Pelosi Remarks Before Meeting with Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd

Washington, D.C. -- Speaker Nancy Pelosi held a photo opportunity this afternoon before meeting in her office with Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd.  Below are their remarks:

Speaker Pelosi.  Good afternoon. Nice to see you all again. It is a great pleasure and privilege for me to welcome, once again, Prime Minister Rudd of Australia to the Capitol of the United States.

When it comes to the national security of our country, and many other areas of international relations, Australia and the United States are great friends.

I think that all of us appreciate the role that Australia is playing in Afghanistan -- and I want to extend my sympathy to you, Mr. Prime Minister, on the loss that was recently suffered there by Australian troops.

I also want to convey the sympathy of the American people and the Congress of the United States, our sympathies on your losses in the fires that have beset Australia. As a Californian, I have some appreciation for what you have been through -- but not of course not a full appreciation. So, please, accept our sympathy on that score.

We look forward to having a lively discussion about global economic challenges we face, about global warming, and about the war in Afghanistan.

And I want to recognize what an honor it is again to welcome the Prime Minister and to acknowledge him for his strong leadership role -- not only globally, but very specifically, regionally -- and how valuable that is to the resolution of some of the challenges that we face.

Welcome Mr. Prime Minister.

Prime Minister Rudd.  Thank you Speaker Pelosi.

It's great to be back in the United States Congress with our friends in the Senate and in the House. This is one of the great global institutions of democracy and its with our other members in the great family of democracy that its always great to be back on Capitol Hill.

I'd also like to congratulate the United States Congress for their strong, decisive action in supporting the stimulus package for the United States economy. This is a stimulus measure which is in concert with stimulus measures being adopted by governments around the world in response to the global economic crisis. And our friends in the United States Congress, in partnership with the U.S. Administration and President Obama -- whom I met this morning -- have done the right and necessary thing for the global economy in implementing that stimulus package.

Also, to be with our friends and allies, the United States, and our commandants in Afghanistan -- this is the right and necessary thing to do, given the loss of life which has occurred -- not just in New York and Washington and elsewhere, but other places around in the world through terrorist acts where terrorists have been trained in Afghanistan.

And on top of that, Speaker, on behalf of the government, thank you to all of our friends in America who have expressed such heartfelt concern for those who have suffered a loss of lives -- of friends of family, and of property -- in the recent bushfires in Australia.

And we look forward to our discussions here on Capitol Hill today