And by the way, opening up ANWR is not long term, it's intermediate term. But it sends a clear signal, is what it does. It sends a clear signal to the markets that the United States is not going to restrict exploration. The United States is going to encourage exploration. And in the meantime we have done, increasing CAFTA, for example. But the market is going to do as much for encouraging conservation as anything else is now. And so I firmly believe that — you know, if there was a magic wand to wave, I'd be waving it, of course. ...I think that if there was a magic wand, and say, okay, drop price, I'd do that. ...But there is no magic wand to wave right now.

I told you I wasn't going to get into details about what they asked me and then I just fell into your trap.

I'm glad I did it. I'm glad I took the time. This is an important commission, and it's important that they ask the questions they ask so that they can help make recommendations necessary to better protect our homeland. It was — I enjoyed it.

REPORTER: Mr. President, as you know, a lot of critics suggested that you wanted to appear jointly with the Vice President so that you two could keep your stories straight, or something —
DUBYA: Yes —
REPORTER: Can you tell us what you think of the value of appearing together and how you would answer those critics?
DUBYA: Yes — first of all, look, if we had something to hide we wouldn't have met with them in the first place. We answered all their questions. And as I say, I think I — I came away good about the session, because I wanted them to know how I set strategy, how we run the White House, how we deal with threats. The Vice President answered a lot of their questions — answered all their questions. And I think it was important for them to see our body language, as well, how we work together. But it was — you know, the commissioners will speak for themselves over time. They will let you know whether they thought it was a fruitful series of discussions. I think they did. I think they found it to be useful.

I also want to thank Tony Fauci. He works for the NIH. He is on the leading edge of finding the vaccines that will help those who suffer from AIDS.

I don't have a calendar on my desk, that beautiful desk, that says, by such-and-such a date, you will be finished. That's not how I think.

You see, the President is — can still learn.

If America goes to sleep, the rest of the world is in trouble. If we blink, the rest of the world will close their eyes. So we're not blinking, and we're not going to sleep.

And we can show the world the true face of America, as well. Oh, it's a diverse face, no question about it, which is our strength, not our weakness. But it's a face that can be bound by common goals and common values. It's a face that can stand squarely in the face of evil by the collective acts of people doing good in America.

I do not have a calendar on my desk that says, at such and such a time you will stop. You, President Bush, on such and such a date will have run out the string and it's time for you to quit — that calendar doesn't exist. Because my mind-frame is this — when it comes to defending our freedoms, no matter how long it takes, that's exactly what this country is going to do.

Reading is the new civil right. Because if you can't read, you cannot possibly be educated, and if you're not educated, you can't succeed. And so in order to make sure — in order to make sure that everybody — and I mean everybody — I don't care how you vote, everybody gets a shot. We've got to make sure that everybody gets educated.

And I — there is a role for government. When we fund programs, we ought not to discriminate against faith-based programs. And we ought not to cause the faith-based program to have to change its mission in order to receive any money. Otherwise it won't be a faith-based program. It will fall into the old government program.

You know, in Washington there's a lot of — there can be a lot of noise, a lot of shrill voices, people who are — people up there sometimes are the ones who like to divide people into camps and call names and point fingers.

To put it in Midland, Texas terms, any time we get a hint, we're following up on it.