Office of the Press Secretary
 August 9, 2005
 President Meets with Economic Team
 Bush Ranch
 Crawford, Texas
 12:00 P.M. CDT
 Q Thank you, Mr. President. You just said you were deeply suspicious of Iran's desires. Then, my question is, why does the United States support a civilian nuclear program for Iran, but not for North Korea?
 THE PRESIDENT: Yes. The Iranians have expressed a desire to have a civilian nuclear program, and we've said that it is the -- it makes sense only so long as the plant is under strong international inspection regimes and the uranium used to run the power plant is provided by a country with whom we're comfortable -- with which we're comfortable, and the spent fuel is collected. In other words, there will be a strong regime -- I talked about this at the National Defense University speech, about how we can enhance the spread of nuclear power, but in a peaceful way that will assure countries that spent fuel will not be enriched for bomb-making capacities.
 Secondly, the Iranians have been, we hope, straightforward in their willingness to accept this kind of international cooperation.
 North Korea is in a different situation. The North Koreans have -- didn't tell the truth when it came to their enrichment programs. But what's different about it is the South Koreans have offered power. In other words, the South Koreans have said, we'll build and share power with you, which seems to me to make a good -- good sense, so long as the North Koreans give up their nuclear weapons, so long as there's full transparency, so long as there's the ability for the international community to know exactly what's going on in a potential weapons program.
 The strategy is the same, by the way, in terms of dealing diplomatically with both countries. As I mentioned, the EU 3 is taking the lead -- we have a little different strategy, obviously, different players with North Korea, but nevertheless, it's the same concept: A group of nations are negotiating on behalf of the free world to let, in this case, Kim Jong-il understand that we're united in our desire to -- for you to give up any ambitions to develop a nuclear weapon, and united in our desire, by the way, to prevent you from proliferating.
 Bill Roberts. This will be the last question.
 Q Thank you, Mr. President. Americans have grown accustomed to historically low interest rates over the last few years. How concerned are you and your economic advisors that, as interest rates rise now, that could slow the momentum in the U.S. economy?
 THE PRESIDENT: I think -- first of all, as you know, that the Federal Reserve is completely independent from the White House. They make decisions independent of politics, and that's important. Ben used to serve on the Federal Reserve Board, so he's -- he has had some insight into the workings of the Federal Reserve, but our job is to deal with fiscal policy, and the Federal Reserve deals with monetary policy.
 And as I've said all along, I trust the judgment of Chairman Alan Greenspan. He is -- he makes decisions based upon facts, not based upon politics. And I think it's important for the American people to understand that.
 In terms of whether interest rates will -- the effect interest rates will have on our economy, I think we're more concerned about energy prices and health care prices. Those are the two areas that we see as having a greater effect on potential economic -- on the growth, on the future of economic growth. And that's why the energy bill is an important start, and that's why we've laid out initiatives that we think will help American families deal with the -- and small businesses deal with the rising cost of health care.
 Listen, thank you all. Great to see you. Mark, good to see you, sir. Thank you.
 END 12:17 P.M. CDT

 



 

 
 
 

곽중철 (2005-08-14 09:17:58) 
 
Office of the Press Secretary
 August 10, 2005
 Press Gaggle by Trent Duffy
 Aboard Air Force One
 En route Chicago, Illinois
 9:10 A.M. CDT
 MR. DUFFY: Good morning. The President's official schedule: he had his daily intelligence briefing. We're traveling now to Chicago, Illinois, where he will sign H.R. 3, the Transportation Equity Act. You have all the details about the transportation infrastructure bill. The President will be talking about why it's good for our economy and how it will reduce congestion, how it will increase productivity and how it will increase safety.
 And then he flies back to the ranch, and that's all he has for his official activities. We have Senator Inhofe on board, the Chairman of the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee. That's what I have.
 Q North Korea is blaming the U.S., alone, for the stall in the talks, and says that they must be able to have a peaceful nuclear program. Is there any scenario where the United States can support a peaceful nuclear program, perhaps with some oversight, as in the case of Iran?
 MR. DUFFY: I think the President addressed that yesterday, and I don't have anything to add. As far as the North Korean talks, Christopher Hill, our representative there, has said repeatedly that the United States, as well as the entire five nations, are trying very hard to reach a conclusion and agreement there, and we continue to hold out hope that the North Koreans will join us in that agreement.
 Q He also expressed some concern that perhaps these talks weren't going to result in any progress. Does the White House still think that they will?
 MR. DUFFY: We're obviously backing Mr. Hill and we're hopeful that they can find some agreement. But North Korea needs to make a strategic decision to set aside its ambition for nuclear weapons, that the five nations are in consensus that there must be a nuclear free Korean peninsula.(하략)