Bush removes press from Q&A by dutch students

http://www.whitehouse.gov/news/releases/2005/05/20050508-1.html

Q Thank you, very much. Mr. President, I have a question relating of concerning the terrorism. And you made many laws after 9/11, many -- many laws and many measures. And I'm wondering, will there be a time when you drop those laws and when you decrease the measures?

PRESIDENT BUSH: No, I appreciate that question. Look, a free society such as ours, obviously, must balance the government's most important duty, which is to protect the American people from harm with the civil liberties of our citizens. ...

PRIME MINISTER BALKENENDE: You're convinced by the President? (Laughter.)

....

Q I've a question about the reason you are here. We are honoring the soldiers who died in the second world war. In the years later, America was involved in a lot of conflicts, in a lot of wars. What's the benefit when you can ask to your people -- you are, in the first place, President of America, you're responsible for your own people --

PRESIDENT BUSH: Right --

Q -- what can you ask from your people, not only the dead and the wounded, but also economic consequences? Last week I received a brochure about raise funding for U.S. aid for poor people. So what --

PRESIDENT BUSH: You received -- I beg your pardon -- received a brochure for?

Q -- raise funding for poor people --

PRESIDENT BUSH: Oh, to raise funding, yes.

Q -- the economic consequences of all this involvement in conflicts, what's the balance between the responsibility to the world and the responsibility to your own people?

PRESIDENT BUSH: I think we have a responsibility to both. And at home, of course, economic vitality is really important, and to make sure the entrepreneurial spirit is alive and well. Seventy percent of new jobs in America are created by small business owners...

And that's why I'm such a believer in free trade, because trade ultimately -- the benefits of trade, the benefits of economy, the benefits of growing businesses far exceed the capacity of governments to hand out aid to people. And so, in Africa, for example, we've got a policy of feeding the hungry and providing money for help, but we've also got a free trade policy with Africa, which is helping these economies grow, which provides opportunity and hope for people that are living in those countries. So we have a balanced obligation at home and abroad.