The President's news conference with Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi of Italy in Rome, Italy

Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents, June 14, 2004

June 5, 2004

Prime Minister Berlusconi. Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to Villa Madama today, which has been around for more than 500 years. I'd like to very cordially and warmly welcome the President of the United States. I welcome him on my own behalf and on behalf of the Government and on behalf of the Italian people that have really welcomed the U.S. President very warmly because we remember what the people of the U.S. have done for us and for our freedom.

Later on during this press conference, I'm certain that I'll have the time to go into these issues that link us and connect us to the United States because of our past. But I would like also to mention to you why we feel very close to the United States today, and we will so in the future.

And I'd like for the President to now take the floor.

President Bush. Mr. Prime Minister, thank you very much. Laura and I are so pleased to be in Rome to commemorate the 60th anniversary of the Allied liberation of the Eternal City. I'm proud to stand with you, Mr. Prime Minister, my friend. I always look forward to our conversations. I listen to your advice. I trust your judgment. I take you for your word.

We are bound together by ties of family history and shared values. The friendship between our two nations has withstood many trials, including those perilous times in 1944 that we recall and we honor today. Over two centuries, our Governments have been allies and adversaries. And today, the affection between our peoples have never been stronger.

For the last 60 years, our Alliance has helped secure the peace of the world. Italy stood on the frontlines of freedom throughout the cold war. Italy's membership in NATO has given strength and purpose to that vital Alliance. And today in the Balkans and in Afghanistan and in Iraq, Americans and Italians are once again defending freedom against the forces of oppression and terror.

All Americans join me in honoring the more than 20 Italians who have fallen in the cause of liberty in Iraq. Their sacrifice was worthy of the ideals of this great nation. Their service will help make Italy, America, and the world more secure, as a free and democratic Iraq arises in the heart of the Middle East.

Our coalition is moving forward with a plan to help Iraq achieve democracy and freedom. Later this month, we'll hand over authority to a sovereign Iraqi government. The members of that government were announced earlier this week in Baghdad, and they are a team of Iraqi patriots that reflect the religious, ethnic, and religious diversity of the Iraqi nation.

Italian and American military forces will remain in Iraq to help Iraqis establish the security so that the Iraqi people can live their lives free of fear and so that democracy can take root. Our countries will continue to rebuild Iraq's infrastructure and help Iraq's economy grow and prosper, and we will help Iraq move toward a national election that will bring forward new leaders empowered by the Iraqi people.

These efforts deserve the full support of the international community. More importantly, a free Iraq deserves our best efforts, our hard work. Members of the U.N. Security Council and Iraq's new leaders are working toward a new resolution that will express international support for Iraq's interim government. The Security Council resolution reaffirm the world's security commitment to the Iraqi nation and encourage other U.N. members to join in helping the Iraqi people as they establish a representative government. I want to thank you for your help in this resolution, Mr. Prime Minister.

I also look forward to joining the Prime Minister in Sea Island, Georgia, next week and in Turkey at the NATO conference. Of course, at Sea Island we'll be having the G8, where we'll discuss the role our great alliances can play in helping Iraq and the role we can play in helping spread democracy throughout the world.

This war on terror we face, Mr. Prime Minister, is the challenge of our time. Democracy and prosperity are the antidotes to the bitterness and hatred that feed terrorism. As freedom advances in the Middle East, more and more people in that region will be inspired--inspired to peace, inspired to dedicate their lives to the welfare of their families and to the success of their nations. The bitterness and burning hatreds that feed terrorism will fade away, and America and Italy and the rest of the world will be more safe.

I want to thank you, Mr. Prime Minister, and I want to thank the Italian people for their friendship and courage and vision and hope for the future. We remember the sons of Italy who have given their lives to ensure a better future. I look forward to continuing to work with you to make the world a more secure and better place.

Thank you, sir.

Prime Minister Berlusconi. Thank you, Mr. President. And I wish to reaffirm here before you and before the press from the U.S. the feelings that are shared by a large majority of the Italian people towards your country that has welcomed millions of Italians that sought a better future in your country. And it was, for them, a very generous home. This is a first reason why we feel great gratitude towards you and your country.