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

Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents, June 21, 2004

I mean, there's other things we need to do. We need to make sure that we don't become economic isolationists. And--no, I'm optimistic about the future.

Roberts [John Roberts, CBS News], I take it you had a question to ask.

Q. If I could just pick up on that, sir, about pessimism. Your presumed Democratic challenger is spending this week and next harshly critical of your economic policies. And while things have looked good in the last few months, could the case not be made that over the longer term of your administration, that you're still operating at an economic deficit?

And what do you plan to do to avoid the fate of Bush 41 who didn't get credit for an improving economy in an election year?

President Bush. Well, I think one thing the American people have seen is that I know how to lead. When I first came to office, the economy was headed into a recession, and we acted. We acted in a way that called upon the true strength of the American people, and that is we encouraged the entrepreneurial spirit to flourish by letting people keep more of their own money.

In other words, some might have said, "Well, let's strengthen the Federal Government." I made the decision to strengthen the pocketbooks of the people. And they had more money to spend, and our policy is working. And not only that, we stimulated growth in the small-business sector. See, I recognized most new jobs are created by small-business owners, and a significant part of the economic stimulus plan was aimed at small businesses so that they would have confidence to expand and grow, and they have.

And we also have overcome corporate scandal, which we acted in a bipartisan fashion on to make it clear that we're not going to tolerate dishonesty in the boardrooms of America. In other words, we acted, and the economy is getting better.

We've overcome a lot. We've overcome a lot through good policy, but we've overcome a lot because I have great faith in the American people, in the small-business owners and the entrepreneurs and the workers of the country. And we're getting--not only are we strong today, we're getting stronger. Our economy is the strongest of any major industrialized nation in the world, and there's more work to do, see.

Go ahead, Terry [Terry Moran, ABC News]. No, you've asked your question. Terry. Hold on for a second. Terry. Thank you, though.

Transfer of Iraqi Prisoners/Saddam Hussein

Q. Mr. President, back on the Iraqis being detained by U.S. forces. If the Iraqi government is truly going to be sovereign after June 30th, and if they are expressing the desire to take control over their own citizens--

President Bush. Right.

Q. --and the coalition disappears, by what authority--

President Bush. And what coalition disappears?

Q. If the Coalition Provisional Authority, I'm sorry--

President Bush. Okay.

Q. --the entity disappears--

President Bush. Yes.

Q. --by what authority does the United States continue to hold the citizens of a sovereign country--

President Bush. I fully agree that it's a sovereign country. That's why we're working with them to make sure that there is good security. Look, nobody wants Saddam Hussein to leave, and when there's a transfer of responsibility, we want to make sure that he is secure. He's a killer. He is a thug. He needs to be brought to trial. We want to make sure that the transfer to a sovereign government is done in a timely way and in a secure way. That's what we're discussing with the government.