MENDING FENCES: U.S. President George W. Bush with the new Democratic U.S. House of Representatives leader Nancy Pelosi at the Oval Office in Washington, D.C., on Thursday. Pelosi is set to become the first woman Speaker of the House. — PHOTO: AFP

WASHINGTON: U.S. President George W. Bush took a conciliatory step on Thursday towards Nancy Pelosi, new leader-to-be of the House of Representatives, after her Democratic Party gave his Republicans a trouncing in this week's elections — but not before telling Congress to complete a hefty list of assignments while Republicans are still in charge.

He said the list included a landmark civilian nuclear cooperation agreement with India and normalising trade relations with Vietnam, which he will visit next week.

``It is our responsibility to put the elections behind us and work together on the great issues facing America,'' said Mr. Bush after meeting his Cabinet and Republican leaders from the House and Senate. ``Some of these issues need to be addressed before the current Congress finishes its legislative session, and that means the next few weeks are going to be busy ones.''

Also on the President's to-do list for the Congress before January's changeover in power: spending bills funding government's continued operation ``with strong fiscal discipline and without diminishing our capacity to fight the war on terror;'' legislation retroactively authorising his warrantless domestic surveillance of suspected terrorists and energy legislation.

Objectives

Mr. Bush cast such objectives as a way for both parties to ``rise above partisan differences.'' But with Democrats sceptical of many of these items, Mr. Bush's plea for Congress to do things his way — which came just a half-hour before his makeup luncheon with Ms. Pelosi — could complicate the reconciliation effort.

That effort started within hours of the election that will put Democrats in charge of the House and the Senate for the final two years of Mr. Bush's presidency. Mr. Bush and Ms. Pelosi pledged to find common ground in a turned-upside-down Washington. ``The people have spoken, and now it's time for us to move on,'' Mr. Bush told reporters on Wednesday.

Said Ms. Pelosi: ``Democrats are not about getting even. Democrats are about helping the American people to get ahead.'' This after some seriously sharp rhetoric. He mocked her as ``a secret admirer'' of tax cuts and an opponent of measures crucial to keeping Americans safe, warning that ``terrorists win and America loses'' if her Democrats prevailed in the election. She called him dangerous and in denial, an ``emperor with no clothes'' who has misled the country about Iraq and presided over an economy that still fails many.

The President dismissed the bitter language as nothing more than campaign-trail heat. — AP

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