Text 1461, 859 rader
Skriven 2005-09-21 23:33:10 av Whitehouse Press (1:3634/12.0)
Ärende: Press Release (0509212) for Wed, 2005 Sep 21
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Press Briefing by Scott McClellan
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For Immediate Release
Office of the Press Secretary
September 21, 2005

Press Briefing by Scott McClellan
James S. Brady Press Briefing Room

Press Briefing
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1:05 P.M. EDT

MR. McCLELLAN: Good afternoon, everyone. The President continues to work
closely with Congress to accelerate response and recovery efforts in the
aftermath of Hurricane Katrina. Yesterday, the President signed two bills,
and this morning he signed three more. The President believes strongly that
cutting through red tape and bureaucratic obstacles is essential to helping
people in the region rebuild their lives and their communities.

The President thanks all the members of the Alabama, Louisiana and
Mississippi delegations for their work on these important bills, and for
their continued efforts to make sure the needs of the victims of Hurricane
Katrina are met, and to also begin the rebuilding of the Gulf Coast region
to be stronger and better than ever.

He also appreciates members of Congress who sponsored these bills to help
people in the Gulf Coast region get back on their feet, including Senator
Mel Martinez of Florida, Congressman Ney, Congressman Baker, Congressman
Keller, Congressman Jindal and Congressman McCrery. We will be putting out
more information on those pieces of legislation here shortly.

I also want to talk about Rita. Rita is a dangerous hurricane, now at
category four strength. We are taking it very seriously. We urge everyone
in the path of Hurricane Rita to take it seriously. We urge citizens in the
path of Hurricane Rita to listen closely to state and local authorities and
follow their advice. Secretary Chertoff has designated Coast Guard Admiral
Hereth to be the point person for overseeing the federal preparedness and
response efforts in the region. He is based out of the joint field office
in Austin, Texas.

The Department of Homeland Security and FEMA have been pre-positioning
food, water, ice and emergency response teams in Texas. The food and water
and the ice and the tarps and generators are being pre-positioned at Fort
Sam Houston in San Antonio, Texas. They are assisting with evacuation
efforts that are underway. There are evacuation efforts underway in areas
of Texas and Louisiana, including Galveston and New Orleans. Military
assets are being repositioned, or pre-positioned, so that they are able to
deploy those assets as needed immediately after the storm makes landfall
and passes that region, that part of the region.

The U.S. Coast Guard, as the President was updated yesterday, has been
working to, what they termed, "buttoning down the ports," and that means
moving some ships and tying ships down and making sure that they're as
secure as possible.

The President has been in touch with Governors Blanco and Perry. He
participated in a briefing yesterday with Governor Blanco and Mayor Nagin,
and he spoke with Governor Perry yesterday. Federal officials are in close
contact with their state and local counterparts. The President continues to
receive regular updates. He received an update this morning. And he
continues to receive updates throughout the day.

Yesterday, as I mentioned, he chaired a briefing on board the USS Iwo Jima
in New Orleans, and he heard from the Department of Defense about the
military preparedness efforts that are underway. There are a number of
ships that are in the region, and they're repositioning those ships so that
they will be prepared to provide necessary relief once the storm has hit.

And he also received updates from the Department of Homeland Security and
FEMA and their pre-positioning efforts. NOAA provided an update on the path
of the hurricane, as well. And the President also issued an emergency
declaration yesterday at the request of the Governor of Florida. We expect
he will be receiving, shortly, a request from the Governor of Texas, and I
expect the Governor of Louisiana, as well. And we will move quickly on
those emergency declarations, as well, as we have previously.

And with that, I will be glad to go to questions.

Q Do you have an agreement with Governor Perry to move in U.S. troops
quickly, in the event they are needed?

MR. McCLELLAN: Well, Governor Perry has already activated, I think, some
5,000 National Guard troops. He has taken steps to call up a number of -- a
significant number of National Guard troops. And, obviously, the Coast
Guard and other military forces are prepared to assist as needed.

Q Are you confident that --

MR. McCLELLAN: That's why I talked about -- the President received a
lengthy briefing from the military yesterday in that briefing onboard the
Iwo Jima about what they're working to do to assist with the response and
relief efforts.

Q Are you confident that the lessons learned from Katrina will be applied
in the case of this hurricane?

MR. McCLELLAN: And I might want to point out, too, before I come to that
question, too, that the disaster medical teams are in the region. You have
nine -- at least nine search and rescue teams that are in the region so
that they can deploy quickly once the storm has passed.

Q So the lessons learned from Katrina will be applied in the case of Rita?

MR. McCLELLAN: Well, in terms of Katrina, that was a storm that was
unprecedented in size and scope and devastation. It is something that we
want to make sure all the lessons possible are learned, and we want to make
sure that we know exactly what worked and what didn't work. And that's why
we are working closely with Congress as they move forward on their
investigation. That's why the President has tasked his Homeland Security
Council to make sure that there is a comprehensive review of the
preparedness and response relating to Katrina, so we're doing that.

Now, in terms of Rita, I just talked about the steps that we're taking. And
we're going to make sure that we are doing everything we can to have the
strongest possible coordination with state and local governments as we
prepared and respond to Hurricane Rita.

Q Well, Scott, continuing with what Steve said, how is what you're doing
for Rita different from what you did from Katrina?

MR. McCLELLAN: Sure. A couple of things -- one, the President is focused on
making sure we have the strongest possible coordination with state and
local governments in the path of Hurricane Rita. We hope Rita is not
devastating, but we must be prepared for the worst. Coordination at all
levels needs to be seamless, or as seamless as possible, and that's what
we're working to do.

Homeland Security and FEMA officials are working closely with state and
local governments so that resources can be targeted where they are most
needed. They are redoubling efforts to make sure we have a full
understanding of what the needs are so that we can make sure that those
needs are met. And I went through several steps that were already taken to
address these issues.

Q So that's -- you think that that's going to be an improvement over what
was done in Katrina?

MR. McCLELLAN: Well, again, in terms of Katrina, we're still focused on the
immediate needs of the people in the region and working to make sure that
they are getting back up on their feet, that we're moving forward on the
recovery, that we're moving forward on the rebuilding to help people
rebuild their lives and rebuild their communities. We are determined to
learn the lessons of Katrina, and that's why we have been assessing what's
been working and what hasn't been working and taking steps to address those
issues. That's why we're also working closely with Congress, and the
President is committed to making sure that there's a thorough investigation
so that we can learn those lessons.

Q Well, can you distinguish what you're doing differently?

MR. McCLELLAN: Yes, I just talked to you about where the President's focus
is and what we are doing. We want to make sure that we're --

Q And these are things you didn't do in Katrina?

MR. McCLELLAN: We want to make sure that we are better prepared and better
positioned to respond to Hurricane Rita and that's what we're doing. That's
why I outlined the several steps that we are taking. And that's why I just
told you that the President is focused on making sure that we have the
strongest possible coordination with state and local officials, and that we
have --

Q Which you didn't have before, right?

MR. McCLELLAN: -- as seamless as possible coordination with state and local
officials.

Q In other words, better than the last time?

MR. McCLELLAN: I think I just answered that question, Bill.

Q No, not really.

MR. McCLELLAN: I just said -- I just said the very words that you're
bringing up.

Q Has the President secured from the governors or other local officials the
legal authority that we didn't have during Katrina, in order to take
action? The President has indicated --

MR. McCLELLAN: Well, let's keep in mind a couple of things. One, Katrina,
as I said, was a storm that was one of the worst and largest in our
nation's history, if not the worst and the largest. And the size of it was
massive. It covered some 90 -- the devastation covered 90,000 square miles
in that region.

You had some unique challenges when you came to New Orleans. The landscape
in New Orleans is different from what we're talking about in Texas. You
have a major urban city in New Orleans that was below sea level, and you
had challenges presented with the relatively small number of roads that go
in and out of the city and the flooding that occurred.

Remember, the initial storm was the hurricane, and the second storm for New
Orleans was the flooding that came after the hurricane. So you have a
different landscape that you're addressing in terms of Texas. And so I
think you have to keep those things in perspective, as well.

Q But the President has indicated that active duty military has better
capabilities for communication in a time of great distress, and there was a
lot of problem with police and first responders being able to communicate.
So being able to use that as something he sort of --

MR. McCLELLAN: Well, as I said, in addition to coordination, communications
is an area that we're very focused on in the preparation and response for
Hurricane Rita.

In terms of the military issue, yes, the President believes it's something
we need to look at as we apply lessons learned from Hurricane Katrina. And
that's what -- that's what we are committed to doing.

Q Just so I'm clear, no governor has yet given the federal government any
specific authority to step in if certain conditions are present?

MR. McCLELLAN: Well, if you're talking about law enforcement matters,
remember, the military, by law, is prohibited from -- active duty forces
from engaging in law enforcement activities. Now, that is a role that the
National Guard is trained to do and very capable of doing, along with state
and local law enforcement. As I mentioned, the Governor of Texas has
already activated some 5,000 National Guard troops and has them preparing
to be able to respond to Hurricane Rita. And so I think you have to keep
all that in mind.

But I also pointed out the extensive efforts being undertaken by our United
States military. And I think General Honore has briefed some -- on some of
that. He briefed the President on that at length yesterday. There are a
number of different branches of the military -- I think all branches of the
military that had representatives that are involved in the preparation for
Hurricane Rita, and that each one of them briefed on their respective areas
and what they were doing -- whether it was the Navy, or the Marines, or the
Air Force, or the Coast Guard, or the Army.

Q One more, just -- has the President told either of the governors that he
would utilize the Insurrections Act if he thought there was lawlessness
that occurred in New Orleans? Has he given an early warning?

MR. McCLELLAN: I'm not sure that that issue has come up. I think that
everybody has been focused on the evacuation efforts and the preparations
and the pre-positioning of assets and resources and rescue teams.

Q All the lines -- all the lines of authority are set now, right? Everybody
knows what they can do?

MR. McCLELLAN: Well, there are responsibilities at all levels. As you are
aware, one of the issues that -- and this is the issue that Kelly brought
up -- is, what do you do in a situation where you have a storm the size and
scope of Katrina that, in some instances, essentially, overwhelms those
state and local first responders, because the state and local first
responders tend to be the first ones on the scene helping that, along with
Coast Guard search and rescue teams. So all levels of government have
responsibilities.

And what the President talked about last week was one area we need to look
at is, when this happens, in a situation like Katrina, is should military
have an additional authority or additional role to be able to address some
of these challenges, because they have the logistics, and they have the
communications in place to be able to come in and help in a situation like
that.

Q And they have --

MR. McCLELLAN: The military? Yes. I don't think anyone questions their
capabilities and the ability of our troops.

Q No, I mean, now it's all settled as to who does what, right?

MR. McCLELLAN: Well, we are assisting the state and local efforts to
prepare and respond to Hurricane Katrina -- I mean, Hurricane Rita, sorry.

Q The economy has been very strong, but the markets and the fiscal
conservatives are beginning to get very nervous about expenditures and the
President's record of financial disciplinary -- and I'm wondering if at
some point is President Bush going to do something to reassure the markets
that he is, indeed, hearing their --

MR. McCLELLAN: I think he has done some things to reassure the markets, but
it's more important his focus is on making sure that we're doing the right
thing for the American people. And if you look at the President's budgets,
this President has worked to make sure that we're meeting our highest
priorities, such as protecting the American people and funding priorities
like education and other areas, while also looking at other parts of the
budget and restraining spending.

Since he came into office, we've substantially decreased the growth in
non-security discretionary spending. If you look at the year before he came
into office, that spending peaked at about 15 percent growth. Since that
time, he has cut that growth rate by nearly two-thirds in his first year,
to 6 percent, and then has been slowing it ever since. Today, this budget
that we've proposed has actually a 1 percent reduction in that spending.
And keep in mind, too, that one of the areas which the market looks at are
the mandatory spending side of things. We've proposed some savings in the
mandatory spending, in addition to discretionary spending savings.

The President has worked to move forward on reforming both Medicare and
Social Security. Those are programs that need to be addressed, and the
sooner we address those programs, the better. And that's why the President
has taken steps on Medicare, and we're putting those reforms into place.
And that's why he has tried to push forward on getting Social Security --
or passing Social Security legislation that will make it stronger for
future generations, because right now it's headed on a course that is not
sustainable and we will be passing on a huge burden to future generations
if we don't act.

One of the things he's doing this afternoon is meeting with his Commission
on Strengthening Social Security to talk about this priority.

Q So, in other words, he's just going to stay the course, he's not going to
eliminate some programs, like --

MR. McCLELLAN: Well, I think he's done anything but that. Because if you
look at his budgets, the President, as I said, has proposed ways to realize
significant savings. And I think you're bringing this in the context of
Hurricane Katrina and the relief and recovery and rebuilding efforts that
will be needed. The President has made it very clear that we're going to
meet the needs of the people in the region. The federal government has an
obligation to do what we can to help them rebuild their lives and rebuild
their communities and make the region stronger and better than before --
and he outlined that last week.

We also have an obligation to the American taxpayer. We have an obligation
to make sure that the money that we're spending -- the taxpayer money that
we're spending is spent wisely. And that's why we are working closely with
state and local officials to come up with well-planned ideas for moving
forward. And that's why -- and yesterday the President was in Mississippi
meeting with Governor Barbour's Commission on Relief and Recovery and
Rebuilding, to talk about some of these issues.

We also have an additional team at the Department of Homeland Security,
under the Inspector General, that has been tasked with overseeing the
spending, to make sure that there is accountability for the money that is
being spent, to make sure that there is -- that we're preventing fraud and
abuse, to make sure that we're looking at all the contracting issues, and
that the money is going to where it's supposed to go; and that, in addition
to that, the President made it very clear that we've got some tough
decisions that will need to be made to help offset some of the costs of
Hurricane Katrina.

The President wants to see some offsets to cover some of the costs that
will be associated with Hurricane Katrina. And so he recognizes that there
are tough decisions that need to be made in order to look at other -- look
at unnecessary spending and find ways to cut that unnecessary spending in
the budget, so that we can continue to meet our highest priorities while
keeping -- while addressing important budget priorities like slowing the
growth in the mandatory spending programs and the non-security
discretionary spending.

Q And have you said how much or how big those offsets should be?

MR. McCLELLAN: Well, we've offered some specific savings. It's in our 2006
budget, and I would encourage you to look at it because one of the things
we put out with our budget was a book on major savings and reforms. That is
a good starting point. It offers some very specific savings. It calls for
savings of about $20 billion in 2006 for non-security related discretionary
spending. That's the tightest such restraint in that area proposed since
the Reagan administration.

We proposed 150 reductions and eliminations in programs outside of defense
to produce the $20 billion in savings. We also proposed reforming mandatory
programs for an additional $137 billion in savings over 10 years. That
includes curbing big subsidies to financial institutions in the student
loan program that are not passed on to the borrowers. Senator Kennedy is
someone who has supported such an approach. It includes slowing the growth
in the area of Medicaid. It includes pension reforms. It includes ending
trade subsidies for corporations.

So there are some very specific ideas for finding some savings, and that's
a good place to start. We also want to look at other unnecessary spending
and find ways to cut that. And that's why our OMB Director has been meeting
with members of Congress to discuss some of those issues. We have some
other officials that will be going up to the Capitol later this week from
the budget office, as well as, I believe, a representative from the
Inspector General's Office at the Department of Homeland Security.

Q Scott, if the goal in responding to Rita, as you said, is to have better
coordination at all levels of government, I wonder if you could talk
specifically about what is happening here at the White House to achieve
that goal? In other words, has somebody been put in charge of making sure
that they're talking to everybody at the state and local levels? How do you
reach that goal in a concrete way?

MR. McCLELLAN: Yes. Actually, maybe you missed some of what I was talking
about, but we kept you updated, remember, prior to Hurricane Katrina and
talked about all the steps that we were taking, because it was a storm we
took very seriously. And that's why disaster declarations were issued,
that's why the President was participating in briefings, that's why he was
talking with key officials in different agencies.

And as I pointed out, the President has been having daily hurricane
briefings. One of the first topics in today's -- or the first topic in
today's hurricane briefing was Hurricane Rita. And Secretary Chertoff was
at this meeting, as well as senior White House officials. White House
officials have been in touch with people throughout the federal government,
and I think that you've heard from the Department of Homeland Security and
FEMA about their preparations. You heard from Secretary Chertoff. He was
out publicly today talking about steps that are being taken. I updated you
on some of those steps.

I also updated you on the briefing the President participated in yesterday,
because you had key -- all the key people were participating in that
briefing yesterday. You had Admiral Hereth, who is the primary point person
in charge of the operations based in Texas. You had Admiral Allen, who is
the primary point person in the region for Hurricane Katrina. You had
General Honore. You had Governor Blanco. You had Mayor Nagin, and then a
number of other officials, FEMA officials, that were participating. David
Paulison was participating by secure video conference, as well as Secretary
Chertoff and NOAA officials. So that's what I'm referring to.

Q I mean, is it fair to conclude that a big part of this is simply
presidential attention -- the amount of time that the President is
dedicating to dealing with this, pre-Katrina?

MR. McCLELLAN: Well, I talked to you about -- I talked to you about the
amount of time -- I talked to you ahead of Katrina about the amount of time
that he was dedicating to that, as well. It was something we were taking
very seriously, as well.

But one of the areas -- one of the areas --

Q Okay, but what's different --

MR. McCLELLAN: Well, that's what I talked about. One of the areas that
people have looked at was the coordination that was going on between all
levels of government and the communications issues. And that's why those
are issues that we're very focused on.

Q And one other topic. You mentioned Social Security. Most people out
there, including a lot of members of the President's own party, say this
issue is dead completely. What kind of timetable does the President have
for getting this going? And why does he think that, presumably, next year,
he's going to have an easier case selling it?

MR. McCLELLAN: Well, as I mentioned, in terms of -- well, I'm not going to
necessarily agree with your presumptions, but this remains a priority. In
terms of the timetables, as I pointed out, we've got a very high priority
right now, and that is -- well, two high priorities: Hurricane Katrina, the
ongoing relief and recovery and rebuilding efforts; and Hurricane Rita,
making sure we're prepared and able to fully respond to the needs of the
people after that hits.

In terms of other priorities, there were other priorities. We remain firmly
committed to those priorities. They are important priorities. One of the
issues that keeps coming up in this room is, what are we going to do to
address some of the issues of spending. This is an area where we can
address a long-term deficit problem, and it's also an area that we have an
obligation to act on for future generations, for our children and
grandchildren, who right now recognize that they're not going to -- they're
not going to see anything from their Social Security checks unless we act.
And it's an additional $600 billion a year each year that we wait, so
there's substantial savings right there.

Q Has the President put estate tax changes and extending the tax cuts,
making them permanent, has he put those on the back burner with the
Treasury Secretary?

(Interruption to briefing.)

MR. McCLELLAN: Please, a reminder, everybody turn their beepers off before
coming to the briefing room.

Go ahead.

Q Has he put changes to the estate tax and making the tax cuts from the
first four-and-a-half years permanent on the back burner, as the Treasury
Secretary said yesterday?

MR. McCLELLAN: Well, I'm not sure he said -- I think the Treasury Secretary
indicated what I indicated over the last couple of weeks, was that the
President remains firmly committed to the priorities on his agenda. He has
outlined an agenda. These are important priorities for the American people,
and we are committed to moving forward on those priorities.

We recognize that Hurricane Katrina has impacted the congressional
timetable. And we will work with Congress on how we move forward on some of
those priorities. In terms of the tax cuts that you're bringing up, I'm not
aware of any that are set to expire this year. But keeping our economy
growing is a very high priority. Because of our strong economy, we have
seen an increase in revenues coming into the federal government. And we
must continue to move forward on pro-growth, pro-jobs policies to keep our
economy growing and creating jobs. And that's what this President has done.

Q Does the President think there's any need to maybe just take a deep
breath and think twice about estate tax reform, or wait until next year to,
sort of, see what the fiscal picture looks like?

MR. McCLELLAN: What are you suggesting?

Q I'm not suggesting anything. I'm asking a question to elicit a response.

MR. McCLELLAN: I think there are some spending increases that we could look
at that we believe don't need to be permanent, so that's an area where we
can look. And there are number of areas where we're discussing with members
of Congress about how to cut some of that unnecessary spending.

Q Without tax cuts?

MR. McCLELLAN: Well, I talked about the importance of keeping our economy
growing. Our national economy is a key lifeline to the region that has been
devastated by Hurricane Katrina. And you have the child tax credit and
earned income tax credit -- those are important tax cuts for people in the
region that have been deeply affected by Hurricane Katrina. We don't want
to take those tax cuts away from them. The worst thing to do right now
would be to increase taxes on the American people, because it would have a
terrible impact on our economy.

Q Scott, can I ask you about the President's sort of internal
communications with aides with respect to Rita? Is the President asking
more, sort of, pointed questions? Is he being more aggressive in his
questioning of aides and officials?

MR. McCLELLAN: Yes, he's asking a lot of pointed questions. He's been
asking a lot of pointed questions in previous hurricanes, as well.

If you go back and look, I mean, just a year ago we had four hurricanes
that hit the state of Florida. And there were a lot of efforts undertaken
ahead of those hurricanes, and I think a lot of the response efforts were
well-praised.

I think you're bringing up in the context of Hurricane Katrina. Like I
said, Hurricane Katrina presented us with enormous challenges at all levels
of government, and it was an unprecedented storm. And we must look at the
preparedness and response and make sure we understand fully what was
working and what wasn't working, and then apply lessons learned from the
review of Hurricane Katrina response.

Q You mentioned communications, obviously, is a huge issue and there were
certain assumptions made with Katrina, they asked for help and they assumed
the help was coming -- it would seem there was obviously some confusion.
But what --

MR. McCLELLAN: Who's "they" and --

Q Well, Governor Blanco, for instance, said that she asked for federal help
and she assumed that that meant --

MR. McCLELLAN: There was federal help being pre-positioned. I think you
ought to go back and make sure everything you have is accurate information,
first of all, rather than making a broad, general statement. That's what
part of the investigation will do, is will look at these issues and look at
the response effort at all levels and so we can better understand the
lessons.

Q In terms of specifics, though, is the President asking those kind of
very, you know, specific, pointed questions of not only the state
officials, but the local officials --

MR. McCLELLAN: Yes, he did so yesterday in the briefing and continues to do
so.

Q And I just wanted to ask another question. President Carter yesterday had
some very, kind of, pointed criticism, talking about how when FEMA was
created under his watch there were three principles that he says now the
Bush administration essentially violated, and that is keeping FEMA
independent, making sure that there are qualified leaders in place, and
also ensuring that there is adequate funding in place for FEMA. Do you have
any --

MR. McCLELLAN: I haven't seen his comments, but the President and Congress
moved forward to create the Department of Homeland Security and made the
decision to put all the various agencies under that on umbrella, so that we
would be better prepared to address threats that we face and to better
protect the American people.

In terms of issues related to Hurricane Katrina, which, again, is what
you're coming back to, we need to make sure that there is a thorough
investigation and a comprehensive review of what took place in terms of the
preparedness and response. And that's exactly what we were doing. The
President is committed to making sure that the congressional investigation
is a thorough one. Congress has an important oversight responsibility.

They're moving forward on an investigation.

The President has also been moving forward. He has tasked the Homeland
Security Council to coordinate a comprehensive review throughout the
federal government. All Cabinet Secretaries have been directed to give that
review their highest priority and to make sure that they are fully
participating in that review. And those are going to be important -- the
investigation and the comprehensive review are going to be important for us
to be able to apply lessons learned to future threats that we may face --
whether those threats are natural disasters or disease pandemics or
terrorist attacks.

Q Are you saying those issues that President Carter brought up specifically
--

MR. McCLELLAN: I haven't seen exactly what he said.

Q Well, about the funding and the structure of FEMA being within DHS --

MR. McCLELLAN: That doesn't change -- I still haven't seen exactly what he
said.

Go ahead, Goyal.

Q Scott, a while ago President spoke on the war against terrorism. And also
he had a strong message for the global body in New York, at the United
Nations, as far as global war on terrorism concerned. He also met number of
leaders at the United Nations, including leaders from India and Pakistan
and also Kofi Annan. My question is that what assurities do you think he
had from the global leaders as far as war on terrorism is concerned, and
Osama bin Laden?

MR. McCLELLAN: Well, they passed a couple of important resolutions. The
President participated in the Security Council meeting. Those were
important resolutions. I think that the international community is united
in our determination to prevail in the global war on terrorism. I think the
international community recognizes the nature of the enemy that we're
facing, that this is an enemy that embraces a hateful ideology and seeks to
dominate parts of the world.

And this is a war that we remain engaged in. It's going to be a long-term
effort. And we appreciate all those that are part of the global war on
terrorism.

Q India still a (inaudible)-- United Nations and Kofi Annan, because
there's a new report about to come as far as scandal, food for oil --

MR. McCLELLAN: Well, there have been some reports that have been released.
I think Secretary General Annan has expressed his determination to move
forward on reforms. We believe very strongly that the United Nations needs
to be reformed so that it will be a more effective multilateral
organization. There are a number of proposals that we have outlined. And
the United Nations took an important step. We continue to work with them to
implement those reforms. I think the American people expect that, and I
think that the world will be better served by a United Nations that reforms
itself, both in the management area, the area of human rights. There are a
number of different areas where it needs to be reformed.

Go ahead, Sarah.

Q Thank you. Scott, Iran is still talking tough, threatening to resume its
nuclear program if the issues -- the United Nations. But at the same time,
he says he wants to continue negotiations. Does the President consider that
a stall? And is he in favor of sanctions against Iran?

MR. McCLELLAN: Well, the President believes that Iran needs to come back to
negotiations with the Europeans. We continue to support the efforts of our
European friends. The European Union, earlier today, issued a statement
expressing their deep concern about Iran's intentions. We have made it
clear that Iran needs to come back to the negotiating table and work in
good faith and abide by their agreements that they've made with the
Europeans so that we can move forward and get this issue resolved.

And that's what we're continuing to do, is support them in the discussion
that goes on at the International Atomic Energy Agency. We've expressed our
concerns about Iran's behavior. They have a long history of deceiving the
international community, of not abiding by their international obligations.
And that's why we remain concerned about their true intentions. And we
appreciate the efforts of the Europeans, that I think you've heard a lot of
concern expressed by various countries in the aftermath of some of the most
recent remarks that were made at the United Nations.

Q Scott, a two-part. First, do you recall when the last time the President
vetoed any bill?

MR. McCLELLAN: Well, Les, on a couple of -- let me mention a couple of
things: One, as I pointed out at the beginning of this briefing, the
President has worked to significantly slow the growth in non-security
discretionary spending. And he's proposed significant savings elsewhere in
the budget, as well. And Congress has been working to meet the general
budget outline that the President has put forward in recent years. And we
appreciate those efforts.

Now, the President doesn't have a line-item veto power. That is something
that the President believes he should have, so he has to work with Congress
on these priorities and these spending issues.

Secondly, if you look at some issues -- let's take the highway bill for
instance, the President made it very clear that he would not sign a bill
that substantially increased our deficit. We worked with members of
Congress, and the amount of money that was allocated in that legislation
came down significantly from where it was.

Q Publisher Pinch Sulzberger, of The New York Times, which is now laying
off 500 more people after laying off 200 more people earlier this year
announced that, they "will continue to provide journalism of the highest
quality." And my question: What does the President believe that claim says
about the 700 they're getting rid of? And wouldn't it be better to get rid
of Sulzberger, who tried for so long to save two editors who refused to
fire that monumental liar, Jayson Blair, from Maryland?

MR. McCLELLAN: They're not decisions the President of the United States
makes.

Go ahead.

Q Scott, besides the President's meeting today with the Senators, how else
have White House officials reached out to Senate Judiciary Committee
members? And how will this process, this consultation process, be different
than the first nominee?

MR. McCLELLAN: Well, in terms of the consultation, I think we intend to
move forward in the same manner as we did on the Judge Roberts nomination.
We consulted extensively with members of the Senate. It was unprecedented
the level of consultation that we engaged in, and we intend to do the same
this time for this vacancy on the United States Supreme Court.

The President is moving forward in a thoughtful and deliberate way. He is
looking at a diverse list of potential nominees. He welcomes ideas and
thoughts from members of the Senate, and he believes they have important --
an important role to play. And he was pleased to sit down and visit with
key Senators today to hear their ideas. Senior White House staff -- such as
our Counsel, Harriet Miers, and Chief of Staff Andy Card, Karl Rove and
others -- have been reaching out to members of the Senate, as they did
before, to listen to their thoughts and their ideas on what they're looking
for, in terms of attributes and qualifications for a potential nominee.

The Senators this morning offered some names that they thought the
President should consider, and the President will take into account their
ideas and their thoughts.

Q Senator Leahy suggested that the names were very similar to the last time
they had this meeting in July. Does that suggest that maybe you don't have
to have as extensive consultations as the first time around?

MR. McCLELLAN: No, we intend to move forward in the same manner as we did
previously and consult extensively with the United States Senate. That's an
important part of the nominating process. And we hope that the Senate will
also move forward, once that nominee is named, in a civil and dignified way
as they move forward on the confirmation process.

Go ahead, Holly.

Q You mentioned the highway bill before, and some conservatives have
suggested that that's an area that the White House and Congress can revisit
and maybe cut back some of the spending that was in there. Is that
something that the White House thinks is a good idea?

MR. McCLELLAN: Yes, I don't -- one, we are in some initial discussions with
members of Congress. There are a lot of ideas that are being discussed. And
as a general matter, I think we need to let those discussions take place. I
don't want to get into trying to prejudge some of the areas that might be
identified, in terms of spending cuts.

But the President tasked his budget director to work with members of
Congress and identify unnecessary spending that can be cut to help offset
some of the cost, and that's what we're working to do.

Q As a follow-up, if Congress comes up with ideas for spending cuts that
are not on the White House's list of suggested ideas, are you open to that?

MR. McCLELLAN: Yes.

Q Scott, Representative LoBiondo from New Jersey, Republican, is
circulating a letter calling on the President to rescind the tax cut, which
he signed into effect for the people who are going to be rebuilding the
Gulf Coast. In light of that, and in light of the need that people have to
be working and to be earning decent money down there, is the President
reconsidering this wage cut?

MR. McCLELLAN: Which tax cut?

Q The wage cut.

MR. McCLELLAN: In terms of tax cuts --

Q No, I'm sorry. I meant the wage cuts, didn't mean to say, tax cuts --

MR. McCLELLAN: What do you mean, wage cuts?

Q The Davis-Bacon.

MR. McCLELLAN: The Davis-Bacon. Well, what --

Q Which is a wage cut.

MR. McCLELLAN: We suspended that act for the reasons that we stated
previously. This will open up access to more business -- small businesses,
including women-owned and minority-owned businesses. It cuts through the
red tape and helps us move forward quickly to address the needs of the
people in the region and to provide substantial savings. We're talking
about savings here in terms of spending. That's an important part of that,
too.

Q But how does lowering people's wages help with rebuilding the economy?

MR. McCLELLAN: Well, I disagree with your characterization, first of all. I
know there are some that take a different view of this, but President Bush
41 also issued a suspension of this act previously, to address Hurricane
Andrew back in '92.

Q Was it a good idea?

MR. McCLELLAN: We actually talked about this last week. You might want to
look back. Claude Allen briefed on this and talked about our position on
this and why this was another important area to cut through some of the red
tape that prevents us from moving forward as quickly as possible. And it
opens it up to more people, so that women-owned and minority-owned
businesses can participate more fully in that, as well.

And we want, the President made it clear, that in terms of jobs and
contracts and things of that nature, he believes they should go mostly to
those who have been affected by this hurricane. And that's something we're
committed to doing. So this was an important -- we've issued a number of
waivers to cut through red tape and bureaucracy, and this was one of those.

Q Is the President aware that there is a move on Capitol Hill to call on
him to rescind this?

MR. McCLELLAN: We're aware that there are people that are opposed to that
on the other side of the fence.

Go ahead, Paula.

Q With respect to Davis-Bacon, could you explain why it's so burdensome to
require employers or federal contractors to simply submit payroll once a
week?

MR. McCLELLAN: I guess some of you want to keep going over this, because
we've been over this previously. But this would ensure that victims of
Hurricane Katrina are cared for and that their communities are restored as
quickly as possible. It will help accelerate the return of basic services
and infrastructure to the communities that have been devastated by
Hurricane Katrina, and cut costs of reconstruction. I think those are
important priorities. It will also help create job opportunities, as I
mentioned, for those in need of work -- particularly opening it up to more
people like -- that would include women-owned and minority-owned
businesses.

And if you look at studies, they've shown that costs outside of Davis-Bacon
requirements cost anywhere from 5 percent to 38 percent less. The cost of
this rebuilding and reconstruction is going to be significant. The
President said this will be one of the largest reconstructions ever. And it
makes good sense to remove the burden of this act from the backs of the
taxpayers in this construction effort, and to open it up to -- open up more
job opportunities to people who have been affected by this.

Q As far as the timing of your priorities, I just want to make sure. Is it
accurate to say that the administration would not be opposed to Congress
setting its schedule so that tax cuts that remain in effect this year
aren't addressed until next year?

MR. McCLELLAN: I'm sorry, repeat that.

Q Would it be accurate to say that the administration would not be opposed
to Congress setting the schedule so that tax cuts that remain in effect
this year are not addressed until next year?

MR. McCLELLAN: It would be accurate to say that we'll work with Congress on
the timetable for addressing other priorities, as we have done and as we
will do. It's also accurate to say that Hurricane Katrina has certainly had
an impact on the congressional timetable. And those are all issues where
we'll continue to work with Congress as we move forward. Our highest
priority remains the recovery and rebuilding efforts relating to Hurricane
Katrina.

Q Thank you.

MR. McCLELLAN: Thank you.

END 1:47 P.M. EDT
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