pd03mr03 Message to the Congress on Continuation of the National Emergency With...

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[Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents]
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[Page i]
 
Monday, March 3, 2003


[[Page i]]

Weekly Compilation of

Presidential

Documents



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[Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents]
 [frwais.access.gpo.gov]
                         

[Page i-iii]
 
Pages 231-262
 
Contents

[[Page ii]]

  

  
Addresses and Remarks

    See also Meetings With Foreign Leaders
    American Enterprise Institute annual dinner--247
    Department of Homeland Security employees--255
    Latino Coalition--242
    National Economic Council, meeting--240
    National Governors Association
        Conference--235
        Dinner--235
    NCAA fall championship teams--239
    Radio address--231

Communications to Congress

    Cuba, message on continuation of national emergency--255
    Mexico-U.S. taxation convention, message transmitting second 
        additional protocol--242
    Weapons of mass destruction, message transmitting report on national 
        emergency--242

Interviews With the News Media

    Exchanges with reporters
        Cabinet Room--240
        Oval Office--250
    News conference with President Aznar of Spain in Crawford, TX, 
        February 22--232

Joint Statements

    United States of America and Afghanistan--252

Meetings With Foreign Leaders

    Afghanistan, President Karzai--250, 252
    Spain, President Aznar--232

Notices

    Continuation of the National Emergency Relating to Cuba and of the 
        Emergency Authority Relating to the Regulation of the Anchorage 
        and Movement of Vessels--254
  
  
(Continued on the inside of the back cover.)

Editor's Note: The President was at Camp David, MD, on February 28, 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
          ------------------------------
              PRESIDENTIAL DOCUMENTS

Published every Monday by the Office of the Federal Register, National 
Archives and Records Administration, Washington, DC 20408, the Weekly 
Compilation of Presidential Documents contains statements, messages, and
other Presidential materials released by the White House during the 
preceding week.

The Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents is published pursuant to
the authority contained in the Federal Register Act (49 Stat. 500, as 
amended; 44 U.S.C. Ch. 15), under regulations prescribed by the 
Administrative Committee of the Federal Register, approved by the 
President (37 FR 23607; 1 CFR Part 10).

Distribution is made only by the Superintendent of Documents, Government
Printing Office, Washington, DC 20402. The Weekly Compilation of 
Presidential Documents will be furnished by mail to domestic subscribers 
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The Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents is also available on the Internet on the GPO Access service at http://www.gpo.gov/nara/nara003.html.

There are no restrictions on the republication of material appearing in 
the Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents.


[[Page iii]]

Contents--Continued

Statements by the President

    Clear Skies Initiative, proposed legislation to implement--253

    House of Representatives action on human cloning--254

    Hydrogen Powerplant Demonstration Project and the Carbon 
        Sequestration Leadership Forum--253

Statements by the President--Continued

    Jobs and growth package, proposed legislation to implement--254

Supplementary Materials

    Acts approved by the President--262
    Checklist of White House press releases--262
    Digest of other White House announcements--258
    Nominations submitted to the Senate--260

[[Page 231]]




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[Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents]
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[Page 231-232]
 
Pages 231-262
 
Week Ending Friday, February 28, 2003
 
The President's Radio Address


February 22, 2003

    Good morning. This week, Members of the House and Senate will return 
to Washington with a full agenda to address, from strengthening our 
economy, to reforming health care, to protecting national security.
    On the Senate side, there is a crucial item of business that has 
been delayed for too long. We face a vacancy crisis in the Federal 
courts, made worse by Senators who block votes on qualified nominees. 
These delays endanger American justice. Vacant Federal benches lead to 
crowded court dockets, overworked judges, and longer waits for Americans 
who want their cases heard. Regional appeals courts have a 15-percent 
vacancy rate, and filings in those courts reached an alltime high again 
last year.
    Since taking office, I have sent to the Senate 34 qualified 
mainstream nominees for the Federal courts of appeals. To date, only 
half of them have received a vote in the Senate, and 12 of the remaining 
17 nominees have been waiting more than a year for a floor vote.
    It is my responsibility to submit judicial nominations. It is the 
Senate's responsibility to conduct prompt hearings and an up-or-down 
floor vote on all judicial nominees. Yet a handful of Democratic 
Senators, for partisan reasons, are attempting to prevent any vote at 
all on highly qualified nominees.
    One of these nominees is Miguel Estrada, my selection for the DC 
Court of Appeals. I submitted his nomination in May of 2001, and Miguel 
Estrada has been waiting ever since. That's almost 2 years, and that's a 
disgrace.
    Miguel Estrada's credentials are impeccable. He has served in the 
Justice Department under Presidents of both political parties. He's 
argued 15 cases before the U.S. Supreme Court, and he has earned the 
American Bar Association's highest mark, a unanimous rating of ``well-
qualified.''
    Miguel Estrada is an exceptional nominee for the Federal bench. He 
also has a remarkable personal story. He came to America from Honduras 
as a teenager, speaking little English. Within a few years, he had 
graduated with high honors from Columbia College and Harvard Law School. 
Miguel Estrada then served as a law clerk to Supreme Court Justice 
Anthony Kennedy, as a Federal prosecutor in New York, and as assistant 
to the Solicitor General of the United States.
    If confirmed, Miguel Estrada would be the first Hispanic American 
ever to serve on this court, which is often considered the second 
highest in the land. He would break through a barrier that has stood for 
too long. His nomination has strong support from citizens and leaders in 
both parties and endorsements from the Hispanic National Bar 
Association, the League of United Latin American Citizens, and more than 
a dozen other distinguished groups. He's a role model for young people 
all across this Nation, living proof that in America, anything is 
possible.
    I nominated Miguel Estrada for the Court of Appeals because he's a 
man of talent and character who will be an excellent judge. Yet after 21 
months, he still cannot get an up-or-down vote from the Senate. 
Democrats are stalling Miguel Estrada's nomination, while they search in 
vain for a reason to reject him. Some Senators who once insisted that 
every appeals court nominee deserves a vote have abandoned that 
principle for partisan politics. Their tactics are unfair to the good 
man I have nominated and unfaithful to the Senate's own obligations.
    I call on the Senate Democratic leadership to stop playing politics 
and permit a vote on Miguel Estrada's nomination. Let each Senator vote 
as he or she thinks best, but give the man a vote.
    Thank you for listening.

[[Page 232]]

Note: The address was recorded at 10 a.m. on February 21 at the Bush 
Ranch in Crawford, TX, for broadcast at 10:06 a.m. on February 22. The 
transcript was made available by the Office of the Press Secretary on 
February 21 but was embargoed for release until the broadcast. The 
Office of the Press Secretary also released a Spanish language 
transcript of this address.


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[Page 232-235]
 
Pages 231-262
 
Week Ending Friday, February 28, 2003
 
The President's News Conference With President Jose Maria Aznar of Spain 
in Crawford, Texas

February 22, 2003

    President Bush. I welcome my good friend President Jose Maria Aznar 
to Crawford. We're especially pleased that Ana is with him as well. I 
visited his ranch on my first visit to Europe as the President. I'm very 
pleased to return the hospitality.
    Spain is a strong and trusted ally. Our two nations have drawn 
closer than ever before in fighting terrorism across Europe and beyond. 
Spain has apprehended members of Al Qaida and continues to share vital 
information, intelligence information. President Aznar is a strong 
fighter in the war against terror, and I value his advice.
    I respect and appreciate his leadership in the U.N., the EU, and 
NATO, to meet the new threats of this new century. For the Spanish 
people and for their leader, the cause of liberty is more than a phrase; 
it is a fundamental commitment expressed in resolute action.
    President Aznar and I agree that the future of peace depends on the 
disarmament of Iraq. We agree that Saddam Hussein continues to be in 
violation of U.N. Security Council Resolution 1441. We agree that the 
terms of that resolution must be fully respected. By Resolution 1441, 
the Security Council has taken a clear stand, and it now faces a clear 
choice. With all the world watching, the Council will now show whether 
it means what it says.
    Early next week, working with our friends and allies, we will 
introduce an additional Security Council resolution that will set out in 
clear and simple terms that Iraq is not complying with Resolution 1441. 
For the record, this would not be a second resolution on Iraq's weapons 
of mass destruction; it would only be the latest in a long series of 
resolutions going back 12 years.
    We will discuss this resolution with members of the Security 
Council, and we will hear again from Chief Inspector Blix. During these 
final deliberations, there is but one question for the Council to 
address: Is Saddam Hussein complying with Resolution 1441? That 
resolution did not ask for hints of progress or minor concessions. It 
demanded full and immediate disarmament. That and that alone is the 
issue before the Council. We will not allow the Iraqi dictator, with a 
history of aggression and close ties to terrorist groups, to continue to 
possess or produce weapons of mass destruction.
    Our coalition draws its strength from the courage and moral 
clarities of leaders like President Aznar. In times of testing, we 
discover who is willing to stand up for the security of free peoples and 
the rights of mankind. Mr. President, you are clearly a man willing to 
take this stand. I thank you for your leadership. I thank you for your 
friendship.
    President Aznar. Well, good morning, good day to everyone. I would 
firstly like to thank, on behalf of my wife and for myself, I would like 
to thank Laura Bush and George Bush for their invitation to visit the 
ranch. And this is a time to work, to rest, to talk in truly marvelous 
surroundings.
    Spain is an EU member and a nonpermanent member of the U.N. Security 
Council. Spain is very clearly in favor of the strength of the 
transatlantic link. In these three extremely important dimensions, Spain 
is committed with an active role in contributing to an appropriate 
response to the threat that Saddam Hussein's regime entails for 
international peace and security. We've worked very hard and with good 

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