INTERVIEW OF THE PRESIDENT BY FOREIGN PRINT JOURNALISTS

THE WHITE HOUSE

Office of the Press Secretary
 ______________________________________________________________
   For Immediate Release                                                 July 3, 2005

INTERVIEW OF THE PRESIDENT BY FOREIGN PRINT JOURNALISTS

The Roosevelt Room

June 30, 2005

10:48 A.M. EDT

       THE PRESIDENT:  Just a couple of comments.  One, I'm looking forward to going to the G8.  It's always a good opportunity to talk about common values, common interests, ways we can work together to improve the world.  I'm looking forward to seeing the leaders.  I've got a good, personal relationship with the leaders; it's a good chance to visit.

       Agenda items are -- important agenda items.  Africa, I just gave a speech on the continent of Africa; global climate change, it's important to move the debate beyond the Kyoto era and talk about what we can do together to improve the environment.  I'm looking forward to that.  One of the things there hasn't been much focus on is there will be time to discuss progress in the Middle East -- the Middle East peace process.  Jim Wolfensohn is coming to discuss a way forward, how we can all help the Palestinians improve their security, enhance the entrepreneurial spirit so people can see their lives improve.  We're looking forward to that.

       Anyway, it's going to be a good trip.  I'm looking forward to going to Denmark.  The Prime Minister is a friend.  He's a good man, he's got a good, strong backbone; when he says he's going to do something, he means it.  I'm looking forward to seeing Her Majesty the Queen.  It's going to be a good experience.  I've never been to Denmark, so I'm looking forward to going.

       Charlie, we'll start with you and then we'll do a couple of rounds and I'll let you all go get some lunch.

       Q    All right.  My first question really is an aid question, with respect to Africa.  Mr. Blair has really been pressing this issue of dramatically increased aid to Africa.  You have substantially increased U.S. assistance to Africa, but, on the other hand, it falls way short of what Mr. Blair has been asking for.  You've been really, I think, fairly cool to both the $25 billion that he's asked, and the commitment for, what is it, seven-tenths of a percent of GDP for foreign assistance.

      THE PRESIDENT:  A couple of comments on that.  One, is that our aid increase has been dramatic.  We've tripled our aid since I've been President, and I just announced today that I'll ask Congress to double it by 2010, which is a significant increase.

Secondly, though, you've got to look at Africa as more than just aid.  Aid is one aspect of participating on the continent in a compassionate way.  Trade is a vital part of lifting people out of poverty.  The other thing is, you know, there's all kinds of ways to calculate generosity.  I happen to think that the formula that some people try to use is not an effective way to judge America's generosity, or a fair way.  For example, we've got a tax code structure to encourage private citizens to contribute.  And so I will remind our G8 friends that aid to developing countries is more than just grants from government:  it is grants from government, it is generous contributions by private individuals and we contribute billions on an annual basis.

I'm also going to tell people that a compassionate policy is one that focuses less on formulas and more on improving people's lives.  And so today I talked about the malaria initiative, for example.  There's a great place where the G8 countries can come together and help nations on the continent of Africa eradicate malaria.

So I'm going to the G8 with an agenda where we've been the leader.  The HIV/AIDS initiative was a powerful statement of our compassion and our willingness to take the lead on a lot of issues.

Q    Mr. President, a question about your malaria program.

THE PRESIDENT:  Sure.

 

Q    By the time we get back to the office there will probably be a statement from some group praising your proposal, but saying once again, why didn't the President go through the Global Fund to fight AIDS, tuberculosis and malaria?  Why do a separate program?

THE PRESIDENT:  Well, first of all, we are supporting the Global Fund.  But like our AIDS initiative, we also feel it is an effective way to achieve results.  See, you just asked a process question -- you're assuming somebody is going to -- let's focus on the process.  What I want the world to do is focus on how best to get the job done, how best to achieve the objective.

And so our strategy has been two-fold:  one, support the Global Fund; but on the other hand, target specific countries.  And if you noticed I said in there, this will -- we're taking the lead.  We want people to follow.  We want people in other countries to follow, we want people to follow.  And the United States government is going to take the lead, the Gates Foundation is taking the lead, and I call upon other governments, other foundations, to do the same.  So our strategy is one of results, how best to achieve the objective.

THE PRESIDENT:  With regard to trade, African leaders have been pretty loud in pointing out that subsidies and tariffs are a tremendous handicap to the development of trade.  Europe, in particular, has been hostile to really lifting tariffs and subsidies.  Any chance of any movement on that, within the context of the G8?

THE PRESIDENT:  Well, I appreciate you bringing that up.  The African Growth and Opportunity Act, signed by my predecessor and extended by the Congress in my administration, is working.  I want to remind people that ultimately it's commerce, trade, economic growth that will overwhelm the need for aid itself.  And exports from sub-Sahara Africa to the United States are up 88 percent because we've opened up our markets.

The best approach to dealing with Europe -- and our own subsidies, for that matter -- on agricultural matters, is to go to the Doha round of the WTO and jointly declare that we're going to get rid of all agricultural subsidies.  That has been our proposal.

The other thing is, it's very important for African nations themselves to eliminate the barriers of trade intra-continent, between themselves.  There are, if you look -- at least there was the last time I looked, there were some impediments to trade amongst the African nations.  And so the -- we've all got responsibilities to make trade freer.

I said in my speech today that it's -- the World Bank estimated that a successful Doha round -- in other words, a new trading regime that enabled all countries to trade freely -- would lift 140 million people out of poverty, in their estimate. And that's why this Doha round is very important.  And so we'll spend time articulating how best to continue moving forward on the Doha round.  That's probably the most -- the place where you're going to find that would be most effective in being able to deal with the subsidies, whether it be the EU or our own subsidies, for that matter.

Q    Mr. President, a question about debt cancellation.

THE PRESIDENT:  Yes.

Q    The G8 finance ministers came up with a figure of 18 countries.  Shortly after that, a number of African Presidents meeting in Nigeria said, it's a good start, we'd like more.  Is that 18 figure carved in stone, or is there --

THE PRESIDENT:  Not at all, Joe.  There's a -- it's a criterion-based agreement, and that other countries will be able to qualify for debt forgiveness, as well.  So there's a way forward for the other countries that they expressed concerns about.

The other thing is, is that I would hope people would take notice of the initiative that I proposed a couple of years ago, and that is the World Bank in its desire to help developing nations give grants as opposed to loans.  And we're making progress toward that goal.  Jim Wolfensohn did a fine job of making progress toward that goal, and Paul Wolfowitz will continue toward that goal.

But the idea is that we're relieving the pressure on the balance sheet.  But governments have got to make good choices.  They've got to be willing to invest and fight corruption.  Kind of like the criterion in our Millennium Challenge Account, which is a very important initiative.  It's one I called on Congress to fund.  Congress has been reluctant to fully fund our request because we haven't got the money out the door fast enough.  And so my message today was, like it has been the last couple of times I've talked about Millennium Challenge Account, we'll do a better job of processing and moving along.

        Olivier.

Q    Thank you, sir.

THE PRESIDENT:  One more round after this, so everybody, be preparing your questions.

Q    On Darfur, sir, the Deputy Secretary of State told the House Foreign Relations Committee this week or last that the United States and Europe shouldn't send troops to Darfur because they would come up against blood-thirsty, cold-blooded killers.  Does this mean that the blood-thirsty, cold-blooded killers can set the agenda in Darfur?  And what do you say to some critics who say that your administration is easing off Sudan because of good counterterrorism intelligence cooperation?

THE PRESIDENT:  That's a preposterous claim.  It's not even close to the truth.  First, my administration, with Jack Danforth and Colin Powell's good work, helped solve the north-south civil war.  And now we're working close -- working with parties to get that peace agreement implemented.

Secondly, the strategy, an effective strategy, is to work with the AU -- African Union -- and use AU forces to help keep the warring parties apart, while we continue to press the Sudanese government, as well as rebel groups, for a comprehensive settlement.  And the United States has helped -- worked with NATO and the EU to provide logistical support for the movement of 7,700 troops into Darfur.

Today, I announced it will help build 16 additional base camps, it will provide maintenance services, as well as C-130 to help remove Rwandan troops.  We spend a lot of time on this important issue.  Ours is a nation that called this a genocide.  And we take this situation in Darfur very seriously -- and, by the way, lead in terms of aid and working with other nations.  Canada, by the way, has come up with a big tranche of aid the other day for which we're grateful.

Charlie.

Q    What are you -- what are you telling or asking Thabo Mbeki now, as Robert Mugabe intensifies his crackdown against his opposition in Zimbabwe?

THE PRESIDENT:  As you know, Thabo Mbeki was here.  You might remember, I did go to South Africa, as well.  And my message has been very consistent:  you're a great democracy, you're showing the world what is possible after the terrible period of apartheid.  In other words, you showed how to reconcile differences.  And you're a very strong nation on the continent of Africa.  And next door to you is a person that is destroying a country because of bad policy.  And it's not right.  And the nations in the neighborhood must be strong.

I was asked yesterday, are we willing to tie some of our aid to the position that nations take on Zimbabwe?  I said, no, because I don't want people to suffer as a result of -- more people to suffer as a result of Zimbabwe.  In other words, our aid is focused at people.

And, on the other hand, working with nations and providing help and aid and trade, and, you know, partnering does give us a chance to lend our voice to others who are saying, this has got to change in Zimbabwe.  He is a terrible example.

Q    Are you disappointed in Mbeki?

THE PRESIDENT:  I'm disappointed in Mugabe.  He is -- Zimbabwe was a bread basket, provided a lot of food on a continent that often needs food.  And it's a country being wrecked.  And I am --the world needs to speak very clearly about the decisions he has made and the consequence of the decisions he has made.

Q    Mr. President, David Dodge, the Governor of Canada's Central Bank, questions the whole G8 process, saying it really shouldn't be focusing on Africa and climate change, but rather global prosperity and economic imbalances.  And he says that a new mechanism, a new institution is needed that includes China, India and South Africa.  What do you think about that?

THE PRESIDENT:  You know, the G8 conferences used to be focused strictly on global -- you know, economic -- our respective economies, and it's an economic discussion.  And it's an interesting growth out of just talking about economics to just understanding that together we can make a difference by helping developing nations grow their economies, as well.  It's really what you're talking about.

The ultimate success on the continent of Africa is going to be whether or not strong economies develop, being able to give people a chance to succeed.  And many of the initiatives we're focused on will lay the conditions for economic growth.  And you can't grow if you're at war.  That's why I talked about the peacekeeping initiatives.  You can't grow if you've got a huge part of the future of your nation being wiped out because of HIV/AIDS.  It's very difficult to grow if you don't educate your women, and that's why I announced a very strong initiative for the education of girls on the continent of Africa.

These are projects -- it's hard to grow when you've got a million people dying of malaria because of the inability to treat a mosquito bite.  I mean, there's something very practical about dealing with -- dealing with, on the continent of Africa, the nations, helping nations, partnering nations.  And I think it speaks to the admonition that "To whom much is given, much is required."  And so I find this an important part of an agenda.

It shouldn't be the only agenda.  We're definitely talking about the environment, definitely talking about Africa.  But we'll also be talking about the Palestinian conflict.  There's a chance for G8 nations, developed nations to help the Palestinians.  We'll be talking about our economies.  There's always a nice discussion about currency, for example -- an interesting part of the dialogue.  And I find it interesting to talk with other nations about what they are doing to stimulate their economies.

I suspect this G8 -- in other words, there will be very -- current events will be discussed one way or the other.  Iraq, of course, will be discussed.  But, obviously, one of the interesting parts of this G8 that folks will be looking at will be the recent issues within the EU.  And my message there will be the same as it was here when José Barroso and others came, Juncker came, and I said, look, we want Europe to succeed.  We want there to be a Europe that is whole, free and at peace.  And we want Europe to be successful in its enterprise, and we want it to be growing.  I mean, after all, we've got enormous trade with Europe, and trade is an important part of raising standards of living.  If that's the case, you want your trading partner to be healthy.  And so we'll be discussing -- I'm confident there will be some discussions about what has taken place.

I'm looking forward to it.  In other words, a broad agenda makes sense to me.

Q    But just a quick follow-up --

THE PRESIDENT:  Yes.

Q    What about including India and China and South Africa?

THE PRESIDENT:  Well, no, India and China and South Africa will be there.  Absolutely.  There will be some African nations there; there will be India, China, Brazil and Mexico -- I can't remember all the nations -- but, yes, there will be a forum or a discussion including those countries.

I'm particularly interested in discussing energy with China. One of the -- we had a problem with Kyoto because Kyoto would have -- we didn't think the way forward to really achieve an objective we wanted because, first of all, Kyoto would really have hurt our economy a lot.  Kyoto didn't include countries like India and China.  And now is the chance to work with developed nations and developing nations to develop a way to share technologies, for example, that will enable us to achieve the objective we want.

And the United States recognizes there's warming, and that some of that is caused by manmade emissions.  But we also recognize that we're dependent upon foreign sources of oil; we want to diversify away from fossil fuels, and we want to help developing nations do the same.  And so we have a great opportunity, because of the presence of these nations, at this moment to discuss how to go forward.  And so, he's right, they should be included, and they are.

Final question, Olivier.

Q    Thank you, sir.  Sir, you're coming back stag from Europe --

THE PRESIDENT:  Coming back?

Q    Stag.  Your wife is going on to Africa.

THE PRESIDENT:  That's an accurate statement.

Q    We understand from African sources that she's going to South Africa, Tanzania and -- ...   

Q    You're flying alone, saus First Lady.  She's going to South Africa, Tanzania, Rwanda.  My question to you is, what message is she bringing from the United States, and what can she get across that a diplomat or a rock star could not?

THE PRESIDENT:  Her message is, one, the United States is committed to Africa and we've got a good record; secondly, that our commitment to Africa is aimed at helping people.  She'll be talking about educating young girls, and she'll be talking about our HIV/AIDS initiative.  Her presence shows commitment.  This is the second time she's been to Africa since I've been sworn in as President.  Plus, she's a darn good diplomat.  She speaks clearly and she is a -- she's a compassionate soul when she speaks, which is -- she's a genuinely compassionate person.  And people will see her compassion.  And there will be no problem with her getting any news coverage -- so, in other words, she'll be seen, which makes her an effective representative.

And part of people knowing that the United States cares is for the messenger to have a platform.  And so she'll have a -- she'll have the ability to talk from her heart about the specific initiatives that we're very much involved in.

...  

END
11:22 A.M. EDT