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Skriven 2005-08-09 23:35:02 av Whitehouse Press (1:3634/12.0)
Ärende: Press Release (0508093) for Tue, 2005 Aug 9
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President Meets with Economic Team
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For Immediate Release
Office of the Press Secretary
August 9, 2005

President Meets with Economic Team
Bush Ranch
Crawford, Texas



12:00 P.M. CDT

THE PRESIDENT: Thank you all for coming. As you can see, my economic team
has come to Crawford, and we've just finished a very interesting discussion
about our economy and what we need to do to make sure economic growth
remains strong. After this press conference, we'll go over to the house and
have a lunch and give us a chance to continue our dialogue.

But before I begin in my discussion about the economy, I do want to
congratulate the Discovery crew. Commander Collins and the pilot of that
crew, James Kelly, did a fantastic job of bringing the craft, and most
importantly, the folks aboard the craft home safely to California this
morning. It was a great achievement. It's an important step for NASA to --
as it regains the confidence of the American people and begins the
transition to the new mission we set out for NASA. So, congratulations,
Commander Collins. It's quite an achievement.

The economy of the United States is strong, and the foundation for
sustained growth is in place. The economic agenda is based on the
fundamental trust that the American people make good decisions for
themselves and for their families. And that's why my policies allow more
Americans to keep more of what they earn, to have more control over their
daily lives from health care to education to their retirement. It makes
sense to trust people with their own money.

I'm pleased to report that the strategy is working. The economy is growing
faster than any other major industrialized country. Job growth is strong.
We added over 200,000 new jobs in July. This country has added nearly 4
million new jobs since May of 2003. The unemployment rate is 5 percent,
which is below the average of the 1970s, 1980s, and 1990s. Americans have
more money in their pocket, and that's good news.

There's still some challenges to the economy, and it's important for the
American people to know we understand there are challenges and we're acting
to meet them. First of all, we have a challenge when it comes to energy.
Yesterday in New Mexico, I signed an energy bill. I'll repeat today what I
said yesterday, and that is, this bill isn't going to lower people's
gasoline prices overnight, but it is -- the bill does lay out a strategy to
help us conserve more, produce more in environmentally friendly ways, to
use renewable sources of energy, all aimed at protecting our economic
security and national security. The more we diversify our -- the energy
sector, the less dependent we are on foreign sources of energy.

Secondly, we're opening up new markets. In order to keep this economy
growing, we've got to make sure we have not only free trade, but fair
trade. The CAFTA vote is an important vote because it opened up new markets
for 44 million consumers. That's going to be good for our farmers and
entrepreneurs and small business people. We discussed the need to continue
advancing free and fair trade at the -- during the Doha Round discussions
that will be held in Hong Kong later this -- later this year.

In order to make sure the economy continues to grow, we've got to continue
to work with Congress to reduce our deficit. The federal deficit is
projected to be $94 billion less than previously expected, and that's
thanks to a combination of tax relief, which got our economy growing, and
spending restraint. We're ahead of pace to cut the deficit in half by 2009.
And it's very important for Congress, as they work on the appropriations
bills, to adhere to the budgets that they passed so that -- so that we can
continue to send the signals to people around the country that we're
serious about being fiscally responsible with the people's money.

We need to have certainty in the tax code. That's why I strongly believe
that the tax relief we passed must be permanent, the death tax repealed
forever. And at the same time, I look forward to working with the Tax
Reform Commission to develop a simpler code that's a fairer code and one
that encourages economic growth.

In order to make sure this economy continues to grow, we got to do
something about the lawsuits that are making it difficult for our
entrepreneurs and small business people. I had the honor of signing a class
action reform. Congress needs to pass asbestos reform, as well as medical
liability reform.

Medical liability reform will help make health care costs more affordable
and health care more accessible for our folks. And that leads me to our
understanding that rising health care costs are a potential burden on
economic growth, and certainly a burden on many of our families. One way to
deal with the costs is to do something about the frivolous lawsuits that
are running up the cost of medicine.

I signed a patient's safety bill which will help reduce costs and, as
importantly, medical errors. The Congress should pass association health
plans so that small businesses can pool risk and expand health savings
accounts at the same time. In other words, association health plans will
help small businesses; health savings accounts will help individual
consumers, help our families, but help small businesses, as well, better
afford health care.

And finally on Social Security, look, we -- in order to make sure this
economy continues to grow, we have got to deal with problems now, to solve
problems now before they place an undue restraint on our families and an
undue restraint on the ability to grow our economy. And Social Security is
a -- is a liability that -- it needs to be addressed now.

Now, senior citizens must understand when I talk about Social Security
reform that nothing will change for you, you'll get your check. But your
grandchildren and your children are paying payroll taxes in a system that
will be broke by 2041. And it's time to fix the system. Congress needs to
understand the gravity of the situation. We have a serious problem. And I
believe good leaders are those who stand up and address problems and not
pass them on and hope that somebody else will come up and solve the
problem.

Part of the solution for Social Security is to make sure that the poor do
not retire into poverty, to make sure that people get benefits that grow at
least with the rate of inflation -- that will be the wealthier citizens get
benefits growing at the rate of the cost of living -- but poorer citizens
should have their benefits go up by wage increases. And that reform alone
will fix a lot of the solvency issue of Social Security.

And while we're fixing Social Security, I strongly believe younger workers
ought to be allowed -- given the chance to, given the opportunity to take
some of their own money and set it aside in a personal savings account. And
that will have two effects. One, it will increase savings throughout our
society, which is important to economic growth and vitality. But more
importantly, it will mean workers from all walks of life will be able to
own an asset that they call their own and that the government cannot take
away.

And so we've had a wide-ranging discussion on these important problems and
opportunities. We're confident about the future of the American economy
because we're confident that the entrepreneurial spirit is strong here.

With that, I'll be glad to take a couple of questions from you. Yes, ma'am.
That would be you, Deb.

Q Mr. President, on Iran. Iran is thumbing its nose at the United States
and Europe by resuming their uranium conversion activities. So if Iran
doesn't blink, what is the -- does the United States want to see immediate
referral to the Security Council and -- for punitive sanctions? And if so,
what should those sanctions look like?

THE PRESIDENT: I appreciate that question. First of all, as you know, we
have made strong steps -- we've condemned strongly Iranians' attempt to
develop any kind of program that would allow them to enrich uranium to
develop a weapon. In other words, the Iranians said they were in compliance
with certain international rules, and yet we found out they weren't in
compliance of those rules. And so we're very deeply suspicious of their
desires, and called upon our friends in Europe, what's called the EU 3 --
Germany, France and Great Britain -- to lead the diplomatic efforts to
convince the Iranians to give up their nuclear ambitions.

First of all, I want to applaud the EU 3 for being strong in their -- in
presenting a unified voice. Secondly, in terms of consequences if the
Iranians continue to balk, we'll work with the EU 3. In other words,
they're the -- they're the lead negotiators on behalf of the free world,
and we will work with them in terms of what consequences there may be. And
certainly, the United Nations is a potential consequence.

And I -- just as I was walking in here, I received word that the new
Iranian President said he was willing to get back to the table. Now, I
don't want to put words in his mouth, and you're going to have to check
that out before you print that in your story, but if he did say that, I
think that's a positive sign that the Iranians are getting a message that
it's not just the United States that's worried about their nuclear
programs, but the Europeans are serious in calling the Iranians to account
and negotiating. I don't know if you've got that word, or not. That's a
positive development.

But we'll work with our friends on steps forward, on ways to deal with the
Iranians if they so choose to ignore the demands of the world. It is
important for the Iranians to understand that America stands squarely with
the EU 3, that we feel strongly the Iranians need to adhere to the
agreements made in the Paris Accord, and that we will be willing to work
with our partners on -- in dealing with appropriate consequences should
they ignore the demands.

Q It sounds as if you're willing to give them more time to let this work
out --

THE PRESIDENT: Well, the man said he wanted to negotiate, and, of course --
again, we're working with the EU 3. They're the lead negotiators. In other
words, our strategy has been all along to make -- to work with Germany,
France and Great Britain, in terms of sending a strong signal and message
to Iran. And today it looked like that the new Iranian leader has heard
that message. We'll have to watch very carefully, however, because, as I
repeat, they have, in the past, said they would adhere to international
norm, and then were caught enriching uranium. And that's -- that's
dangerous. We don't want the Iranians to have a nuclear weapon.

The positive news, Deb, is, is that the world, at least the people we deal
with -- the Europeans, for example -- are very -- were knitted up in terms
of the goal, and that is to prevent the Iranians from having a nuclear
weapon.

Patsy.

Q Thank you, Mr. President. You just said you were deeply suspicious of
Iran's desires. Then, my question is, why does the United States support a
civilian nuclear program for Iran, but not for North Korea?

THE PRESIDENT: Yes. The Iranians have expressed a desire to have a civilian
nuclear program, and we've said that it is the -- it makes sense only so
long as the plant is under strong international inspection regimes and the
uranium used to run the power plant is provided by a country with whom
we're comfortable -- with which we're comfortable, and the spent fuel is
collected. In other words, there will be a strong regime -- I talked about
this at the National Defense University speech, about how we can enhance
the spread of nuclear power, but in a peaceful way that will assure
countries that spent fuel will not be enriched for bomb-making capacities.

Secondly, the Iranians have been, we hope, straightforward in their
willingness to accept this kind of international cooperation.

North Korea is in a different situation. The North Koreans have -- didn't
tell the truth when it came to their enrichment programs. But what's
different about it is the South Koreans have offered power. In other words,
the South Koreans have said, we'll build and share power with you, which
seems to me to make a good -- good sense, so long as the North Koreans give
up their nuclear weapons, so long as there's full transparency, so long as
there's the ability for the international community to know exactly what's
going on in a potential weapons program.

The strategy is the same, by the way, in terms of dealing diplomatically
with both countries. As I mentioned, the EU 3 is taking the lead -- we have
a little different strategy, obviously, different players with North Korea,
but nevertheless, it's the same concept: A group of nations are negotiating
on behalf of the free world to let, in this case, Kim Jong-il understand
that we're united in our desire to -- for you to give up any ambitions to
develop a nuclear weapon, and united in our desire, by the way, to prevent
you from proliferating.

Bill Roberts. This will be the last question.

Q Thank you, Mr. President. Americans have grown accustomed to historically
low interest rates over the last few years. How concerned are you and your
economic advisors that, as interest rates rise now, that could slow the
momentum in the U.S. economy?

THE PRESIDENT: I think -- first of all, as you know, that the Federal
Reserve is completely independent from the White House. They make decisions
independent of politics, and that's important. Ben used to serve on the
Federal Reserve Board, so he's -- he has had some insight into the workings
of the Federal Reserve, but our job is to deal with fiscal policy, and the
Federal Reserve deals with monetary policy.

And as I've said all along, I trust the judgment of Chairman Alan
Greenspan. He is -- he makes decisions based upon facts, not based upon
politics. And I think it's important for the American people to understand
that.

In terms of whether interest rates will -- the effect interest rates will
have on our economy, I think we're more concerned about energy prices and
health care prices. Those are the two areas that we see as having a greater
effect on potential economic -- on the growth, on the future of economic
growth. And that's why the energy bill is an important start, and that's
why we've laid out initiatives that we think will help American families
deal with the -- and small businesses deal with the rising cost of health
care.

Listen, thank you all. Great to see you. Mark, good to see you, sir. Thank
you.

END 12:17 P.M. CDT

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