Thank you all for coming. This is part of our effort to get to know each other. And if Thomas and Grassley keep coming up here, we're going to get to know them too good, aren't we? [Laughter]
I appreciate the Members of the Congress for being here this morning. Thank you all for coming. We're going to have a good, wide-ranging discussion, hopefully focused on tax relief. I'm pleased to see the CBO members. I think it helps further the case that there is enough money to pay down debt, to meet priorities, and to give some of the money back to the people who pay the bills—that's the taxpayers.
Pan Am 103 Trial Verdict
I also appreciate so very much the Scottish court has made a decision and convicted a member of the Libyan intelligence service for the 1988 bombing of Pan Am 103. I appreciate the work of the United States Government team which contributed to this guilty verdict.
Nothing can change the suffering and loss of this terrible act, but I hope the families do find some solace that a guilty verdict was rendered. I want to assure the families and victims the United States Government will continue to pressure Libya to accept responsibility for this act and to compensate the families.
Thank you all for coming.
NOTE: The President spoke at 9:25 a.m. in the Cabinet Room at the White House. In his remarks, he referred to Representative William M. Thomas, chairman, House Committee on Ways and Means; and Senator Charles Grassley, chairman, Senate Committee on Finance. A tape was not available for verification of the content of these remarks.
George W. Bush, Remarks Prior to a Meeting With Bipartisan Congressional Leaders Online by Gerhard Peters and John T. Woolley, The American Presidency Project https://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/node/213458