15 October 2001
Transcript: Bush, Italian Prime Minister Berlusconi Photo Op Remarks
(Oct. 15: war on terrorism, anthrax attacks, India and Pakistan)
(1420)
President Bush and Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi stopped to
talk with journalists after their meeting at the White House October
15.
Bush said he and Berlusconi discussed at length "our mutual desire to
rout out terrorism where it might exist" and that he was pleased with
the Italian government's efforts to help disrupt the financial
networks of terrorist organizations and to share intelligence.
Berlusconi told the journalists that his visit was intended to express
both "great pain and sadness" for the September 11 terrorist attacks,
as well as Italy's desire "to be as close as possible and to provide
both moral and material support."
Before proceeding to lunch, Bush responded to several questions
regarding anthrax attacks in the United States and the dispute between
India and Pakistan over Kashmir.
Following is a transcript of their remarks at the photo opportunity:
(begin transcript)
THE WHITE HOUSE
Office of the Press Secretary
October 15, 2001
REMARKS BY THE PRESIDENT AND ITALIAN PRIME MINISTER BERLUSCONI IN
PHOTO OPPORTUNITY
The Colonnade
12:11 P.M. EDT
THE PRESIDENT: It's my honor to welcome the leader of one of our
nation's best friends, the Prime Minister of a country that has had so
much to do with our nation and its development.
I'm also pleased to be able to give him a lunch -- after all, I had
one of the best lunches I've had since I've been the President because
of the Prime Minister. We had a long discussion about our mutual
desire to rout out terrorism where it might exist. He understands as
well as I understand that the war on terrorism will be waged on many
fronts, and I'm so pleased with the efforts of his government to join
with us in disrupting the financial networks of terrorist
organizations. I'm pleased that we're sharing intelligence. I'm
pleased that the Prime Minister understands that al Qaeda has cells
all around the world and he's more than willing to work with us to
disrupt those cells, to bring people to justice. We're making
progress.
One reason we're making progress is because we've got good, strong
friends such as the Italians and the Italian government.
So, Mr. Prime Minister, welcome. It's my honor to have you here.
PRIME MINISTER BERLUSCONI: Thank you, Mr. President, I am here, first
of all, to express our great pain and sadness for the attack on
September the 11th and to say to you if the same attack had been --
had occurred on an Italian city we would have felt the same pain as
you are.
And also I'm here to express to you our desire to be as close as
possible and to provide both moral and material support.
As I mentioned earlier this morning, this attack was an attack not
only against citizens, but also against freedom and liberty. The U.S.
is the defensor of liberty all over the world, and that's what this
attack was about.
THE PRESIDENT: We'll answer a couple of questions.
Q: These anthrax attacks, sir, do you believe that there is any
connection to bin Laden's organization? Your Vice President, on
Friday, seemed to indicate there may be some possible link.
THE PRESIDENT: There may be some possible link. We have no hard data
yet. But it's clear that Mr. bin Laden is a man who is an evil man. He
and his spokesmen are openly bragging about how they hope to inflict
more pain on our country. So we're watching every piece of evidence.
We're making sure that we connect any dots that we have, to find out
who's doing this. I wouldn't put it past him, but we don't have hard
evidence, yet.
Q: Do you have anything that points towards bin Laden, besides your
gut? And has there been any other reports of anthrax tainted mail
being received by U.S. businesses or government offices today?
THE PRESIDENT: There has been today. I just talked to Leader Daschle.
His office received a letter, and it had anthrax in it. The letter was
field-tested. The staffers that have been exposed are being treated.
The powder that had been field-tested is now, obviously, going to the
CDC [Centers for Disease Control] lab.
Beyond that, I don't know more about it. I spoke to the Leader; he is,
obviously, concerned, as am I. The key thing for the American people
is to be cautious about letters that come from somebody you may not
know, unmarked letters, letters that have got -- that look suspicious.
And give those letters and packages to local law authorities.
Again, the process is working; but, today, the Senate Majority Leader,
his office did receive a letter.
Q: Was it definitely anthrax, or just a preliminary test, do you know?
THE PRESIDENT: The field test shows it to be anthrax. Ron, there's
more tests being conducted as we speak. The Leader believes it is
anthrax, but we'll find out more as time goes on.
They've got the letter. As he said, it was a letter that had been
wrapped a lot and that the powder was within the confines of the --
within the envelope. It wasn't on the outside of the envelope, it was
within the envelope. And a staffer opened the letter. They obviously
became suspicious of the material within the letter and immediately
called in for a field test. The field test was done, shows it to be
anthrax, and then all people are being treated.
Q: India says it opened fire on Pakistani positions in the Kashmir
region today, this just an hour or two after Secretary Powell landed
in Pakistan. How helpful is something like that?
THE PRESIDENT: I haven't see a report yet, John. And I think it is
very important that India and Pakistan stand down during our
activities in Afghanistan; stand down, for that matter, forever.
But I am -- I need to find out more about the report; I will find out
more about the report. As you noted, our Secretary of State is in the
region. One reason he's there is to talk to both sides about making
sure that there is no -- that if there are tensions and, obviously,
there are, that they be reduced, that we are mindful that activities
around Kashmir could create issues in that part of the region,
particularly as we're conducting our operations in Afghanistan.
Q: Mr. President, you have mentioned that you would -- the other
evening in your press conference, that you would like to see more
action from the allies. And you mentioned what the U.K. is doing. What
would you say about what Italy has done? And what was the subject of
your conversation? Would you like to see something more done by Italy?
And, also, from Europe, would you like to see more economic action
from the European side to help the U.S. economy? Thank you.
THE PRESIDENT: Thank you. First of all, we're taking measures here at
home to get our economy started. There is some optimism, as some
numbers recently have shown that consumer confidence is getting
stronger, that people are getting to get on the airways more, that
people are traveling. So there are some positive signs.
I hope to work with -- I am working with Congress and hope to get a
stimulus package that will dovetail nicely with the tax cuts we had
this summer, coupled with some of the spending measures we've taken
since September 11th.
First of all, I'm very pleased with the cooperation and support of
Italy. They have been very strong from the beginning. The Prime
Minister has been very, not only supportive, but has asked how to help
in significant ways to fight terrorism.
Again, I repeat to you, this is a war that's going to be fought on a
variety of fronts. One such front will be to disrupt financial -- the
finances of the terrorist organizations. And he was discussing with me
some executive orders that had been taken recently that showed Italy's
desire to be very firm about disrupting finances. There is a sharing
of information that goes on.
I'm confident that if we put out the word that we needed more help
from Italy they would be more than willing to help. Each of us has a
role to play. And the Italian government, under this good man's
leadership, is playing a very significant role.
We're going to go eat lunch. Thank you.
PRIME MINISTER BERLUSCONI: Grazie.
(end transcript)
(Distributed by the Office of International Information Programs, U.S.
Department of State. Web site: http://usinfo.state.gov)
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