< How Bush Spent His Fourth Of July

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Heard on All Things Considered

July 4, 2008 - ROBERT SIEGEL, host:

President Bush marked Independence Day at the Annual Naturalization Ceremony for new American citizens at Monticello, the Virginia home of the author of the Declaration of Independence. And Mr. Bush received a mixed welcome.

President GEORGE W. BUSH: I am thrilled to be here at Monticello. I have never been here before.

Unidentified Woman: (protesting)

(Soundbite of crowd noise, booing)

Pres. BUSH: To my fellow citizens to be, we believe in free speech in the United States of America.

(Soundbite of cheering, applause)

SIEGEL: Well, the president spoke over shouts of war criminal and police state and continued to welcome more than 70 new citizens.

Pres. BUSH: You represent many different ethnicities and races and religions. But you all have one thing in common, and that is a shared love of freedom. This love of liberty is what binds our nation together, and this is a love that makes us all Americans.

SIEGEL: Six protesters were escorted away from the ceremony. No arrests were made.

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