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President Bush Meets with President Arroyo of the Philippines
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For Immediate Release Office of the Press Secretary June 24, 2008

President Bush Meets with President Arroyo of the Philippines Oval Office

ÿ /news/releases/2008/06/20080624.wm.v.html ÿÿWhite House News


10:25 A.M. EDT

PRESIDENT BUSH: Madam President, it is a pleasure to welcome you back to
the Oval Office. We have just had a very constructive dialogue. First, I
want to tell you how proud I am to be the President of a nation that -- in
which there's a lot of Philippine-Americans. They love America and they
love their heritage. And I reminded the President that I am reminded of the
great talent of the -- of our Philippine-Americans when I eat dinner at the
White House. (Laughter.)

PRESIDENT ARROYO: Yes.

PRESIDENT BUSH: And the chef is a great person and a really good cook, by
the way, Madam President.

PRESIDENT ARROYO: Thank you.

PRESIDENT BUSH: We talked about our friendship, our bilateral relations,
and we spent some time on foreign policy.

First, I expressed our deep condolences to those who suffered as a result
of the typhoon. And I know there's some families that are hurting. Some are
wondering whether or not their loved ones will, you know, reappear. We, the
American people, care about the human suffering that's taking place, and we
send our prayers.

Secondly, I informed the President -- Secretary Gates informed the
President, through me, that the United States will move the USS Ronald
Reagan, a large aircraft carrier, to help with the assistance, along with
other U.S. Navy assets. We're happy to do it. We want to help our friends
in a time of need.

We talked about, you know, food, and I assured the President we'll continue
to help. We helped with rice in the past. And, you know, I'm proud of my
country. We give a lot of food aid, and this is a time where America needs
to step up, and we will, Madam President.

We talked about our mutual desire to advance how important it is to move
forward the bilateral and multilateral trade agendas. I'm a -- I believe
trade is beneficial to both our countries. I'm hopeful we can get a Doha
Round done, and we strategized together about how we can move the process.

I congratulated the President on her strong stand on counterterrorism --
more than strong stand -- effective stand on counterterrorism, as well as
laying out a vision for peace. The President has been very strong in having
a carrots-and-sticks approach -- "sticks," of course, say we're not going
to allow for people to terrorize our citizens; the "carrot" approach is
that there's peace available.

We talked about Burma, the area, the region. The President has been a very
strong leader when it comes to the freedom agenda and human dignity.

And so, all in all, we had a very constructive talk. I'm proud you're here.

PRESIDENT ARROYO: Thank you.

PRESIDENT BUSH: Thanks for coming.

PRESIDENT ARROYO: Thank you, thank you. Mr. President, with your
permission, I'd like to address our countrymen in my own native language.
(Speaks in Tagalog.)

PRESIDENT BUSH: I couldn't have said it better myself. (Laughter.)

PRESIDENT ARROYO: Thank you.

PRESIDENT BUSH: Thank you, all.

END 10:30 A.M. EDT
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