FROM THE OFFICE OF PUBLIC AFFAIRS

Today, Secretary Jim Baker and I had the opportunity to continue our discussions on the effort to help Iraq restructure and reduce its official debt. I assured Secretary Baker the Treasury will continue to provide necessary resources to support his vital mission. I welcome Secretary Baker as the President’s personal envoy to work with heads of state. He will complement my efforts working with finance ministers and the international financial institutions and Secretary Powell’s efforts with his counterparts. In our meeting we also briefly discussed the nature of Iraq’s debt and strategies to resolve this issue. We agreed that it is imperative to move quickly to solve this problem if the Iraqi people are to have a chance to succeed as a free, democratic and prosperous nation. As President Bush said, the issue of Iraq’s debt must be resolved in a manner that is fair and that does not unjustly burden a struggling nation at its moment of hope and promise.

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