A Day in the Life of President Bush (photos): 12.15.05

The President met with out-of-country Iraqi voters in the Oval Office today the day that Iraqi people go to the poles in record numbers where in some areas voting had to be extended because of the great numbers turning out.

President George W. Bush talks about levee reconstruction during a briefing in the Oval Office of the White House. The President is joined by Secretary Michael Chertoff, left, Department of Homeland Security; Don Powell, Federal Coordinator for the Recovery and Rebuilding of the Gulf Coast; Mayor Ray Nagin of New Orleans, and Lt. Gen. Carl Strock, Commander and Chief of Engineers, US Army Corps of Engineers.

President George W Bush meets with Sen McCain & Sen Warner at the White House to discuss position on interrogation

Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld held a news briefing with Joint Chiefs Chairman, Marine Gen. Peter Pace

Florida Gov Jeb Bush speaks to the audience at the Third Annual IT Florida Tech forum at Lake Buena Vista, Florida

Former President George Bush attended a news conference with United Nations Secretary General Kofi Annan at the United Nations in New York after Annan named him to head up the South Asian earthquake relief effort, primarily in Pakistan.

QUOTE OF THE DAY

President Visits with Iraqi Out-Of-Country Voters
The Oval Office

THE PRESIDENT: I've just had the really enjoyable experience of visiting with some Iraqi citizens who voted in the elections today. And you might notice, they've got their -- got the little ink-stained fingers there.

And, first of all, I was struck by how joyous they were to be able to vote for a government -- a permanent government under a new constitution. We take it for granted in America because we tend to -- we vote quite often in this country. These good folks got to vote for the first time for a permanent government.

And there's a lot of -- lot of joy, as far as I'm concerned, in seeing the Iraqi people accomplish this major milestone in the march to democracy. Millions of people voted. And I haven't seen all the tabulations of the vote, but we're certain that the turnout was significant and that the violence was down.

And, first, I want to congratulate the Iraqi citizens for being courageous and in defying the terrorists and refusing to be cowed into not voting. I believe freedom is universal. I believe the Iraqi citizen cares just as much about freedom and living a free life as the American citizen does.

Secondly, I want to thank our embassy for doing such good work there and working with the Iraqi citizens to get this vote off. And I want to thank the international community for participating in these elections. This is a major step forward in achieving our objective, which is an ally -- having a democratic Iraq, a country able to sustain itself and defend itself, a country that will be an ally in the war on terror, and a country which will send such a powerful example to others in the region, whether they live in Iran or Syria, for example.

I've assured these good Iraqi citizens that the United States will stay with them and complete this -- complete this job. They've expressed concern about listening to the commentary that we'll leave before the job is done -- they don't have to worry. We're doing the right thing. And we've got partners in peace with the Iraqi citizens.

I want to thank you all again for coming. May God bless your citizens. May God bless a free Iraq. I appreciate you being here.

PHOTO OF THE DAY

President George W. Bush stands with out-of-country Iraqi voters Thursday in the Oval Office of the White House. The President told the media later, "I was struck by how joyous they were to be able to vote for a government -- a permanent government under a new constitution."

An Iraqi out-of-country voter (L) shows her ink-stained finger to U.S. President George W. Bush (C) in the White House Oval Office in Washington December 15, 2005

President Bush, right, shakes hands with Fadi Abdul Ahad, left, as Zainab Kassem Mohammad, center, looks on during his meeting with Iraqi expatriate voters, Thursday, Dec. 15, 2005

President George W. Bush(C) speaks to the press with Iraqi citizens who voted in the US Balal Wahab(R) and Zainab Kassem Mohammad at the White House December 15, 2005

President Bush, second from the right, looks at the voting fingers of Iraqi expatriate voters, Thursday, Dec. 15, 2005 in Washington. With Bush are, from left to right, Fadi Abdul Ahad, Zainab Kassem Mohammad, Bush and Bilal A. Wahab.

Iraqis show their ink-stained fingers outside a polling station in the southern city of Basra. US President George W. Bush hailed Iraq's historic parliamentary elections as 'a major step forward' in building a democracy in the war-torn country and bringing US troops home

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