June 23 / Administration of George W. Bush, 2008 The team’s playoff slogan was, ‘‘One States. I’m honored to welcome you. I’m team, one city, one goal.’’ And they’ve ful- proud of your championship trophy. I thank filled the goal. You became the first WNBA you for what you do for the country. May team in history to win a championship on God bless you all. the road. For the second year in a row, Ann Meyers Drysdale. Mr. President, on you set the record for the highest scoring behalf of the 2007 WNBA champion Phoe- average in WNBA history. nix Mercury, we’d like to thank you for You were led ably by Coach Paul your invitation to the White House. The Westhead. I know he is proud of the Phoenix Mercury and the WNBA is all women. And Corey Gaines was the assistant about leadership, being a strong role model, coach, so he had the pleasure of being part teamwork, and making a difference in oth- of a championship program. And he knows ers’ lives. what it takes to get you in a position where This team accomplished a lot last year you can win this year as well. Of course, and had a lot of firsts. The coaches, fans, I’m not going to be around to welcome and players never stopped believing in you, but play hard anyway. [Laughter] themselves. Mr. President, we know your A thing I love about this team—and a support for the Phoenix Mercury is genuine lot of champions that I get to recognize because of the influence of the women in here at the White House—is the fact that your life. they understand you’re a champ on the The President. Yes. courts and you’re a champ off the courts. Ms. Meyers Drysdale. All First Ladies— The—this team spent weekends on a Habi- your graceful mother, your classy wife—— tat for Humanity program called Women The President. Thank you. Build. They served meals at homeless shel- Ms. Meyers Drysdale. ——your very ters. They honored breast cancer survivors. strong-willed daughters. [Laughter] You They helped sign up runners for Race for think? the Cure. They collected water bottles from The President. Yes, that’s why my hair fans and donated them to the Salvation is white. [Laughter] Army’s Extreme Heat Emergency Project. Ms. Meyers Drysdale. We are very proud They participated in Read to Achieve. They of this team. And on behalf of the Phoenix helped stuff backpacks with supplies for un- Mercury, we’d like our two Olympians, derprivileged children. Diana Taurasi and Cappie Pondexter, to They support the Jr. WNBA program, present you with a Phoenix Mercury jersey fully understanding that promoting healthy and a replica banner of our championship. lifestyles is good for America. And there’s no better way to have a healthy lifestyle than to participate in athletics. They’ve NOTE: The President spoke at 11:02 a.m. in done their duty as citizens of the United the East Garden at the White House. Remarks Following a Meeting With President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo of the Philippines June 24, 2008 President Bush. Madam President, it is tive dialogue. First, I want to tell you how a pleasure to welcome you back to the Oval proud I am to be the President of a nation HEARING Office. We have just had a very construc- that—in which there’s a lot of Philippine with 862 DSK5TPTVN1PROD on VerDate Mar 15 2010 13:23 Apr 17, 2012 Jkt 217557 PO 00000 Frm 00862 Fmt 1240 Sfmt 1240 E:\HR\OC\217557A.025 217557A wreier-aviles Administration of George W. Bush, 2008 / June 24 Americans. They love America, and they strong in having a carrots-and-sticks ap- love their heritage. And I reminded the proach. ‘‘Sticks,’’ of course, say we’re not President that I am reminded of the great going to allow for people to terrorize our talent of the—of our Philippine Americans citizens; the ‘‘carrot’’ approach is that when I eat dinner at the White House. there’s peace available. [Laughter] And we talked about Burma—the area, President Macapagal-Arroyo. Yes. the region. The President’s been a very President Bush. And the chef is a great strong leader when it comes to the freedom person and a really good cook, by the way, agenda and human dignity. Madam President. And so all in all, we had a very construc- President Macapagal-Arroyo. Thank you. tive talk. I’m proud you’re here. President Bush. We talked about our President Macapagal-Arroyo. Thank you. friendship, our bilateral relations, and we President Bush. Thanks for coming. spent some time on foreign policy. President Macapagal-Arroyo. Thank you. First, I expressed our deep condolences Thank you. Mr. President, with your per- to those who suffered as a result of the mission, I’d like to address our countrymen typhoon. And I know there’s some families in our native language. that are hurting. Some are wondering whether or not their loved ones will, you [At this point, President Macapagal-Arroyo know, reappear. We, the American people, spoke in Tagalog, and her remarks were care about the human suffering that’s tak- translated as follows.] ing place, and we send our prayers. Interpreter. Fellow countrymen, America Secondly, I informed the President—Sec- is a strong ally in supporting our efforts retary Gates informed the President, to strengthen our economy and reinforce through me, that the United States will our democracy. The Philippines and the move the USS Ronald Reagan, a large air- United States have a strong relationship, craft carrier, to help with the assistance, and we are here today to discuss important along with other U.S. Navy assets. Madam bilateral issues with President Bush, mem- President, we’re happy to do it. We want bers of his administration, and congres- to help our friends in a time of need. sional leaders. As President Bush men- We talked about, you know, food, and tioned, we will focus our discussions, now I assured the President we’ll continue to more than ever, on food shortages, defense help. We helped with rice in the past. And, cooperation, and economic aid. Together you know, I’m proud of my country. We with our friends, such as America, let us give a lot of food aid. And this is a time join forces and move our country forward where America needs to step up, and we towards the company of First World, devel- will, Madam President. oped nations over the next 20 years. We talked about our mutual desire to Long live the Philippines, and long live advance—how important it is to move for- the friendship between the Philippines and ward bilateral and multilateral trade agen- the United States. das. I’m a—I believe trade is beneficial to President Bush. I couldn’t have said it both our countries. I’m hopeful we can get better myself. [Laughter] Thank you, a Doha round done; we strategized to- Madam President. gether about how we can move the process. President Macapagal-Arroyo. Thank you. I congratulated the President on her Thank you. strong stand on counterterrorism—more President Bush. Thank you all. than strong stand—effective stand on counterterrorism as well as laying out a vi- NOTE: The President spoke at 10:25 a.m. in HEARING sion for peace. The President’s been very the Oval Office at the White House. In his with 863 DSK5TPTVN1PROD on VerDate Mar 15 2010 13:23 Apr 17, 2012 Jkt 217557 PO 00000 Frm 00863 Fmt 1240 Sfmt 1240 E:\HR\OC\217557A.025 217557A wreier-aviles June 24 / Administration of George W. Bush, 2008 remarks, he referred to White House Execu- tive Chef Cristeta Comerford. Remarks Following a Meeting With Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung of Vietnam June 24, 2008 President Bush. Mr. Prime Minister, wel- cooperation on the basis of equality, mutual come to the Oval Office. I fondly remem- respect, and mutual benefit. We agreed ber my trip to your country. I remember with each other on a wide range of issues, the wonderful hospitality that you and your which will be fully reflected in our adjoined Government gave to Laura and me. I re- statement. member the thousands of people lining the And now I would like to give you some street in Ho Chi Minh City and Hanoi, highlights of our conversation. Mr. Presi- and it was just a memorable trip. So it’s dent and I agreed to establish a new dia- my honor to welcome you back here. logue mechanism at the senior level on the We had a good dialogue. We talked strategic matters of economics, education, about economic cooperation, and we talked environment, science, defense, and security. about educational cooperation. We talked And President Bush reiterated his support about the need to work together on the for Vietnam’s sovereignty, security, and ter- environment. I thanked the Prime Minister ritorial integrity. for his work on accounting for the POWs We agreed to establish a high-level edu- and MIAs. We discussed the neighborhood cation task force to effectively advance the and the region. We talked about the free- education cooperation between our two doms—religious and political freedom. And countries. The two sides also agreed to set I told the Prime Minister that I thought up a new subcommittee to assist Vietnam the strides that the Government is making in conducting researches to respond to the toward religious freedom is noteworthy, and climate change and the rising sea level.