Following is a transcript of O'Neill's remarks at the joint press conference:

REMARKS BY SECRETARY OF THE TREASURY PAUL H. O'NEILL
EXCERPT OF INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE ON RECONSTRUCTION
ASSISTANCE TO AFGHANISTAN (ICRAA) JOINT PRESS CONFERENCE

January 22, 2002
Tokyo, Japan
2:00 p.m. local time

SECRETARY O'NEILL: Thank you very much. First, I would like to thank Madame Ogata for her expert and excellent chairmanship of this conference. I think we were brought to a good conclusion because of her excellent work -- and also to thank the Japanese government for hosting this conference. I think they made excellent arrangements and provisions for the entire body in a short period of time. And I believe we have concluded in an appropriate way, which is to say people have come, they have committed. The ranges of figures are quite good compared to the needs assessments that have been done. From a U.S. point of view, we continue to prosecute the military war against terrorism and the financial war against terrorism and terrorists. And we view the rebuilding role in Afghanistan as the completing part of the war against terrorism, and Afghanistan as a specific place. So we are obligated, we have made a substantial first-year obligation. President Bush has said we will be there for the long term. We are committed to this role and we're very pleased to have been asked to be co-chair with Japan and the others at this conference. Thank you....

QUESTION: Richard Verly(?) Liberation (newspaper) from France, to Secretary O'Neill. Don't you think, paradoxically, that the success of this conference might hamper fighting terrorism, because if you open a new front, that means that you will have to assist other countries, and probably the international community does not have the means to assist other countries as it is currently doing for Afghanistan.

SECRETARY O'NEILL: Well, I must say I think quite on the contrary. I think if you examine the way the world has responded to the war on terrorism -- contrary, I think perhaps, to the expectation of the terrorists -- the world has not lost its nerve. The terrorists have brought the world together. There is no doubt in my mind in the United States the acts of the terrorists brought the American people together in a way that they've probably not been together since the 1940s, when the second world war was in progress. And I think this conference demonstrates that not only did the terrorists unite the American people, they united the world people in a commitment to meet the needs of those who've been repressed and terrorized and held hostage in their own country. And should this pursuit of terrorists around the world lead to situations that require rebuilding and good faith and resources from other countries around the world, I have no doubt that this conference can be repeated again and again if the need exists, because I think the world is united like perhaps never before against the idea that those who want to live in a civilized way can be repressed and restrained and hobbled by those of evil intent.