Text 2348, 86 rader
Skriven 2006-03-21 23:33:24 av Whitehouse Press (1:3634/12.0)
Ärende: Press Release (060321) for Tue, 2006 Mar 21
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President Welcomes President Sirleaf of Liberia to the White House
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For Immediate Release
Office of the Press Secretary
March 21, 2006

President Welcomes President Sirleaf of Liberia to the White House
The Oval Office

President's Remarks view

˙˙˙˙˙ In Focus: Global Diplomacy

11:58 A.M. EST

PRESIDENT BUSH: It has been such an honor to welcome you, Madam President,
to the Oval Office. I find that one of the interesting parts of my job is
to be able to talk to pioneers, and Madam President, you're a pioneer.
You're the first woman elected President to any country on the continent of
Africa. And that requires courage, and vision, and the desire to improve
the lives of your people. And I congratulate you on that.

You know, I can remember, it wasn't all that long ago that Laura -- that
would be Laura Bush -- and Condi Rice came back from the inauguration of
this good person. I said, okay, tell me what kind of person am I going to
be dealing with? And they said: capable, smart, a person who is a doer, a
person committed to a bright future for Liberia. And we welcome you.

The President and I have had a good discussion. We discussed ways that the
United States government can help this country get on its feet toward a
democracy. We talked about education. We talked about security. We talked
about -- we also talked about the neighborhood. I asked the President her
advice on a variety of issues. I told her that part of a friendship is one
in which we can speak directly with each other about how best to deal with
keeping the peace and making sure that health care initiatives are robust
and effective. I also shared with her some of my thoughts about the world
beyond the continent of Africa. So I -- we really had a good discussion.

And so, Madam President, thank you. I want to thank your delegation. Laura
and I look forward to having you for lunch here in a little bit. All in
all, I think it was a very good first visit.

PRESIDENT SIRLEAF: Mr. President, as I mentioned to you, on behalf of the
Liberian people, I would like to thank you -- thank you, thank your
administration, thank the American people, thank the U.S. Congress, for all
the support that our country has received in making this important
transition from war to peace.

Our people have new hope, they have new promise in the future as a result
of the strong position you took that enabled us to get this opportunity for
national renewal. We have taken the necessary first steps to restoring
dignity to our people, starting to fix our economy, to get our
international credibility and reputation back. And we're confident that
Liberian people are ready to do what it takes. They're back at work; our
country is open for business. We're beginning to put in all the processes
that will enable us to manage our resources that God has been so good to us
in giving us, for the good of our people.

We want you to know that Liberia is going to do all it can to justify the
confidence that you have given to us. Liberia, we think, has the potential
to become the U.S. success story in Africa. We'll be working within our own
borders; we'll be working with our neighboring states to bring peace,
stability and development to our sub-region; we'll be working with our
African leaders to ensure that the example we set on this transition will
be one that can fuse many of our -- many of our other countries and other
people in Africa.

As the first democratic-elected woman, I represent the expectations and
aspirations of women in Liberia, in Africa, and I dare say, the world. And
I must be able to deliver for them. My performance must justify.

Again, I just want to thank you for the encouragement and the support that
you have given us, to enable us to meet these enormous challenges of
development.

PRESIDENT BUSH: Thank you, Madam President.

END 12:02 P.M. EST

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