For Immediate Release
Office of the Press Secretary
March 8, 2006
Press Gaggle by Scott McClellan
Aboard Air Force One
En Route New Orleans, Louisiana
8:17 A.M. CST
MR. McCLELLAN: All right, good morning, everybody. The President
had his usual intelligence briefing this morning on board the flight.
Right now the President and Mrs. Bush are continuing to participate in a
briefing on the ongoing recovery and rebuilding efforts in the New
Orleans and Louisiana area. They're joined by Don Powell, our Federal
Coordinator, and two members of the Louisiana Recovery Authority -- the
Vice Chairman of the Authority, Walter Isaacson, and a board member,
David Voelker, who is from New Orleans. And they're talking about ways
we can continue to work together to help the people in New Orleans -- in
the New Orleans area and Louisiana rebuild their lives and rebuild their
communities.
When we land we will be touring one area of New Orleans -- that's
still OTR at this point. Then we're going to go to a part of the levee
system, and I expect you'll hear from the President after that. And
from there, we'll go on to the Gautier area in Mississippi, and then
we'll tour a neighborhood in the Gautier area, as well.
The President views this visit as an opportunity to get really a
firsthand look at the ongoing recovery and rebuilding efforts. I think
every time he visits the region he's reminded of the hardship and pain
that citizens -- many citizens in the region continue to face. And the
President has made a commitment that we're going to do all we can from
the federal level to support state and local authorities and the
citizens as they move forward on the rebuilding and recovery efforts.
And I think today the President will focus really on kind of three
key areas that we've been focused on. That includes the levees and
making sure that we're repairing and restoring the levees ahead of the
hurricane season, and then also working to make the levee system
stronger and better than before as we move forward. You heard from
General Strock the other day, with the Army Corps of Engineers, talk
about where we are with regards to that. Remember we've asked Congress
for an additional $1.5 billion to help make that levee system stronger
and better.
And I think he'll also talk -- we'll also focus today on the debris
removal efforts. There's been a lot of progress made in terms of
removing debris from public property, but there's still a lot of work to
do when it comes to people's private property, and one of the challenges
that we're working to address is making sure that we can get citizens
that have been displaced back to their homes so they can go through
their homes and determine what they want to see removed and what they
want to keep. And that's something that's a top focus right now, as
well.
And then also, the ongoing efforts to get people back into their
homes and help them rebuild their homes. And there's a lot of resources
we've provided to help people with housing, a lot of -- billions of
dollars in resources from the Community Development Block Grants. And
the President asked for an additional $4.2 billion from Congress that
we're working to get to Louisiana for those efforts, as well.
And so the President -- this is one of a number of visits that the
President has made to the region. He will continue to visit the region
as we move forward. This is one of our highest priorities. And you'll
hear more from the President on the ground. And then we return back to
Washington this evening. That's, I think, all I've got to begin with.
Q Does the President have any announcements that he's going to
be making today, or is this mostly a "listen and learn" session?
MR. McCLELLAN: Well, you'll hear more from him. But I think he'll
probably touch on where we are, in terms of repairing the levees, and
touching on the debris removal and probably housing, as well. But
you'll hear more from him on where we are.
And one thing I want to try to do is get Walter and David to visit
with you all, too, and talk about it from their perspective, in terms of
where we are. I know that they've expressed appreciation for all we're
doing at the federal level to help people in the region rebuild their
communities, but I think it would be good for you all to hear from them,
as well.
Q What is the White House doing with the House Republicans to
prevent a vote coming up on the Dubai Ports deal next week? There are
talks of them attaching it to the Iraq and Katrina supplemental funding.
MR. McCLELLAN: Well, we're continuing to work closely with
Congress. We recognize that some members have concerns. The lines of
communication are open. There are a lot of conversations going on
between the company and Congress and the administration, and those
continue. The company reached an agreement with some congressional
leaders, and asked for a 45-day investigation. The process is moving
ahead in that direction, in terms of the Committee on Foreign
Investment, and we'll continue to have conversations with congressional
leaders and move ahead from there.
Q -- Speaker Hastert's support for this effort?
MR. McCLELLAN: Well, there have been a lot of conversations.
Those conversations continue. And we understand the concerns that are
there. We also -- well, the Committee on Foreign Investment in the
United States is moving ahead on the review and headed toward the
investigation that the company requested, so that's moving forward. And
we'll continue to have conversations, and we'll move ahead from there.
Q Is this a case of where the politics has gotten ahead of the
policy maybe?
MR. McCLELLAN: Well, again, we'll continue to have conversations
with Congress about this. We recognize the concerns that are there.
We've stated our views, and we're all working closely together.
Q You've got a Republican mutiny kicking in right now. Does the
veto threat stand, yes or no?
MR. McCLELLAN: The President's position is unchanged. But, Matt,
I think what's important is that there are a lot of conversations going
on. And our interest is in continuing to move ahead on those
conversations and working with congressional leaders, and that's exactly
what we're doing. And so that's really where the focus is right now.
Q What are you offering the congressional leaders, or what can
you offer them?
MR. McCLELLAN: Again, we'll continue the conversations with
congressional leaders. I'm not going to do that through the media.
Q Does the White House have a deal with Senate Republicans on
oversight of the eavesdropping program?
MR. McCLELLAN: Well, you heard from some of the leaders on the
Intelligence Committee yesterday. As we previously said, we are
committed to working with congressional leaders to further codify the
constitutional and statutory authority that the President already has.
And we've expressed to some of the leaders on the committee that we're
fine with the general approach that they are taking. We want to
continue to work with them as we move forward and stay open to ideas or
ways that we could improve upon the legislation. The one thing we want
to make sure that doesn't happen is that any legislation that is passed
does not compromise the program or undermine the President's authority.
And so we are moving ahead with congressional leaders on that.
And we've previously said that we're committed to further codifying
the authority the President already has. He has the constitutional
authority and he has the statutory authority. He also has a
responsibility to do everything within his power to protect the American
people. And that's exactly what he's doing. The terrorist surveillance
program is a vital tool; it is critical in our efforts to connect the
dots and prevent attacks from happening and save lives. And that's why
the President directed the National Security Agency to move ahead with
that program.
Remember, it's the -- General Hayden and others there said this
would be -- this is an important tool that could help us in the broader
war on terrorism, by better protecting the American people here at home.
And that's why the President decided to move ahead on the program.
Q Scott, any reaction to Iraq's threat to cause harm and pain if
the U.S. takes the nuclear case to the Security Council?
MR. McCLELLAN: You mean Iran?
Q I'm sorry, Iran.
MR. McCLELLAN: Well, I think we've made our position very clear
when it comes to the regime's behavior. The international community is
deeply concerned about the regime developing nuclear weapons under the
cover of a civilian program. And this is about the regime and its
behavior. The regime still has an opportunity or has time to change
their behavior. You can understand why we remain skeptical given their
history, and given their continued defiance of the international
community. They have continued to move in the wrong direction.
The board at the International Atomic Energy Agency is reviewing
the latest report from the Director General. It continues to raise
troubling issues about the regime's failure to cooperate, and the regime
would be better served by making a decision to work with the
international community and abide by their safeguard obligations instead
of continuing to engage in provocative statements and take defiant
steps.
Q Can you confirm these reports that there were accidental
missile launches from North Korea?*
MR. McCLELLAN: Let me finish on Iran one second -- because we
expect after this review is done at the International Atomic Energy
Agency that action will move to the Security Council. And we are
continuing to pursue a diplomatic solution here. And the international
community has made it very clear to the regime that we are not going to
allow Iran to develop nuclear weapons or a nuclear weapon capability.
And that's where the focus is.
Q -- when they make this threat somewhat directly?
MR. McCLELLAN: Well, I think that provocative statements and
actions only further isolate Iran from the rest of the world. And the
international community has spelled out what the regime needs to do.
We've made it very clear that Iran must not be allowed to engage in any
enrichment and reprocessing activity within its own territory. There
have been proposals put on the table for Iran to realize peaceful
civilian nuclear energy. And thus far, the regime continues to move in
the wrong direction and defy the international community.
Q North Korea?
MR. McCLELLAN: We're aware of the reports. I'm still checking
some additional information, and I really don't have more for you at
this time.
Q Thanks, Scott.
END 8:29 A.M. CST
* Indications are that North Korea launched two short-range missiles.
The regime has conducted similar tests in the past. We have
consistently pointed out that North Korea's missile program is a concern
that poses a threat to the region and the larger international
community.
We work closely with our allies in the region on ballistic missile
defense and to maintain a strong deterrent against the threat North
Korea poses.
We believe the six-party talks remain the way to get North Korea to
abandon its nuclear weapons ambitions and deal with the threat from its
missile program and activities.
* * * * *
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