For Immediate Release
Office of the Press Secretary
July 9, 2001
Press Briefing by Ari Fleischer
The James S. Brady Briefing Room
Listen to the
Briefing
- Personnel announcements
- Legislative calendar
- Economy
- China
- India travel
- NAACP Convention
- Medicare
- Bolivian president
- New York trip of 7/10
- Stem cell research
- Middle East
- Trade promotion authority
- National forests
- Illegal arms shipments
- Airlines merger
- Energy
12:15 P.M. EDT
MR. FLEISCHER: Good afternoon,
rambunctious national press corps.
The
President intends to nominate Jack Martin to be Chief Financial Officer
of the Department of Education. The President intends to
nominate Joan E. Ohl to be Commissioner of Children, Youth and
Families, with the Department of Health and Human
Services. The President intends to nominate Melody Fennel to
be Assistant Secretary of Housing and Urban Development for
Congressional Intragovernmental relations. The President
intends to nominate Frederico Juarbe Jr., to be Assistant Secretary of
Labor for Veterans Employment and Training.
And the President intends to nominate seven individuals to serve as
members of the Board of Directors at the Commodity Credit Corporation
-- that will come out in writing. The President intends to
appoint nine individuals to serve as members of the President's
National Security Telecommunications Advisory
Committee. That, too, will be provided in
writing. And the President intends to appoint six
individuals to serve as Directors of the Board of Directors for the
Student Loan Marketing Association. That, too, will be
available in writing shortly.
Q Ari, how is it that the President is having to
work so hard at this point in the legislative calendar to try to get
his measures through Congress?
MR.
FLEISCHER: Well, if you take a look at what's happened since
the President took office in January. You'll see that he is
simply turning the corner, having passed his most important initiative
to get the economy growing again. He is now urging Congress
to focus on additional vital actions that Congress needs to
take. And they are all the issues on which the President ran
and which the President committed himself to in his first three weeks
of office.
Q Well, are
they not paying attention?
MR.
FLEISCHER: Clearly, when it comes to education, the Senate
has gotten off on the slower track than was the case just a month ago.
Education is a national priority. Education is an issue on
which the President ran. Education is an issue that's been
put on a back burner in the United States Senate in the last month.
The President thinks it should be a top
priority for the Senate and for the House to get to a conference
committee so that an education bill can be signed into law before the
children go back to school in September.
Q Ari, on the question of education and
conferees, House Republicans haven't even appointed their
conferees. So why --
MR.
FLEISCHER: I just said that.
Q No, you said, the Senate.
MR. FLEISCHER: No, I added the
House in that same sentence.
Q So is the House Representatives equally
derelict in moving on the President's agenda?
MR. FLEISCHER: As the President said today, it's important
for Congress to act and send him a bill that he can sign before the
students go back to school in September.
Q But, Ari, I mean, it seems clear that the
House and the Senate have got their legislative
priorities. Are they just at odds with the President?
MR. FLEISCHER: Well, I think it's
typical in our government system for the President to call on Congress
to do things. Congress's agenda is not always the peoples'
agenda. Congress's agenda is not always the President's
agenda.
In this case, the President today is
making very clear to the Congress that education reform, a patients'
bill of rights, helping people who have been left out and left behind
in our society through faith-based programs are all vital, top
priorities; and he's calling on Congress to focus their attention on
those matters.
Q Does
the President feel like for the first time now, six months into his
term, the Democrats are starting to at least try to thwart his agenda?
MR. FLEISCHER: I don't think I
would use the word thwart, but clearly, the Senate changed
hands. The Senate is no longer a Republican
Senate. The Senate is now a Democratic
Senate. And I think there's no question that if the Senate
were under Republican control, education would have been
done. I think you would have seen the conference committees
get appointed. And it is one of the facts that the new
Senate is placing less attention on education than the previous Senate
did.
Now, both the House and the Senate need
to act to appoint conferees, so that the education bill on which great
progress has been made can be brought to fruition, and therefore signed
into law.
Q How would
having had a Republican Senate made appointment of conference committee
members come any quicker? Why would that influence -- the
fact that the House hasn't moved on it, either?
MR. FLEISCHER: Because it's up to
the leaders of the Senate to schedule debates. And obviously
another debate, which is an important one, on patients' bill of rights,
came up and that took the place of appointing the conferees.
Q So Senator Daschle,
in the President's mind, is standing in the way of key elements of his
agenda. I mean, that's what we're talking about here, isn't
it?
MR. FLEISCHER: You heard the
President express it in his own words today. And he said
that progress is being made, but that the Senate needs to take action,
and the House needs to take action. Congress should send him
legislation on a patients' bill of rights, on education and on
faith-based solutions prior to leaving for the August
recess. That's his call to Congress.
Q Can I just try to put
a fine point on it? I mean, you speak for the
President. You're saying that the Senate is putting
education on the back burner and that it's changed hands. Is
it not correct to say that the President believes that Tom Daschle is
standing in the way of his agenda?
MR.
FLEISCHER: David, it's not a question of
individuals. That's not the way it works. The
Senate is --
Q It's not
just a matter of --
MR.
FLEISCHER: It's the prerogative of the leaders of the Senate
to make their decisions as they see fit. It's also the
prerogative of the President to fight for his agenda. And
his agenda begins with education. It includes helping tens of millions
of people, including 2 million children of prisoners, who have been
left behind in our society. And it includes a patients' bill
of rights that can get signed into law.
I
don't think it should surprise anybody to see President Bush fight for
his agenda. He was successful in the first action of his
agenda, which was to protect the economy. Now he and his
administration are turning a corner. We're entering a new
phase with the Congress, where there is a lot of hard work that gets
done by the Congress, traditionally, before they leave for the August
recess.
The President is sending a note to
the Congress today. Before you leave for recess, address
these priorities of the people: education reform, patients'
bill of rights and faith-based solutions to people who have big,
intractable problems in our society.
Q Let me follow up on the question I
had. You're criticizing the Senate Democrats for putting
patients' bill of rights on the front burner and education on the back
burner. But the patients' bill of rights is also one of the
top three agenda items.
MR.
FLEISCHER: That's correct.
Q You're criticizing them for doing something --
MR. FLEISCHER: Appoint the
conferees. Let's go to conference. It can be
done. You can have the conferees appointed, and you can have
patients' bill of rights move. But the conferees could have
been appointed some time ago.
Q Same in the House, where the Republicans --
MR. FLEISCHER: Same in the House.
Q But I still don't
understand what the Senate Democrats have done wrong, besides put focus
on patients' bill of rights, an issue that the President said --
MR. FLEISCHER: The appointment of
the conferees. The education bill could already have been in
conference if the House and the Senate had acted on it
previously. And I think the two are looking to act about the
same time.
Q So when
you say that Congress's agenda isn't always the people's agenda, what
do you mean by that? And does that include the House and the
Senate?
MR.
FLEISCHER: Education. Education is a top issue
for the American people. Education is not moving in the
House or the Senate. The President believes very strongly
that education needs to move.
Q So you're suggesting that Congress is not
acting in the best interests of the American people?
MR. FLEISCHER: No, I'm suggesting
that the President is going to continue to prod the Congress, so that
the Congress focuses on an agenda that includes education reform before
children go back to school in September, that includes a patients' bill
of rights that can be signed into law, and includes faith-based
solutions to people's social problems.
Helen.
Q What's the
President's time table for the growing economy, which you referred to,
which doesn't exist?
MR.
FLEISCHER: His time table for when it will grow again?
Q Again.
MR. FLEISCHER: Well, that's,
actually, a very important question, and that's a matter that
economists argue about. (Laughter.)
Q Everything I read, it's not growing at all.
MR. FLEISCHER: As you know, they
revised GDP figures for January, February and March, which came in at
about 1.3 percent, I believe, 1.2 percent. The economy in
the second quarter did not grow by a strong rate either, which is a
continuation of a trend that began in the summer months of the year
2000, and then accelerated throughout the fall of 2000, and has
continued into the winter and the spring of 2001.
The nation's economy has been in an
approximate one-year slowdown. And it is reaching the point where, as
a result of the cuts in rates by the Federal Reserve in combination
with the tax cut that is about to be received by the consumers, the
President believes the economy will start to come back. He's
not an economist, he doesn't have a crystal ball, but most economists
have suggested that the recovery will begin sometime late this year.
Q Back on this
question. I just want to make sure I'm understanding you
clearly. The House leadership, which is Republican, and the
Democratic leadership in the Senate are equally to blame for the lack
of progress on education in conference committee, is that correct?
MR. FLEISCHER: Major, I think that
there's no question that the previous Senate was looking forward to
taking up the education bill immediately upon return from the recess in
I, believe it was May. And that got put back. I
think that bill would have moved faster -- if you recall, the education
debate was lengthened in the Senate; it would have been completed
earlier. They took more time to complete
it. There were a lot of amendments to the education bill,
and that did delay the whole process. Conferees have not been
appointed either in the House or in the Senate, and the President calls
on Congress to send him the bill.
The Senate
had intended to name conferees when the Senate was under Republican
control. That was something that Senator Lott said he
intended to do. I think there's no question that had that
happened in the Senate, it would have made it happen in the
House. And now they're both waiting to appoint
conferees. In all cases, the President thinks they should do
it, and that way a bill can get sent to him.
Q Ari, as you know, China has sent us a love
letter with the EP-3, a bill for about $1 million. And the
Pentagon says it costs probably $5.8 million to dismantle the plane and
fly it home, and it may cost another $40 million to $50 million to put
either that one or a new one back in service with the
fleet. A three-part question.
One,
will we pay the China bill? Two, the State Department
implied we may send a bill of our own -- will we? And three,
what was the President's reaction when he heard about the China bill?
MR. FLEISCHER: I have not discussed
the China bill with the President. I think this is something
that you've heard from DOD and the State Department about, and they
have addressed it. I don't have anything further to add to
it.
Q Ari, do you have
comments on India Globe front-page story that President Bush will visit
India next year, early next year? And, also, this was
confirmed by the new Indian Ambassador to the U.S. who met President
Bush, presenting his credential last week in the White House.
MR. FLEISCHER: No, I cannot
confirm that. We have not announced any such travel.
Q And also, the new
ambassador praised President Bush, he said, the more you know him, the
more you understand him. Many people may have misunderstood
him -- President Bush. So he had high praise for him.
MR. FLEISCHER: High praise
noted. (Laughter.)
Q Ari, the NAACP Convention is underway in New
Orleans. President Bush's absence is being made note of,
especially since he was there last year, and there is going to be a
video to replace him this year. Is there bad blood between
the organization right now and the President, especially in light of
the fact that Julian Bond made some -- as some of the administration
officials say -- strong rhetoric?
MR.
FLEISCHER: Well, from the President's point of view, he is
going to continue his reaching out to groups of Americans and
individual Americans who did not support his candidacy. He
is President of all the people, no matter how they voted, and the
President is going to make that clear in his actions and in the manner
in which he governs.
He understands that
there will be times when people do not support him, and he's respectful
of that.
Q Ari, last
year he was very strong in his statements when he attended the NAACP
Convention. He said that civil rights would be the
cornerstone of his administration. He's been in office for
six months -- not one African American civil rights leader has been in
the White House. What do you attribute that to, especially --
MR. FLEISCHER: Well, I differ with
that premise. The President has held a series of meetings
with African American leaders to discuss many items on his
agenda. If you're asking about --
Q Mainstream -- the mainstream group that
African Americans as a whole look at as civil rights leaders, not the
ones that the White House considers their --
MR. FLEISCHER: As I indicated to you this morning, I'll be
happy to check the logs to get you all the names of people who have
visited with the President who are considered civil rights
leaders. And the President will continue to meet with
them. He's done so in a variety of contexts. Very
often, people who did not support his candidacy, and the President had
them in to talk to them about his faith-based and community
initiative. I remind you where the President spent July 4th,
with Mayor Street, up in Philadelphia. So I don't think
there is an issue here.
Q But Street is not Kweisi Mfume.
Q During the campaign,
the President -- then-governor -- was pretty clear on not using Social
Security trust fund money to pay for domestic spending programs; the
same thing with Medicare. Now there is talk about possibly,
if surplus forecasts come in lower than expected, dipping into the
Medicare trust fund. Can you explain for us this apparent
change in thinking?
MR.
FLEISCHER: Well, you're 100 percent exactly
right. The President said he will not -- and he will not --
dip into Social Security. And the President is calling on
the Congress to make certain that they do not engage in any excessive
spending, because it's important for Congress to protect the Social
Security surplus.
So the President is fully,
100 percent committed to it. But it's a reminder in this
town that the real threat to budget surpluses come from
spending. And I also want to point out that there is already
talk on Capitol Hill of raising taxes, if you can believe
it. An important senator has said that the government should
consider additional revenues. That's tax increases --
despite the fact that we have a record surplus, despite the fact that
we just enacted a tax cut to get the economy growing again. It's a
reminder that the real threat is from a tax-and-spend approach to
government that the President thinks is not in the interest of the
country.
Q Is the
Medicare surplus no longer off limits?
MR.
FLEISCHER: The President has been crystal clear and
consistent about Medicare. He believes that every penny that
comes in for Medicare should be used for Medicare. And under
his budget, that's exactly what happens.
Q Ari, can we go back to the NAACP
Convention. Why is the President not attending this
year? And do you have any reaction to Julian Bond's comments
yesterday?
MR. FLEISCHER: Wendell,
the President has sent a video this year. Obviously, the President
would like to attend many events all around the country as often as
possible. As was pointed out, the President attended last
year. Unfortunately, he cannot attend everybody's event
every year of his Presidency. He still wishes the NAACP a
very successful convention, and that will be conveyed in the video that
he sends.
On the statements made by Mr. Bond,
I think it's another reminder why it's so important for people in this
town to change the tone. I think there was a certain sense
of going too far. People may have political differences, but
it's still important to be respectful and to talk in a manner --
Q Do you think he was
not respectful?
MR. FLEISCHER: --
than to talk in a manner that elevates the tone, rather than lowing
it.
Q Do you differ
with the tone or the substance of the comments?
MR. FLEISCHER: Clearly,
both. But there's always room to disagree, but to disagree
politely. And I think that in those remarks, talking about
the Taliban wing of the Republican Party, talking about canines, it's
unfortunate. And it's another reminder of why everybody
needs to work together to change the tone.
Q And, Ari, on the substance, at this juncture,
what would the President point to as his major accomplishments in
advancing civil rights and racial justice?
MR. FLEISCHER: Terry, I think there is no question about it,
that the speech the President made before the joint session of the
Congress in late February, the President talked about abolishing,
ending once and for all, racial profiling. He's the first
President to call for such an action. The Department of Justice is
hard at work on that plan right now. Already various Cabinet
agencies are implementing such proposals. The Department of
Energy has already taken proactive steps to do that on their
own. And the Justice Department will have more to say on
that shortly.
When you take a look at the
President's appointments, and you take a look at the President's
commitment up and down his administration to putting people in place
who are well qualified, the best the nation has to offer, I think it
sends a very hopeful signal about the strength of this country.
Q He doesn't talk about
it much, though. It doesn't seem to be an item high on his
agenda.
MR. FLEISCHER: I differ
with that. I think the President does talk about
it. He talked about it, I thought very eloquently, in his
Inaugural Address. He talked about it in his budget message
in February. He talked about it up in Philadelphia, if you
remember, just on July 4th last week.
Q Does the President believe that -- how bad a
problem is abiding racism in the country?
MR.
FLEISCHER: The President, particularly having grown up in
Texas, in a state where there is a large and growing Hispanic
population -- in fact, the majority of school children will be Hispanic
in Texas, as a result of the demographic changes underway -- the
President is keenly aware of the issues that all of us in this society
confront as a result of differences in the color of someone's skin or
in racial background or ethnic background or religious background.
And the President, throughout his life and as
governor and as President, has always done his best to try to bring
people together. It's an enduring American problem, and it's
something that everybody has to work on.
Q Ari, Bolivia has been a very strong ally of
the United States in the fight against drugs. And President
Hugo Banzer -- is now in Walter Reed Hospital. He came there
on June 30th, for treatment. He has just been diagnosed with
cancer of the liver and cancer of the lung. Do you know if
President Bush has spoken with him or intends to speak to him?
MR. FLEISCHER: I don't
know. I'll try to get you something on that.
Q You said that the
main threat -- the real threat to the surplus is a tax-and-spend
approach. Obviously, Democrats are saying that the real
threat is the tax cut that was passed. By your own
estimates, it takes $1.35 trillion out of the surplus. Why
isn't that a real threat?
MR.
FLEISCHER: You know, it never ceases to amaze me how the
Democrats can criticize something that many of their own members voted
for, that hasn't even gone into effect yet. There's been a
shortfall in revenues, and the shortfall is a result of the weak
economic growth that took place beginning last year and that continues
until now.
The cause of the budget surplus'
decline from gigantic levels to immense levels is a lack of
growth. The tax cut is the cure for the
problem. The tax cut will lead to more
growth. Revenues don't come into the Treasury only as a
result of the tax rate. They come in as a result of people
holding jobs. And you could have 100 percent tax rate, and
if somebody doesn't hold a job, there's no revenue coming in.
The key to higher surplus figures is more
growth. And the key to more growth is the tax cut, which was
supported by a good number of Democrats. Now, the Democrats who voted
against it are the only ones out there saying, let's raise
taxes. And that's the wrong focus for the economy, in the
President's opinion. And the President is pleased to note
that those Democrats believe to a small minority.
Q But it's not your
view that the tax cut is actually going to -- I mean, you still say
there's a cost to the tax cut, to the surplus. Even though
it's going to, in your view, potentially stimulate the economy, it's
not going to bring in more revenues than it's going to lose for the
budget, is it?
MR.
FLEISCHER: Without the tax cut, the economy would be far
worse. The fact of the matter is, from the estimates of economists --
Democrat, Republican, private-sector, it doesn't matter -- you seldom
see such wide-spread agreement against economists that the tax cut is
going to provide a boost to the economy, without which there is a
strong possibility the nation could go into recession.
It's the economy -- it's the tax cut that's
holding up and strengthening the economy that's going to enable it to
turn around and bring in more revenues. Revenues result from
growth, not just from the tax rate structure.
Q Okay. So do you disagree with your
own estimate that it will cost $1.35 trillion over the next 10 years,
or do you think there's an economic stimulus effect that will decrease
that cost?
MR. FLEISCHER: Well,
it's an interesting question, and economists will differ with the exact
amount of additional growth that will come from it. Most
economists looking at this year are saying it's going to create growth
of anywhere from three-quarters of a point to one percentage point of
additional growth.
The other question that
the President has asked himself is, if taxes weren't cut, wouldn't
Congress spend the money? And the answer is, yes, of course
they would. So you can't ask the question in a
vacuum. The fact of the matter is that there is always an
important reminder to Congress to engage in fiscal
discipline. If taxes weren't cut, the economy wouldn't
rebound; and if taxes weren't cut, the Congress and members of both
parties would spend the money anyway.
So the
tax cut is the solution to the problems the nation is going through
with the weak economy. It's also the solution to stopping
the government from going on a giant spending spree which would
threaten the Social Security surplus.
Q When will the President start aggressively
pushing a tax package for corporations? They were all
promised this when he was putting together the first tax bill, that
there would be another tax bill later this year that would be
specifically targeted to helping corporations --
MR. FLEISCHER: Actually, nobody
here said there would be another tax bill later this
year. As you know, every year the President sends up a
budget --
Q -- we all
know that you guys had told all these guys on the outside who were
helping advocate your tax package that there would be another tax
package --
MR. FLEISCHER: You'll
have to wait for the '03 budget, which is typically submitted in
January or February.
Q So we won't see anything the rest of this
year?
MR. FLEISCHER: It's always
-- those items are always, as you know, contained in the
budget. And so we'll see what the budget looks like at that
time.
Q -- to New
York, could you outline the significance of this trip to New York?
MR. FLEISCHER: The trip to New York
tomorrow is going to focus on, one, an event to welcome new Americans
into our country. The President is very proud of his
long-standing record as being a welcoming Republican when it comes to
immigration and new Americans. So he's going to participate
in a swearing-in ceremony at Ellis Island, to welcome America's newest
citizens.
From there, he'll travel to Saint
Patrick's Cathedral, where he'll participate in an event in honor of
the memory of Cardinal O'Connor.
Q And what about O'Connor, will he use that as a
mention of faith-based or what --
MR.
FLEISCHER: I haven't looked at his remarks for
that. I have to do a little more background on
that. I think we will work to put something out on
that. So we'll have an entire event summary for you later
today, that will include whether or not he even has remarks; I'm not
sure.
Q Is he going to
address --
MR. FLEISCHER: Yes, I'm
just not sure.
Q Will
he again be pushing his legislative initiatives at any time in New
York?
MR.
FLEISCHER: No. No, no, no. Again, I
need to look at whether he's going to have remarks at that event
tomorrow or not. I just am not sure.
Q Is that a forum where
he would discuss publicly or privately the ethical concerns around stem
cell research that he's wrestling with right now?
MR. FLEISCHER: The purpose of the
event is to go up and honor the memory of Cardinal
O'Connor. I can't speak to any private conversations the
President may have.
Q And will you tell us about them if they
occur?
MR. FLEISCHER: Not if
they're private.
Q On
stem cell, how important are the personal experiences he's hearing from
people very close to him -- Andy Card -- and his father was mentioned
in the paper over the weekend -- in making his decision?
MR. FLEISCHER: As the President
approaches this decision he's thinking very carefully and
very thoughtfully about different peoples' perspectives on this
issue. And many of those perspectives include things that
are individual and things that are personal. And the
President is very aware that there is a balance on this issue where
there is so much potential for health and for breakthroughs.
On the other hand, the President is very
concerned about preserving a culture of life. And both sides
of the issue have very compelling, important personal stories to
tell. And the President is a good listener and he's going to
have a very thoughtful approach to this.
Q Is he going to meet
with -- Congressman Smith of New Jersey has asked him to meet with
three children who were born from -- were conceived, and then their
embryos from which they grew were cryogenically preserved and they were
adopted by infertile couples. Mr. Smith thinks that these
children are examples of what might be destroyed in the research that
others want funded. Is the President going to meet with
these children, as Congressman Smith has asked?
MR. FLEISCHER: This is the first
I've heard about it, so I'll try to find out for you.
Q Ari, is there any
time table at all for that decision? Is it in anyone's
mind? I mean, could this go on for weeks, or even months, or
do we expect something before Europe?
MR.
FLEISCHER: There's no hard time table for it. I
think when the President decides he has something to share and has
something to announce, he will.
Q It could be quite a long time, then?
MR. FLEISCHER: Whenever the
President decides, we'll let you know.
Q Ari, you said earlier about no further tax
cuts this year. Does that include the non-itemizer
deductions?
MR. FLEISCHER: That's
already been proposed by the President. The question is,
when will the President propose any additional or new.
Q So you're not ruling
that out for this year?
MR.
FLEISCHER: No, no. The question was, when will
the President propose anything else. That's already in the
President's proposal submitted to the Congress. In fact, I
anticipate that Ways and Means may take action on that shortly.
Q So the President is
still supportive of further tax cuts this year for business, is that
correct? I mean, if other things such as that, and maybe a
capital gains tax cut and so forth, other items of his agenda, you'd be
supportive of that?
MR.
FLEISCHER: I'm not going to speculate about other items that
are not in the President's budget. But we'll have to just
see if Congress decides on its own to send any additional measures to
the President.
You've been very patient.
Q Thank
you. There's some conflicting reports from the Mideast that
Secretary Powell may have mentioned in the conversation over the
weekend to Prime Minister Sharon that the seven-day period prior to the
cooling-off period must begin now. Is this the White House
opinion? Has
the period begun, or is it still -- are we still waiting --
MR. FLEISCHER: I going to want to
take a look at exactly what Secretary Powell said before I venture into
that, so let me take a look at that.
Q Can you tell me if there's any initiative
being planned from the White House side to try and get things moving in
the Middle East otherwise?
MR.
FLEISCHER: The President remains very concerned about the
recent up tick in the violence in the region, and he urges all parties
again to do their utmost to maintain the cease-fire, as fragile as it
is, and to break the cycle of violence.
Q Does the President see any problem to get
approval for trade promotion authority with the problems in the Senate
on the patients' bill of rights and education? Do you think
the President will be through getting the approval for the TPA as he
promised to the countries of Latin America before October or
September?
MR. FLEISCHER: Well,
the President is hopeful that he is going to be successful in those
initiatives prior to that time. You mentioned -- what was
the fourth issue you said there? You had education,
patients' bill of rights --
Q Yes, you said that education and bill of
rights will be a problem for trade promotion authority on the side of
the Democrats. They are opposing the trade promotion
authority because the unions are lobbying on the Senate --
MR. FLEISCHER: There should not be
a link between trade promotion authority and improving education for
America's families and for America's schools. There should
not be a link between any of those programs. The President
believes that they are the right thing to do, in and of themselves, and
should not be tied to other legislation.
Q Just to clarify on taxes. There are
several initiatives that were in this year's budget that were not part
of the first tax package. Will the President, this year, push as
aggressively for the enactment of those tax cuts as he did the ones
that were included in the first tax package?
MR. FLEISCHER: Well, when you say "as aggressively," I'm not
sure how to measure that. But the --
Q He had a very -- in
his national campaign, when he traveled -- different cities and had a
bunch of pep rallies. Will he do the same thing --
MR. FLEISCHER: The President
continues to believe in them just as fully as ever. The
President thinks it's an important part of his legislative
initiative. And as I just mentioned, Ways and Means is going
to take up one of those items that is contained in the faith-based
initiative to allow people who don't have a deduction for their child
to be given the right to get one for the first time -- since 1986.
Q But will he lobby
Congress to enact all those that have not been enacted that were
included in his budget?
MR.
FLEISCHER: I think there's no question that if it's
something that's in the President's budget the President is going to
urge Congress to enact it.
Q And as a general proposition, the President is
or is not supportive of further business tax breaks this year?
MR. FLEISCHER: You've seen
everything that is proposed in the President's budget, and you can
evaluate that.
Q No,
I'm not asking about the budget, I'm asking about what he wants for the
rest of the year. Is he supportive of further business tax
breaks, or not?
MR.
FLEISCHER: I've answered that already. If
Congress passes any items that were not in the President's budget, the
President will evaluate it in reality, not as a hypothetical.
Q Ari, what is the
President's position on the Comprehensive Test Ban
Treaty? Is the -- effectively dead? Is the New
York Times article on Saturday accurate?
MR.
FLEISCHER: You know, this is an old issue, going way back to
the transition when the President said, and many members of the United
States Senate have said, that the treaty, itself, is a fatally flawed
treaty. There's no surprise, there's nothing new there.
Q On stem cell, how
absorbing is this decision for the President? Is it the hardest policy
decision he's had to make so far? Is it true that it's
starting to permeate other areas of the agenda, which is to say it
comes up in meetings that are supposed to be about something
else? I mean, is this a real tough one for him?
MR. FLEISCHER: Well, a lot of
things come up at meetings. The President is often in a
meeting on topic and lots of issues come up. So that should
be no surprise. But there's nothing really further I can add
to the issue other than what I've said before. The President
is thinking very carefully about this issue. He's listening
to all sides of the debate and hear their perspectives, and that's
where the President is.
Q But you won't say how difficult this is for
him?
MR. FLEISCHER: I think it's
an important decision and the President is treating it as such.
Q But you won't say
whether it's more difficult than others?
MR.
FLEISCHER: It's hard to make that kind of linear
definition.
Q When
does the President think life begins?
MR.
FLEISCHER: You know, I have not --
Q What's his theory? What is his
theory or what is his belief?
MR.
FLEISCHER: The President has said that we need to be a
culture that values life in all its forms. And that's the
position the President has spoken. That's what he has said
throughout the campaign --
Q What does that mean? I mean, when
does he actually think a person is coming into being?
MR. FLEISCHER: The President has
spoken on that by saying that he thinks everybody in society needs to
value a culture of life. That's how he's defined it.
Q But when does life
begin that we value?
MR.
FLEISCHER: That's how the President has defined it, Ron.
Q Can you take that
question?
Q -- has
opened a 60-day comment period on new rules for national
forests. There has been some criticism of some of the
questions as being loaded. For example, the question of how
you fight wild fires in roadless forests. What's the purpose
of the review period? And how do you deal with criticism
that some of the questions are intended to illicit answers that support
the administration's view?
MR.
FLEISCHER: This is a routine procedure all agencies take as
part of rule-making. Rule-making includes a comment period
that's often 60 days, whereby all interested parties are able to
venture forward and talk to the agencies and tell them what they
think. And that's exactly what you're seeing played
out. You've seen it played out in literally thousands of
decisions that agencies make always in the government. This
is exactly how a rule-making process works.
Q Ari, will the President answer questions of
motive, intended to illicit the response that you want?
MR. FLEISCHER: I haven't seen the
questions. You just read one; I think that's a question you
should address to the Department of Interior.
Q Ari, will the President answer the question
about when life begins when he outlines and explains his decision on
stem cell research?
MR.
FLEISCHER: I think you'll hear him in his own words explain
it and you'll be able to evaluate it at that time.
Q Can you ask him so we
can get an update tomorrow when he thinks life
begins? Because that's really an important part of this.
MR. FLEISCHER: I'll do my best.
Q Ari, millions of
illegal arms are being shipped around the world, smuggled, and they
land in the hands of terrorists. And today a full U.N.
conference is opening on the shipments of illegal arms. Any
Presidential comments? What is he going to do to stop all
these? Because those arms to terrorists come back against
the United States.
MR.
FLEISCHER: The President is very concerned about all issues
involving arms to terrorists. As you know, it's something
that he and President Putin have discussed at great length, about the
problems of extremism on the border of Russia. And the
President shares that concern and believes that we need to have an
approach where all developed nations and developing nations work
together to have a nonproliferation strategy to prevent terrorists from
receiving weapons.
Go ahead, you had a
question.
Q Yes, on
the airlines. Is there any truth to the rumor that President
Bush is going to meet with John Ashcroft and United Airlines CEO James
Goodwin on the US Airways-United Airlines merger?
MR. FLEISCHER: I don't have
anything for you on that, but the President does not get involved in
merger issues. That's a matter of Justice.
Q Regarding that, in
the interest of preserving jobs that could be lost if this merger
doesn't take place, is the President working with anybody to kind of
like restart negotiations at all?
MR.
FLEISCHER: On the merger?
Q Yes.
MR.
FLEISCHER: You need to talk to the appropriate people in the
government who deal with mergers from a legal point of view.
Q What does he think
about it, though?
MR.
FLEISCHER: Again, you need to talk to the people who are
responsible for the legal point of view on matters dealing with
mergers. That's antitrust.
Q Ari, the HHS proposal to cover unborn children
under the CHIP program, does that suggest that the President believes
that life begins at conception? If you can confer health
insurance coverage to an unborn child from the date of conception, does
that not suggest he believes life begins at conception?
MR. FLEISCHER: I think it shows
that HHS has a draft memo that talks about how best to get prenatal
care to women who are pregnant. And that's what that issue
is about.
Q But if you
can confer personhood and provide insurance for an unborn child from
the date of conception, is that not a philosophical statement that life
begins at conception?
MR.
FLEISCHER: I think it's an actual idea from the government
about how to help low-income women who are pregnant. That's
what's that's all about.
Q But don't you have to provide insurance for a
person?
MR. FLEISCHER: You have to
get assistance, prenatal care assistance to the pregnant moms, which
help their babies.
Q You're not covering the mother, you're
covering the child. So does that not confer personhood to a
child from the date of conception?
MR.
FLEISCHER: First of all, when you deal with the specific
language of a draft memo at HHS, you should talk to HHS. The
President's concern is to make certain that there is proper prenatal
care. And that's what the focus is on.
Q Could we just stop
because you're not going to go there? (Laughter.)
MR. FLEISCHER: I'm happy to go
round in circles with you. (Laughter.)
Q Ari, there's very little time left until the
August recess, and there's the appropriations to fill. Realistically, if Congress focuses on education,
patients' bill of rights and the faith-based initiative, doesn't that
really squeeze out energy -- real action on energy, or trade promotion
authority?
MR.
FLEISCHER: No. The President has already seen
action in the House shaping up on energy. The House is
scheduled at the committee level to take action on preserving America's
energy independence by July 12th. And that's a sign that it can be
done. That, too, is an important priority. But
the President today outlined three priorities that he thinks are the
most important for Congress to focus on between now and when they leave
for their month-long August recess.
THE
PRESS: Thank you.
END
1:53 P.M. EDT
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