January 10, 2008

THE PRESIDENT: Madam Minister, thank you very much for your hospitality. It's been a -- it's been a moving moment for me and the delegation¹ to be here at the Church of the Nativity. For those of us who practice the Christian² faith, there's really no more holy site than the place where our Savior was born.

And I want to thank the government for arranging this trip. I also thank very much the three different churches for welcoming me here. It's a fascinating history in this church, so not only was my soul uplifted, my knowledge of history was enriched.

I want to thank the people of Bethlehem for enduring a presidential trip -- I know it's been inconvenient³ for you. I very much appreciate your tolerating my entourage. Some day I hope that as a result of a formation of a Palestinian state there won't be walls and checkpoints, that people will be able to move freely in a democratic state. That's the vision, greatly inspired by my belief that there is an Almighty⁴, and a gift of that Almighty to each man, woman and child on the face of the Earth is freedom. And I felt it strongly here today.

Anyway, thank you very much.

END 2:47 P.M. (Local)