Remarks Following Discussions With King Abdullah II of Jordan

President Bush. Your Majesty, welcome back to the Oval Office. It is my honor to receive you here again. And every time you come, I enjoy our conversations, and I'm impressed by the progress that your good country is making.

Today we had a chance to talk about the Jordanian economy and the growth of the economy. And the amount of trade between our countries is growing, which is to the benefit of the Jordanian people as well as to the American people. And I appreciate your leadership.

We also talked about, of course, Iraq. I expressed my strong belief that the Iraqi elections must go forward on time. And I appreciate His Majesty listening to my beliefs. And I assured His Majesty that the United States and my Government will be involved with Middle Eastern peace and that I believe that two states living side by side in peace, a Palestinian state and an Israeli state, is necessary for there to be peace and that we have a moment, a window of opportunity, and I intend to work very closely with His Majesty to seize that moment for the good of the Palestinian people and for the good of the Israelis, so that we can achieve peace that I know is on your mind.

So welcome, sir. I'm really glad to have you back.

King Abdullah. Thank you. Thank you, Mr. President. We're delighted to be back here and to thank you, Mr. President, for, really, the outstanding support that you are giving our part of the world, and the President's dedication to bring hope and peace, hopefully, to Israelis and Palestinians. I know that you have been committed in the past 4 years in identifying a future for the Israelis and the Palestinians and the Israelis and the Arabs. And again, the President today brought home to me how important that is. And I'm very delighted with that strong stand that you've always taken for a better Middle East.

As you mentioned, sir, we talked about the future of Iraq, and we work very closely together to bring a transition in Iraq as quickly as possible and a future for the Iraqi people. And I tremendously appreciate the effort that you've given all of us and your vision for a better world for all of us in our part of the world.

Thank you.

President Bush. Thank you, sir. Welcome. Appreciate you. Thank you.