Home > 2001 Presidential Documents > pd09ap01 Statement on Senate Action on Federal Budget Legislation...pd09ap01 Statement on Senate Action on Federal Budget Legislation...
Remarks on the United States Navy Aircraft Incident in the South China
Sea
April 2, 2001
Late Saturday night in Washington, Sunday morning in China, a United
States naval maritime patrol aircraft on a routine surveillance mission
in international airspace over the South China Sea collided with one of
two Chinese fighters that were shadowing our plane. Both our aircraft
and a Chinese aircraft were damaged in the collision. Our aircraft made
an emergency landing at an airfield on China's Hainan Island.
We have been in contact with the Chinese Government about this
incident since Saturday night. From our own information, we know that
the United States naval plane landed safely. Our Embassy in Beijing has
been told by the Chinese Government that all 24 crewmembers are safe.
Our priorities are the prompt and safe return of the crew and the
return of the aircraft without further damaging or tampering. The first
step should be immediate access by our Embassy personnel to our
crewmembers. I am troubled by the lack of a timely Chinese response to
our request for this access. Our Embassy officials are on the ground and
prepared to visit the crew and aircraft as soon as the Chinese
Government allows them to do so, and I call on the Chinese Government to
grant this access promptly.
Failure of the Chinese Government to react promptly to our request
is inconsistent with standard diplomatic practice and with the expressed
desire of both our countries for better relations.
Finally, we have offered to provide search and rescue assistance to
help the Chinese Government locate its missing aircraft and pilot. Our
military stands ready to help.
Thank you very much.
Note: The President spoke at 11:38 a.m. on the South Grounds at the
White House.
[[Page 561]]
<DOC>
[Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents]
[frwais.access.gpo.gov]
[Page 561-562]
Monday, April 9, 2001
Volume 37--Number 14
Pages 559-588
Week Ending Friday, April 6, 2001
Remarks Following Discussions With President Hosni Mubarak of Egypt and
an Exchange With Reporters
April 2, 2001
President Bush. I'm going to start off with a statement; the
President will make a statement. We'll have two questions from the
American press, two questions from the Egyptian press, and then you'll
be asked to leave in a prompt fashion. [Laughter]
Of course, it is my honor to welcome the President of Egypt here to
the Oval Office. I had the honor of meeting the President a couple of
years ago. I found him to be an engaging, charming, strong leader then;
my opinion hasn't changed after our good, frank discussion today.
We're friends. We will remain friends. And we will work together to
bring peace to the Middle East, and we'll work together to try to
convince all parties involved to lay down their arms, so there would be
less violence. I'm also committed to working with the President on
relations--economic relations that will be to the advantage of both our
countries.
And so it is my high honor to welcome President Mubarak here to the
Oval Office and to the United States.
Mr. President.
President Mubarak. Thank you. I'm so pleased to come here for the
first time to meet with my friend President Bush in the Oval Office.
He's a friend. I know him some time ago. And I'm very keen to work with
him on all issues concerning the Middle East, especially the Middle East
problem.
We are working very hard, and we are going to cooperate very hard in
the direction of peace because our main concern is peace and stability
in the area of the Middle East, which is in the interest of the United
States, of Egypt, Jordan, and all countries in the area. We are going to
do our best; we are going to cooperate with the main players, with the
United States. And I have great hopes that President Bush will do the
maximum effort of that so as to reach--lessening the tension and resume
negotiations, which is vitally important.
U.S. Navy Aircraft Incident
Q. Mr. President, on China, do you consider the American service
personnel hostages? And secondly, is it true that the Chinese have
already boarded our Navy spy plane, and how do you react to that?
President Bush. My reaction is, is that the Chinese must promptly
allow us to have contact with the 24 air men and women that are there
and return our plane to us without any further tampering. I sent a very
clear message, and I expect them to heed the message.
Q. Have they boarded the plane, sir?
President Bush. My message stands for itself.
Q. Will you be more involved, sir----
Q. The Middle East situation is deteriorating----
President Bush. Yes, ma'am.
Q. Actually, sir, I had another question, altogether, but the point
is----
President Bush. Did Gregory [David Gregory, NBC News] steal your
question? That's very inhospitable of you. [Laughter]
Middle East Peace Process
Q. The Middle East situation, sir, is deteriorating day by day. The
press is speculating the American administration is disengaging itself
from the area. Can the Middle East afford this vacuum by the absence of
an active American role? And have you formulated a new approach, if any?
And President Mubarak, please comment afterwards.
President Bush. Well, we're very engaged in the Middle East and will
remain so. As a matter of fact, the Secretary of State has been involved
on the telephone this morning with Prime Minister Sharon. I have had
numerous telephone conversations with leaders in the Middle East. I'll
continue to be actively engaged at promoting a peaceful resolution of
the issue. After all, most of our conversation today was talking about
how to bring peace in the Middle East.
I understand that we can facilitate peace. We can't force a peace.
And we will use our prestige and influence as best we can to facilitate
a peace. Part of it is to build a strong foundation for peace in the
Middle East. It's important for us to build strong relationships
[[Page 562]]
with countries such as Egypt and Jordan and other countries in the
Middle East who have got a stake in peace. But we will remain very
actively engaged, and hopefully, there will be positive results.
It is very important for people to realize that the United States
will not set a timetable that meets our specific needs. The only lasting
peace is one in which the parties involved come to the table. And the
role for strong countries like ourselves and Egypt is to encourage,
first, the violence to end and, secondly, for discussions to begin
again. And I'm very optimistic and hopeful that we'll be able to achieve
that.
Q. Mr. President----
Q. Mr. President, your comments----
Q. A comment from President Mubarak----
President Bush. Hold on. AP man. AP man. Excuse me. Oh, sorry.
President Mubarak. I think the President told you everything about
that. He is committed to work for peace. We are not going to impose any
solution on the parties. We are going to facilitate the situation so
that they can sit together, negotiate, and we will help them to reach a
final conclusion for peace, because all of us need stability in the
area.
Q. The U.S.-Egypt relation is bigger than just the peace----
President Bush. Of course.
Q. Is that true?
President Bush. Oh, absolutely. The U.S.-Egyptian relation is about
economic commerce; it's about cultural exchanges. Absolutely. But one of
the key things is that we can use our historic relationship to work
together to bring peace in the Middle East. It's an important part of
our relationship, but not the only important part.
U.S. Navy Aircraft Incident
Q. Mr. President, do you see this accident as a provocation on the
part of China or a true accident? And what will it do to U.S.-Chinese
relationships, especially your decision on selling arms to Taiwan?
President Bush. Well, I made a very clear statement about how I
viewed the incident. It is clear that we had a plane flying in
international--over international waters that was damaged. It landed,
and we expect there to be contact, as soon as possible, with our
crewmembers. And we expect that plane to be returned to us.
Note: The President spoke at 12:14 p.m. in the Oval Office at the White
House. In his remarks, he referred to Prime Minister Ariel Sharon of
Israel. A tape was not available for verification of the content of
these remarks.
<DOC>
[Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents]
[frwais.access.gpo.gov]
[Page 562-565]
Monday, April 9, 2001
Volume 37--Number 14
Pages 559-588
Week Ending Friday, April 6, 2001
Remarks to the National Restaurant Association
April 2, 2001
Well, Denise, thank you very much for your kind introduction and
your leadership. I'm honored to be here, and I'm glad you all are here,
as well. I'm so pleased with the strong support that my budget and tax
relief plan has received from the restaurant folks all across America.
It means a lot. A lot of Members of Congress and Members of the United
States Senate eat in your establishments, so it's a pretty good place to
start the lobbying process. [Laughter]
First, I want to describe a little bit about the budget I submitted.
It's created some heartburn in Washington because the increase in
discretionary spending wasn't as large as some would like to see it.
In the past, during the last fiscal year, the last year that
affected this fiscal year, the discretionary spending in our budget went
up by 8 percent. Now, that's a lot. It's a lot when you're talking in
terms of billions of dollars. It's a lot when you're trying to preserve
money for Social Security. It's a lot when you're worried about the
state of our economy. It's too much--the increase was way too much. It's
almost as if there was a bidding contest to determine who got out of
town first.
And so, we came to town with a new attitude that said, we can meet
priorities if we control discretionary spending. We can meet priorities;
we can pay down debt if we control discretionary spending. We can meet
priorities, pay down debt, set aside money for contingency, and send
back money to the people who pay the bills if we control discretionary
spending.
[[Page 563]]
And so, I submitted a budget to the United States Congress, which
passed the House--it's going to be voted on in the Senate--that limits
discretionary spending to 4 percent. Now, for some who don't pay
attention to all this process, 4 percent sounds like a little bit. But
it is--and it is, compared to what happened during the last budget
negotiations. But I want to remind you, it's greater than the rate of
inflation. It's greater than maybe some of the pay raises that you're
giving the folks that work for you. It's a pretty healthy chunk of
money. It's a big increase.
Yet, for some, it's not enough in Washington. And what we're trying
to do is fashion the debate to say that 4 percent is plenty,
particularly since we strongly believe, and I strongly believe, that we
need real tax relief. We not only need to have tax relief that gets
money into people's pockets quickly; we need long-term tax relief that
will send a signal to the entrepreneurial class of America that tax
relief is real, it's permanent, you can make your plans based upon a new
tax system.
There are some in Washington who would like to see the issue go away
by saying, ``Here's some immediate money for everybody, and let's hope
they forget about long-term relief.'' My position is clear: For those
who want to accelerate tax relief, we're joining right with you. We
think it's important to have quick injection of cash into our economy.
But in order to make sure the environment for entrepreneurial growth is
consistent and strong, we have an opportunity to have long-term tax
relief.
And that's what I'd like for you to help me convince Members of
Congress to listen to. Because you see, the great American experience is
to own your own business, is to own your own home, is to own something.
It's that no matter where you're from or who you are or what you're--how
you're raised, if you have an idea, you can go out and start a
restaurant. And it's your own.
And the role of Government has got to try to create an environment
so that people can--that people feel comfortable about investing. There
needs to be certainty when it comes to investment. There also needs to
be recognition of the role small businesses play in our society. The tax
relief plan I submitted cuts taxes on everybody who pays taxes. It
affects those at the bottom end of the economic ladder by dropping the
bottom rate from 15 percent to 10 percent, increasing the child credit
from $500 to $1,000 per child. But it also drops the top rate from 39.6
to 33 percent.
See, I recognize that most small businesses--and there are many
small mom-and-pop restaurant owners all across America who are not
incorporated. They're sole proprietorships. They have Subchapter S
corporations, where they pay--where the tax rate they pay is not the
corporate tax rate, not the C-rate, but the high individual rates. And
so by dropping the top rate from 39.6 to 33 percent, we're saying to
people who started their own business, ``Well, the environment is going
to be better. You'll have more cash flow so you can reinvest in your
company. You'll have more cash flow, so you can employ more people.''
This Congress must hear, loud and clear, the role of small
businesses in our society when it comes to new job creation; 75 percent
of the new jobs created in America are created by small-business people.
And so tax relief is aimed not only at helping people at the bottom end
of the economic ladder, but the tax relief package also is aimed at
encouraging and stimulating entrepreneurial growth in America. And
that's what Congress must hear.
Now, they'll try to debate the issue all kinds of ways and throw all
kinds of smokescreens up. But reality is that a real, meaningful tax
relief plan is good for investment in the private sector and job
creation.
One of the most interesting moments of the budget debate came when I
was in Council Bluffs, Iowa, and a lady stood up and said, now she was a
proud mom and proud grandmother, and that she had baked cookies for a
long time in her family. And every time she left a plate of cookies on
the table, her children, her grandchildren ate them. She's really
talking about the budget when she talked about that story. [Laughter]
And so the fundamental question is not only how do we stimulate economic
growth but what happens to the cash flow if it's not returned back to
the people or not taken in the first place--let's put it that way.
[[Page 564]]
And I can tell you what's going to happen to it. It's going to be
used to increase the size of the Federal Government; that's what's going
to happen. And so this is not only a debate about how to stimulate
economic growth; it's a debate about who do you trust with the people's
money. And it's a fundamental debate, and it's a good debate, and I'm
glad it's taking place here in Washington.
See, I would rather trust you with your own money to make the proper
investment. Once we meet priorities--and, remember, we pay down $2
trillion of debt in the budget I've submitted; we increase discretionary
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