MAASTRICHT, Netherlands — At home, President Bush regularly travels the nation for "conversations" with hand-picked audiences who routinely shower him and his policies with praise. But abroad on Sunday, some youths in Holland had a rare, unscripted opportunity to ask questions that some Americans might want to pose if given the chance.
Based on the questions asked in the first half-hour, before reporters were ushered from the room, this group of students might not have passed muster at a typical White House event.
After all, other than the occasional news conference, the president is rarely put on the spot about his domestic agenda.
"I have a question ... concerning the terrorism," said the first student to be called on, a young woman. "And you made many laws after 9/11, many -- many laws and many measures. And I'm wondering, will there be a time when you drop those laws and when you decrease the measures?"
"Look," Bush replied, "a free society such as ours, obviously, must balance the government's most important duty, which is to protect the American people from harm, with the civil liberties of our citizens. And every law we passed that was aimed to protect us in this new era of threats from abroad and the willingness for people to kill without mercy has been scrutinized and, of course, balanced by our Constitution."
The president explained that Congress was reviewing the Patriot Act, the controversial measure that gives law enforcement agencies greater power to conduct surveillance and share information.
He told her that the Sept. 11 attacks had changed his nation's mind-set, resulting in the need for different laws.
"I mean, it was more than just an attack; it was a whole mind-set," he said. "And that's why your question is really relevant -- did that mind-set, did that change of attitude cause us to then begin to take away certain civil liberties, and I would argue it did not."
Bush's co-host at the event, Dutch Prime Minister Jan Peter Balkenende, wondered if the young woman was satisfied.
"You're convinced by the president?" he asked amid laughter.
"Don't put her on the spot," Bush quipped.
The next question -- the last heard by reporters or included in the White House transcript -- concerned the cost of the Iraq war.
The unidentified questioner noted that the U.S. had been involved in "a lot of wars," and wondered about the impact on Americans at home.
