For Immediate Release
Office of the Press Secretary
February 23, 2005
President Bush Speaks with Young Professionals in Germany
Electoral Palace
Mainz, Germany
2:40 P.M. (Local)
PRESIDENT BUSH: Gerhard, thank you very much for your
hospitality. I want to thank you all for coming. This is a good
opportunity for me to really listen to what you have to ask and tell me
about a lot of things. I'm interested in economy, the entrepreneurial
spirit. I'm interested in attitudes about freedom and peace. I'm
interested to know, obviously, what you think about or answer questions
about policies that I've decided. I, obviously, know there's a lot of
disagreement about some of the decisions I've made, and I'm interested
in sharing with you why I made the decisions I have made.
I really want to thank you for your time, and I appreciate your
willingness to come and speak to two old guys like me and Gerhard.
Isn't that right, Gerhard?
CHANCELLOR SCHRÖDER: I'm the older man.
PRESIDENT BUSH: Older man. (Laughter.) But this is a fantastic
moment. This is going to be one of the highlights of my trip to
Europe, and I can't thank you enough for being here.
Gerhard, do you want to say a few things?
CHANCELLOR SCHRÖDER: No, you can --
PRESIDENT BUSH: Okay, we'll start with the questions.
Q Okay, once again, welcome. Mr. President, you said in a
recent interview with The Washington Times that if people want to get a
glimpse of how you think about foreign policy, they should read The
Case for Democracy, by Netan Sharansky. In this book, as you know,
Sharansky suggests the so-called town square test.
PRESIDENT BUSH: Yes.
Q Can a person walk into the middle of the town square and
express his or her views without fearing arrest or physical harm. My
question for you: Did Sharansky's book have influence on your approach
toward Russia?
THE PRESIDENT: First of all, Sharansky's book confirmed how I was
raised and what I believe, and it's essentially this: that deep in
everybody's soul -- everybody's soul, is this deep desire to be free.
That's what I believe. No matter where you're raised, no matter your
religion, people want to be free; and that a foreign policy,
particularly from a nation that is free, ought to be based upon that
thought. You know, you can't discriminate. Freedom is not a
discriminatory thought, at least in the White House -- in other words,
if you say, certain people should be free, but others shouldn't free.
It's a universal thought, as far as I'm concerned.
And therefore, our foreign policy is based upon this notion that
the world is a better place when people are able to realize that which
is embedded in their soul, because in that book, also, he talks about
the idea that free societies are peaceful societies -- democratic
societies don't attack each other. And Europe is a classic example of
countries which have embraced values based upon democracy, and is
peaceful.
And, yes, this same principle applies to not only Iraq, or Iran, or
America, or Germany, but also Russia. And as you know, there's a lot
of focus on my meeting with Vladimir Putin tomorrow. As a matter of
fact, Gerhard and I spent a lot of time talking about Russia today.
He's got a close relationship with Vladimir, on a personal basis. I've
got a close relationship with Vladimir, on a personal basis. I
expressed some concerns at the European Union yesterday about some of
the decisions, such as freedom of the press, that our mutual friend has
made. And I look forward to talking to him about his decision-making
process.
One of the interesting things about being with a Chancellor, or in
Putin's case, a President, is that we share something: We make
decisions. And I like to learn from people how they make decisions.
They say to me, what's the President like, give me a job description.
The job description is, decision-maker. And maybe we can talk a little
bit about that later on. But, yes, it applies to Russia, as well.
Yes.
Q My name is Loretta Wurtenberger, from Blue Corporate Finance.
Concerning Russia, the Iraq crisis has made quite clear to all of us
how dependent we are on the oil resources from that region. And for
the future, it is certainly necessary for us all to kind of look for
strategies to become more independent of these resources.
PRESIDENT BUSH: Yes.
Q Does this aspect, for you, have influence on your relationship
to Russia?
PRESIDENT BUSH: That's an interesting question. The foreign
policy of our country for years -- I'm stepping back, I'm kind of going
to branch out from Russia, and I'll get back to Russia. For years,
there was this sense that we could tolerate tyranny for the sake of
energy. And yet, beneath the surface of that policy lurked this hatred
and feeling of oppression and frustration and hopelessness, which lent
itself to an ideology of hatred that ended up manifesting their hatred
on America.
And let me say something about September the 11th. I think this
will help frame the conversation as we go forward. For some, September
the 11th was a passing moment in history. In other words, it was a
terrible moment, but it passes. For me, and my government, and many in
the United States, it permanently changed our outlook on the world.
Those two attitudes caused us, sometimes, to talk past each other, and
I plead guilty at times. But as this conversation goes on, I want you
to remember that point of view.
As a result of feeling like -- that my main obligation is now to
protect the American people, and to confront an ideology of hate. We
are no longer -- our primary objective is the spread of freedom. The
best way to diversify, at least for my country -- and I don't want to
raise a sore subject here -- but diversify away from dependence on
foreign sources of energy, is for us to take advantage of new
technologies and expand safe nuclear power in the United States of
America.
To me, that would achieve several objectives. One, it's a
renewable source of energy; two, it's a domestic source of energy; and
three, it would help us meet our obligations to clean air
requirements. Unfortunately, it's an issue that's hard to get through
our Congress. I mean, there's a lot of people still fearful of nuclear
power, and it's a debate I've engaged in. It's a subject I brought up
in my State of the Union address, and it's a subject I'll continue to
talk about, because I think it is a way for the United States to be
less dependent on foreign sources of energy, which is good for our
economy, and, frankly, helps us with foreign policy.
(This ends the open part of the roundtable.)
END 2:48 P.M. (Local)
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