- Pay.’’ This order implements the January lic Law 97–92) at Schedule 7. 2003 pay raise for members of the uniformed Sec. 4. Uniformed Services. Pursuant to services and for Federal civilian employees section 601(a)–(b) of Public Law 107–314, under the General Schedule and certain re- the rates of monthly basic pay (37 U.S.C. lated pay systems. 203(a)) for members of the uniformed serv- This Executive order sets forth the ices and the rate of monthly cadet or mid- unadjusted pay schedule for members of the shipman pay (37 U.S.C. 203(c)) are set forth Federal judiciary. Due to section 140 of Pub- on Schedule 8 attached hereto and made a lic Law 97–92, I do not have the authority part hereof. to order a pay increase for Federal judges. Sec. 5. Locality-Based Comparability Pay- I hereby urge the Congress to specifically au- ments. thorize a pay increase for Federal judges. (a) Pursuant to sections 5304 and 5304a of title 5, United States Code, locality-based comparability payments shall be paid in ac- Executive Order 13282— cordance with Schedule 9 attached hereto Adjustments of Certain Rates of Pay and made a part hereof. December 31, 2002 (b) The Director of the Office of Per- sonnel Management shall take such actions By the authority vested in me as President as may be necessary to implement these pay- by the Constitution and the laws of the ments and to publish appropriate notice of United States of America, including the laws such payments in the Federal Register. cited herein, it is hereby ordered as follows: Sec. 6. Administrative Law Judges. The Section 1. Statutory Pay Systems. The rates of basic pay for administrative law rates of basic pay or salaries of the statutory judges, as adjusted under 5 U.S.C. pay systems (as defined in 5 U.S.C. 5302(1)), 5372(b)(4), are set forth on Schedule 10 at- as adjusted under 5 U.S.C. 5303(a), are set tached hereto and made a part hereof. forth on the schedules attached hereto and Sec. 7. Effective Dates. Schedule 8 is ef- made a part hereof: fective on January 1, 2003. The other sched- (a) The General Schedule (5 U.S.C. ules contained herein are effective on the 5332(a)) at Schedule 1; first day of the first applicable pay period be- (b) The Foreign Service Schedule (22 ginning on or after January 1, 2003. U.S.C. 3963) at Schedule 2; and Sec. 8. Prior Order Superseded. Executive (c) The schedules for the Veterans Health Order 13249 of December 28, 2001, is super- Administration of the Department of Vet- seded. erans Affairs (38 U.S.C. 7306, 7404; section 301(a) of Public Law 102–40) at Schedule George W. Bush 3. Sec. 2. Senior Executive Service. The rates The White House, of basic pay for senior executives in the Sen- December 31, 2002. ior Executive Service, as adjusted under 5 U.S.C. 5382, are set forth on Schedule 4 at- [Filed with the Office of the Federal Register, tached hereto and made a part hereof. 8:45 a.m., January 7, 2003] Sec. 3. Executive Salaries. The rates of basic pay or salaries for the following offices NOTE: This Executive order and the attached an- and positions are set forth on the schedules nexes will be published in the Federal Register attached hereto and made a part hereof: on January 8. 6 Dec. 31 / Administration of George W. Bush, 2002

Message on the Observance of Q. All right. New Year’s Day, 2003 The President. Come on. Come on, Bar- December 31, 2002 ney. We’ll walk out—it’s a little muddy. I need somebody walking up here with me. The past year has been a time of achieve- I can’t be—Reed, get out of the pictures. ment, progress, and renewed hope for the [Laughter] Come on, Stretch [David Greg- American people. As our citizens continue ory, NBC News], get in here. to demonstrate a spirit of resolve and unity, Q. How are you? Happy New Year. we are building a culture of service, citizen- The President. Same to you all. We’re ship, and responsibility that strengthens our trimming a lot of underbrush, still. Come on, country and offers hope to those in need. Barn. Are you going to make it, Heidi [Holly To counter new threats, we are enhancing Rosenkrantz, Bloomberg News]? security at home, and we are part of the glob- Q. I’ll be fine. al coalition against terrorism that has made The President. We’ve got a truck for you significant progress in opposing the forces of back there. tyranny and oppression. Q. Don’t worry about me. We will continue our efforts to secure Q. Who’s going to carry Barney? America, win the war on terrorism, focus on The President. He’s coming. education, promote compassion, create new Q. He can walk 4 miles? jobs, and ensure the economic security of all The President. Oh, yes, he’ll walk 4. our citizens. As we move forward into the Where is he? Come on over, Barney. New Year, I encourage all Americans to give Q. I don’t remember—you’ve had the thanks to the Almighty for His many bless- guesthouse all along, right? ings, and to join with me in reaffirming our The President. That’s the Secret Service. commitment to helping people around the Q. That I know, but I mean, last time I world achieve peace and freedom. actually saw this was 2000—— At the dawn of this New Year, America The President. Oh, really? is a land of justice, liberty, and tolerance. We Q. ——when it was still a shell. Remem- will work together to build on our successes ber, you walked us through that in July? and embrace the challenges and opportuni- The President. Turn right here, guys. ties that lie ahead. That’s a little—right over there is another lit- Laura joins me in sending our best wishes tle house we refurbished, got a gym in there, for a Happy New Year. May God bless you, and one bedroom. And then that’s a little and may God continue to bless the United guesthouse over there, a garage. States. Q. That was part of the original—— The President. Yes. George W. Bush Q. Look at Barney trying to make it NOTE: An original was not available for through the woods there. verification of the content of this message. The President. Come on, boy. Q. Lot of legs. Q. He’s trying to get to you. [Laughter] Remarks During a Walking Tour of The President. This is pretty good—[in- the Bush Ranch and an Exchange audible]—in there. With Reporters in Crawford Q. Is this manmade, sir? January 2, 2003 The President. Manmade. Q. How many acres? The President. Good morning, every- The President. About 11 acres lake, 17 body. foot deep, the deepest spot. I put 600 black Q. Good morning, sir. bass in there a few years ago, and about The President. Let’s go. I’ll tell you what 30,000 bait fish. And they’re about 21⁄2 to we’ll do. We’ll walk about 3 or 4 miles, and 3 pounds now. A bad time to fish, because then we’ll end up having coffee. Mrs. Bush the fish are lethargic during the cold. We’ve wants to say hello to everybody. got bluegill and shad and perch. Administration of George W. Bush, 2003 / Jan. 2 7

Q. [Inaudible] The President. The live oaks do not lose The President. Oh, it’s fantastic. We got their leaves. And these are—this is great deer up yesterday—Laura and I have got a tradi- country in there. Here are some of the beau- tion of—we go for a sunrise walk on the first tiful live oaks. day of the year. So yesterday we popped Q. Now, has the range changed a lot about of bed about 7:20 a.m., and we started more—you made the lake a little bigger moving, walked 4 miles. and—— Q. Great. The President. Yes, the lake is a little Q. Wasn’t as chilly yesterday. fuller but only because of the wild grasses. The President. No, it wasn’t. And what Laura is doing is around the house Q. You’ll get up and run in this cold, won’t is trying to restore the country to the native you? prairie grasses. And these are all different na- The President. Oh, absolutely. Start over tive grasses from Texas. So you’ll see—when there at the house. We’ve got different run- we get back to the house, all inside the ning—come on, Barn. barbed wire fence here will eventually be Q. [Inaudible] made—— The President. Yes, maybe. This is an old Q. Has this all changed a lot since you dirt road, so we put—[inaudible]—on it, to came? withstand the—we’re going to walk—[in- The President. Oh, yes. This is all dif- audible]—then we’re going to go down into the canyons, so it won’t be quite as cold. ferent. And so in the spring, particularly in Q. Will we see the waterfall? a year like this year, there will be fantastic The President. Absolutely. wildflowers. Q. [Inaudible] Q. How nice. The President. I went in there yesterday Q. How many miles of trails have you all to make sure there was water in—[inaudi- put in? ble]. The President. A lot. Q. So have you had friends out? Q. Just all over? The President. Oh yes, every night. We’ve The President. Yes. You can run probably got—tonight we’ve got my long-time ally and 6 miles without doubling. friend Elton Bomer, who was the insurance Q. Without doubling over. commissioner and the secretary of state when The President. The other thing that’s I was the Governor, and a former state sen- really interesting—I hope we see them—is ator for this district, David Sibley, and his there are a lot of cardinals here this time wife are coming. Condi’s coming. of year. So, for example, this is one of the trails, Q. What’s your favorite time to come? this is a mile-and-a-half spot for one of the Q. We might scare them away with this trails. You’ll see those markers. group. Q. From the house? The President. No, I don’t think so. Any The President. From the house. The dif- time. ferent colors on there. Is Barney back there? Q. Really? You don’t have a favorite sea- Is he back there? He’s getting in the truck. son? [Laughter] Barney got nervous with the crowd here. The President. No. I like it warm. Q. If he gets too far behind, we can helo [Laughter] him in. Q. Really hot, huh? The President. Now, these are all live The President. We’re going to have a oaks in here, and when live oaks like this muddy spot up here, so bear with us. We’re they’re called ‘‘motts.’’ going to go right and head west out for about Q. Motts? M-o-t? a mile. And then we’re going to go down, The President. M-o-t-t. A mott is where and there will be a rest spot in there. a group of trees grow quite tight together. You’re doing great. Q. They never lose their leaves? Q. Oh, thanks. Don’t worry about me. 8 Jan. 2 / Administration of George W. Bush, 2003

The President. The medical unit will be Deputy Press Secretary Claire Buchan. here—[laughter]. We’ll warm up going this Harriet’s. [Laughter] way. The President. The big tree up there on One of the things about this place, you’ll the left is called a cedar elm. Loses its leaves. see, is for example, that little clump of trees It’s got kind of a skirt to it, at the rear base is the head of a long canyon that goes down— of the—they tend to have a skirt to it. I’ll show you the canyon. There’s seven dif- Q. What are these trees here, these ones ferent canyons on here that create really with the bare—— unique—— The President. It’s some kind of a oak. Q. They’re not connected to one another? The live oak doesn’t lose it’s leaves. That one The President. No, they’re separate and right there is a hackberry. They’re a terrible unique. tree. They’re trash trees. They’re not native. Q. So when you tell us you’re clearing That’s a cedar elm there. Those are cedar brush, does that mean you’re setting these elms, Stretch. trails up? Q. How many cows? The President. No, no. What it means The President. I’ve got 200 mother cows is—you see that little brush over there? The and 6 bulls. That’s a cow camp operation, pile of brush? kind of like a little nursery is the best way Q. Yes. to put it. The President. Underneath these—see Q. Now, these aren’t yours. These are—— those cedars right there, growing underneath The President. No. the live oaks? Q. Leases, or whatever? Q. Yes. The President. Yes. Kenneth The President. We’re cutting those down. Engelbrecht. I bought the place from his Q. Why? dad, and he and his wife live on here. The President. Because the cedars take Isn’t this a beautiful day? water. Q. It really is. It’s gorgeous. Q. Oh, okay. Q. Have you had your run? The President. They talk water from the big trees, and they’re kind of like a nuisance. The President. I’m not going to run today. Q. Do you know how they got here? I went over—I had my CIA briefing and had The President. As a matter of fact, they a visit with the Vice President this morning. got here when pioneers planted them for— Q. Via telecom? go left here; this is the worst mud—pioneers The President. Yes. Real time, se- planted them for fenceposts. cure—— Q. And then they started to—— Q. [Inaudible] The President. You see the dark? I mean, The President. Absolutely. [Inaudible]— we’ve got enough cedars for—— technology. Q. You’ll be clearing up—— Q. When did they really—when did they The President. We won’t clear this. really bring that online? Q. It grows back real quick, right? The President. Last year. Pretty soon The President. It does grow back. they’re going to have it on Air Force One. Q. Do you burn it? Q. What? The President. We burn it, yes. We were The President. Real time, secure burning yesterday, but the grass wasn’t dry— videoconferencing. It really changes—will [inaudible]—have to call in fire—[inaudible]. change the nature of how people live in many Q. In Australia we call it ‘‘bigelow.’’ ways. The President. Oops, be careful. That’s Q. [Inaudible] the worst. Q. [Inaudible] Q. The wetlands, right? The President. But imagine, you know, The President. Preserves. Claire, get in— your business—or your business, for exam- oh, you made it? Oh, good. Whose shoes are ple. You’ll be able to have—— you wearing, Claire? Q. Oh, we’re all ready—yes. Administration of George W. Bush, 2003 / Jan. 2 9

The President. You’ve got real time—[in- the other way, right? I seem to remember audible]—sitting around with your editors taking a drive the other way past the house. and—— Am I wrong? Q. Oh, yes. There is so much that we’re The President. No, you’re right. starting to do now on computers, where you Q. It’s hard to believe it was going on 3 can edit stuff on laptops and—[inaudible]. years ago. [Laughter] The President. Maybe they can enhance The President. It’s unbelievable, isn’t it? your face. [Laughter] Heck of an ordeal, wasn’t it? For all of us Q. That’s what I’m working on. involved. The President. Super enhancement. Q. Yeah. [Laughter] [Laughter] The President. It’s amazing what the de- Q. Oh, look at this, my wife just got me mocracy puts the—[inaudible]—what kind of this little palm pilot here, and my organizer. people are involved in the campaign, because It’s got a camera in there. we were—it’s a grueling experience. I re- The President. Oh, fantastic. I notice tele- member meeting your dad, sitting behind phones have got that now, where you—— the—— Q. Yes, oh, I know. I think that’s a little Q. Yes. [Laughter] too much business going on in—[inaudible]. The President. How is he? [Laughter] Q. He’s doing great. Yes, he’s doing great. The President. So what you’ll see is three The President. Big old guy. different parts of Texas. You’ll see this, kind Q. Yeah, he is. We’re real excited because of the central plains, flat. This is more rolling, I got—I was around Christmas and stuff—— where it’s the—rock is closer to the surface. The President. With the kid? Oh, here comes Laura. Q. I got the picture of you holding Max, Q. Yes, I noticed she was out with friends, and they loved that. [Laughter] huh? The President. Well, I’m sure their life The President. Yes—[inaudible]. is changed with Max. Q. And Spot? Q. Yes. They’re having a great time. The President. Spot, the dog. They’re going up that way—I can’t remem- Q. Barney was out—one day out on where ber—in a week. we do our live shot. The President. That’s fantastic. The President. Right. [Laughter] Q. He’s probably traveled more than I Q. I said, I don’t think—[inaudible]—out have. [Laughter] here fraternizing. The President. That’s hard to do, David. The President. That’s not true. He knows Q. Yes. [Laughter] that’s not true. [Laughter] The President. It’s warming up, Patsy Q. We saw some fox, and looked like tur- [Patricia Wilson, Reuters]. keys or—— Q. [Inaudible]—about 30 degrees warmer. The President. Turkey buzzards, yes. A The President. Yesterday was fantastic. lot of hawks here. Red tail, we saw a red Q. Yes, it was gorgeous. tail hawk yesterday. There’s those puppy Q. Do you believe how fast it does go, dogs—loyal dog, great athlete. though? I mean, it’s—— The President. A few months. Some of [At this point, the President whistled.] them are already talking about ’04. Q. He came—— Q. Did you see Edwards—[inaudible]— The President. Yes. Hey, Spotty. Hi, this morning? Laura. The President. No. The First Lady. Hey. Q. He announced on the ‘‘Today’’ show The President. How is it? Take Barney that he’s going to be—[inaudible]. with you, okay? He’s in the truck. We’ll see The President. Oh, really? you back at the house. Q. I haven’t caught my breath from—— Q. I mean, you do this often; I wasn’t here, The President. Well, if you think about but when we were here in 2000, we went it—if you think about it, remember the ’98 10 Jan. 2 / Administration of George W. Bush, 2003 campaign, that was the—the beginning of the Q. When you bought it, did you have a ’98 campaign there was a lot of speculation pretty good idea what you were getting? Or about whether or not I was going to run. And have you discovered—— got through the session and ’99, it was right The President. No, I discovered a lot. I after that we all got on the plane. really did. It was a—I knew we were getting Q. I remember—— some dramatic country that was very rare for The President. [Inaudible] Texas, but I wasn’t sure about all the little Q. Yes, I remember—[inaudible]. I re- nooks and crannies. member Jamie Gangel [NBC News] did that Q. Right. A lot of them still covered up? piece about you, and you—were you out fish- The President. Yes, there are some. You’ll ing somewhere? see. You’ll see some of the—— The President. That was in Austin. But Q. There seems to be a fair amount of that was before—I mean, that was in—[in- water on the property. audible]—Texas. That was when we had the The President. A lot of water right there. place in east Texas. But you’ll see some of the places that we Q. But that was early on, right? I mean, have cleaned out, and you’ll see some of you weren’t—— these cliffs that have got unique little struc- The President. No, I wasn’t—[inaudible]. tures to them. I discovered an interesting That was a nice piece. rock formation the other day when we were This is it for mud. [Laughter] Down up here scouting around on this cliff. here—[inaudible]. We go out to the tree line, There’s a cottonwood tree. See that iso- way out there. lated tree right there? The cottonwood is a Q. You know, this summer was the first fantastic tree. It grows along the riverbed, time I’ve been to Kennebunkport, that was and somehow this thing ended up here alone. just fabulous. It must have a source of water. We’ve got The President. It’s nice, isn’t it? It’s not two cottonwood trees on the whole ranch, as nice as Crawford, but it’s nice. [Laughter] and that’s one of them. Yes, Kennebunkport is a beautiful place to— Patsy, are you hitting the tennis ball at all? [inaudible]. Q. No, not—it’s too cold. My hands get Q. [Inaudible] But it is a lot more boxed- too cold to hold the racket. I’m not ready in than this, you know? You can’t come some to challenge John Bridgeland yet. [Laughter] place and just—— The President. Bridgeland is a good play- The President. Hang out. There’s—[in- er. audible]—he’s looking at his cows. Q. I know. He played for Harvard, didn’t Q. They seem like they do a good job of he? not shutting the place down at all. The President. I think he did. I’ll tell you The President. Kennebunkport? who’s a good racket man is Al Gonzales. Q. Yes. Q. Really? The President. Yes, I guess. How do I The President. Racketball. know? Q. Oh, racketball. Q. It’s a lot flatter here. The President. Stretch claims he’s a good The President. Yes. It’s not going to be tennis player. flat here in a minute. Q. Well—— Q. [Inaudible]—didn’t go anywhere yet. Q. Patsy and I—[inaudible]—on today. The President. Well, that’s a different— [Inaudible] that’s your pink route. We’ve got a lot of tur- The President. You’re a serve and volley key live on this ranch. It’s really fun to see guy. I can see it a mile away. them. Q. I’m working on my walk. [Inaudible] Q. They’re pretty. He’s probably going to wear out pretty quick. The President. Oh, they’re fantastic. The President. You’ve got the big serve There’s a tank right there. Right on the other and volley. side there’s—[inaudible]. Q. I can cover a lot—[inaudible]. Administration of George W. Bush, 2003 / Jan. 2 11

The President. I bet you can. Like my Q. Oh, really? brother, Marvin, he’s a big serve and volley The President. Yes. [Inaudible]—you’d man. just get soaked. Q. [Inaudible] Q. Can you get just as good a workout The President. Yes. He’s a good player. walking like this, as running? Q. He is. He was able to get great partners, The President. I think you can. like Chris Evert’s brother and people like Q. I think you can, too. [Laughter] that. Q. You’re working out with two. [Laugh- Q. You know, there’s a lot of pros who ter] have moved into McLean, like Jana The President. But you’ve got to move. Novotna—[inaudible]. I kind of use it as a warmer-upper. It’s good The President. Really? The territory is for you. beginning to change. See how these rocks We’re going to go right up here. Wait until were right up here on the surface? But what you see this place I’m going to take you. It’s ends up happening is that over time, millions cool. of years, rocky roads created these canyons Q. [Inaudible] [Laughter] we’re going into. They’re pretty sparse coun- The President. That was Barney. It’s a dif- try where you’ve got your rocks—[inaudible]. ferent world down here. Q. So this is one of the canyons we’re Q. It’s beautiful. going into? The President. We’re headed right up in The President. This is the river bottom. there. These are called China berries. See We have 31⁄2 miles of river, stream. And the the little berry at the end there? We’ve got canyons feed into the bottoms here. But the up here in this canyon you’ll have ash, wal- waterfall—see the point right there? That’s nut, different kind of oaks. I’ve become a the headwaters of the waterfall, and we’re guy who really likes trees. [Laughter] going to go down—[inaudible]. Q. Crash course, right? Q. Is this the same river that feeds—[in- The President. Well, you can really get audible]? to appreciate them. Now this in here you The President. Yes. No, let’s see. You couldn’t—before we got in here you couldn’t know, I don’t know. The middle fork of the see the contours of this little canyon. And Bosque—I think—I don’t think so. I’m not it was really hard to walk in here. We got sure. You know, it might. It might. You may in here and cleaned out a lot of the under- be right. [Inaudible]—falls must be running growth, a lot of the dead trees that—see all pretty good right now. those trees in there? They were all like that Q. Yes. in here, way up in here. The President. Does it look pretty? What I want to do is open this up so you Q. Yes, it’s beautiful. can see the contours of this little canyon in The President. We’re going to a different here. part of the world now. Q. Do you have people working here when Q. I’m just grateful you didn’t make us you’re not here, too? clear any brush. [Laughter] The President. No, we do it ourselves, The President. Well, you’d like it. It’s and we built all this that we’re heading into. good exercise. I’ll show you something inter- Q. [Inaudible] esting here. See how that water is coming The President. Yes. out of those rocks? See it? Q. There’s just not that much brush to Q. Yes. clear at the White House. [Laughter] The President. All the aquifers are The President. Well, they got people charged now because of the rain. clearing it there. You could not move in here. Q. [Inaudible]—Hill? I mean, we couldn’t—a few years ago, you The President. No, no. [Inaudible]—Hill had to crawl through all these rocks to get is back over there. We’re not going to be up in here. able to get to it because the water across the crossing. [At this point, the tour continued.] 12 Jan. 2 / Administration of George W. Bush, 2003

The President. [Inaudible]—enough rain, Q. [Inaudible]—Barney? it may have created to charge those aquifers The President. No, he had some prob- enough to withstand the heat. lems. I was afraid Barney would come out Q. What kind of stone is this? with—[inaudible]. The President. Limestone. Real soft lime- Q. Red fox or gray fox? stone. The President. Gray fox. Red fox are Q. ——did you know right away when you what? bought the ranch, or did you discover it Q. We have red fox around Washington. on—— The President. Yes. The President. No. We had to clear this Q. You just can’t imagine that these kind out. I mean, you could not come up here. of little nooks exist out here. Q. But you brought people down here, The President. No, isn’t it amazing? We right? Like a—— had—we brought some friends out here. And The President. [Inaudible]—in here. I one of the guys driving said, ‘‘I can’t imagine didn’t see this part of the ranch when—— why President Bush bought this place. This Q. So it was a surprise? is some of the worst country in Texas.’’ But The President. Yes, it was a surprise. what he didn’t realize is that the fingers of Q. It’s a nice surprise. the Hill Country, which is where you all have The President. This is where Putin came. been, south of Austin, extend up here. If you Jiang Zemin did not come down here, but look on a map, you’ll see the topography on Vladimir Putin did. the map shows this is some unique country. Q. That’s cool. Q. How much did you check out the land The President. See the cedar? That grows before you bought it? right on the ledge. The President. I went all over it. But I Q. It’s on the rocks. didn’t, you know—— Q. Has some of it already started to grow Q. You didn’t find everything. back—— The President. Yes. I didn’t crawl up in The President. We didn’t put it up there. there. And we saw enough to know that there Q. [Inaudible] was some pretty unique relief. The President. We don’t clear up top. We Q. Do you really spend the largest per- clear down here when they go against these centage of your time, outside of working, out big—we clear the young. here? Q. Right. The President. Absolutely. I’m either— Q. So how wide a—[inaudible]—that you my typical day is I will work from about 7 cleared right—— a.m. until 10 a.m., and then will come out The President. Yes, this is all—you could and we’ll cut cedar or fool around, you know, not walk in here, literally. It was overgrown. repair something. There were seven of them like this, with dif- Q. Right. ferent cuts to them. The President. And then we’ll eat lunch Q. All of them different. about 12:30 p.m. And generally make phone Q. Did you do it yourself, or did—— calls then or answer mail or do whatever, and The President. Oh, I do it myself. then get back out about 4 p.m. and fish. I Q. Really? love to fish. The President. Yes. It’s part of the fun Q. Now, when you’re stocking your own to be outside working. I really enjoy it. pond, do you still get credit for catching? There’s the great outdoors, and you’re sup- [Laughter] posed to be in it. [Laughter] The President. Oh, yes, absolutely. The Q. Right. only time you don’t get credit is when the The President. All right. Retreat. Secret Service—right here, take a right—the Q. Watch those rocks, they’re slick. Secret Service frogman puts it on for you. You see the snorkel. [At this point, the tour continued.] Q. If you can’t see him, then it’s to- The President. I’ve seen fox in here. tally—— Administration of George W. Bush, 2003 / Jan. 2 13

The President. Right. [Laughter] Q. Yes, I saw it. The last time we had the crew here, it was The President. Yes, a white-tail deer. up to the top of that canyon, remember? We Q. I grew up in Atlanta. I don’t know my— were clearing. There’s another canyon that [laughter]. goes up in there. And here’s the—here’s The President. This is very interesting. where they end. There is a relatively tame white-tail that has Q. This is the one we walked up. been hanging around here. I saw it the last The President. Right. time I walked in here. And it just kind of Q. With all the brambles and thorns. paralleled—see the cliffs over there. That’s The President. Right. That’s right. not on our property. It’s right on the other Q. Do you fish from the shore or do side of the river. you—— At the end of this pasture, there’s a turkey The President. I’ve got a little boat in roost up in this area. there. Q. Do you envision a time where you’d Q. Bait fish or with lures? live here all the time, or will it always be The President. No, fish with lures. The a kind of retreat? jig is particularly good during the winter. The President. I think this will be more— These fish are very lethargic, real slow. that’s an interesting conversation Laura and This is about a two-thirds mile pasture I have had. In my view, this will be the pri- here. We’re paralleling now the middle fork mary residence, and we’d have a townhouse of the Bosque River. You’ll see it when we somewhere else. I think her view might be get up here. slightly different—[laughter]—in which case, Q. What are these trees? her view will prevail. The President. Those are cedar elms. Q. Right. [Inaudible]—as much pressure They’re really pretty in the spring. as you do. Q. Do they flower? The President. But we do love it out here. The President. No, they—they’re in One of the reasons we picked it—that cedar leaves. But they’re beautiful skirts. is a red cedar. Isn’t that beautiful? It’s Q. Do you ever sleep in? unique, different from these other trees. The President. No. But this is halfway between Dallas and Q. Never? [Inaudible] Austin. Most of our friends are in Dallas and The President. [Inaudible] Austin, so it’s very convenient for our bud- Q. [Inaudible] dies to come and visit and—— The President. No. I was probably asleep Q. Well, you guys aren’t often here by at 10 p.m. [Laughter] yourselves? Q. Couldn’t even see the ball drop on the The President. What? East Coast. Q. You’re not often here alone, are you? The President. In Bermuda. The President. No, we’re really not. We Q. [Inaudible] [Laughter] had—our friends from Lubbock came the The President. I was looking for that ball day after we got here. And our friends from dropping in London. [Laughter] Austin came last night. It’s a good chance Q. [Inaudible]—good enough for you. for us to catch up with our buddies, and we The President. That’s right. really like our friends. Yes, it’s wonderful. Put him in a Gator. The pickup is better. See, up in there? For example, I haven’t Let me show you something that’s really explored up in there yet. See the makings pretty here. When the sun sets—west is that of an interesting rock formation? I may clear way; east is this way—and when the sun sets, that out some so you can see it better. the cliffs over here, which you’ll see in a Haven’t made up my mind. In the spring, minute, just completely glow. this is just emerald green. A big cedar elm here. Q. Greener than usual this August. Q. There’s something running up here. Is The President. Pardon me? this a white-tail or—— Q. It was greener than usual this August. The President. Yes. Did you see it? The President. Yes, because of the rain. 14 Jan. 2 / Administration of George W. Bush, 2003

Q. Mr. President, would you mind terribly See the tree with the leaves still on it? if we would just let the truck pass so they Q. Yes. can get some walking shots? The President. That’s called a bois d’arc, The President. Not at all. and it’s a real hard wood that they claim the Heidi, what are you doing? Indians used for their—[inaudible]. They Q. I want to catch up to you. [Laughter] produce a big, green apple. That’s a big— Q. Quite a little motorcade back there. [inaudible]. Q. Do you ever—[inaudible]? Q. So this is the line right here? Q. A lovely walk in the woods—[inaudi- The President. No, this is just—[inaudi- ble]—with motorized vehicles. ble]. Q. [Inaudible] It’s the middle fork of the Bosque. We The President. Yes, you do. Exactly. [In- have a mile and a half—you’ll see a creek audible] down here. Q. If I stub my toe, what will I do? [Laugh- Q. Do you fish the river? ter] [Inaudible] The President. No, no. This river is real The President. It’s easy to get a sense of gravelly. And most of the time, you won’t the kind of the relief. see water running on the surface. It runs un- It’s about 90 foot in here, from the highest derneath the gravel. You know, I hike up and to the lowest point. Pretty good relief. down this river a lot, and you might run Q. This part I remember, because you into—in August, you might run into a pool drove us down to here. of water, but that’s about it. The President. But you wouldn’t ever en- Q. So we’re 2.5 miles from what, the vision this driving into the ranch. house? Q. Right. The President. Yes. We have walked The President. That’s what I like about about 2 miles. it. Q. A little exercise in the morning. Q. Were these roads here, or did you build The President. Absolutely. these? Q. Is everybody happy? The President. I built this one. The defi- The President. See the—that’s real grav- nition—I’ll show you the definition of a road. elly and shallow. The definition of a road is tire ruts on a Q. Do you periodically have rocks ranch. And one of the things I assured Ron spread—— [Ron Fournier, Associated Press] is that we The President. Yes, caliche, right. I did. would build a road so it would become easily We’ll hike up out of here by a caliche pit. accessible. This is—I did not build this road. It’s kind of a salty limestone that’s used for This is a road that the Engelbrechts built. road—[inaudible]. But you have to maintain these things, obvi- Q. You’ve got it right here on the ranch? ously. The water will erode them out. The President. Yes. See out here, this is The deer lay down in here. They feel pro- where most of the—[inaudible]. And the tected. And then the turkey were right up creek that we’re fixing to come up here, it’s here. really hard to cross. So I built a low-water crossing. So you’ll see a low-water crossing. [At this point, the tour continued.] Q. [Inaudible] The President. Make news, will you. The President. Well, ‘‘low water’’ means This is the river right here. The middle it’s not a dam. In other words—— fork of the Bosque. And right across the way Q. Like a ford? is our neighbor. These are bur oaks. See The President. Yes. The water runs con- these huge trees there? Aren’t they spectac- tinuously. ular? Q. [Inaudible]—are never done, right? Q. These guys must create some nice fall The President. These hardwoods are tak- foliage. ing away a source of water. On a nice, rel- The President. You get pretty good color atively calm day, we’ll come down and burn. here. Q. These cliffs are all—— Administration of George W. Bush, 2003 / Jan. 2 15

The President. Yes, they do. We’re paral- The President. This is one of the trails. leling them. We’ll see some more dramatic— Some of these—we’ve got—this is not a trail it’s about 31⁄2 miles all throughout here in marker, this is not a running-trail marker the bottoms. Engelbrecht said he has seen here; it’s an intersection. water coming out of the creek and the river This is now the Rainy Creek. Where the all across here, which is why you would never Rainy Creek hits the middle fork of the build down here. Bosque is on our property, right up about Those cedars, small cedars, were crowded a quarter mile that way. And now the Rainy up against the hardwoods and competing Creek defines our northern border. And with the hardwoods for the water. you’ll see it up here. Some of these are pecans out here. Great And there’s five crossing points, and here big pecan trees. The pecan is a fruit-bearing is one of them. tree. We didn’t have a very good pecan crop Q. Have we been on the eastern half of this year. the ranch? See the white tree over there, the white The President. You have been on the bark? That’s a sycamore, and they grow in eastern half of the ranch. You’ve seen—yes, the river. left. I don’t think we want to try to cross Q. You’re quite the tree man. here, but we can stop here for a minute. I The President. I am a tree man. want you to see this. Q. The Audubon Society—— At this point, the tour continued. The President. Good for you. Opens up [ ] your—when I say every day is Earth Day if The President. And this will run about you own your land, you’re beginning to un- a mile and a half this way and then go a mile derstand what I mean. and a half—— Q. [Inaudible] Q. This is not a fork where you fish? Q. Skinny bits and saplings? The President. Actually, I put some fish The President. Those are little oaks and in here farther up, where there’s a big, deep ashes. The sturdy will emerge. Here’s where pool. And it’s fun to come down here and we worked yesterday. See how we opened fly fish. There’s not a lot of fish—[inaudible]. up—that’s our country over there on the All right, we’ll hike it up this hill here. right, on the other side of the creek. You Load up. Load up. Man, you better load couldn’t see that. We opened it up, and now up. We’re going up the hill. you have a sense of—that it’s a part of our Q. Oh, I’m good, sir. property. The President. You can handle it? Holly, Q. When you find all these little—— get in here. Now, can you handle it? The President. You all right? You okay? Q. I can, apparently. I’ve got to figure out Q. Yes. how. Something to keep me occupied. The President. Medical Gator. [Laughter] [Laughter] The numbers are the designated points. The President. Exactly. You can read the So, for example, so-and-so is at 50, they look instruction manual for a week. [Laughter] on the map and find out where 50 is. Q. That’s what I did. That was one night. Q. It’s not for recreation? [Inaudible] The President. No, the recreation part is Q. [Inaudible] the mileage. The President. I finally recovered. These Q. What are the white patches over there? are all lacy oaks in here that you couldn’t The President. That’s where we burned. see. The cedars were crowding them out. Q. Burned. These are going to be a beautiful stand of The President. We will have seen about lacy oaks. half the ranch. You can’t cross—you’ll see Q. We’ll have to give you a nickname— down here—I want you to see this river that [inaudible]. it’s just too wet to go across. The President. Yes, exactly. See the cliffs Q. Is this, with the marker, is this where over there? you run? Q. Yes. 16 Jan. 2 / Administration of George W. Bush, 2003

The President. Pretty dramatic stuff. The President. Yes. See how porous it is. Q. Looks like good hiking in there. There was a big dead tree right here, which The President. That’s great hiking. we cut off, opened this up. We’ll see—we’re There’s a little hidden valley that you can heading parallel to this little river, and I’ll go over there and—[inaudible]. Super show you the headwaters of the river. It’s Stretch, caliche. spectacular. Q. You bulldoze it right out of there? Can you envision me sitting here, on the The President. Yes. This is a good one rock, writing some poetry? to run, in August. Q. Yes. Q. Ninety-eight degrees. Q. That’s what I see pretty much—writing The President. Hundred-degree for the the State of the Union—[laughter]— run. longhand. Q. Reminds me too much of home. I The President. That’s the state of my couldn’t do that. union. The President. That’s right. But 90 de- Q. Speaking of—— grees. The President. Yes, we’re working on it. Q. Q. Wow, look at the hawk. Anything you want to sneak preview? The President. I think all you’ve got to The President. Those are big buzzards. do is call the White House staffers. They’ll Q. Turkey buzzards? tell you, evidently. [Laughter] You know The President. Yes, turkey buzzards. what I mean. They’re hoping one of us drops. [Laughter] Q. My fellow Americans. Q. [Inaudible]—reporters. Q. That’s what makes America great. The President. It’s good for you. Q. We’re not cold anymore. [At this point, the tour continued.] The President. You will be, in a minute. Q. Is that your property, or is that the Q. Oh, because of the wind? other—— The President. Well, we’re getting up top The President. That’s us. Go straight here. where those agents are down there. Those Q. Does the little hill have a name? are agents down there—that you’re not sup- The President. No, this one doesn’t. But posed to see. the next one over is Balkan Hill, for Condi Q. Yes. [Laughter] Rice, who gave us the history of the Balkans The President. This is a great place to in the middle of a 4-mile walk. I was im- sit down and think. [Inaudible] pressed that she didn’t break sentence during [At this point, the tour continued.] the—full up the hill. Q. [Inaudible]—Bosnia and Herzegovina The President. Be careful up here, seri- going up the hill here. ously. On a nice evening, you’ve got a little bit [At this point, the tour continued.] of a western view and—[inaudible]. We’ve got deer—[inaudible]. The President. See the area, right in Q. Look out, those first steps are moving. there? Q. Is it called—[inaudible]—Rainy Creek? Q. Yes. The President. Yes. The President. That’s a little hidden—— Q. Pretty wide for a creek. Q. Have you been working back there? The President. Yes, it is, but there’s a lot The President. We did, last year. You can of water right now. But it won’t be wide in walk up. a while. Q. So with all this working, do you ever Q. How high up are we? sit down and—— The President. You know, I don’t know The President. Relax? how much higher—I’d say 90 feet. Q. Enjoy it and relax? All right, I just wanted you to see this. The President. Yes, sometimes. Holly? Q. This is limestone, sir? Q. Yes? Administration of George W. Bush, 2003 / Jan. 2 17

The President. Quit calling me Jeb. The President. Well, there’s—yes, they [Laughter] do. And a lot of the—— [At this point, the tour continued.] Q. Come out of the aquifers? The President. Just coming out of the The President. Nice story. The—[inaudi- rock, like that one I showed you when we ble]—and I went for a run in the campaign, first went down into the bottoms there. summer of 2000. And we go in the pond, That’s what a spring is like. the river pool down there, the creek. And This is the back side of the dam. These the next day we killed a water moccasin— are all big cedar elms here—cedar elm grove. cottonmouth. That’s the last time we jumped Q. Do you guys like to cook at all? in there. [Laughter] The President. Yes. See the cardinals? Q. Do you? Q. Yes. The President. Mine? [At this point, the tour continued.] Q. Yes. The President. [Inaudible]—waterfall The President. Eating. You said, ‘‘Do you down there. I don’t know what they are. guys, right?’’ Oh, you said, ‘‘You guys like Q. Isn’t it pretty down here? to cook.’’ [Laughter] I’m pretty good with Q. [Inaudible] burgers, egg salad. The President. I don’t know what they Q. Are you a fancy coffee guy, or a reg- are, strawberries? ular—— Q. Something like that. I don’t know. The President. Fancy. I don’t even know The President. [Inaudible]—wild clover. what we drink. I just say this, the stronger Anyway, this thing kind of meanders down. the better. And there’s a—well, you can see where it Here’s the back side of the house. drops off. There’s a waterfall down there. Q. In all this planning, how did you pick You’ve seen two of the seven canyons. And where you wanted the house? this is the one that goes up—remember that The President. We had a—the architect, crossing where we just—this goes all the way David Heymann, from the University of down there and drains into the creek right Texas came out here. And Laura—the deci- at the crossing. Pretty special. sion—[inaudible]. And then David came out Q. Is there water—[inaudible]—down here—[inaudible]. there? Q. [Inaudible] The President. I don’t know what that is. The President. Winds, the sun, and the I had never seen it. big live oak. Q. [Inaudible] Q. [Inaudible] [At this point, the tour continued.] The President. No, no. And one of the things you’ll see if they have a Texas phe- The President. Really? You’ve become nomenon, it’s called—[inaudible]—capture kind of a matinee idol? Q. That goes without saying. the—[inaudible]—breezes. And in the sum- The President. Yes, we took a vote. We’ll mer, you want to be able to get as much keep him. They say he’s big; he’s big out of the breeze as you can. So the house is there in the hinterland. Holly, do you want up high. We’ve got the house divided by in? screened porches the wind blows through. Q. I think I’m okay, thank you. Q. I didn’t know you had a treehouse. The President. We’ve got about a half [Laughter] mile to go. The President. Yes, look at it. Built that Q. A half mile? Maybe I’ll walk. for the grandkids that don’t exist. Some of the fellows go up there with some high-pow- [At this point, the tour continued.] ered binocs and high-powered weaponry. The President. A lot of water coming out Q. Yes, right. that creek. The President. Here’s another way down. Q. Good springs anywhere, sir? There’s, let’s see, five entries with the Rainy 18 Jan. 2 / Administration of George W. Bush, 2003

Creek area. You know, I’d say we’ve been it rains, it drains into a 40,000-gallon cistern. through a third of this, about half. We can recycle, watering all the grasses and Q. So how big is the guesthouse? Is it just trees around here. for one, two people? Q. Now, are these Mrs. Bush’s grasses—— The President. No, no, two beds, two The President. Not yet. baths, and a little sitting room. Then we’ve Q. So that’s where you go to write the got the—you remember the Governor’s State of the Union. [Inaudible] house? The President. Yes. Q. Yes. Q. Oh, I see, and that’s the—— The President. That’s three bedrooms, The President. That’s the famous swim- two baths. That’s where Condi will stay to- ming pool—— night. So we’ve got—then Barbara and Q. Oh, that’s right. Jenna’s room are at the end of the house. The President. Which I dubbed the A lot of time they’re not here. We’ve got one, ‘‘whining pool,’’ but—[inaudible]. [Laughter] two, three, four—eight guestrooms, if Bar- Q. Come on. bara and Jenna aren’t here. The President. No, I’m glad we got it. Q. So it’s plenty big. There was a lot of cajoling going on. The President. Yes. The Governor’s Q. [Inaudible] house, is what we call that, is where the guy The President. That’s exactly right. from whom we bought the property lived. That’s one of those things that lasts about Then we fixed it up. three sets. Oh, well, we’re tired of tennis. Q. Yes, I remember. We had a little lunch, Q. It’s too hot. remember that, in 2000? The President. Too hot. The President. That’s right. At this point, the tour continued. Q. That’s where you were with Tommy [ ] Franks when you talked to us last year. The President. See how that little cedar The President. That’s exactly right. is growing up from underneath there? Q. I remember Colin Powell was—[in- Q. Yes. audible]. The President. That will be gone by—[in- The President. That’s exactly right. audible]. When we got out here to haul these Q. [Inaudible] trees—[inaudible]. They say in Texas that if The President. No, that was for the an- you were to—if you were to clear land of nouncement, in the high school. cedars, you’d increase the water supply by Q. What was that? 30 percent. They’re real water hogs. The President. That was for the an- Q. [Inaudible] nouncement of him being Secretary of State. There is a—they say a species called the— Q. No, no, you know when you came out [inaudible]—uses the old cedar to build with Powell was—he was still—it was right nests. So we maintain the old cedar. after election night when we were into the Q. Have you ever seen one? recount. That’s the first time you brought— The President. Well, this county doesn’t and the Cheneys were here. have them, but I’m leaving them anyway. See The President. Was he there? the big oaks in here? This country is a good Q. He was. part of the ranch. Q. He was sitting at the table. Here’s a little tank that we—[inaudible]— The President. Oh, that’s right. We talked stock with bass. about the cows the day we announced him Q. So you’ve got the roads numbered here, as Secretary of State. It was very funny. right? Q. This is the back of the house here? The President. Well, these are intersec- The President. Back of the house. This tions. is the northern view. Q. I thought there was. [Laughter] Q. It’s beautiful. The President. No, no. The President. Thanks. This is native Q. Go down to 63 and 34 and get me rock. The house is contoured so that when a—— Administration of George W. Bush, 2003 / Jan. 2 19

The President. Exactly. [Laughter] strategy to essentially say that you’re not Q. I’m warm now. keeping America safe enough? You’ve heard The President. Good. some of that from some of the speeches. That’s a really interesting stand of hard- The President. Oh, you know, I under- woods up in there, about 80 acres of them. stand politics, and I’m not paying attention Great country through here. At the very end to politics. I’m going to continue doing the of it is the type of canyons we’ve cleared out. job the American people expect, which is to I’d take you back there, but it’s really too safeguard America and Americans. wet. We’ve got a war on our hands. There is Q. Do you hunt here? a terrorist network that still is interested in The President. I don’t, but some of them harming Americans, and we will hunt them do. They come up here—I let them come down. There are countries which are devel- up here and take deer off and maintain the oping weapons of mass destruction, and we proper buck-to-doe ratio. You overpopulate, will deal with them appropriately. One coun- you get—[inaudible]. I don’t let them shoot try is Iraq. Obviously, we expect them to live the turkeys. up to the U.N. Security resolutions and dis- Q. You love the turkeys. arm, and if they won’t, we’ll lead a coalition The President. But I do let them shoot to disarm them. the dove. I’ve shot dove here. The dove sea- Another country is North Korea. And we son starts Labor Day, and generally we’re not are working with friends and allies in the re- here. gion to explain clearly to North Korea it’s Q. Sir, will you let us do a little bit of not in their nation’s interest to develop and this before we go in the house? proliferate weapons of mass destruction. The President. Yes. [Inaudible]—don’t It was right here at this spot where Jiang watch TV. There’s my man, Barney, standing Zemin, the leader of China, and myself got guard. [Laughter] Do you want to do it right together, and we put out a joint declaration here? that we expect for the Korean Peninsula to Q. We’ll get the camera wherever you be nuclear-weapons-free. That was a serious want. statement. I believe the situation with North Korea will be resolved peacefully. As I said, NOTE: The President spoke at 8:51 a.m. at the Bush Ranch. In his remarks, he referred to Assist- it’s a diplomatic issue, not a military issue, ant Press Secretary Reed Dickens; ranch foreman and we’re working all fronts. Kenneth Engelbrecht; Counsel to the President Alberto R. Gonzales; President Vladimir Putin of North Korea Russia; President Jiang Zemin of China; and Gov. Q. Can I follow that up? You said it could Jeb Bush of Florida. Deputy Press Secretary be resolved diplomatically. You were quoted Claire Buchan referred to White House Staff Sec- not long ago saying that you loathe Kim retary Harriet Miers. Reporters referred to Max- Chong-il. How can you—— well Gregory, son of David Gregory, NBC News; The President. Well, what I worry about Senator John Edwards of North Carolina; John Bridgeland, Executive Director, USA Freedom with a leader like Kim Chong-il is somebody Corps; and professional tennis players Chris Evert who starves his people. The United States and Jana Novotna. A tape was not available for of America is the largest—one of the largest, verification of the content of these remarks. if not the largest donor of food to the North Korean people. And one of the reasons why the people are starving is because the leader Exchange With Reporters in of North Korea hasn’t seen to it that their Crawford economy is strong or that they be fed. We’ve January 2, 2003 got a great heart, but I have no heart for somebody who starves his folks. 2004 Election/President’s Agenda Q. Sir, there’s another Democrat has National Economy thrown his hat into the ring today, John Ed- Q. Mr. President, when you look forward wards. What do you think of the Democrat and think about economic stimulus—we’re 20 Jan. 2 / Administration of George W. Bush, 2003 beginning a new year—and the stock market As I said—and the decision to cut off fuel people nursing some losses, what are your oil was a joint decision. It was not a U.S. views about that? And secondly, are you sen- decision; it was jointly made with the South sitive to the idea that a stimulus is too weight- Koreans and the Japanese and the European ed toward helping the wealthiest Americans, Union, for that matter. It’s important for the and are you making choices based on that, American people to remember the history of to help the middle income—— Kim Chong-il. He created some international The President. Well, what I’m worried tension, and the United States of America about is job creation. And I’m worried about went and signed an agreement with him. And those who are unemployed. I am concerned the agreement was that we’d provide—along about those who are looking for work but with others, we’d provide fuel oil and help, can’t find work. And so next week when I and in return, he would not enrich uranium. talk about an economic stimulus package, I But it turns out he was enriching uranium. will talk about how to create jobs, how best And we blew the whistle on the fact that he to create jobs, as well as how to take care was in violation of the ’94 agreement. And of those who don’t have a job. the parties to that agreement came together I’m concerned about all the people. And and said, ‘‘Well, in return for him making I don’t view the politics of—you know, I un- that decision, in terms of him abrogating the derstand the politics of economic stimulus— agreement, there will be a consequence.’’ that some would like to turn this into class And that’s where we stand right now. warfare. That’s not how I think. I think about So the parties have come together. There the overall economy and how best to help has been a joint declaration of intent. And those folks who are looking for work. we will continue working to resolve the situa- Q. Do you—will you propose new tax tion. cuts? Do you think they’re necessary now for Yes, Holly [Holly Rosenkrantz, Bloomberg the economy? News]. The President. I’m looking at all options. And of course, if I knew the answer, I prob- War With Iraq/National Economy ably wouldn’t tell you now, because I’d like Q. for you to come and pay attention to the Thank you, sir. speech. The President. I’m tired of these people calling you Heidi. Q. I’ll do that. Q. I appreciate you—— The President. I know you’ll do that. The President. And I will correct them— [laughter]—particularly on camera. North Korea Q. If we do have to go to war and—— Q. Can I go back to Korea? The President. With which country? The President. Sure. Q. With Iraq. And if—and with our econ- Q. You’re talking about a diplomatic solu- omy stagnating, what makes you confident tion, and you believe that there is one. How that we can afford—— do you think you can bring some of the other The President. First of all, you know, I’m countries in the region that are reluctant hopeful we won’t have to go war, and let’s right now—— leave it at that. The President. Well, I don’t think the Q. But if we do, though, what—— countries are reluctant to—— The President. Until Saddam Hussein Q. ——reluctant to put pressure on. makes up his mind to disarm—see, it’s his The President. They may be putting pres- choice to make. See, you need to ask him sure on, and you just don’t know about it. that question, not me. But I know that they’re not reluctant when Q. But the White House is drawing up it comes to the idea of nuclear weapons on plans to pay for the war, if we come to that. the Korean Peninsula. And we are in con- So why—— stant contact with the Japanese and the South The President. Well, let’s leave it at ‘‘if,’’ Koreans and the Chinese and the Russians. for a while then, until it happens. Administration of George W. Bush, 2003 / Jan. 2 21

Q. So you don’t want to talk about whether FBI Persons of Interest our economy could sustain it, if that’s a possi- Q. Sir, you asked or you talked the other bility? day about authorizing an APB for those five The President. I thought that was the people that were wanted by the FBI for com- question I answered yesterday, so we’ll go ing into this country. Today one guy from back to that question, Heidi. I mean, Holly. Pakistan says that he is one of those people Q. Thank you, sir. on those pictures, and he has never been to the United States. 2004 Election The President. Well, we need to follow Q. How do you size up the Democrats who up on forged passports and people trying to are in line to oppose you? What do you think come into our country illegally. The Amer- of Senator—— ican people need to know that anytime we The President. Not paying attention to it get a hint that somebody might be coming yet, not paying attention to the race yet. I’ve into our country to cause harm, we’ll follow got a lot on my agenda and a lot on my plat- up on it. And you know, if we think there’s ter. And I understand politics. I know there’s a smuggling ring that’s willing to smuggle going to be a lot of verbiage and a lot of people in that might harm America, we’ll noise and a lot of posturing and a lot of el- deal with it. bowing. To me, that’s just going to be back- And there’s—you know, and if this fellow ground noise. My job is to protect the Amer- is one of them—and I think they’re trying ican people and work to create confidence to check that out right now. And as I recall, in our economy so that people can find work. the story—I haven’t fully read it all—but as Q. On some level, were you getting ready I recall, it said he had a false passport. I’m for a rematch and hoping for a rematch with kind of curious to know why he needs a false Al Gore? passport. We like things aboveboard here in America. The President. Really wasn’t paying much attention to it, Stretch [David Gregory, NBC We want people coming to our country News]. I seriously was—I’ve got my mind on that wants to take—that wants to either visit the peace and security of the American peo- this great country or study in this great coun- ple. And politics will sort itself out. And one try or see relatives in this great country and of these days, somebody will emerge, and do so in a peaceful and lawful way. And peo- we’ll tee it up and see who the American ple have a feeling like they’ve got to travel people want to lead. And until that happens, here with false passports sends a pretty I’m going to be doing my job. alarming signal to those of us who are in- volved with the security of the country. Q. Do you have the suspicion that there National Economy is a smuggling ring that may not have specific Q. One more thing, any thoughts for the terrorist ties, but that there’s a ring of—— American investor going into this new year? The President. I’m not sure what the— The President. Well, hopefully the Amer- you know, how to detail. All I can tell you ican investor realizes that the—this economy is that we were concerned and alerted to the is pretty darn strong, given the fact that we fact that somebody might be coming into the have been through a recession and a terrorist country. There are—having said that, there attack, a breach of corporate confidence be- are a lot of smuggling rings that we’re dealing cause of some malfeasance. And yet the with. The INS needs to deal with that. And economy still grows. That’s very positive. the new Homeland Security Department will Now, I recognize that there are some un- be dealing with smuggling rings, like the certainties. But one thing is certain, that the ‘‘coyotes’’ right south of here that are smug- economy of the United States is strong and gling people across and treating those poor resilient. And we must put policies in place people—stuffing them into these trailers and to enhance that resiliency and enhance that abusing them. They need to be dealt with strength. as well. Most of the smuggling rings are not 22 Jan. 2 / Administration of George W. Bush, 2003 terrorist related, but if we get a hint, a whiff The President. And I’m proud to wear that some of them are, we’ll deal with them. it in my home State of Texas. Laura and I All right, let’s go get some coffee. are honored to kick off the new year with the soldiers and families of Fort Hood. Situation in Iraq Audience members. Hooah! Q. One more. Are you satisfied that the The President. All Texans are proud that inspectors are getting to Saddam’s weapon our State is the home to so many fine military scientists? units, including the great 1st Cavalry Divi- The President. He is a man who likes to sion—— play games and charades. The question is, Audience members. Hooah! will Saddam Hussein disarm? The world has The President. ——and the mighty 4th asked him to disarm from weapons of mass Infantry Division—— destruction. The first indication isn’t very Audience members. Hooah! positive that he will voluntarily disarm. After The President. ——the key ingredients to all, he put out a declaration that the world the home of America’s hammer. realized was false. And the inspectors are Audience members. Hooah! there to verify whether or not he is dis- The President. On Christmas Eve I had arming. You hear these reports about Iraqi the honor of calling some of our troops who scientists being interviewed, but there’s a are around the world, service members, men ‘‘minder’’ in the room. and women from many bases, including Fort You know, Saddam Hussein—hopefully he realizes we’re serious, and hopefully he dis- Hood. I thanked them for serving America arms peacefully. He’s a danger to the Amer- so far from home and far away from their ican people. He’s a danger to our friends and families. allies. For 11 long years, the world has dealt Today it’s my honor to come here to Fort with him. And now he’s got to understand, Hood to thank each and every one of you his day of reckoning is coming. And there- for the work you do to make sure that our fore, he must disarm voluntarily. I hope he United States Army is second to none. does. Audience members. Hooah! All right, let’s go get a coffee. The President. We’ve got more than 1,300 troops from Fort Hood that are serving NOTE: The exchange began at 12:14 p.m. during abroad and defending our country and keep- a walking tour of the Bush Ranch. In the ex- ing the peace from Cuba to Kuwait to Korea. change, the President referred to President Jiang Another 1,600 are preparing to deploy Zemin of China; Chairman Kim Chong-il of North abroad. In the months ahead, more soldiers Korea; and President Saddam Hussein of Iraq. A from Fort Hood may be giving—given other tape was not available for verification of the con- essential missions. But wherever you serve tent of this exchange. or wherever you may be sent, you can know that America is grateful and your Com- Remarks to the Troops at Fort Hood mander in Chief is confident in your abilities in Killeen, Texas and proud of your service. January 3, 2003 Audience members. Hooah! The President. I want to thank General The President. Thank you very much. Wilson and his wife, Lynn, for receiving Thank you all. Thank you all very much. Gen- Laura and me. I want to thank Larry Ellis eral, thanks a lot for that kind introduction. and Jean, General Ellis. I appreciate so much I always like a short introduction. [Laughter] General Joe Peterson. I want to thank Ser- Thank you for your warm welcome, and geant Major Gravens and his wife, Deborah, thank you for this jacket. for joining us here today. I appreciate my Audience members. Hooah! friend, the Governor of the great State of The President. I’m proud to wear it. Texas, Rick Perry, for joining us today. I want Audience members. Hooah! Administration of George W. Bush, 2003 / Jan. 3 23 to thank members of the congressional dele- the first war of the 21st century. For this gation who are here, Joe Barton, Congress- country and for our friends around the world man Chet Edwards. I appreciate you all com- who love freedom like we do, the stakes are ing. great. The terrorists have shown what they I want to thank some of the State and local intend for us, and we’re not going to forget. officials. I know my friend Dianne White We’re not going to forget the fact that they Delisi is here. I want to thank Suzanna Hupp kill without regard for the rules of war. They and Sid Miller as well. I want to thank the don’t value innocent life like we do. In Amer- mayor of Killeen; haven’t seen the mayor in ica, we say everybody is precious. Everybody a while. It’s good to be in your presence, counts. Everybody is equal in the eyes of the Mayor. Appreciate all the local officials, my Almighty. fellow Texans, military families, veterans, and That’s not the way the enemy thinks. They all the community leaders who have come don’t value innocent life. They’re nothing but out today. Thanks for being here. a bunch of cold-blooded killers, and that’s I know we’ve got some of the many vet- the way we’re going to treat them. erans who live in this area with us today. The Audience members. Hooah! men and women of Fort Hood follow in the The President. They reach across oceans great traditions that you passed on to them. to target the innocent. They seek weapons You each wear a proud title, veteran of the of mass murder on a massive scale. The ter- United States military, and I want to thank rorists will not be stopped by mercy or by you for the example you have set and the conscience, but they will be stopped. service you gave to our country. Audience members. Hooah! Audience members. Hooah! The President. And they will be stopped The President. And I appreciate and by the will and the might of the United States America appreciates the sacrifices of our of America. military families. I signed the largest increase Audience members. Hooah! in defense spending in a generation. The President. Our country is in a great Audience members. Hooah! contest of will and purpose. We’re being test- The President. I wanted to make sure that ed. In times of crisis, we will act decisively. our soldiers had the best possible pay—— And in times of calm, we’ll be focused and Audience members. Hooah! patient and relentless in our pursuit of the The President. ——the best possible enemy. That’s what we owe the American training—— people. Audience members. Hooah! We’re not waiting for another attack. We The President. ——and to make sure the can’t wait for another attack to employ the housing was the best possible for our fami- full power of America in this cause. We’re lies, military families. That’s the least we owe acting now to protect the American people the husbands and wives of those who wear and to shape a future of peace. the uniform. This war, like others, is not going to be Each one of you knows that Army life can won on the defensive. So we’re going to take be rewarding. And you know it can be dan- this fight to the enemy. gerous and difficult. Every day, our military Audience members. Hooah! families are putting America’s interests first, The President. And we’re making good and America thanks you as well as those who progress. We’re making good progress. wear the uniform. Working with our friends and allies, we have Fort Hood and the units that call it home freed the people of Afghanistan from one of have a special place in our country’s military the most brutal regimes in the history of history. For decades, soldiers from the First mankind. We enforced a clear doctrine that Team and the Iron Horse Division and from said, ‘‘If you harbor a terrorist, if you feed other units have fought America’s battles a terrorist, if you hide a terrorist, you’re just with distinction and courage. as guilty as the terrorists,’’ and the Taliban Now you’re called again into action, to de- knows what we meant. fend America and the cause of freedom in Audience members. Hooah! 24 Jan. 3 / Administration of George W. Bush, 2003

The President. We’ve destroyed camps people and our friends and allies from cata- where terrorists train. There used to be strophic violence, wherever the source, what- camps. The United States military showed ever the threat. up. There are not any camps in Afghanistan. In the case of North Korea, the world must Audience members. Hooah! continue to speak with one voice, to turn that The President. We’ve emptied caves regime away from its nuclear ambitions. where they hid. See, they used to think they In the case of Iraq, the world has already could hide. But you can’t hide from the spoken with one voice. The Iraqi regime has United States of America. You may hide for a duty under Security Council resolutions to a brief period of time, but pretty soon we’re declare and destroy all of its weapons of mass going to put the spotlight on you, and we’ll destruction. That’s what the world has said. bring you to justice. That’s what the United States expects from We’ve cut off millions of dollars that the Saddam Hussein. enemy was using to fund operations. We’re The Iraqi regime is a grave threat to the working with friends and allies around the United States. The Iraqi regime is a threat world, and we’re hauling them in, one by to any American and to threats who are one. Some have met their fate by sudden jus- friends of America. Why do I say that? Well, tice. Some are now answering questions at first of all, the leader in Iraq has publicly Guantanamo Bay. In either case, they’re no proclaimed his hatred for our country and longer a problem to the United States of what we stand for. America and our friends. The Iraqi regime has a record—a record Audience members. Hooah! of torturing their own people, a brutal The President. We do not yet have all record, and a record of reckless aggression the terrorists, but they’re all on the run. And against those in their neighborhood. if they listen carefully, they will hear behind The Iraqi regime has used weapons of them the mighty footsteps of the United mass destruction. They not only had weapons States of America. of mass destruction; they used weapons of Audience members. Hooah! mass destruction. They used weapons of The President. And we’re not quitting. mass destruction on people in other coun- We’ll fight this war on many fronts, with tries; they have used weapons of mass de- many tools. Our intelligence operations are struction on their own people. That’s why I tracking the terrorists. We’re sharing intel- say Iraq is a threat, a real threat. ligence with other countries that share our Four years ago, U.N. inspectors concluded desire for peace. Our allies are keeping the that Iraq had failed to amount—account for peace and helping us keep the peace in Af- large stockpiles of chemical and biological ghanistan. We’re hunting the terrorists on weapons, weapons capable of killing millions. every continent. See, they’re in over 60 dif- In last month’s declaration, Iraq again failed ferent countries. to account for those weapons. We’ve got a vast coalition of people bound The Iraqi dictator did not even attempt by this principle: Either you’re with us, or to submit a credible declaration. We can now you’re with the enemy; either you’re with be certain that he holds the United Nations those who love freedom, or you’re with those and the U.N. Security Council and its resolu- who hate innocent life. Our coalition is tions in contempt. He really doesn’t care strong, and we’re keeping it strong. And about the opinion of mankind. Saddam Hus- we’re on the hunt. We’re chasing them down sein was given a path to peace. Thus far, he one by one. has chosen the path of defiance. And as well, we’re confronting the threat The fate of the Iraqi regime is being deter- of outlaw regimes who seek weapons of mass mined by its own decisions. Saddam Hussein destruction. Different circumstances require knows precisely what he can and must do different strategies, from the pressure of di- to avoid conflict. We have made that clear. plomacy to the prospect of force. Yet in every The world has spoken with one voice. case, the resolve of our Nation is the same: And even now, he could end his defiance We must and we will protect the American and dramatically change directions. He has Administration of George W. Bush, 2003 25 that choice to make. We certainly prefer vol- Thank you for your service. May God bless untary compliance by Iraq. You see, the use you. May God bless your families, and may of military force is this Nation’s last option, God bless America. its last choice. NOTE: The President spoke at 10:55 a.m. at the Yet, if force becomes necessary to disarm Abrams Physical Fitness Center. In his remarks, Iraq of weapons of mass destruction and en- he referred to Gen. Robert Wilson, USA, Acting force the will of the United Nations, if force Commanding General, III Corps and Fort Hood, becomes necessary to secure our country and and his wife, Lynn; Gen. Larry Ellis, USA, Com- to keep the peace, America will act delib- manding General, Army Forces Command, and erately, America will act decisively, and his wife, Jean; Gen. Joe Peterson, USA, Com- America will prevail because we’ve got the manding General, 1st Cavalry Division; Command finest military in the world. Sgt. Maj. Michael Gravens, USA, Corps Sergeant Major, III Corps and Fort Hood, and his wife, Audience members. Hooah! Deborah; Texas State Representatives Dianne The President. We are ready. We’re pre- White Delisi, Suzanna Hupp, and Sid Miller; pared. And should the United States be com- Mayor Maureen J. Jouett of Killeen, TX; and pelled to act, our troops will be acting in the President Saddam Hussein of Iraq. The Office of finest traditions of America—should we be the Press Secretary also released a Spanish lan- forced to act. Should Saddam Hussein seals guage transcript of these remarks. his fate by refusing to disarm, by ignoring the opinion of the world, you will be fighting not to conquer anybody but to liberate peo- ple. Digest of Other See, we believe in freedom. No matter White House Announcements what their oppressors may say, the people of Iraq have no love for tyranny. Like all human beings, they desire and they deserve The following list includes the President’s public schedule and other items of general interest an- to live in liberty and to live in dignity. Amer- nounced by the Office of the Press Secretary and ica seeks more than the defeat of terror. We not included elsewhere in this issue. seek the advance of human freedom in a world at peace. That is the charge history has given us, and that is the charge we will December 28 keep. In the morning, at the Bush Ranch in In crucial hours, the success of our cause Crawford, TX, the President had an intel- will depend upon you. As members of our ligence briefing. military, you serve this Nation’s ideals, and December 30 you demonstrate those ideals in your code In the morning, the President had an intel- and in your character. As Commander in ligence briefing. Chief, I have come to know the men and The President announced the designation women who wear America’s uniform. I have of the following individuals to represent the seen your love of country and your devotion United States at the inauguration of Presi- to a cause larger than yourself. I have seen dent-elect Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva of Brazil your discipline, your idealism, and your sense on January 1, 2003: Robert B. Zoellick, who of honor. I know that every order I give can will lead the delegation; Donna J. Hrinak; bring a cost. I also know without a doubt Michael B. Enzi; and John F. Maisto. that every order I give will be carried out with skill and unselfish courage. December 31 Some crucial hours may lie ahead. We In the morning, the President had an intel- know the challenges and the dangers we face. ligence briefing. If this generation of Americans is ready, we accept the burden of leadership. We act in January 1 the cause of peace and freedom, and in that In the morning, the President had an intel- cause, we will prevail. ligence briefing. 26 Administration of George W. Bush, 2003

January 2 Checklist In the morning, the President had a CIA of White House Press Releases briefing and a teleconference meeting with Vice President Dick Cheney. The following list contains releases of the Office January 3 of the Press Secretary that are neither printed as In the morning, the President had an intel- items nor covered by entries in the Digest of Other White House Announcements. ligence briefing. Later, he and Mrs. Bush traveled to Fort Hood in Killeen, TX. In the afternoon, the President and Mrs. Released December 30 Bush had lunch with troops at Fort Hood. Transcript of a press gaggle by Deputy Press Later, they returned to the Bush Ranch in Secretary Scott McClellan Crawford, TX. The President announced his intention to Statement by the Deputy Press Secretary an- nominate Ross Owen Swimmer to be Special nouncing the designation of four individuals Trustee for American Indians at the Depart- to represent the United States at the inau- ment of the Interior. guration of President-elect Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva of Brazil on January 1, 2003

Nominations Submitted to the Senate Acts Approved by the President

NOTE: The Congress having adjourned sine die on Friday, November 22, 2002, no nominations NOTE: No acts approved by the President were were submitted to the Senate during the period received by the Office of the Federal Register covered by this issue. during the period covered by this issue.