Presidential Trips:

Feb. - Went to Mexico with Sec. of State to meet with President Fox.

Apr. - Attended the Summit of the Americas in Quebec City, Canada. Pres. Bush met with 33 other leaders of North and South America, and pressed for a "Free Trade Zone" by 2005.

June - President Bush opened his first tour of Europe in Spain on Tuesday with a leisurely tour of a royal game preserve and a promise to skeptical allies that, trans-Atlantic tensions aside, he'll be a ''trustworthy friend'' in Washington. The president's first stop was Zarzuela Palace, where he met with King Juan Carlos and Queen Sofia. European leaders have criticized Bush's condemnation of the 1997 Kyoto treaty on global warming and expect to raise the issue with him. French Foreign Minister Hubert Vedrine told French television that he hopes Bush's tour will help his administration ''evolve toward more negotiating and openness to our points of view.'' The president faces questions on his proposed missile-defense plan, trade disputes, peacekeeping troops in the Balkans and expanding NATO's membership. Bush talks Wednesday with NATO allies in Brussels, Belgium. On Thursday, he'll be in Sweden to attend a summit of U.S. and European Union officials. After a state visit in Poland on Friday, Bush travels to Slovenia to meet with Russian President Vladimir Putin. In his first meeting with Putin, Bush hopes to bolster his case for missile defense and convince Russia's president that the 1972 Anti-Ballistic Missile Treaty between the United States and former Soviet Union is ''obsolete'' and prevents the development of systems aimed to make the world safer. Threats on the horizon are about biological, chemical and information warfare, he said.

Copyright © 2000, 2001, 2002 Thomas and Ann Pickett