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Yesterday I pledged to reach out to the whole nation, and today I'm provi ng that I'm willing to reach out to everybody by including the White Hou se press corps. This week the voters of America set the direction of our nation for the n ext four years. I'm honored by the support of my fellow citizens, and I' m ready for the job. And every American has a stak e in the outcome of this war: Republicans, Democrats and independents al l over our country. We have a duty, a solemn duty, to protect the American people, and w e will. Every civilized country also has a stake in the outcome of this war. Whatever our past disagreements, we share a common enemy. And we have com mon duties: to protect our peoples, to confront disease and hunger and p overty in troubled regions of the world. I'll continue to reach out to our friends and allies, our partners in the EU and NATO, to promote development and progress, to defeat the terrori sts and to encourage freedom and democracy as alternatives to tyranny an d terror. I also look forward to working with the present Congress and the new Cong ress that will arrive in January. I congratulate the men and women who have just been elected to the House and the Senate. I will join with old friends and new friends to make pro gress for all Americans. Congress will return later this month to finish this current session. I u rge members to pass the appropriations bill that remain, showing spendin g discipline while focusing on our nation's priorities. Our government also needs the very best intelligence, especially in a tim e of war. So I urge the Congress to pass an effective intelligence refor m bill that I can sign into law. The new Congress that begins its work next year will have serious respons ibilities and historic opportunities. To accelerate the momentum of this economy and to keep creating jobs, we must take practical measures to help our job creators, the entrepreneurs and the small-business owners. We must confront the frivolous lawsuits that are driving up the cost of h ealth care and hurting doctors and patients. We must continue the work o f education reform to bring high standards and accountability, not just to our elementary and secondary schools, but to our high schools as well . We need to get rid of the needless paperwork that makes our economy -- that is a drag on ou r economy, to make sure our economy is the most competitive in the world . We must show our leadership by strengthening Social Security for our chil dren and our grandchildren. It is an opportunity to help mi llions of our fellow citizens find security and independence that come f rom owning something -- from ownership. In the election of 2004, large issues were set before our country. The campaign over, Americans are expecting a bipartisan effort and result s I'll reach out to everyone who shares our goals. I'm looking forward to serving this country for four more years. I want to thank you all for your hard work in the campaign. I told you th at the other day and you probably thought I was just seeking votes. We all put in long hours and you were away from your fa milies for a long period of time. But the country is better off when we have a vigorous and free press covering our elections. As you look at your second term, how much is the war in Iraq going to cost? And in the Middle East more broadly, do you agree with Tony Blair that revitalizing the Middle East peace process is the single most pressing political issue facing the world? BUSH: Now that I've got the will of the people at my back, I'm going to s tart enforcing the one-question rule. I agree with him that the Middle East peace is a very part of a peaceful world. I have been working on Middle Eastern peace ever since I've been the president. I laid down a very hopeful strategy in June of 2002, and my hope is that we'll make good progress. I think it's very important for our friends the Israelis to have a peacef ul Palestinian state living on their border. It's very important for the Palestinian people to have a peaceful, hopeful future. That's why I art iculated a two-state vision in that Rose Garden speech. Listen, we will work with the Allawi government to a chieve our objective, which is elections. Our commanders will have t hat which they need to complete their missions. And in terms of the costs, we'll work with the OMB and the Defense Depart ment to bring forth to Congress a realistic assessment of what the cost will be. Will you seek a consensus candidate for the Supreme Court if there's an opening? Again, you violated the one-question rule right off the bat. O bviously, you didn't listen to the will of the people. First of all, there's no vacancy for the Supreme Court, and I will deal w ith a vacancy when there is one. I told the people on the campaign trail that I'll pick somebody who knows the difference between personal opini on and the strict interpretation of the law. And if people are interested in knowing the kind of judges I'll pick, loo k at the record. I've sent up a lot of judges: well-qualified people who know the law, who represent a judicial temperament that I agree with an d who are qualified to hold the bench. BUSH: We put out an agenda that everybody understands and work with peopl e to achieve the agenda. And right away, right after Sep tember the 11th, we worked very closely together to secure our country. There is a common ground to be had when it comes to a foreign policy tha t says the most important objective is to protect the American people an d spread freedom and democracy. There's common ground when it comes to m aking sure the intelligence services are able to provide good, actionabl e intelligence to protect our people. And this is not a Republican issue, it's a Republican and Democrat issue. On foreign policy more broadly, do yo u believe that America has an image problem in the world right now becau se of your efforts in response to the 9/11 attacks? And as you talk down the stretch about building alliances, talk about what you'll do to buil d on those alliances and to deal with these image problems, particularly in the Islamic world. Listen, I made some very hard decisions, decisions to protect ourselves, decisions to spread and freedom, and I understand that certain capitals in certain countries, those decisions were not popular. You know, you asked me to put that in the context of the response on Sept ember the 11th. Our first response, of course, was chasing down the terr or networks, which we will continue to do. And we've got great response around the world in order to do that. There' s over 90 nations involved with sharing information, finding terrorists and bringing them to justice. That's a broad coalition and we'll continu e to strengthen it. I laid out a doctrine, David, that said if you harbor terrorists, you're as equally as guilty as the terrorists, and that doctrine was ignored by the Taliban and we removed the Taliban. And I fully understand some people didn't agree with that decision. But I believe that when the American president speaks, he better mean what he says in order to keep the world peaceful. And I believe we have a solemn duty -- whether or not some people agree w ith it or not -- to protect the American people. And the Taliban and the ir harboring of al-Qaida represented a direct threat to the American peo ple. And, of course, then the Iraq issue is one that people disagreed with. And I don't need to rehash my case, but I did so -- I made the decision I made in order to protect our country first and foremost. But as I do so, I will reach out to others and explain why I make the decisions I make. There is a certain attitude in the world by some that says that, you know , it's a waste of time to try to promote free societies in parts of the world. Remember, I went to London to talk abo ut our vision of spreading freedom throughout the Greater Middle East. And I fully understand that that might rankle some and be viewed by some as folly. I just strongly disagree with those who do not see the wisdom of trying t o promote free societies around the world. If we are interested in prote cting our country...
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