*EPF502 10/04/2002
Bush to Speak to Nation October 7 on Iraq
(White House Report, October 4) (440)

President Bush will make a speech on Iraq to the nation the evening of Monday, October 7, from Cincinnati, Ohio, White House Press Secretary Ari Fleischer announced October 4.

Bush will deliver the speech at 8:00 p.m. (EDT) from the Cincinnati Museum Center.

The President will talk about the threat Saddam Hussein and Iraq present to world peace, Fleischer said, adding that Bush "thinks the nation and the Congress will benefit from a discussion of the issues involved and the important moment our nation faces." Fleischer said "it will be a notable and newsworthy speech."

Bush will give the speech to a seated audience of some 400 to 500 people at an event hosted by the Chamber of Commerce, in conjunction with the United Way and the World Affairs Council of Cincinnati.

The speech will come at the start of the week the U.S. Congress is expected to vote on the proposed Bush compromise resolution on Iraq that authorizes the use of force in Iraq.

President Bush "looks at the debate that is about to begin in the Congress and the vote that is about to take place in the Congress as a part of the great tradition of America's democracy, in which the people's elected representatives speak from their heart, speak on the basis of principle" Fleischer said. "And whether they agree or disagree with the President, they inform the public about their views and why they hold those views.

"And the President sees this as his role as President to similarly speak to the country through this audience in a way that is thoughtful, that is deliberative, so that the issues that the country is asking itself can be addressed by its elected leaders, including the President," Fleischer said.

Fleischer spoke to reporters on Air Force One as they accompanied the President to campaign fundraising events in Boston, to be followed by a weekend at his father's home in Kennebunkport, Maine.

In a speech in Boston to supporters of Mitt Romney, the Republican Party nominee for governor of Massachusetts, Bush said he wants the United Nations to be effective in disarming Iraq.

"The choice is theirs and the choice is also Mr. Saddam Hussein's choice. There are no negotiations; there's nothing to negotiate. He said he wouldn't have weapons of mass destruction, and that's what those of us who love peace expect. We expect him not to have weapons of mass destruction.

"But I want to tell you all, for the sake of our freedom, for the sake of peace, if the United Nations won't make the decision, if Saddam Hussein continues to lie and deceive, the United States will lead a coalition to disarm this man before he harms America and our friends," Bush said.

(Distributed by the Office of International Information Programs, U.S. Department of State. Web site: http://usinfo.state.gov)

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