President Bush, President Fox, Prime Minister Harper News Conference

SPEAKERS: GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES

VICENTE FOX, PRESIDENT OF MEXICO

STEPHEN HARPER, PRIME MINISTER OF CANADA

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(JOINED IN PROGRESS)

HARPER (THROUGH TRANSLATOR): First of all, we believe that it is an engine of competitiveness made up of members of the private sector that will allow us to make our economies even more competitive.

Our ministers will be working on this. They will be identifying our priorities. And they will make sure that they are followed up.

We will be cooperating on issues of importance, on border security, management of urgent situations, as well as energy security. We will prepare a coordinated and exhaustive way to approach the issues of the bird flu. And we will be guided by common principles.

Over the course of the next few months, we will be doing everything possible to ensure the security along our borders and to be able to move our merchandise back and forth. We will be working in the area of energy, the area of research and innovation, to be able to deal with clean technologies.

We are happy with the discussions of our trade ministers on cooperation and of the negotiation of our countries. And we encourage them to follow up this work.

HARPER: These talks were productive, and I am, of course, very pleased that President Bush and President Fox have accepted my invitation to have the next leaders' meeting in Canada in 2007.

Thank you.

BUSH: Mr. President, thank you for your hospitality. It's a really good choice to pick Cancun to meet. My press corps will tell you they're looking forward to staying by the pool after I leave.

BUSH: It's a beautiful part of the country.

I want to thank you for your friendship, as well. Been a joy discussing very important issues with you over the course of my presidency. And this is probably one of the most productive meetings we've had.

Also been a pleasure to meet with Prime Minister Harper in his official capacity as the prime minister of Canada. I find him to be a very open, straightforward fella. If he's got a problem, he's willing to express it in a way that's clear for all to understand. And that's the way I like to deal with people.

We've got big goals for this very important relationship. One goal is prosperity. You can't achieve a standard of living increase for your people unless you have a prosperous neighborhood. And it's this prosperity that has been much of the focus on NAFTA.

And one of my vows -- and I know the other leaders share this goal -- is to make sure that people are able to connect the NAFTA relationship with an improvement of their own quality of life.

I know there's deep concern about social justice throughout the neighborhood. And social justice can be achieved more likely if people are able to realize their dreams and if there is a prosperity society. And prosperity has been increased as a result of the trade between our nations.

And we want to make sure that trade continues in a way that's fair and free, but also in a way that enables our countries to be able to compete with the great challenges we face.

And we face prosperity challenges from abroad like never before: the challenge of a growing Chinese economy or the challenge of an Indian economy. And my attitude we shouldn't fear these challenges, we ought to welcome them, and position ourselves so that we can compete.

And I think the leaders share that sense of unity when it comes to being a competitive part of the world in the future.

BUSH: We talked about security. Look, we've got long borders. And we've got to make sure we work hard to secure the borders.

We also have got to make sure we have got smart borders. And so the whole vision of our borders has got to be to enhance trade and tourism, but to prevent smugglers and terrorists and dope runners from polluting our countries.

And I'm confident, with the use of technology and a close collaboration, we'll be able to achieve those objectives.

I want to thank the CEOs and the business leaders from the three countries who are here. I thought we had a very constructive discussion about ways to make sure that there's harmonization between our industries so that the people benefit. And they brought some really good ideas.

We talked about, of course, bird flu, avian flu and the need to be prepared in case there is an outbreak.

You know, we spent a lot of time in my own country preparing for an avian flu outbreak; strategizing as to how to coordinate efforts between the federal, state and local governments; working to wisely spend money to come up with, hopefully, a vaccine that would then be available for sharing around the world.

And I do want to thank Canada for having taken the lead early in this issue and preparing the world for what is possible so that there's good information-sharing if the bird flu were, you know, to break out in Southeast Asia, for example.

But my point is: It's very important for us to share information and data and strategies amongst our three countries so that, if this were to happen, there is a focused, coordinated, intelligent response.

We talked about energy. My view of the energy initiative is that we've got to be wise about the resources we have and be smart about the investment for research and development so we can change our energy habits.

BUSH: I mean, the truth of the matter is that we'll all be better off if we use alternative sources of energy, like ethanol, or explore how to use hybrid batteries in a better way.

I mean, there's some really interesting things coming down the pike. And I look forward to not only leading my own nation to spend money to be on the leading edge of technological change when it comes to energy, but also sharing those technologies and ideas with our counterparts.

Because we want to make sure that we've got national security concerns addressed when it comes to energy. We also want to be good stewards of the environment. And we can do both by the use of proper technologies.

BUSH: It's been a good meeting. I want to thank you for your leadership. I like coming to meetings where people put things on the table and we try to come up with solutions.

And this has been such a meeting, Mr. President. Good job.

FOX (THROUGH TRANSLATOR): Thank you. Thank you so much.

Undoubtedly these two days have brought about spaces for a meeting of both friends and partners. And undoubtedly we have made a very good use of time. The visit to Chichen-Itza was excellent, as well as yesterday evening's dinner, in a relaxed atmosphere, but likewise creating this association and making a very productive association.

Equally important were the different working meetings. We took advantage of time. We were not working isolated. We touched upon fundamental items in that meeting.

First of all, we carried out an evaluation meeting. Then we got information about the development of programs. And then we gave the necessary instructions for the work that should be carried out in the next period of work.

This is a most important thing, and this association has become a dynamic and professional process, a constructive process, a short-term action process, and great vision and perspective at a long term.

Consequently, we have concluded that institutionalizing all these mechanisms is of utmost importance, so that they will have continuity, so that there will be a follow-up, a necessary follow-up, so that they will be fruitful both at a short, middle and long term.

So we have established the next meeting. The prime minister of Canada has suggested and has invited us to Canada.

Next June we shall have, let's say, an information, evaluation and results study of the work of this association, this security and prosperity partnership. And we have carried out a series of actions that should be integrated in this report.

First of all, I would like to make clear what has been the results of 12 years of joint work in the free trade agreement, NAFTA.

FOX (THROUGH TRANSLATOR): The three nations are fully satisfied of what we have been able to achieve. We have seen the fruits of work through this (inaudible) of cooperation, trade and investment.

Nonetheless, we're not truly satisfied. We have to give the steps forward. We have many an opportunity and many a challenge.

I want to mention two figures in reference to the results of NAFTA.

Mexico has a commercial balance trade of $535 billion. That is seventh in size throughout the world. And these would be a direct product of both trade and investment that has been carried out amongst the three partner countries.

And then we should point out that every single day our border states with the United States have per capita income to December as of last year that go beyond to $10,000, the per capita of the average income has to do with $7,500, the highest in Latin America.

Nonetheless, border-line states are above $10,000 per capita income, and some of them have a per capita rate of $10,000.

We're not talking about small numbers -- small figures. We're talking about a concrete result of the efforts in work through trade. It is achieved through investment, and likewise it is achieved through joint work -- everybody's work. Behind all this there's nothing else but work, work and work.

Now, I would like to mention a couple of items and the goals.

First, strengthen and maintain growing the free trade agreement. First of all, benefits are evident, but before the new reality of the 21st century, we have decided to give steps forward and strengthen the relationship.

Now, we have the alliance both for security and prosperity; one item as important as the other. Shared responsibility, an important element; one as important as the other. And that is what the three countries think.

We started with a constitution of the North American Competitiveness Council so as to consider public and private policies, face a challenge of our region.

FOX (THROUGH TRANSLATOR): We want to institutionalize our mechanisms as a clear project for the next month of June.

It would imply mechanisms by means of which we will give the necessary importance and long-term action -- something constant -- and continuity will be achieved as well. That has been fruitful and that can give very good results for our region.

We are not renegotiating what has been successful or open the free-trade agreement. It's going beyond the agreement, both for prosperity and security.

Summarizing, we have to increase competitiveness of our economies, of our companies, our enterprises, our structure, and, likewise, our technological and educational levels so as to face competition of other blocs in the world.

We have to homogenize the normativities, standards, so as to have common standards to facilitate jobs and productivity. We have to make borders much more modern with technology so as to guarantee security, but the good flow of commodities and products.

We have invested a good amount of time to logistics, efficiency and efficacy in customs, topics that have to do with sharing these efficiencies.

We are totally aware that we require infrastructure studies in the border-line areas so as to analyze needs to facilitate both trade and passage of people and goods.

This is fundamental. Security is a fundamental priority to development. It is a problem and a challenge shared by the three countries.

Migration can only be solved in that we agree upon, under the framework of a legislation that will guarantee legal orders, safe and respectful migration, respecting the rights of people.

We have spoken about the collaboration of the three countries to support development and generation of opportunities for Central American countries and the Caribbean-area countries. We have seen an excellent level of relationship, and these are giving steps forward that are better and better.

FOX (THROUGH TRANSLATOR): We have more points of coincidence amongst the three countries.

I would like to thank the attendants, the presence, in this beautiful port of Cancun, in this area of the Riviera Maya. You can see it is dynamic, a beautiful place, as it always has been. We receive millions of tourists every single year, people that come over and we're proud to receive.

We want to thank President Bush, we want to thank Prime Minister Harper. My acknowledgement, my thanks and my commitment we shall be working together, no doubt about it, to give steps forward in the field of prosperity and security.

May you have a happy return back home. Thank you.

For the question-and-answer period, we have two questions for the journalists of each country.

QUESTION (THROUGH TRANSLATOR): Good morning, Presidents and Prime Minister.

QUESTION (THROUGH TRANSLATOR): President Fox, what are the concrete measures that Mexico is implementing to guarantee this indispensable security so as to have a legal, safe and ordered migration?

For President Bush and Prime Minister Harper, do you consider that there should be a continuity on the economic policy in Mexico before the change of president in our country?

Last but not least, how can the partners of NAFTA be competitive before the Asian countries, if there's so many differences that are leading us to talk about security, then productivity? And what are the unilateral decisions on migration matters?

FOX (THROUGH TRANSLATOR): On security, many actions have been implemented. Many actions have to do with close cooperation with the security authorities with the United States; this effort headed by the representative of homeland security, Mr. Chertoff, and minister of the interior here in Mexico, Mr. Abascal, and the cooperation based upon mutual trust, co-responsibility on what has to do with security in the borders.

Likewise, we're doing our own work in cases of homicides and crimes amongst the different mafias, the drug cartels. We shall continue working on this. There's a presence of federal forces in the main points in the border, and then a great commitment to win the battle against organized crime and drug trafficking, particularly in the city of Nueva Laredo (ph).

We have programs such as OASISS Project, so as to attack the people that are trafficking with people, with migrants. And, fortunately, there are more than 120 in jail. And then we have a permanent program, 24 hours a day, so as to achieve this.

We are working in the inner part and in the southern part of the country to stop migration flows that come from Central America that are crossing illegally the southern border of Mexico. And with all due respect to the dignity of these people, respecting their human rights, they are stopped, they remain on temporary basis in the stations. We offer them services with dignity. And then we send them back to their communities of origin: 240,000 people, people that were detained, and then they were sent back to Central America.

FOX (THROUGH TRANSLATOR): We are working jointly with the Central American governments. We have spoken about the fact that the position of Mexico is not only assuming our responsibilities migration-wise, but we have a firm commitment of generating jobs and employment.

We're working jointly with Central America so as to achieve this, so each country will absorb our commitment and a total commitment generating opportunities within our own country.

And so, this program, like the energy initiative for Central America, is one that has the purpose of bringing development and growth to the Central American economies.

Thus, we're working on a broad spectrum on the issue of security in all of its facets.

BUSH: You can't be prosperous if you don't have security. I mean, if people are concerned that, for example, the towns along the border aren't secure, it's going to be difficult to keep prosperity alive.

And so I appreciate the president's commitment to security along our border. And we share the same commitment.

It's very important to enforce laws. A robust economy depends upon the rule of law. And therefore, when countries enforce law, it, kind of, creates the conditions for continued economic growth.

You know, when you have robust trade, like we have, there are issues that come up. One way to look at it is if we had no trade, there'd be no issues. And the more issues there are, and the more opportunities there are to discuss them, the likelier it is these economies will continue to grow.

And so, I don't worry about having to deal with problems. As a matter of fact, I view the problems that have arisen as a result of complex and active trade as positive.

BUSH: And the fundamental question is, can we resolve these issues in a responsible way? And one of the reasons we meet is to put ourselves in the position to do so.

You mentioned something about the elections. I'm not going to talk about them. The only thing I am going to talk about is I love to have a strong, vibrant democracy on our southern border.

And I want to thank the president for his strong leadership and his recognition that democracy is a very important legacy of his administration and the previous administration; that we certainly hope there will be a peaceful transition of power. And I'm confident there will be one.

HARPER (THROUGH TRANSLATOR): Obviously, I don't want to get into the issue of Mexican politics, but I can say the same thing that I said yesterday with regard to the leadership of President Fox.

We've had both bilateral and multilateral relationships progressively growing without precedent. I trust that the president is going to leave a stronger economy that is shared, a firm democracy, respect for human rights and faithfulness to the most important principles for our shared progress for the security and prosperity partnership for North America and all the good results that come from a free market economy.

All of these things lead to more progress, which we hold the next president will be able to build upon, which will benefit all of our countries.

QUESTION: Mr. President, would you veto an immigration bill that did not include a guest worker program? And how do you counter the angry argument from conservatives on Capitol Hill who are saying that your demand for one could hurt the Republican Party this fall?

BUSH: The migration issue has been a topic of discussion here, as you can imagine.

I told the president exactly what I told our country: that, one, I expect the debate to bring dignity to America, in recognition that America is a land of immigrants and people ought to be treated with respect and this debate ought to be a debate that does not pit neighbor against neighbor; that focuses on three elements.

One is that we are a nation of laws and, therefore, must enforce our laws. And that includes enforcing the laws of people coming into our country illegally.

President Fox and I discussed this issue at length. I don't know if people recognize, but his government -- all aspects of the Mexican government came together to send a clear message to the American people. The Mexican government understands it has a responsibility, as well, to protect the border. It is a nation of law.

You heard the president talk about not only enforcing the northern border but also the southern border.

I also have said to the American people that we must enforce our laws in the interior of the country. Employers must be held to account if they're employing the people in our country illegally.

However, part of the problem that complicates the lives of our many employers who are providing employment for people who are here legally is that there has been a lot of document forgery. There's an industry that has sprung up.

And part of that industry is to provide forged documents so that our employers don't know whether a person is in our country legally or not.

I also believe strongly that an important part of securing the border and enforcing our laws is to recognize there are people in our country doing work that Americans will not do, and those people ought to be given a chance to have a tamper-proof card that enables them to work in our country legally for a period of time.

BUSH: That's called a guest worker program.

One of the important issues about a guest worker program is what does that mean for someone's desire to become a citizen of our country?

I believe that if someone has been here in our country illegally, they should not get at the head of the line if they want to become a citizen. In other words, we have a line of people waiting, people who were in our country legally, waiting to become a citizen. And people who have been in our country illegally should not get ahead of the line who are there legally.

A nation of laws can also be a welcoming nation. And I believe a guest worker program will help us rid the society on the border of these coyotes who smuggle people in the back of 18-wheelers. I believe it'll help get rid of the document forgers. I believe it'll help people on both sides of our border respect the laws of our border and enforce our borders.

I believe it is important to bring people out of the shadows of American society, so they don't have to fear the life they live. I believe it's important for our nation to uphold human rights and human dignity.

And the plan I've just proposed is one that'll do all that and achieve important objectives.

And I'm looking forward to working with the Congress. I told the president we're making progress. You know, there's a legislative process. It's -- some guy, some wag one time quipped it's like watching people make sausage; looks kind of -- probably appears a little unpleasant from your perspective.

But we're making progress. And I want a comprehensive bill. And I've made that very clear to the members of the Congress. And I will continue making it clear to members of Congress.

QUESTION: (OFF-MIKE)

BUSH: So no answer. I said I want a comprehensive bill. You're presuming there won't be a comprehensive bill. I believe there will be a comprehensive bill.

QUESTION: Mr. President, can you explain to Canadians...

BUSH: Which one?

QUESTION: That would be you, Mr. Bush.

BUSH: Me?

QUESTION: Could you explain to Canadians why they'll need to have a passport or an unspecified secure document before they cross over into the United States? And what would the impact be on both of our countries economically if Canada doesn't follow through by the deadline of the end of next year?

BUSH: I appreciate your bringing up this issue. This is an issue, obviously, that affects not only border crossings with Canada, it also affects border crossings with Mexico.

Congress passed a law and I intend to enforce the law. But the law said there ought to be a passport or passport-like document that I believe, if properly implemented, will facilitate travel and facilitate trade, not hinder travel and trade.

And the reason I believe that is I think we can be wise about the use of technologies to -- I mean, envision a card that can be swiped across a reading device that facilitates the movement of people.

Look, I understand this issue has created consternation. Your prime minister made it very clear to me that he's very worried that such an implementation of the law on the books will make it less likely people will want to travel between our countries. I've heard from business leaders who are concerned about the bookings for conventions.

And so what I've told the prime minister, and told President Fox as well, is that we have an obligation to work very closely with our counterparts to provide a set of standards as to what will meet the obligations of the law.

Again, I repeat to you, I believe this can be done in such a way that it makes future travel, future relations stronger, not weaker.

HARPER: Maybe I could just add to that.

Obviously, we are concerned. I expressed those concerns to President Bush and I know they've been expressed by Canadian business leaders as well.

The president is confronted with legislation passed by Congress and has a responsibility to act upon that legislation. And we understand that, we understand the security concerns that are behind that.

At the same time, we're obviously concerned that if we don't move quickly and properly on this, that this could have effects on trade and movement of people, conventions, you name it, that is not helpful to our economy or to our relationship.

HARPER: So we've agreed that Minister Day and Secretary Chertoff will meet as soon as possible to make this their top priority.

QUESTION (THROUGH TRANSLATOR): Mr. President Fox, two questions. The first is our Senate, last night, passed a law and I'd like to know what you're going to do. Will you veto that law or will you leave the legislative packet to the next president of our country?

And second you have spoken and you warned us Mexicans against populism and the demagogues who exist in presidential campaigns, and that we are going through a very difficult stage.

I'd like to ask, if you already forgot the populist language that you used in your own presidential campaign when you even talked about lipokatas (ph) and thing like that, what about talking about democracy using a populist language in the past, but now you are against candidates doing that?

FOX (THROUGH TRANSLATOR): In reference to the first item, the ministry of the interior will inform, on behalf of the federal government, our position.

And I celebrate. I'm glad that both the Congress, the lower chamber and the upper chamber, have exercised their autonomy, their freedom. They have discussed and approved one more of the many laws that have been approved in our country in these last five years of democratic and respectful government -- the autonomous and the independence and the other two powers.

As never before, we have lived this reality that's has been positive, fruitful in reference to the application of autonomy and constitutional freedom that all the other powers have.

Now, in reference to the second item, I can only say -- and I will say it very clearly -- from the 2nd of July, and since the 2nd of July of the year 2000, there has been absolute freedom. And that is of utmost importance for all of us.

FOX (THROUGH TRANSLATOR): Every single person should express according to its own decision and convenience, by all means respecting the rights of third parties.

But above all this, we have the freedom of both Mexican ladies and gentlemen that work in the mass media, press, newspapers, journals, TV. We have now a freedom that we never had in the past. Every single citizen in our country nowadays exercises this freedom openly. This is one of the great fruits and results of democracy won in the 2 of July of the year 2000.

QUESTION: President Bush, Secretary of State Rice is finding common ground with the British today on the view that the next step against Iran could be sanctions.

Do you agree that's the way to go if Iran fails to comply with the Security Council's 30-day deadline on its nuclear program?

BUSH: First, I do want to offer my country's assistance to the people affected by the recent earthquakes in Iran. We, obviously, have our differences with the Iranian government, but we do care about the suffering of Iranian people.

There is common agreement that the Iranians should not have a nuclear weapon, the capacity to make a nuclear weapon or the knowledge to make a nuclear weapon.

And the reason there's common agreement is because the Iranian government with such a weapon, as it's now constituted, would pose a serious threat to world security.

BUSH: Condoleezza Rice is in Europe today to discuss with the P- 5, the permanent members of the U.N. Security Council, plus Germany a strategy to go forward in a unified way that says to the Iranian government, "The world rejects your desires to have a nuclear weapon."

Condi is strategizing with those who will be making the U.N. Security Council decisions as to that united front. In other words, we agree on a goal. Now the question is how do we work together to achieve that goal.

And you're watching Secretary of State Rice work with our friends to remind the Iranians on a regular and consistent basis that if they want to participate in the international order of things, if they don't want to isolate themselves, they must listen very carefully to what we are saying with a unified voice.

QUESTION: My question is to President Fox, and I wonder if we could prevail upon you, sir, to answer it in English.

A few weeks ago, there as a very bloody murder here with the Ianiero family in Cancun. Two young Canadian mothers are very concerned back in Canada that Mexican authorities have mistakenly made them suspects. And there's concerns, also in Canada, the Mexicans may have bungled this investigation.

Can you tell us where this investigation is going? And can you assure those two young women that indeed they are not suspects?

FOX (THROUGH TRANSLATOR): Well, we are absolutely sorry, and we have our, well, feelings, that a crime has been carried out here in a hotel in Cancun. The attorneyship (ph) office is working, both the federal one and the local one, they're working on the only information we have at hand.

FOX (THROUGH TRANSLATOR): We're working closely. We're reporting -- the government and the authorities of Canada. Investigation is being carried out. So far we cannot make any further comments.

Thank you.

HARPER: (OFF-MIKE) say that we do appreciate the full cooperation of the Mexican government, Mexican police at all levels. There have been consultations with our officials. And I've spoken to the RCMP and they assure me that that has been the case, particularly since the commitments made by Secretary Derbez in Ottawa.

So we are working together on this. We're fully apprised of the situation.

I can just add one small thing, which is that we're told once again -- and I think we've been saying this repeatedly for some time -- there is no extradition demand pending, nor is there one anticipated in the near future.

And that's probably about all I can say.

FOX (THROUGH TRANSLATOR): Thank you.

(APPLAUSE)

END