Christmastime reminds each of us that we have a duty to our fellow citizens, that we are called to love our neighbor just as we would like to be loved ourselves.

We're nearing the end of a year where — of substantial progress at home and here abroad — and abroad.

And I'll continue to express my belief that balanced government, the sharing of power amongst government will lead to a — will lead to stability in Russia.

I said [Social Security] is a vital issue and we need to work together to solve it. Now, the temptation is going to be, by well-meaning people such as yourself, John, and others here, as we run up to the issue to get me to negotiate with myself in public, to say, you know, what's this mean, Mr. President? What's that mean? I'm not going to do that. I don't get to write the law. I will propose a solution at the appropriate time, but the law will be written in the halls of Congress. And I will negotiate with them, with the members of Congress, and they will want me to start playing my hand. Will you accept this? Will you not accept that? Why don't you do this hard thing? Why don't you do that? I fully recognize this is going to be a decision that requires difficult choices, John. Inherent in your question is, do I recognize that? You bet I do. Otherwise, it would have been. And so I am — I just want to try to condition you. I'm not doing a very good job, because the other day in the Oval when the press pool came in I was asked about this — a series of question on — a question on Social Security with these different aspects to it. And I said, I'm not going to negotiate with myself.

I really appreciate the different backgrounds of the people who spoke. We had your entrepreneur, we had your academic, we had your corporate leader, we just had plain old citizens show up.

DUBYA: There's a lot of work to be done. We've made a lot of progress in protecting our country, and there's more work to be done. And this administration is committed to doing it.
REPORTER: Mr. President —
DUBYA: Do you want to call on somebody?
PRESIDENT MUSHARRAF: I know that — I know that you're trying your best to address the issue of terrorism all over the world, and obviously, the most important part is to protect your own, the United States from terrorism.
DUBYA: Actually, I wasn't asking you necessarily to answer the question. I was asking you to call on somebody from the Pakistani press. I'm sorry. You don't have to answer every question they ask me. I would advise you not answering those questions.

I, frankly, felt like the reception we received on the way in from the airport was very warm and hospitable, and I want to thank the Canadian people who came out to wave — with all five fingers — for — for their hospitality.

REPORTER: In the days after September 11th, thousands of Canadians went to Parliament Hill to demonstrate solidarity with the U.S. — and, in fact, in cities across the country. Yet, public opinion polls and other evidence suggest that now, today, our peoples are, in fact, diverging. That, in fact, our peoples are drifting apart. Why do you think that is? And do you have any responsibility for it?
DUBYA: You know, I haven't seen the polls you look at, and we just had a poll in our country where people decided that the foreign policy of the Bush administration ought to be — stay in place for four more years.

There's a bureaucracy involved and I readily concede we've got one. I don't know if you've got bureaucracy here in Canada or not, but we've got one in America, and there are a series of rules that have to be met in order for us to be able to allow the trafficking of cows back and forth, particularly those 30 months and younger.

[Looking across the Arkansas River...]
TOUR GUIDE: Usually, you might see some bass fishermen out there.
DUBYA: A submarine could take this place out.

One gulp and we're out of here.

You covered me when I was the governor of Texas. I told you that I was going to do that as a governor. There was probably skepticism in your beady eyes there. But you might remember — you might remember, we did — we were able to accomplish a lot by — and Washington is different from Austin, no question about it. Washington — one of the disappointments of being here in Washington is how bitter this town can become and how divisive. I'm not blaming one party or the other. It's just the reality of Washington, D.C., sometimes exacerbated by you, because it's great sport. It's really — it's entertaining for some. It also makes is difficult to govern at times.

Uhh — Gosh, I — don't think I ever said I'm not worried about Osama bin Laden. It's kind of one of those, uhh, exaggerations.

You see, he's proposed 2.2 trillion dollars of new spending. And say, you say "Well, how are you gonna pay for it?" He said, well, he's going to raise the taxes on the rich — that's what he said — the top two brackets. That raises, he says 800 billion. We say 600 billion. We've got battling green eye shades.

Mr. Chairman — you probably think I've come here to sign an important piece of legislation. Actually, I'm here for a different reason. The south lawn of the White House has a lot of grass — I'm looking for somebody to mow it. And so Mr. Chairman, you shall now be known as 'Grass-mower.' And, by the way, when you're through using that car — I've always liked an old Olds. I appreciate you being here, Mr. Chairman. Proud to call you friend. ...And I really do appreciate working with Mr. Chairman.

A couple of days ago in New York I was having a Diet Coke with my friend, Prime Minister Koizumi. He's the Prime Minister of Japan.

So that's how I view the 59th session of the U.N. General Assembly. It's an honor to be here. It's great to see mis amigos, my friends.

Free societies are hopeful societies. And free societies will be allies against these hateful few who have no conscience, who kill at the whim of a hat.

SPANISH SPEAKER: Mr. President, mi amigo.
DUBYA: Come esta?
SPANISH SPEAKER: Muy bien. Muchas gracias. The Cubans in Miami want to know if you're going to be the President, going to get rid of Fidel Castro. You got rid of Saddam Hussein... so I hope you'll be the one to clean Cuba. Hey, Puerto Rico and Cuba are for you.
DUBYA: Gracias.
SPANISH SPEAKER: No hay de que.
DUBYA: All right, let me tell you what he's talking about. Cuba libre.
SPANISH SPEAKER: Cuba libre.
DUBYA: Sí. Ahora. Here's what he said. We're talking about Cuba.

Four years ago — well, none of us will ever forget that week when one era ended and another began. On September the 14th, 2001, I stood in the ruins of the Twin Towers. It's a day I'll never forget.

When I campaigned in your great state four years ago and around our nation, I made a pledge to my fellow Americans, if you honored me with the great responsibility of being President, I would uphold the honor and the dignity of the office to which I had been elected. Por su apoyo — and with your help, I will do so por cuatro más años.

REPORTER 1: You're not going to Athens this week, are you?
DUBYA: Athens, Texas?
REPORTER 1: Ol — the Olympics, in Greece.
DUBYA: Oh, the Olympics? No, I'm not.
REPORTER 2: Have you been watching them?
DUBYA: Oh, yeah, yeah, it's been exciting.
REPORTER 2: Any particular moment stand out?
DUBYA: Umm — particular moment? I like the — let's see — uhhhm — Iraqi soccer. I liked — I liked seein' the Afghan woman carryin' the flag comin' in. I loved, uhh — you know, our gymnasts. I've been watching the swimming. I like th' — I've seen a lot, yeah. Listen, thank you all.

Let me tell you an interesting story, and then I promise to answer some questions. If Laura were here, she'd be giving me the hook. That's the way it is. Anyway, the Oval Office door opens up and in walks seven men from Iraq, all of whom had had their right hands cut off by Saddam Hussein. They had been to Houston, Texas, where a newscaster had — a quite famous newscaster — raised money and set up a foundation to help people. ... Anyway, so these guys walk in, you know, and I was emotional, they were emotional. And I said, why you? He said, that Saddam dinar had devalued and — he was a merchant, a small businessman. I don't know if he was a sub-chapter S corporation or not, but he was a small businessman. And he had sold dinars on a particular day to buy another currency, euros or dollars, so he could buy gold to manufacture his product. And because the Soviet Dinar had devalued, Saddam Hussein plucked this guy out of society to punish him, and six other small merchants, for the devaluation of their currency. He just summarily said, you're it, come here — and cut his hand off.

We are working with our friends to keep the pressure on the moolahs to — to listen to the demands of the free world.

When it comes to improving America's public schools, we are turning the corner and we are not turning back. ...When it comes to giving Americans more choices about their own health care and making health care more affordable, we are turning the corner and we're not turning back. ...When it comes to fighting the threats of our world and spreading peace, we're turning the corner and we're not turning back. ...We are turning the corner toward a more peaceful world that we long for, and we're not turning back. ...When it comes to better protecting America, we're turning the corner, and we're not turning back. ...We've done a lot of hard work together. We're turning the corner.

It reads like a mystery, a novel. It's well written.

That's one of the goals we're on, is to encourage programs, community-based — you don't have to be a faith-based program, although it turns out faith-based programs are pretty good places to find people who want to love a neighbor just like they'd like to be loved themselves.

We don't want to discourage the innovators and those who take risks because they're afraid of getting sued by a lawsuit.

It's amazing with the software that has been developed these days that enable a camera to distinguish the difference between a squirrel and a bomb.

REPORTER: Once, President Kennedy said, "Everyone has two countries, their own, and France." And why is it that your policy tends to be pushing your country and France to divorce? Second point, some in public opinion have accused you of state terrorism, and do you not believe that what has happened in Abu Ghraib has put you in the same basket, as it were, of Saddam Hussein, especially in the eyes of an international tribunal, and especially in light of the unfound weapons of mass destruction?
DUBYA: To paraphrase President Kennedy, there's America, and then there's Texas. We have great relations with France. We work closely with the French government on a lot of issues.

REPORTER: The whole world remembers you addressing the firemen in the ruins of the World Trade Center. You were healing the wounds and uniting the world at that time. Today, your message through the megaphone doesn't reach the world. Don't you feel isolated?
DUBYA: No, I feel very comfortable with what I'm doing.
REPORTER: Yes, but all the nations —
DUBYA: Let me finish my — you ask a question, I give you the answers. And then if you want to ask another question, you're allowed to do so.

I'm honored to, uhh, shake the hand — of a brave Iraqi citizen who had his hand cut off by Saddam Hussein. Ummm, I'm with sssix other Iraqi citizens, as well, who suffered the same fate. Uhh, they are examples of the — brutality, uhh, of the tyrant.

You just interrupted a conversation about how we're working on a strategy to help the Iraqis become a free nation.

Ehud Olmert is with us. Ehud, it's good to see you again. Thank you, sir. I remember the first time we visited in 1998. I had just been re-elected as the Governor of Texas. I went to Israel, and Ehud welcomed me and three over governors to, I guess, your office. You were the Mayor, if I'm not mistaken, at that point in time. And you were focused on filling potholes and emptying the garbage of the people.

I told him [King Abdullah of Jordan] I was sorry for the humiliation suffered by the Iraqi prisoners, and the humiliation suffered by their families. I told him I was equally sorry that people who have been seeing those pictures didn't understand the true nature and heart of America.

I've received a Commission for the Assistance of a Free Cuba, it's a report from a commission that I have put together in my administration to hasten the day that Cuba will be a free country.

I'm glad I did it. I'm glad I took the time. This is an important commission, and it's important that they ask the questions they ask so that they can help make recommendations necessary to better protect our homeland. It was — I enjoyed it.

REPORTER: Mr. President, as you know, a lot of critics suggested that you wanted to appear jointly with the Vice President so that you two could keep your stories straight, or something —
DUBYA: Yes —
REPORTER: Can you tell us what you think of the value of appearing together and how you would answer those critics?
DUBYA: Yes — first of all, look, if we had something to hide we wouldn't have met with them in the first place. We answered all their questions. And as I say, I think I — I came away good about the session, because I wanted them to know how I set strategy, how we run the White House, how we deal with threats. The Vice President answered a lot of their questions — answered all their questions. And I think it was important for them to see our body language, as well, how we work together. But it was — you know, the commissioners will speak for themselves over time. They will let you know whether they thought it was a fruitful series of discussions. I think they did. I think they found it to be useful.

If you're from a state where there's a lot of rural people, there's nothing better than to be able to transfer information quickly from a rural doc to a hospital for analysis in order to save lives.

By the way, we rank 10th amongst the industrialized world in broadband technology and its availability. That's not good enough for America. Tenth is 10 spots too low as far as I'm concerned.

The enemy can't stand the thought of free societies. That's why they attacked us, see.

Roving wiretaps were available for chasing down drug lords. They weren't available for chasing down terrorists, see?

Thirdly, to give you an example of what we're talking about, there's something called delayed notification warrants. Those are very important. I see some people, first responders nodding their heads about what they mean.

One of my hardest parts of my job is to console the family members who have lost their life.

REPORTER: Mr. President, why are you and the Vice President insisting on appearing together before the 9/11 Commission? And, Mr. President, who will you be handing the Iraqi government over to on June 30th?
DUBYA: We will find that out soon. That's what Mr. Brahimi is doing. He's figuring out the nature of the entity we'll be handing sovereignty over. And, secondly, because the 9/11 Commission wants to ask us questions, that's why we're meeting. And I look forward to meeting with them and answering their questions.
REPORTER: I was asking why you're appearing together, rather than separately, which was their request.
DUBYA: Because it's a good chance for both of us to answer questions that the 9/11 Commission is looking forward to asking us, and I'm looking forward to answering them.

DUBYA: John.
REPORTER: Thank you, Mr. President. Two weeks ago, a former counterterrorism official at the NSC, Richard Clarke, offered an unequivocal apology to the American people for failing them prior to 9/11. Do you believe the American people deserve a similar apology from you, and would you be prepared to give them one?
DUBYA: Look, I can understand why people in my administration anguished over the fact that people lost their life. I feel the same way. I mean, I'm sick when I think about the death that took place on that day. And as I mentioned, I've met with a lot of family members and I do the best I do to console them about the loss of their loved one. As I mentioned, I oftentimes think about what I could have done differently. I can assure the American people that had we had any inkling that this was going to happen, we would have done everything in our power to stop the attack. Here's what I feel about that. The person responsible for the attacks was Osama bin Laden. That's who's responsible for killing Americans. And that's why we will stay on the offense until we bring people to justice.

REPORTER: In the last campaign, you were asked a question about the biggest mistake you'd made in your life, and you used to like to joke that it was trading Sammy Sosa. You've looked back before 9/11 for what mistakes might have been made. After 9/11, what would your biggest mistake be, would you say, and what lessons have you learned from it?
DUBYA: I wish you would have given me this written question ahead of time, so I could plan for it. John, I'm sure historians will look back and say, gosh, he could have done it better this way, or that way. You know, I just — I'm sure something will pop into my head here in the midst of this press conference, with all the pressure of trying to come up with an answer, but it hadn't yet.

REPORTER: With public support for your policies in Iraq falling off the way they have — quite significantly over the past couple of months — I guess I'd like to know if you feel in any way that you've failed as a communicator on this topic? Because —
DUBYA: Gosh, I don't know. I mean —
REPORTER: Well, you deliver a lot of speeches and a lot of them contain similar phrases, and they vary very little from one to the next. And they often include a pretty upbeat assessment of how things are going ...I guess I just wonder if you feel that you have failed in any way? You don't have many of these press conferences, where you engage in this kind of exchange. Have you failed in any way to really make the case to the American public?
DUBYA: I guess if you put it into a political context, that's the kind of thing the voters will decide next November. That's what elections are about. They'll take a look at me and my opponent and say, let's see, which one of them can better win the war on terror? Who best can see to it that Iraq emerges as a free society? Don, if I tried to fine-tune my messages based upon polls, I think I'd be pretty ineffective. I know I would be disappointed in myself. I hope today you've got a sense of my conviction about what we're doing. If you don't, maybe I need to learn to communicate better.

You know, I want to follow what Bob said. He said a great gift from a parent is two things. One, a good education and unconditional love. Unconditional love.

We're still being challenged in Iraq and the reason why is a free Iraq will be a major defeat in the cause of freedom.

Today when I landed, I met a fellow named Irving Hall. Where are you, Irving? Right there — stand up. Now you can sit down. Irving Hall works for our government at the laboratories, the high tech — Sandia — I think you worked there, didn't you, Irving? Yes. He worked there, and came time to retire and his boss said, what are you going to do, Irving? He said, why don't you make a difference — I believe that's what your boss told me — what you told me your boss said. See, he met me at the airplane. I'd never met Irving before.

We're really proud of you. I love the story. It's what I love about our country, isn't it?

He got him 175 employees, which is a good size company.

Had I known that the enemy was going to use airplanes to strike America, to attack us, I would have used every resource, every asset, every power of this government to protect the American people.

We increased expenses, particularly in two areas — the military. If I put somebody in harm's way, they're going to get the best, as far as I'm concerned. [Audience applauses...] Thank you all. Sit down, please. Yes, I appreciate you applauding our troops. That's who you're applauding.

A small business owner's outlook is improved when there's a new product available that says, gosh, I'm meeting the needs of my employees and also being able to better control costs.

We got attacked by a bunch of cold-blooded killers. And the attack hurt. It hurt our psyche because we thought oceans could protect us. It hurt the fact — we lost a million jobs after September the 11th.

Homeownership is at the highest rate ever. That means there's more people ever in our history are able to say, "I own something. I own my own home." I went to Pearl's home and it was pretty special. Really special, wasn't it? She said, "This is my home." When I walked up the stairs, she didn't say this is anybody else's home, but her home. She said, "Would you come into my home, please."

DUBYA: Now, Judy is the co-founder of Genesis — is that an accurate statement?
JUDY MEMBERG: Yes, it is.
DUBYA: She's a social entrepreneur.
JUDY MEMBERG: I've never been called that, but okay.
DUBYA: It's a plus.

The march to war hurt the economy. Laura reminded me a while ago that remember what was on the TV screens — she calls me, "George W." — "George W." I call her, "First Lady." No, anyway — she said, we said, march to war on our TV screen.

There's two things I want to share with you on that. One, there's nothing better than a society which encourages people to own something, isn't there? Either to own your own business — how about the fact that this is a fellow who is born in El Salvador, comes here to our country, and now owns his own home. Isn't that one of the spectacular aspects?

In the health care category, we have two winners: Baptist Hospitals in Pensacola, Florida — I was wondering whether if we called it Pentecostal Hospitals, we'd be — Saint Luke's Hospital, in Kansas City, Missouri.

REPORTER: Mr. President, some firefighters and families of the 9/11 victims — of the 9/11 victims want you to pull your campaign ad focusing on the tragedy. Are you prepared to honor their wishes?
DUBYA: First of all, I will continue to speak about the effects of 9/11 on our country and my presidency. I will continue to mourn the loss of life on that day, but I'll never forget the lessons. The terrorists declared war on us on that day, and I will continue to pursue this war. I have an obligation to those who died. I have an obligation to those who were heroic in their attempts to rescue. And I won't forget that obligation.

I met with Mark Borovitz and Harold Rothstein and Harriet Rosetta. Harriet is married to Mark. Mark is now a rabbi. He was in prison. He was addicted. He told me the story about how the rabbi in the prison got a hold of Mark, and said, "I'm never going to forget you. I love you. I want to help you." And so Mark runs into Harriet, his wife, who has started a — she, too, is a social entrepreneur, by the way, at Beit T'Shuvah. It's a program for addicts. She sees him at the prison. He's kind of a — probably feeling his oats pretty good about that time. She says, fine, why don't you — if you want to do something constructive, why don't you just show up at our program?

I always — always — sometimes say, government can hand out money — and I'm going to talk about some of the money we're trying to hand out — but government can't put hope in a person's heart, or a sense of purpose in a person's life.

These stories are being written every day in America. Every, single day this is happening. We never hear half of them or any — I never, but, you know — I barely hear any of them, but I just know they're happening.

I want to thank you all for coming today to give me a chance to spell out a practical way to make life a more hopeful place for America and small business owners. Congress needs to act.

TIM RUSSERT: The General Accounting Office... did a computer simulation that shows that balancing the budget in 2040 could require either cutting total federal spending in half or doubling federal taxes. Why, as a fiscal conservative, as you like to call yourself, would you allow a $500 billion deficit and this kind of deficit disaster?
DUBYA: Sure. The budget I just proposed to the Congress cuts the deficit in half in five years. Now, I don't know what the assumptions are in the GAO report, but I do know that...

It is hard for the Western mind to fathom such a regime, a regime that refuses to allow young girls to go to school.

Pete, I appreciate your friendship. Just one piece of advice. Just remember, it's the birds that's supposed to suffer, not the hunter.

DUBYA: ...we were just on a ranch with — owned by a lady who knows it's important to protect the environment by taking care of the land. And as a result of her taking care of the land, worrying about bird habitats, we happened to see a lot of birds today.... I think 2004 is going to be a great year. And in the spirit of great years, I'll answer a few questions.
REPORTER: How was the hunt?
DUBYA: It was good fun. You know, when you hunt quail, you get a lot of exercise. As you know, I like exercise. And so my Dad and I, and Ms. Negley, whose ranch we were on, walked a lot of territory, watched the dogs work, and knocked down some birds.
REPORTER: How many?
DUBYA: I think I shot five. The limit in Texas, I believe, is 15. I'm not that good a shot, but it was a lot of fun.