Administration of George W. Bush, 2008 / Feb. 28

And a lot of these players are champions remarks, he referred to Tim Wakefield, off the field. Daisuke Matsuzaka, Josh Beckett, Curt And I thank you for your commitment. Schilling, Mike Timlin, Jonathan Papelbon, I thank you for your dedication to a great and Jon Lester, pitchers, Doug Mirabelli and sport. I congratulate and thank your fami- Jason Varitek, catchers, Larry Lucchino, lies for hanging in with you in this long, president and chief executive officer, Terry 162-game season. I wish you all the best Francona, manager, Mike Lowell, Kevin in the upcoming year, and it’s my great Youkilis, and Dustin Pedroia, infielders, honor to welcome you back to the White David A. ‘‘Big Papi’’ Ortiz, designated hitter, House as the World Series champs. and Manny Ramirez, outfielder, Boston Red Sox; and Jacque Francona, wife of Terry NOTE: The President spoke at 3:08 p.m. on Francona. the South Lawn at the White House. In his

Statement on the Death of William F. Buckley, Jr. February 27, 2008

America has lost one of its finest writers his principled thought and beautiful writ- and thinkers. Bill Buckley was one of the ing, as well as his personal warmth, wit, great founders of the modern conservative and generous spirit. His legacy lives on in movement. He brought conservative the ideas he championed and in the maga- thought into the political mainstream and zine he founded, National Review. helped lay the intellectual foundation for Laura and I send our prayers to Chris America’s victory in the cold war and for Buckley, the Buckley family, and all who the conservative movement that continues loved this good man. to this day. He will be remembered for

The President’s News Conference February 28, 2008

The President. Good morning. Laura and approved a good, bipartisan bill that main- I, as you know, recently came back from tains the principles that have made this Africa, where we saw firsthand how the program effective. And so I want to thank Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief is saving Acting Chairman Howard Berman and lives. I had a chance to go to the—speak Ranking Member Ileana Ros-Lehtinen and to the Sullivan Foundation the other day all the members of the committee for the about our trip, and the reason I did so action they took. This afternoon they’re was to remind the American people about going to come down, and I’ll be able to how important it is for our Nation to re- thank them in person. And I’m going to main generous and compassionate when it brief them on the trip. The—obviously, our comes to helping people overseas. hope is now that the House will act quickly I also during my trip urged Congress to and send the bill reauthorizing PEPFAR reauthorize the emergency plan and in- to the Senate. And I’d like to sign it into HEARING crease our commitment, and they did. They law as quickly as possible. with

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