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is that no one has asked them to do so. I'm asking. Another reason is
that they don't know where to start. This public service advertising
campaign will ask Americans to serve, and through the USA Freedom Corps
Web site, they have a place to start.
These ads are important to America. And I urge television networks
and major affiliates and radio stations and newspapers to run them. By
broadcasting these PSAs, they promote the common good for our Nation. By
broadcasting these PSAs, they will help show the world and our fellow
Americans that out of the evil done to our country can come some
incredible good.
It's now my pleasure to play four new public service announcements
featuring some fine Americans. I'm not sure Mariano Rivera is an
American citizen, but he's a fine New York Yankee--[laughter]--Angie
Harmon, John Glenn, and Bob Dole. So now we'll watch the PSAs.
[At this point, the public service announcements were shown.]
The President. I want to thank you all for coming. I hope you enjoy
a little reception we're throwing for you at the State Dining Room. But
in the meantime, thank you for your love for the country. Thank you for
helping people in need. May God bless your work, and may God continue to
bless America.
Thank you very much.
Note: The President spoke at 2:08 p.m. in the East Room at the White
House. In his remarks, he referred to actress Angie Harmon; and former
Senators John Glenn and Bob Dole. He also referred to H.R. 4854, the
proposed ``Citizen Service Act of 2002.''
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Week Ending Friday, August 2, 2002
Remarks Following a Cabinet Meeting and an Exchange With Reporters
July 31, 2002
The President. Thank you all for coming. First, I want to condemn in
the strongest possible terms the attack that took place in Israel. There
are clearly killers who hate the thought of peace and, therefore, are
willing to take their hatred to all kinds of places, including a
university. And this country condemns that kind of killing, and we send
our
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deepest sympathy to the students and their families.
I also want to make it clear to the killers, they won't stop us from
rallying the world to fight their kind of terror, nor will they stop us
from having a vision of peace.
I look forward to continuing to work with all responsibility parties
in the region, starting to insist that they work with us to stop this
terror--use all their power to stop organizations such as Hamas from
taking innocent life. And at the same time that we do so, we must
continue to work to put the institutions in place necessary for the
evolution of a state which can live at peace with Israel.
Secondly, we met today and talked about our economy. There is some
statistics out today that showed our economy continues to grow. Second
quarter growth was 1.1 percent. When you combine that with the first
quarter growth, it's a 3-percent growth. This is a positive trend. We're
heading in the right direction. But the growth isn't strong enough, as
far as I'm concerned.
And so I look forward to working with Congress to pass a trade bill,
a bill which will be good for American workers, American farmers,
American ranchers. I look forward to working with Congress to pass a
terrorism insurance bill, a bill which will help stimulate construction
work, which will help our workers--those who build buildings, and
construction people who work on projects. I look forward to working with
Congress to show fiscal restraint when it comes to budgeting and
spending the taxpayers' money. I believe Congress ought to make the tax
cuts permanent, so our small businesses and taxpayers can plan with
certainty.
As well, we discussed this Corporate Fraud Task Force with the
Attorney General, and he and I share the same strong commitment to
ferret out those who have cheated employees and workers and bring them
to justice, which we will continue to do.
So I appreciate my Cabinet coming and sharing ideas about how we can
continue the positive trends, so that the people who want to find a job
can find one here in America.
I'll answer some questions. Lindlaw [Scott Lindlaw, Associated
Press].
Foreign Tax Havens
Q. Mr. President, what's your position on American companies moving
their headquarters to foreign tax havens? Should it be outlawed? Did
Harken do this while you were a director?
The President. Moving their headquarters?
Q. Yes, to foreign tax----
The President. I don't recall Harken moving their headquarters. I
think there was an issue over a arrangement with Bahrain, a drilling
venture there, which I opposed, as you may recall, when I was a director
of the company.
Q. Should the practice be outlawed now?
The President. I think we ought to look at people who are trying to
avoid U.S. taxes as a problem. I think American companies ought to pay
taxes here, and be a part--good citizens. But as far as the Harken
issue, we'll try to answer all your questions on that.
Q. Mr. President----
The President. Excuse me for a second.
Q. I'm sorry, sir.
The President. Yes.
Reform of the Palestinian Authority
Q. The Jordanian Foreign Minister is pressing for a detailed work
plan for a Middle East peace accord. Is this something that's worth
pursuing?
The President. Well, I think it's interesting. What's worth pursuing
is a detailed plan toward achieving these objectives: a security force
that exists to fight terror, not keep certain officials who haven't been
able to deliver on the war against terror in office, a security force
that will cooperate with people who care about achieving peace and will
provide security, not only for the Palestinians but for the
neighborhood; secondly, progress toward the writing of a constitution,
which will enable a state to evolve that is--that will be at peace with
its neighbor. These institutions, by the way, are incredibly important
to--because it's--peace is bigger than an individual. There needs to be
institutions in place that last longer than a particular individual.
And the Palestinians--the voice of the Palestinians, those who
desire peace, needs to be heard. And so reform of these institutions
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are an incredible part of achieving what I believe His Majesty wants,
which is two states living side by side in peace. Eventually there will
be a peace conference, but there needs to be steps leading up to the
peace conference, where all of us do our jobs about putting those
institutions in place that will lead to peace, so that we all have
confidence.
Listen, one of the things that we care deeply about is the plight of
the Palestinian family and Palestinian people. These people live in
squalor, and they're poor, and they're downtrodden. And there's nothing
more that we'd like to do is to work with our friends to provide
humanitarian assistance, a strong package of aid to help these poor
people that have, frankly, been used as pawns in the peace process over
the decades.
However, it's so important before we spend money that we're
confident the money is not going to be stolen, that it be--that the
anti-corruption reforms be in place. So these are all steps necessary,
Steve [Steve Holland, Reuters], to get to where we want to get.
Yes, Dick [Richard Keil, Bloomberg News].
Consumer Confidence/National Economy
Q. Mr. President, are you concerned at all that consumer confidence,
which came in at kind of a low number yesterday, is a harbinger of
things to come, particularly as people watch their stock portfolios
erode and vanish? Will this make them less likely to spend and put more
pressure on the recovery?
The President. I think--look, let me just give you my own consumer
confidence index. I am positive about the--our economy. I feel very
optimistic about it, because I look at the facts. And the facts are that
inflation is low; interest rates low; productivity is high. We're going
to get a trade bill which will help, presuming the Senate acts this
week. I feel strongly that they're--that having--now it turns out,
having been through three quarters of negative growth, when I first came
into office, we've had three quarters of positive growth. I think that's
the right trend, Dick.
So I'm optimistic about this, and I think when the American people
take a look at the facts and are confident about those facts, like I am,
they will--they're going to realize we've got a bright future ahead of
us. And I am upbeat. And I think most of the people around this table
are upbeat about the prospects for people being able to find work.
Thank you all.
Note: The President spoke at 11:34 a.m. in the Cabinet Room at the White
House. During the exchange, a reporter referred to Minister of Foreign
Affairs Marwan Muasher of Jordan.
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Week Ending Friday, August 2, 2002
Message to the Senate Transmitting the Protocol To Amend the
International Air Carriage Rules Convention
July 31, 2002
To the Senate of the United States:
I transmit herewith, for Senate advice and consent to ratification,
the Protocol to Amend the Convention for the Unification of Certain
Rules Relating to International Carriage by Air Signed at Warsaw on
October 12, 1929, done at The Hague September 28, 1955 (The Hague
Protocol). The report of the Department of State, including an article-
by-article analysis, is enclosed for the information of the Senate in
connection with its consideration of The Hague Protocol.
The Warsaw Convention is the first in a series of treaties relating
to international carriage by air. The Hague Protocol amended certain of
the Warsaw Convention articles, including several affecting the rights
of carriers of international air cargo. A recent court decision held
that since the United States had ratified the Warsaw Convention but had
not ratified The Hague Protocol, and the Republic of Korea had ratified
The Hague Protocol but had not ratified the Warsaw Convention, there
were no relevant treaty relations between the United States and Korea.
This decision has created uncertainty within the air transportation
industry regarding the scope of treaty relations between the United
States and the 78 countries that are parties only to the Warsaw
Convention and The Hague Protocol. Thus, U.S. carriers may not be able
to rely on the provisions in the Protocol with respect to claims arising
from the transportation of air cargo between the
[[Page 1291]]
United States and those 78 countries. In addition to quickly affording
U.S. carriers the protections of those provisions, ratification of the
Protocol would establish relations with Korea and the five additional
countries (El Salvador, Grenada, Lithuania, Monaco, and Swaziland) that
are parties only to The Hague Protocol and to no other treaty on the
subject.
A new Convention for the Unification of Certain Rules for
International Carriage by Air, done at Montreal May 28, 1999 (the
``Montreal Convention'') is pending on the Senate's Executive calendar
(Treaty Doc. 106-45). I urge the Senate to give its advice and consent
to that Convention, which will ultimately establish modern, uniform
liability rules applicable to international air transport of passengers,
cargo, and mail among its parties. But the incremental pace of achieving
widespread adoption of the Montreal Convention should not be allowed to
delay the benefits that ratification of The Hague Protocol would afford
U.S. carriers of cargo to and from the 84 countries with which it would
promptly enter into force.
I recommend that the Senate give early and favorable consideration
to The Hague Protocol and that the Senate give its advice and consent to
ratification.
George W. Bush
The White House,
July 31, 2002.
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Week Ending Friday, August 2, 2002
Notice--Continuation of the National Emergency With Respect to Iraq
July 30, 2002
On August 2, 1990, by Executive Order 12722, President Bush declared
a national emergency with respect to Iraq pursuant to the International
Emergency Economic Powers Act (50 U.S.C. 1701-1706) to deal with the
unusual and extraordinary threat to the national security and foreign
policy of the United States constituted by the actions and polices of
the Government of Iraq. By Executive Orders 12722 of August 2, 1990, and
12724 of August 9, 1990, the President imposed trade sanctions on Iraq
and blocked Iraqi government assets. Because the Government of Iraq has
continued to engage in activities hostile to U.S. interests, the
national emergency declared on August 2, 1990, and the measures adopted
on August 2 and August 9, 1990, to deal with that emergency must
continue in effect beyond August 2, 2002. Therefore, in accordance with
section 202(d) of the National Emergencies Act (50 U.S.C. 1622(d)), I am
continuing for 1 year the national emergency with respect to Iraq.
This notice shall be published in the Federal Register and
transmitted to the Congress.
George W. Bush
The White House,
July 30, 2002.
[Filed with the Office of the Federal Register, 10:51 a.m., July 31,
2002]
Note: This notice was released by the Office of the Press Secretary on
August 1, and it was published in the Federal Register on August 1.
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Week Ending Friday, August 2, 2002
Letter to Congressional Leaders on the Continuation of the National
Other Popular 2002 Presidential Documents Documents:
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