pd14ap03 Message to the Senate Transmitting the North Atlantic Treaty Protocols...

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[Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents]
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[Page i]
 
Monday, April 14, 2003


              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).

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the Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents.


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Weekly Compilation of

Presidential

Documents



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[Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents]
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[Page i-ii]
 
Pages 413	433
 
 Contents

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 Addresses and Remarks

    See also Meetings With Foreign Leaders
    Iraqi people, videotape remarks--424
    Maryland, visit with troops wounded in Operation Iraqi Freedom in 
        Bethesda--427
    Radio address--414

 Communications to Congress

    North Atlantic Treaty, message transmitting Protocols on the 
        accession of Bulgaria, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Romania, 
        Slovakia, and Slovenia--426

Interviews With the News Media

     Exchange with reporters in Bethesda, MD--427
    News conference with Prime Minister Tony Blair of the United Kingdom 
        in Hillsborough, Northern Ireland, April 8--415

Joint Statements

    President George W. Bush and Prime Minister Tony Blair of the United 
        Kingdom on Iraq--420
    President George W. Bush and Prime Minister Tony Blair of the United 
        Kingdom and Prime Minister Bertie Ahern of Ireland on Northern 
        Ireland--421

Letters and Messages

    National Youth Service Day, message to participants--425

Meetings With Foreign Leaders

    Ireland, Prime Minister Ahern--421
    United Kingdom, Prime Minister Blair--415, 420, 421

Proclamations

    Education and Sharing Day, U.S.A.--425
    National Crime Victims' Rights Week--413
    National D.A.R.E. Day--423
    National Former Prisoner of War Recognition Day--421

Statements by the President

    Congress
         Action on the budget resolution--429
         Passage of Amber Alert system legislation--424
         House of Representatives passage of comprehensive energy 
            legislation--429
         Senate passage of legislation on the Faith-Based Initiative--
            422

Supplementary Materials

     Acts approved by the President--433
     Checklist of White House press releases--432
     Digest of other White House announcements--430
     Nominations submitted to the Senate--431
  

  Editor's Note: The President was at Camp David, MD, on April 11, 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.

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[Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents]
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Pages 413	433
 
Week Ending Friday, April 11, 2003
 
Proclamation 7659--National Crime Victims' Rights Week, 2003


 April 4, 2003

 By the President of the United States

 of America

 A Proclamation

    Crime brings trauma, pain, and insecurity into the lives of too many 
Americans each year. As we work to reduce crime and protect the rights 
of the accused, we must take equal care to protect the rights of their 
victims. During National Crime Victims' Rights Week, we remember those 
who have suffered as a result of crime and honor those who have helped 
these victims.
    Americans suffered over 24 million crimes in 2001, 5.7 million of 
which involved violence. While we have improved policies and our justice 
system has treated victims with greater respect in recent years, we must 
continue our work to ensure the full rights of all crime victims and 
better protect our citizens. My Administration believes that victims of 
violent crime have important rights that deserve protection in our 
Constitution, and to guarantee these rights, I strongly support the 
passage of the bipartisan Crime Victims' Rights Amendment. This 
amendment will provide victims of violent crime the right to reasonable 
and timely notice of any public proceedings involving the crime or 
release of the perpetrator, and the right to be heard at public 
proceedings regarding the criminal's sentence or potential release. It 
will also assure that such victims receive timely notice of any escape 
of their attacker. Under this amendment, decision makers will duly 
consider the victim's safety and payment of restitution from the 
offender to the victim. This important amendment will strike the right 
balance in protecting individual rights and ensuring fairness and equity 
in our criminal justice system.
    Across our Nation, victims' rights groups work on behalf of victims 
every day. Through care and compassion, these groups and individuals are 
bringing hope and comfort to their neighbors in need. Domestic violence 
shelters, support groups for families of homicide victims, rape crisis 
centers, and other organizations in our cities and communities offer 
vital assistance to individuals who have been affected by crime. In 
times of such crises, counselors, hotline operators, clergy, doctors, 
nurses, law enforcement, and countless others also help their fellow 
Americans cope with their pain and suffering.
    As a Nation, we must continue to seek justice on behalf of all 
people who have been victimized by crime. The heroes in these efforts 
are the individuals and organizations who work to provide valuable 
support and assistance to those who have suffered from crime. This week 
allows us to recognize these heroes and renew our commitment to 
fulfilling the promise of our Nation of justice for all.
    Now, Therefore, I, George W. Bush, President of the United States of 
America, by virtue of the authority vested in me by the Constitution and 
laws of the United States, do hereby proclaim April 6 through April 12, 
2003, as National Crime Victims' Rights Week. I encourage every 
community to embrace the cause of victims' rights and to advance it in 
all sectors of our society.
    In Witness Whereof, I have hereunto set my hand this fourth day of 
April, in the year of our Lord two thousand three, and of the 
Independence of the United States of America the two hundred and twenty-
seventh.
                                                George W. Bush

[Filed with the Office of the Federal Register, 8:45 a.m., April 8, 
2003]

Note: This proclamation was published in the Federal Register on April 
9. This item was not received in time for publication in the appropriate 
issue.

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Pages 413	433
 
Week Ending Friday, April 11, 2003
 
The President's Radio Address

April 5, 2003

    Good morning. American and coalition forces are steadily advancing 
against the regime of Saddam Hussein. With each new village they 
liberate, our forces are learning more about the atrocities of that 
regime and the deep fear the dictator has instilled in the Iraqi people. 
Yet no crime of this dying regime will divert us from our mission. We 
will not stop until Iraq is free.
    This week, coalition forces have been clearing southern cities and 
towns of Saddam's death squads and enforcers. Our special forces and 
Army paratroopers, working with Kurdish militia, have opened a northern 
front against the enemy. In the town of An Najaf, members of our 101st 
Airborne Division have been welcomed as liberators. At An Nasiriyah, 
marines continue to eliminate the enemy while other Army and Marine 
units have closed in on Baghdad. From the skies above, coalition 
aircraft and cruise missiles are removing hundreds of military targets 
from the map.
    As the vise tightens on the Iraqi regime, some of our enemies have 
chosen to fill their final days with acts of cowardice and murder. In 
combat, Saddam's thugs shield themselves with women and children. They 
have killed Iraqi citizens who welcome coalition troops, and they have 
forced other Iraqis into battle by threatening to torture or kill their 
families. They have executed prisoners of war, waged attacks under the 
white flag of truce, and concealed combat forces in civilian 
neighborhoods, schools, hospitals, and mosques. In this war, the Iraqi 
regime is terrorizing its own citizens, doing everything possible to 
maximize Iraqi civilian casualties and then to exploit the deaths they 
have caused for propaganda. These are war criminals, and they'll be 
treated as war criminals.
    In stark contrast, the citizens of Iraq are coming to know what kind 
of people we have sent to liberate them. American forces and our allies 
are treating innocent civilians with kindness and showing proper respect 
to the soldiers who surrender. The people of the United States are proud 
of the honorable conduct of our military. And I am proud to lead such 
brave and decent Americans.
    In recent days, we have also brought food and water and medicine to 
the Iraqi people. We're delivering emergency rations to the hungry. 
Right now, cargo ships are bound for Iraq, carrying wheat from Oklahoma, 
Kansas, and Texas--enough to feed 4.5 million Iraqis for 1 month. 
Additional food, supplied by the World Food Program, is moving by truck 
convoy across the Turkish border into northern Iraq.
    We are bringing aid to the long-suffering people of Iraq, and we are 
bringing something more. We are bringing hope. One Iraqi, when the 
coalition troops arrived, described the emotions of his village. ``They 
were waiting for you,'' he said, ``and all the people believe that 
America and Britain have come to liberate them, not to conquer.''
    Village by village, city by city, liberation is coming. The people 
of Iraq have my pledge: Our fighting forces will press on until their 
oppressors are gone and their whole country is free.
    By our actions in this war, we serve a great and just cause. Free 
nations will not sit and wait, leaving enemies free to plot another 
September the 11th--this time perhaps with chemical, biological, or 
nuclear terror. We'll remove weapons of mass destruction from the hands 
of mass murderers. And by defending our own security, we are ridding the 
people of Iraq from one of the cruelest regimes on Earth. The United 
States and our allies pledged to act if the dictator did not disarm. The 
regime in Iraq is now learning that we keep our word.
    Thank you for listening.

Note: The address was recorded at 1 p.m. on April 4 in the Cabinet Room 
at the White House for broadcast at 10:06 a.m. on April 5. The 
transcript was made available by the Office of the Press Secretary on 
April 4 but was embargoed for release until the broadcast. In his 
remarks, the President referred to President Saddam Hussein of Iraq. The 
Office of the Press Secretary also released a Spanish language 
transcript of this address.

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