The President's news conference with President Hamid Karzai of Afghanistan

Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents, June 21, 2004

President Bush. Caren [Caren Bohan, Reuters].

Muqtada Al Sadr

Q. Mr. President, you've referred to Muqtada Al Sadr as a thug, and your administration has promised to bring him to justice. Is it appropriate for the new interim Iraqi government to now welcome him into the political fold?

President Bush. The interim Iraqi government will deal with Al Sadr in the way they see fit. That's--they're sovereign. When we say we transfer full sovereignty, we mean we transfer full sovereignty, and they will deal with him appropriately.

Let's see here. Do you want to run the table, or do you want to go eat lunch?

President Karzai. Go 'ahead.

President Bush. Run the table, okay. Holly [Holly Rosenkrantz, Bloomberg News].

Q. Mr. President--

President Bush. Hold on a second, I'll get you in a minute, please. A little patience in front of the President here.

Holly.

National Economy

Q. Mr. President, there are signs that inflation may be on the horizon in the U.S. economy. How concerned are you about this? What are you--I mean, do you think this might slow down the recovery that you've been so happy about? Also, if I can ask you a followup on the security about Saddam Hussein. What guarantee--

President Bush. How many questions? One question apiece. If we're going to stand out here in 100-degree temperature, let's just have one question.

Q. Okay.

President Bush. You can pass your question on to some other person, and I might call on them. I'm not so sure I'm going to be so international this press conference. [Laughter]

The first question was about am I concerned about economic vitality? I'm pleased with what?

Q. --inflation--

President Bush. No, I thought you said am I worried that inflation is going to--what I'm pleased about is the fact that our economy is strong and is getting stronger. All indications are--is that the economic stimulus plan we put in place is working. There's strong growth. There is--there are new jobs being added. Consumer spending is up. Disposable--after-tax disposable income is high. In other words, the ingredients for continued economic growth are present, and I'm very pleased. I'm particularly pleased because it means that workers are able to do their duties to their families.

And I am an optimistic person. I guess if you want to try to find something to be pessimistic about, you can find it, no matter how hard you look, you know? I'm optimistic. I have seen what we have come through. We've been through a recession, a national emergency, corporate scandals, a war, and yet, our economy is incredibly strong, which speaks to the great vitality of the American entrepreneurial spirit and the vibrancy of the small-business sector. And the plans we put in place are working.

There's more to do. We need an energy plan out of the United States Congress if we expect our economy to grow in the long term. We need tort reform. We need to make sure that the--we deal with the cost of health care in a rational way by not empowering the Federal Government, I might add, but by empowering consumers. And I've laid out such a plan to do so.