Text 1475, 589 rader
Skriven 2005-09-22 23:34:18 av Whitehouse Press (1:3634/12.0)
Ärende: Press Release (0509222) for Thu, 2005 Sep 22
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Press Briefing by Scott McClellan
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For Immediate Release
Office of the Press Secretary
September 22, 2005

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

Press Briefing
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  þ Hurricane preparations
      þ Reference B
  þ President's travel schedule
      þ Reference B
  þ Confirmation of Judge Roberts
      þ Reference B
  þ Role of the Military
      þ Reference B
  þ President's presence/how does it help
  þ Homeland Security Advisor/response efforts
  þ Medicaid availability to evacuees of Katrina

12:38 P.M. EDT

MR. McCLELLAN: All right, good afternoon, everybody. I want to begin with
an update on some of the hurricane preparations.

First of all, the President this morning -- earlier this morning received
an update about Hurricane Rita and the storm track that it was taking, the
latest update there. He participated in a hurricane briefing with Secretary
Chertoff and senior White House officials to talk about the preparations
and response efforts for Hurricane Rita, as well as talk about the ongoing
recovery and planning for rebuilding in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina.

As of this morning, Hurricane Rita remained a category five hurricane. The
maximum sustained winds were at or near 175 miles per hour, with higher
gusts. Rita is an extremely dangerous hurricane. Citizens in the Gulf Coast
region need to take it very seriously. We urge all citizens in the path of
the storm to follow the advice of state and local authorities. The best
thing they can do is get out of the path of the storm. There are a number
of evacuations that continue. I'll get to that in a minute.

As of this morning, Rita is forecast to make landfall early Saturday
morning a few miles east of Galveston Bay. And they expect that -- the
forecasters expect that the Gulf Coast region in Texas will experience the
onset of tropical storm-force winds as early as Friday evening, with
hurricane-force winds following several hours after there. There's going to
be heavy rainfall associated with it, obviously. And those are things we're
all watching closely.

The latest update from the Department of Homeland Security on some of the
preparations going on in Texas include over 400 medical team personnel, 14
urban search and rescue teams positioned in -- I believe in the Fort Sam
Houston area in San Antonio, Texas. The state of Florida has released all
their FEMA preposition teams and assets, and FEMA has been in the process
of moving those assets and commodities to the state of Texas.

As I mentioned, the Coast Guard is prepositioning search and rescue,
pollution response and aids to navigation assets inland for a post-storm
response. The Coast Guard disaster area response teams are getting in
place, prestaging in Houston to provide relief after the storm hits.

An advisory has also been sent out to -- was sent out yesterday to evacuate
all oil rigs and platforms in the Gulf of Mexico that may be in the path of
the storm. The Department of Defense's Northern Command has ordered a
number of heavy-lift, medium-lift helicopters to be staged at Patrick Air
Force Base and available for damage assessments that would be performed by
FEMA representatives. You have the state of Texas activating some 5,000
National Guard personnel. There are more than 10,000 in the state that are
ready to be activated if needed. There are a number of other National Guard
around the country that are on stand-by if needed, as well.

The Department of Transportation has provided several hundred buses to the
state of Texas to support preparations for Rita, and the American Red Cross
has resources to deliver at least 750,000 meals a day after Rita makes
landfall, while keeping appropriate resources in place for Katrina victims,
as well.

The state of Texas, as you are aware, has ordered mandatory evacuations in
all or part of a number of counties. The number of people being evacuated
in the state of Texas is unprecedented, well over a million people. There
are voluntary evacuations in other parts of Texas, as well, and they
continue to look at decisions for additional evacuations that need to be
made.

And a disaster declaration for Texas, as well as Louisiana, was issued --
emergency declaration was issued by the President at the request of the
Governors yesterday. Admiral Hereth remains the principal federal official
in charge of operations on the ground in the state of Texas. He is based in
Austin, Texas, in the joint field office. And Admiral Allen remains the
primary federal official in charge of operations in Louisiana. You heard
from Governor Blanco a short time ago urging evacuations all along the
coastal areas in Louisiana. Buses are in place to help facilitate some of
those efforts; there's shelters in place. The Corps of Engineer continues
to work to shore up the closed levee breaches. The levees, as we talked
about, are in a weakened state of condition. And that is a concern for us,
with heavy rainfall that is expected from Hurricane Rita. And there's still
a number of search and rescue teams in the region, as well as disaster
medical teams.

In terms of the preposition of assets in Texas, just to go back through
that, it's at Fort Sam Houston in San Antonio, Fort Worth. The search and
rescue teams are actually based in Fort Worth and San Antonio. And then
there is large amounts of water, ice, MREs, tarps, generators, plastic
sheeting rolls stationed in Texas at Fort Sam Houston, and in Fort Worth,
at the mobilization center there, as well as in Louisiana.

A couple of updates in terms of briefings. Chief Paulison is supposed to be
briefing at 2:30 p.m. today from Washington, to give us the latest
operational update. Admiral Allen and General Honore are scheduled to brief
at 3:00 p.m. in Baton Rouge. And Admiral Hereth and, I believe, a Texas
state emergency official will be briefing at 4:00 p.m. Eastern in Austin,
Texas.

Let me update you on the President's schedule, too, for tomorrow and into
Saturday. The schedule is still in flux and subject to change. The plan at
this point is that the President will leave tomorrow afternoon and will
make a stop in Texas. He will stop to see -- get a firsthand look at the
preparations that are underway for Hurricane Rita and to show our support
for the first responders as they get ready for the response to Hurricane
Rita.

Following that, we will travel to Colorado, where the President will visit
the Northern Command. This will give the President an opportunity to
monitor the storm and to get a firsthand look at the federal government's
assistance that is going on with state and local preparations and response
efforts during Hurricane Rita. It also gives the President an opportunity
to look at the military response efforts from the federal government's
standpoint. One of the issues that you've heard the President talk about is
the role of the United States military in responding to catastrophic storms
or catastrophic natural disasters. And that's something that we need to
take a close look at in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina. This will give
him a firsthand look at the Northern Command and how the military is
assisting in federal government response efforts to Hurricane Rita.

And finally, I want to make one note on action taking place in the United
States Senate today. The Senate Judiciary Committee is moving forward on
the confirmation of Judge John Roberts. We appreciate the committee moving
forward in a timely manner. We commend Senator Specter for his leadership.
We appreciate Senator Leahy's support for Judge Roberts. He is an extremely
well-qualified nominee who will make an outstanding Supreme Court Justice
and someone that all Americans can be proud of.

We also commend the committee for moving forward in a civil and dignified
way. And we hope that this is setting an example for the way that they will
carry forward on the President's next nominee. And we appreciate the Senate
moving forward quickly to bring his nomination to a floor vote so that he
can be in place by the time the Court comes into session in October.

And with that, I'll be glad to go to your questions.

Q What are you suggesting that the President can learn by going to Northern
Command? The role of the military is already very well-defined. They could
do everything except law enforcement, federal troops. There's no problem.
What's he going to learn? What does he want to change?

MR. McCLELLAN: And that was one of the -- well, it's not just that, Bill.
Remember what I said, it's so he can get a firsthand look at how the
military is responding as part of the federal government's assistance to
the state and local first responders that will be on the ground helping in
the immediate aftermath of Hurricane Rita.

Q When you say he want to take a close look at the --

MR. McCLELLAN: It's the issue -- it's an issue that the President discussed
in his press conference last week, it's an issue that I've brought up in
the briefing. One of the issues that came up in the aftermath of Hurricane
Katrina was the role of the military. The military has the logistics and
the communications capability to be able to go into an area quickly and
establish a strong response to whatever the circumstances may be. And one
of the circumstances that came up during Hurricane -- or in the immediate
aftermath of Hurricane Katrina was the issue of the security situation. And
the security situation was -- that was one of the issues, in terms of being
able to get supplies like food and water and medicine to people on the
ground in New Orleans that had not been evacuated for whatever reason. And
there were -- there is a lot of discussion going on about the
responsibility for the law enforcement matters.

Q Is that what he's looking to change?

MR. McCLELLAN: Now, the military -- the military, by law, cannot -- active
duty military cannot engage in law enforcement matters. The President
thinks that this is an issue that needs to be looked at as we move forward
to address these issues.

What happened with Hurricane Katrina was that you had two storms, the
hurricane and then the flooding. And the flooding presented additional
challenges. New Orleans was certainly some unique challenges that it
presented first responders with. And first responders did a great job. They
were working around the clock, but it also, to a large extent, overwhelmed
some of their capabilities. And so these are all issues to look at and
consider.

Q Right, but the President has the ability to -- under the Insurrection
Act, to --

MR. McCLELLAN: That's correct.

Q -- to make the military a part of the law enforcement operation. He can
do that --

MR. McCLELLAN: There are a host of legal issues involved.

Q There are, indeed. But are you suggesting that he would like to find some
other way to get them actively involved in law enforcement under special
circumstances?

MR. McCLELLAN: I'm saying that these are issues that need to be looked at
as we look at the lessons learned from Hurricane Katrina. We need to look
back, and we have been, at what went wrong and what went right, and then do
a lessons learned review.

Q That's what he's looking at, then, some way to give them the authority to
conduct the security operations.

MR. McCLELLAN: That's one of the issues that we need to look at, is the
role of the military, because there is a -- there are responsibilities at
all levels of government when it comes to responding to hurricanes.
Typically, the first responders are the state and local first responders,
and the federal government's role is to assist those first responders. But
there are some unique challenges that Katrina exposed that we need to look
at and we need to do a better job of in the future in terms of responding
to.

Q So you're saying that he'd like to look at the question of whether the
military should be involved in law enforcement?

MR. McCLELLAN: He indicated that last week.

Q How is it going to help the people of Texas practically prepare for this
storm that the President is going to fly in to take a firsthand look at
preparations and show support for first responders? How is that going to
practically help them do what they have to do?

MR. McCLELLAN: Well, I think we're going to have as minimal a footprint as
possible. We're not going to get in the way of the ongoing preparations
that are going on. We go out of our way when we travel to make sure that
that doesn't happen. The President wants to go in there and be able to
thank all those first responders as they are gearing up for the challenges
that will be coming shortly thereafter. That's why we're going there first,
for a short amount of time, and then going on to Colorado. And it will also
give him a chance to see firsthand some of the preparations that are
underway on the ground.

Q But it sounds like a bit of a photo op, one that he'd prefer over playing
the guitar at the airport photo op before Katrina.

MR. McCLELLAN: Well, first of all, let's correct the record on that. There
was a reporter from your news organization that was backstage during that
event. That was an event to go and thank our troops and talk about the war
on terrorism. And it was not an event, as you may have portrayed to some
people that are watching this out there by this simple statement. It was --

Q He didn't pick up the guitar while the hurricane was rolling into
Louisiana?

MR. McCLELLAN: -- much more than that. The person that was entertaining our
troops there presented a gift to the President. So I think you need to make
that clear to everybody who's watching this or to your viewers. And it was
one of your colleagues at ABC News who was backstage taking a picture of
that.

Q It was a very good picture and I'm proud of her, but the question I have
--

MR. McCLELLAN: Yes, but that picture was taken by someone -- hang on, hang
on, Terry -- that picture was taken by some people way out of context. And
it was portrayed that the President was simply doing that, and that's not
the case, as you and I know.

Q The point was that he was over there and not --

MR. McCLELLAN: As you and I know, I had announced shortly before that, that
we were returning the next morning. As you and I know, we had announced the
President -- the day before -- all the briefings he was participating in.
The President spoke the day before. He spoke that day about the hurricane.
So let's just set the record straight.

Q Fair enough.

MR. McCLELLAN: I think that's unfair.

Q So the trip to Texas to take a look at the preparations and show support
for the first responders is not a photo op?

MR. McCLELLAN: This is very much something that's in flux. I would describe
it the way I did. This is a catastrophic hurricane that is headed toward
the coast of Texas, and the President wants to go and be able to see some
of the preparations that are underway and thank all those who are involved
in preparing for this response. He is the President, and, as he indicated
to you all, it is his responsibility when it comes to the federal
government's role in these hurricanes. And he made the decision that this
is what he wanted to do tomorrow.

Q Are you not doing anything on Katrina on this trip?

MR. McCLELLAN: I'm sorry?

Q Are you not doing anything on Katrina?

MR. McCLELLAN: Well, I don't want to rule that out --

Q When does he get back?

MR. McCLELLAN: Again, we'll be overnighting in Colorado, but the rest of
the schedule for the weekend is still in flux. And this schedule that I
announced to you all could still -- will change to some extent. This is
what the expectations are; I wanted to keep you posted on that. But I would
expect while we're at Northern Command he would hear more about some of the
military's involvement in Katrina. That continues.

Q Scott, when you talked about looking at the military response efforts
when he's at the Northern Command, does this suggest anything will be
different in how active duty military will be utilized? The President
earlier in his remarks seemed to indicate there would be no difference. And
when we've spoken to you before, you suggested no difference and you
referred us to --

MR. McCLELLAN: I don't know that I said that.

Q Well, you said that the Governor of Texas has activated National Guard --

MR. McCLELLAN: And I think both Texas and Louisiana have made some requests
in terms of active duty assistance. The military, what they can do is
provide a lot of strong support in terms of the relief and the response
efforts. The Coast Guard is always very involved in the search and rescue
operations. It is amazing, some of the lifesaving operations that they
undertake and that they carry out and they work around the clock during
situations like this. The President was able to personally thank a number
of those in Louisiana who had been working around the clock to save lives.

Q Aside from the Coast Guard, which was involved through all of that, do
you plan for a specific role that is different than what we saw with
Katrina for active duty U.S. military?

MR. McCLELLAN: Well, there's some different circumstances that might be
involved with this hurricane, because you have different situations in
terms of the landscape from Texas to New Orleans. But the military is
mobilizing their resources, they are prepositioning. There are enormous
amounts of assets and resources that are being prepositioned in the region.
There were a number that were already in the region and the ships are being
moved around to make sure it's out of the way of the path of the storm so
that they can quickly come back in after the storm. So there is a lot of
preparations that are underway.

And I indicated yesterday we want to do everything we can to make sure we
are better prepared to respond to Hurricane Rita, and that's what we're
working to do. That's why the -- one of the most important lessons that the
President just highlighted was that people need to evacuate early. I think
that people in Texas and Louisiana have a very clear message. They've been
evacuating very early, getting out of the path of the storm. That's the
best thing that they can do. We're also working to make sure that the
coordination is as seamless as possible with state and local officials.
Admiral Hereth talked about the excellent relationship with the state
officials and local officials in Texas and how they have very strong
coordination going on right now. We're working to do -- redouble our
efforts when it comes to the coordination and the preparations. And we will
continue to do so.

Q One more. The President indicated today, as you did, that he spoke to
Governor Perry last night and again this morning, but has not spoken to
Governor Blanco since he was on the ground a few days. Since Louisiana is
also at great threat, why is the President not speaking personally to
Governor Blanco?

MR. McCLELLAN: Well, Admiral Allen has stayed in very close contact with
her. General Honore probably has, as well. They're going to be briefing
later today. She indicated that she had made a request to Admiral Allen for
additional federal troops, and so you're going to hear from Admiral Allen a
little bit later today. But we stay in contact with them at very high
levels throughout this time period.

Q Not high enough for the President to speak to her?

MR. McCLELLAN: And the President spoke -- the President has been in close
contact with her on a number of occasions, Kelly.

Q Scott, has there been any reluctance or resistance or institutional
friction between the federal, state and local governments as we prepare for
Rita as of this morning?

MR. McCLELLAN: -- in terms of the operational aspects, I think that's best
directed to our point people who are in charge of the operations -- Admiral
Hereth and Admiral Allen, for the respective states of Louisiana and Texas.
The indications that I've heard from Admiral Hereth are that the
coordination in Texas is going very well. I've seen and the President has
seen firsthand the coordination that has been going on in terms of
Louisiana. And there is a good working relationship between the President
and the Governor, and the President and the Mayor in Louisiana. There's a
good working relationship between Admiral Allen and General Honore and the
Mayor and the Governor, as well.

Q So insofar as lessons learned are concerned, at this point it would
appear as though things are going far more smoothly?

MR. McCLELLAN: I'm not going to try to compare, because we're -- one of the
things we're committed to doing is doing a comprehensive review of what
went wrong and what went right in terms of Katrina. And that's also one of
the things that the Congress is moving forward on. We appreciate the House
moving forward on the investigation to look at the lessons learned and to
look at all levels of government and determine what the facts were.

Q But at this point, you're satisfied with the process?

MR. McCLELLAN: With the coordination? Well, I think those in charge of our
operations on the ground have expressed that, and they're the best ones to
talk to about it.

Q What arrangements are being made to provide temporary emergency housing
for the hundreds of thousands of people who are now being displaced by
Rita? And what's the federal --

MR. McCLELLAN: Well, there are number of shelters set up in Texas,
Louisiana, and I think elsewhere. I think that's a great question in terms
of the specifics. I gave you a very general update at the top of this
briefing on that. In terms of the specifics, I think that's a great
question to ask at the operational briefings that will be taking place
later today. I don't have the most up-to-date information on that, and they
will, on the ground in those two states.

Q Does it appear, though, that there's adequate capability to take in
people who need to be --

MR. McCLELLAN: Well, the good thing is that they've been moving people out
quickly and early, and that they're -- we've provided a lot of assistance
in terms of, as I mentioned, buses, and I think aircraft, as well, and rail
cars, as well, I think are available. So the federal government is
assisting those efforts. It's the responsibility of the states and local
authorities. We're doing all we can to assist in those evacuation efforts
to get people to safe areas and into safe shelters.

Q I have an observation and a question.

MR. McCLELLAN: Okay.

Q The observation is I've heard you say several times that the Judiciary
Committee has acted in a civil and dignified way. Did you expect otherwise?
Isn't that pretty condescending? And also, who makes up the list of
reporters that the President can call on, or is allowed to?

MR. McCLELLAN: I think it's what the American people expect. I mean, we
have seen at times where --

Q Why do you keep saying it?

MR. McCLELLAN: -- where things -- well, because, I think we all recognize
here in Washington sometimes things tend to get down into the bitter,
partisan debates. And the Supreme Court is our highest court in the land.
The President has an obligation to nominate someone for the bench when a
vacancy occurs, and it's the role of the Senate to move forward on
confirming that nomination.

Q It's a free country where people can express themselves.

MR. McCLELLAN: And the American people -- and there -- that's absolutely
right. But there's no reason why we cannot move forward in a civil and
dignified way as we conduct the confirmation hearings. And the Senate, I
think, has largely done that --

Q What hasn't moved forward in --

MR. McCLELLAN: -- they have largely done that on Judge Roberts, and we hope
they will do that going forward. There are a lot of media reports talking
about how there's going to be a very contentious hearing for the next
nominee. We haven't even -- the President hasn't even made a decision on
who will be his nominee for the vacancy on the Supreme Court. And so that's
why. I think I'm speaking for a lot of Americans who want to see a civil
and dignified process going forward.

Q -- be contentious and civil and dignified in a democracy --

MR. McCLELLAN: And I can also express my -- I can also express the
President's appreciation to the Senate for moving forward in a timely
manner and moving forward in a civil and dignified way. We commend this --

Q It's condescending.

MR. McCLELLAN: No. It's complimenting them on the process.

Q Who makes up the list of reporters that he is allowed to call on?

Q Yes, where's Bianca? (Laughter.)

MR. McCLELLAN: Who makes up the list? It depends on the reporters that show
up. I don't think she had a question. But the President --

Q Who is Bianca, anyway?

MR. McCLELLAN: I think the President had his most recent press conference
this afternoon just a short time before I was out here, took questions from
I think everyone who was there.

Q -- you count that as a press conference?

MR. McCLELLAN: Well, I think it was a 30-minute briefing and several
questions taken. I think I would call it a press conference.

Q Does anyone know who she is?

Q -- the vote was 13-5 in favor. I didn't know --

MR. McCLELLAN: I'm sorry?

Q I just learned the vote was 13-5 in favor --

MR. McCLELLAN: Well, if that's true, we commend the Senate Judiciary
Committee for moving forward. As I said, Judge Roberts is going to make an
outstanding Chief Justice and someone that the American people can be very
proud of on the bench.

Q I wanted to ask about Fran Townsend. What is her role in the preparations
for Hurricane Rita?

MR. McCLELLAN: Well, the Homeland Security Council stays in very close
contact with the Department of Homeland Security. So she is very much
participating -- or her Deputy, Ken Rapuano, who is very focused on these
issues -- in the briefings and in the meetings. They have both been
participating in the policy briefings; they both have been participating in
meetings discussing the preparations and the response efforts. That's the
role of the Homeland Security Advisor.

Q Is she going to be traveling with the President this weekend to --

MR. McCLELLAN: We don't have any more to update you in terms of the
schedule. These stops are being finalized as we talk, so I don't think that
we've gotten to the point of who all is traveling with the President at
this point.

Q How is she dividing her time then between the investigation into Katrina
and then also carrying out the duties of preparing for Rita?

MR. McCLELLAN: Well, because there are other people involved. That's one of
the reasons I mentioned Ken Rapuano. We have a number of priorities that we
have to address. One of the areas that Fran is very focused on is
counterterrorism. That's a very important priority. And I updated you all
during Hurricane Katrina, or the aftermath of that, in terms of how we were
staying focused on that highest of priorities, as well.

When you're President of the United States, there are a number of
priorities you have to work to address. That's why the President was going
over to the Pentagon today to get an update on the war on terrorism, and to
talk about the ongoing war on terrorism. He starts every morning with Fran
Townsend and others in intelligence briefings and homeland security
briefings.

Go ahead, Paula.

Q The administration has taken several steps already to try quicken the
response to Katrina. Why is the White House not supporting Senate
legislation that would allow all Katrina evacuees eligibility temporarily
for Medicaid, and instead seems to be taking this state-by-state approach,
which, as you know, Katrina evacuees are all around the country? Wouldn't
that be a more laborious process?

MR. McCLELLAN: Right. Well, first of all, I don't think that's an accurate
characterization. I don't know where it is we said we were opposed to any
efforts to provide help to people that have been affected by Hurricane
Katrina, in fact, quite the contrary. We are acting to make sure that they
are getting the benefits quickly. And one of the things we're doing is
we've made it clear that the states will be recompensated in full that are
taking in these people who have been evacuated that are in need of Medicare
-- Medicaid. And we're making sure that all those who are eligible for that
assistance are getting that assistance. That's one of the high priorities.
That's one of the areas that Secretary Leavitt is working on when it comes
to this.

And I've got to go because we've got King Abdullah coming here. Sorry to
have to cut it short, but we will see you all tomorrow.

Q Are you not going to have a briefing tomorrow before he leaves?

MR. McCLELLAN: I'm sorry?

Q Are you briefing tomorrow?

MR. McCLELLAN: I'll look at the schedule, but probably.

Thanks.

END 1:03 P.M. EDT
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