Text 2455, 717 rader
Skriven 2006-04-10 23:33:40 av Whitehouse Press (1:3634/12.0)
Ärende: Press Release (0604102) for Mon, 2006 Apr 10
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Press Briefing by Scott McClellan
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For Immediate Release
Office of the Press Secretary
April 10, 2006

Press Briefing by Scott McClellan

Press Briefing view


12:44 P.M. EDT

MR. MCCLELLAN: Good afternoon, everyone. Let me begin by talking about
Medicare and some of our efforts that we've got going on this week and this
month. May 15th is the open enrollment deadline for seniors to sign up for
the new prescription drug benefit. We're continuing to step up our efforts
to educate seniors and encourage them to sign up, if they so choose, to
make sure that they get the lowest premiums.

Our goal has been, by the end of the year to have 28 million to 30 million
seniors covered. Thus far, you have more than 27.5 million seniors that
have enrolled. The estimated average beneficiary will be -- the estimated
savings to the -- on average, for the beneficiary will be more than $1,100
this year alone. That's a 50-percent or more in savings. The average
premium is now $25 per month, down from the projected $37 per month.

This week the President and 25 members of the administration will -- more
than 25 members of the administration will travel across the country to
discuss the new drug benefit with Americans. Tomorrow the President will be
visiting senior centers in Jefferson City, Missouri, and Des Moines, Iowa,
to highlight the new benefit. Wednesday the President will be making
remarks in Annandale, Virginia, on Medicare and the new drug benefit.

Also this week, Cabinet members and other officials are spreading out
across 25 states to talk with Americans about the prescription drug benefit
and help them get enrolled. They are speaking at hospitals, senior centers,
businesses, health centers. They are reminding seniors that they must
enroll by May 15th to ensure that they get the lowest premiums. And for
those seniors who want to get enrolled, they can call 1800-MEDICARE, or go
to www.medicare.gov.

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

Q Scott, can I ask you about the --

MR. McCLELLAN: Let me go to Steve first.

Q Scott, the remarks the President made this morning about the NIE, was
that in response to Senator Specter's call for him to tell the American
people what happened?

MR. McCLELLAN: Well, I think you heard the President say that there's an
ongoing legal proceeding, investigation; it's a serious matter and we don't
want to do anything to jeopardize that, so we're not commenting on it. We
want to see due process and a fair hearing. But the President did remind
people, yes, the President did authorize the declassification of the
National Intelligence Estimate. I think you've seen editorials and other
comments over the weekend talk about how that was important because it was
in the public interest.

And that's -- remember, there was a lot of discussion going on in the
summer of 2003 about the prewar intelligence that was used in the lead-up
to going into Iraq. The President felt it was important for the American
people to know what the executive branch and Congress was using to make
their judgments, and what they were basing their public statements on
before the war. And the National Intelligence Estimate was the underlying
basis for how we viewed Saddam Hussein's weapons programs.

The bottom line is that the previous administration, this administration,
members of both parties in Congress, foreign governments all saw that --
all felt that Saddam Hussein had weapons of mass destruction. Now, we know
that much of the intelligence was wrong, and that's why the President put
in place an independent, bipartisan commission to look at those issues and
to recommend reforms. We are moving forward on those reforms and putting
them in place. It's important for the President to make sure that he is
using the best possible intelligence when making decisions about how to
confront the threats that face this country and face this world.

Q Well, Scott, can I go to the war in Iraq? There was a -- Time Magazine is
running a piece by Lt. General Gregory Newbold, who is Director of
Operations in the Pentagon, which, as you know, is an extremely important
position in that building. He said --

MR. McCLELLAN: I will confess I have not read my Time Magazine this week
yet.

Q Let me read some of it to you. He said: "The distortion of intelligence
in the buildup to the war, McNamara-like micromanagement kept our forces
from having enough resources to do the job." He says, "It is my sincere
view that the commitment of our forces to this fight was done with the
casualness and swagger that are the special province of those who have
never had to execute these missions or bury the results." And he's calling
for Secretary Rumsfeld to resign. I think this is probably the highest
ranking person we've had come out and say these kinds of things about the
war. Any reaction to that?

MR. McCLELLAN: Any reaction? Do you have something specific you want to ask
me about? I think we've --

Q Yes, I want to -- okay, how about the distortion of intelligence?

MR. McCLELLAN: -- expressed our views on those various issues --

Q He talks about the distortion of intelligence. He was there in the
building in the buildup to the war.

MR. McCLELLAN: Well, if you want to talk about the intelligence, that's an
issue I just brought up. Let's go back and look. There was an independent
commission, the Silberman-Robb Commission, that looked at the intelligence
relating to Iraq, and they came back and said that there was no evidence of
political pressure, that these were errors, serious errors, and they
stemmed from poor trade craft and poor management. That's what the
Robb-Silberman Commission stated.

The bipartisan Senate Intelligence Committee report said that they did not
find any evidence that administration officials attempted to coerce,
influence or pressure analysts to change their judgments. And then there
was the British Butler report, as well. So this was intelligence that was
shared by countries around the world, with Congress, with the United
Nations, and the United States. Now, with that said, we have pointed out
that the intelligence was wrong. That's why we have implemented important
reforms.

Q Scott, you've got a senior officer here who was there in the buildup to
the war, saying it was a mistake, saying this war should never have been
fought, resources were taken --

MR. McCLELLAN: The President strongly disagrees. It was the right decision
to go into Iraq and remove Saddam Hussein from power. And let me talk about
why. Remember, September 11th changed the President's thinking. He talked
about this in his remarks earlier today. We are a nation at war, engaged in
a global war on terrorism. And the President made the decision after
September 11th that we were going to go on the offensive, that we were
going to take the fight to the enemy. And that's exactly what we are doing.
And the President talked today in his remarks about what we have
accomplished. And he talked about why it was the right decision to go in
and remove Saddam Hussein from power. The regime --

Q It has nothing to do with 9/11.

MR. McCLELLAN: -- the regime is gone. It is no longer sponsoring terrorism.
It is no longer destabilizing the region. It is no longer undermining the
credibility of the United Nations. It is no longer threatening the world.

And it's important that we succeed in Iraq, and that's where our focus is
now. And I think people understand the importance of succeeding in Iraq,
because look at the consequences if you fail. If we fail in Iraq it will
embolden the enemy, it will give them a victory in the war on terrorism. It
could lead to a safe-haven in Iraq. And that's why it's so important that
we continue to work together to support the Iraqi people, who have shown
that they want to chart their own future. And that's what we're going to
continue to do.

Q But, Scott, what he was saying is this wasn't part of the global war on
terrorism. In fact, what he said is the actions taken in Iraq were
peripheral to the real threat, al Qaeda.

MR. McCLELLAN: Martha, I haven't read the whole article. The President has
expressed his views very clearly about how this is part of the broader war
on terrorism. He takes a comprehensive approach when it comes to fighting
and winning the war on terrorism. And we will prevail. We are leading from
a position of confidence and strength, and we will continue to do so going
forward.

Q Can I just follow on the NIE?

MR. McCLELLAN: Bill, go ahead.

Q The President made his decision to declassify and release the NIE at a
time when he was fighting the perception that the intelligence leading up
to the war was wrong, at a time shortly prior to Mr. Libby's identification
of the CIA agent as the wife of someone who was sent there in an effort to
discredit the value of the trip. Why should we not believe that the timing
of the President's decision was connected to the decision only days later
to out the CIA agent?

MR. McCLELLAN: Well, first of all, now you're getting into questions about
an ongoing legal proceeding and investigation --

Q No, it's a timing question.

MR. McCLELLAN: -- you know that we've had a policy in place going back to
October 2003 that we are not going to comment on it while it's ongoing.
It's a very serious matter, and --

Q I'm not asking about the investigation, I'm asking you to talk about the
question of the President's timing.

MR. McCLELLAN: -- I would encourage you not to make assumptions that are
not based on the facts. I would encourage you to wait for the facts to be
known. Mr. Fitzgerald is pursuing this legal proceeding and pursuing the
investigation, and we need to let it proceed. We're not going to do
anything that would jeopardize an ongoing matter like that.

Q Why did the President choose that particular time to make that
intelligence public?

MR. McCLELLAN: I'll go back and reiterate to you what I said on Friday, and
let's make clear that there is a distinction between declassifying
information that is in the public interest and leaking classified
information that could compromise our national security. There was a lot of
discussion going on, there were allegations being made against the
administration -- I think irresponsible and unfounded accusations -- saying
that we had misused or manipulated the intelligence. There's nothing
further from the truth. We were basing our decisions based on the
intelligence that was provided to members of Congress, that was pulled
together --

Q So it sounds like his timing was connected to that.

MR. McCLELLAN: -- by the intelligence community. And I think you've seen
numerous people speak out, including major editorial papers speak out and
say that it was the right thing to do to provide this information to the
public, so that the public could look at the facts and look at the
intelligence and see what the statements were based on. And that's what the
President talked about earlier today in his remarks.

Q But it was -- the timing was connected to those things which you say were
erroneous reports.

MR. McCLELLAN: It was in the public interest because of all the debate that
was going on at the time about the intelligence that was used as an
underlying basis for going into Iraq.

Q Scott, let me just follow on that point. When the President made the
decision to get the NIE out there, to make it public, for the reasons that
you stated, was he aware at that point that information would be leaked to
a reporter?

MR. McCLELLAN: David, that's getting into this ongoing legal proceeding,
and you shouldn't read anything into it one way or the other when I say I
just cannot comment on an ongoing legal proceeding. I've seen reports --

Q There's been reports about --

MR. McCLELLAN: Hang on, hang on. I've seen reports, including today, in The
New York Times, talking about this very issue that you bring up. I read
that story with great interest, just like many of you in this room did. I
would say that I cannot speak to whether or not the parts of that National
Intelligence Estimate may have been declassified at some point prior to the
release of the National Intelligence Estimate that we made on July 18,
2003.

And let me back up. The entire portion of the National Intelligence
Estimate that was released on July 18th went through a declassification
process. And I spoke to that issue back on July 18, 2003, and I'll stand by
the remarks I made at that time. I have had a chance to go back and look
further at information from that time period and I will leave it where I
did. But again, I cannot speak to whether or not certain parts of it may
have been declassified prior to that time.

Q But you're not challenging that report?

MR. McCLELLAN: Well, I just cannot speak to it because of the ongoing legal
proceeding.

Q Let me ask this follow-up question. No matter when the information was
released from the NIE, why isn't it a fair charge to make against this
President that he, frankly, played politics with declassified intelligence
in the run-up to the war to defend his case for war?

MR. McCLELLAN: I think a lot of people have disputed that. If you look at
the evidence, the intelligence is in the National Intelligence Estimate.
The National Intelligence Estimate is the collective judgment of the
intelligence community. And it was, as I said, the underlying basis for how
we viewed Saddam Hussein's weapons program -- not just us, but the
Congress, foreign governments, the previous administration, the United
Nations. So this was intelligence shared by many people. Now, the
intelligence was wrong. And that's why we took steps to correct it and make
sure that we have better intelligence going forward.

Q But that's not quite my question. The President has been outspoken about
how dangerous it is for the country to mishandle, to leak classified
information. Yet, in this case, nobody challenges his legal authority to do
it, but you could make the charge that this was a rather political move on
the part of the President to pick and choose what he'd like to --

MR. McCLELLAN: The declassification of the National Intelligence Estimate?

Q Yes.

MR. McCLELLAN: No, actually because -- go ahead.

Q -- for the purpose of, frankly, defending his own judgment. So somebody
who has been so clear about the fact that you should not leak classified
information made a kind of cherry-picking decision to let this stuff out.

MR. McCLELLAN: First of all, the President has the authority to declassify
information as he chooses. He would never declassify anything if he felt it
could compromise our nation's security. The National Intelligence Estimate,
back in the summer of 2003, was more of a historical document at that point
because it was the intelligence which we used as a basis for making the
decision to go into Iraq. It was the collective judgment of the
intelligence community. So at that point, it was providing good historical
context to the American people when there was a serious debate going on in
the public about that intelligence. So it was important for the American
people, in the President's view, to be able to look at the underlying
intelligence that was used for the statements that were made by the
administration, and made by Congress in the lead-up to going to going into
Iraq.

Nedra, go ahead.

Q Scott, the President was talking today about how this is an important and
serious investigation going on, but there are those who are also saying,
these are important allegations against the President, and that he needs to
come out and explain himself to the American people, including Senator
Specter.

MR. McCLELLAN: I don't know that anyone said -- allegations against the
President?

Q Well, that he needs to answer about his role in this release. Does he
agree with Senator Specter that the American people deserve an explanation?

MR. McCLELLAN: It's not a question of whether or not we would like to talk
more about it. The fact of the matter is that this is a legal proceeding
and an ongoing investigation involving this administration. It's being
headed by a special prosecutor, Mr. Fitzgerald. We don't want to do
anything that could jeopardize this ongoing investigation, legal
proceeding. We want there to be due process. We want there to be a fair
hearing. And that's why we made a policy not to comment on it while it
continues.

Q At what point does the President plan to explain himself to the American
people then? Is there a point in the investigation -- does the trial have
to be completely over?

MR. McCLELLAN: Well, Mr. Fitzgerald has commented on it some, and you can
direct questions to him, but we've made it clear that as long as it's an
ongoing legal proceeding and investigation, we are not going to comment
further on it.

Q Scott, does the President approve of the way the Vice President handled
this information during the declassification process, before and after --

MR. McCLELLAN: Now you're getting into a question that's relating to an
ongoing legal proceeding, and I'm just not going to go there, Ed.

Q It's more on whether he approves of his own Vice President, whether he
stands behind --

MR. McCLELLAN: He's specifically mentioned in a filing by Mr. Fitzgerald. I
can't get into commenting on it. It's a policy that I didn't establish, but
I'm obligated to adhere to.

Q Okay, one other question on Secretary Rumsfeld, when you were talking
before. This is now the second or third retired general to come out in
recent weeks and say that he should step down. Does the President still
have confidence in Secretary Rumsfeld? And if so, why, given all of these
top military officials saying that he mishandled the war?

MR. McCLELLAN: The President thinks Secretary Rumsfeld is doing a great
job, having overseen two fronts in the global war on terrorism. We have
liberated 25 million people in Afghanistan and 25 million people in Iraq.
The Secretary has also been leading a transformation of the military, to
make sure that we're better prepared to meet the threats of the 21st
century. And the President has great appreciation of the outstanding job
he's doing.

Wendell.

Q What's your reaction to Sy Hersh's article over the weekend and the kind
of follow-up articles in The Post and The New York Times? Is the President
troubled by these indications that the U.S. is considering or looking at or
has plans for --

MR. McCLELLAN: I think those kind of media reports are based on wild
speculation, and not on the administration's thinking. The President has
made it very clear that we're working with the international community to
find a diplomatic solution when it comes to the Iranian regime and its
pursuit of nuclear weapons. And that's exactly what we're doing.

The international community has spoken very clearly, in a united way, from
the United Nations Security Council. It has said to the regime what it
needs to do: It needs to make a commitment to comply with its obligations
and to suspend all its uranium enrichment and enrichment-related
activities, and come back and negotiate in good faith. They have 30 days in
which to make that commitment from when the presidential statement was
adopted by the Security Council. If they don't, then we're going to be back
at the Security Council talking about the next steps to take. This is
something that the international community is very concerned about, and
that concern is only growing because of the behavior of the regime. This is
a regime, by its own actions and statements, is only further isolating
itself and the people of Iran from the rest of the world.

Q Is the President concerned by these reports? Does he find them troubling?
Are they counterproductive?

MR. McCLELLAN: Well, I think you heard the President's views. We'll let you
all critique them. But, I mean, I notice that the one article you brought
up was based on a lot of anonymous sources from former administration
officials and outside advisors. And it is what we described it.

Q Two questions. One, as far as this immigration is concerned, the debate
has been going for the last two weeks in the U.S. Congress and also among
the illegal community, and also small business is also worried about what
is their future, as far as finding the workers they need and -- now
demonstrations been going on for the last two weeks, including today in
Washington, thousands are going to march. Where do President stand as far
as making them legal here, so they can pay tax and they can come out from
the hiding, not to be tortured by their employers and taken advantage of
them?

MR. McCLELLAN: Well, the United States Senate came together in an agreement
last week, a bipartisan agreement to move forward on comprehensive
immigration reform. This is a difficult and complex issue. And it requires
letting voices be heard and letting amendments be considered. But the
Senate Minority Leader decided to stand in the way and block comprehensive
reform from moving forward. Those who are out there peacefully expressing
their views for comprehensive reform may want to direct their efforts
toward the Senate Minority Leader. He is the one who is standing in the way
of comprehensive reform moving forward.

There was a strong bipartisan agreement reached with Senator Frist and
Senators Hagel and Martinez, working with Democrats, to come together and
move this to the conference committee, where we could continue to move
forward on getting it passed. This is a high priority for the President. He
believes that if we're going to fix the immigration system, we must do it
in a rational and comprehensive way, and that's what he's continuing to
advocate.

Q Egyptian President Mubarak has already said that Iraq is in a civil war.
Doesn't that create a real problem for the President, who says it is not,
and it emboldens the enemy?

MR. McCLELLAN: I think the Iraqi leaders spoke out on that very issue and
disputed any such assertion. And the President has talked about it at
length, too. The Iraqi people and the Iraqi leaders looked into the abyss
and they didn't like what they saw. And so they have been coming together
to try to move forward on forming a government of national unity and coming
together to continue to move forward to defeat the terrorists and Saddam
loyalists who want to return to the past. And we're continuing to support
the efforts of the Iraqi leaders. It's time for them to move forward and
get a unity government in place. We have made tremendous sacrifices. The
American people have made tremendous sacrifices to get to this point, and
it's time for the Iraqi leaders to move forward -- that's what the Iraqi
people want -- and get their government formed.

Q What if they don't soon?

MR. McCLELLAN: Well, they are moving forward. The President talked about it
in his remarks. He talked about how they have already agreed to a 33-point
agenda for the new government once its in place. And he talked about how
they have agreed to a national security council that would be represented
by all branches of government. So they are taking steps to move forward. We
believe it's time to get that unity government in place. I think the Iraqi
people want that. I know the American people expect that. We have made
tremendous sacrifices in Iraq. And it's important to our long-term
security. We're laying the foundation of peace for generations to come. And
we will continue to support the Iraqi people as they move forward.

Helen.

Q Before the President declassified the Intelligence Estimate, had he read
it?

MR. McCLELLAN: Had he read it?

Q Yes.

MR. McCLELLAN: Yes -- I think we talked about at the time that he was
briefed on it --

Q A 90-page document --

MR. McCLELLAN: I think we talked about that at the time.

Q -- and the whole question of the accusation against Saddam trying to buy
uranium was on page 24, with many caveats. It was very dubious and --

MR. McCLELLAN: That's not the issue here, Helen.

Q -- an annex to it, questioning this whole business. So did he take note
of all these caveats?

MR. McCLELLAN: That's not the issue here, Helen. The issue was the
underlying intelligence that was used as part of the basis for going into
Iraq. You're singling out one specific part which we --

Q Yes, I am.

MR. McCLELLAN: --- which we already spoke to.

Q Is that your defense, though?

MR. McCLELLAN: We already spoke to that issue. We spoke to it back at the
time.

Q Why would he put that out when it's so dubious?

MR. McCLELLAN: Why would he --

Q It's so questionable.

MR. McCLELLAN: Why would he put what out when it's --

Q Using that as your defense to go into Iraq.

MR. McCLELLAN: Using what, the National Intelligence Estimate?

Q No, the whole business that Saddam --

MR. McCLELLAN: That was the collective judgment of the community -- no,
you're singling out one thing, and that's not the issue here. The issue
here is that back in the summer of 2003, there was a real debate going on
in the public about the intelligence that was used as part of the rationale
to go into Iraq.

Q But the issue centers on outing Valerie Plame -- wasn't that the issue
that dealt with Niger and uranium?

MR. McCLELLAN: You're getting into something that's part of an ongoing
investigation, and you know I'm not going to comment further on that.

Les, go ahead.

Q Yes. Reuters reports from Jerusalem that the government of Israel has
announced "Israel will have no contact with the Palestinian Authority,
which is a hostile entity, and will work toward preventing any entrenchment
of the Hamas government's rule." My first part: Does the Bush
administration find any fault in this statement or in Israel's firing
shells into Gaza in response to Palestinians' firing rockets into Israel?

MR. McCLELLAN: Well, you need to direct those questions to the Israeli
government about the actions that they take. I mean, I think we have
expressed our views. Now, in terms of Hamas, I think we spoke to that issue
most recently on Friday. The Secretary of State put out a statement in
terms of our assistance to the Palestinian people when it comes to meeting
their humanitarian needs. We are increasing our efforts to provide
humanitarian assistance to the Palestinian people, but what we will not do
is have any dealing with an Hamas-led government. We will not fund or
support them in any way as long as they are not abiding by the important
principles that the Quartet outlined.

The Quartet said that they need to renounce violence, they need to
recognize Israel, and they need to abide by the previous agreements of the
Palestinian Authority. And until they make those commitments, we will not
have anything to do with that government.

Q Since The New York Times reports that 200 homosexual families are
planning to attend the annual White House Easter Egg Roll one week from
today, can you assure us that next year's egg roll will not bar other
sexual orientations, as well, such as --

MR. McCLELLAN: First of all, in terms of the Easter Egg Roll, the President
and Mrs. Bush, I know, always look forward to it. And there are guidelines
that are in place for -- tickets are made available so that families can
come and bring their kids to participate in the Easter Egg Roll. We welcome
all those families that follow those guidelines that are in place.

Q Was The New York Times wrong in reporting --

MR. McCLELLAN: This is something that is being overseen by Mrs. Bush's
Office, and that's our view.

Ed, go ahead.

Q Scott, there was a -- San Francisco Chronicle had a story over the
weekend saying an Air Force website listed details about Air Force One,
including specific information about the anti-missile defenses on Air Force
One --

MR. McCLELLAN: Let me stop you, I'm not going to have any comment on it.

Q Is the White House aware of this --

MR. McCLELLAN: I'm not going to talk about security measures.

Go ahead. Sara, go ahead.

Q Thank you. Scott, my question is on immigration and you have already
answered some, but as many as 180,000 supporters of immigration reform are
in Washington today, perhaps the largest rally since the 1963 March on
Washington. Many of those attending oppose the tough bill passed by the
House. Will the President demand a guest worker provision in that --

MR. McCLELLAN: Will the President be -- I'm sorry?

Q Demand.

MR. McCLELLAN: Demand. Well, I think he already has been talking about how
he wants a comprehensive piece of legislation. It begins with securing our
borders, and that's where we have been focused. We have taken a number of
steps to better secure our borders. We've increased the number of Border
Patrol agents along our border. We have also deployed new technologies to
prevent people from coming into this country illegally, and we are
continuing to build upon those efforts. And some of the legislation you
bring up addresses that. So it begins with that.

But the President believes if we're going to fix the immigration system, we
have to address it in a comprehensive way. And that's why a temporary guest
worker program is so important. A temporary guest worker program will help
relieve pressure off the border and help us do a better job of securing the
border, by allowing our Border Patrol agents to focus on those who are
criminals and terrorists, smugglers and traffickers, that are trying to
come into this country for the wrong reasons.

And so the President is going to continue speaking out on that and he's
going to continue working with Congress. Senate leaders have expressed
their desire to get this moving after they come back from their two-week
recess that they are on now, and we'll continue working with them to get
that done. We continue to call on the Senate Minority Leader to stop using
blocking tactics and let the comprehensive bipartisan agreement move
forward.

Q Scott, Hilary Clinton, in an interview today, attacked the administration
for its economy -- handling of the economy -- health care, trade deficits,
budget deficits, and so forth. But she had a specific recommendation; that
was that the government should help auto companies such as GM -- should
help them relieve some of the costs for retiree health care in exchange for
helping them expedite the moves toward energy-efficient production.

MR. McCLELLAN: I haven't seen the interview, Roger.

Q Okay. Does the President have any thoughts on helping out GM if it does
go bankrupt?

MR. McCLELLAN: Well, I think that, first of all, the auto industry is in a
transition period and they're taking a lot of steps to make sure that
they're successful. That's what they're doing.

In terms of the President's views on the economy, we have a very strong
economy in place. We would welcome a debate about how we continue to move
forward to keep our economy growing stronger. Because of the policies we
have put in place, and because of the hard work of the American workers,
our economy is growing in a very strong way. We saw just this last month
more than 200,000 jobs created. We have seen about 5.2 million jobs created
since the summer of 2003. The unemployment rate is down to 4.7 percent,
below the averages of the '70s, '80s, and '90s. Consumer confidence is at
its highest level in some four years. Productivity is high.

We need to continue to move forward on pro-growth policies. And the real
discussion is -- or the debate is on taxes: Are we going to make tax cuts
permanent and keep taxes low to keep our economy growing, or are we going
to let Democrats have their way and increase those taxes, which would have
a very negative effect on our growing economy? And so that's where the
debate is focused. The President has been talking about that. And we'll
continue to make clear what the choice is.

Q If this President wanted to go to war with another country, at any time
in the near future, is the U.S. military physically and financially --

MR. McCLELLAN: First of all, I don't think any President ever wants to go
to war. War is a last resort. The President talked about how it's one of
the most difficult decisions you can make. In fact, one of the students
asked him earlier today about such a decision, and I think you should look
at what the President said.

Q All right, then being the last resort, as he said it was the last resort
with Iraq, is this country, on April 10, 2006, able financially and
physically to go to war with another country at this time?

MR. McCLELLAN: I think our military has spoken to those issues, and I don't
have anything to add to what they've already said.

Q But the White House gets a daily assessment several times a day --

MR. McCLELLAN: We are prepared to meet the threats that we face.

Q Scott, what are the prospects of extending the deadline for the Medicare
prescription drug sign-up?

MR. McCLELLAN: Well, first of all, that's the open enrollment deadline.
That's why we're making the point that you need to sign up now, and
encouraging people to do so. The President does not think that would be a
good idea. After that time period, I think there's a penalty of up to 1
percent for enrolling in the program at that point. But there's a reason
that's in place, and that's to encourage as many people as possible to get
signed up.

And I think what you're seeing with the Medicare prescription drug benefit
is that the vast majority, the overwhelming majority of seniors are very
satisfied with it and believe it's working well for them. They are
realizing significant savings. As I pointed out, the average beneficiary
will save an estimated more than $1,100 this year alone. The original
estimates or projections on the premiums are significantly below where they
were when we first started this program. So the overwhelming majority of
seniors are saying, this is working well, and they haven't had any problems
with their prescription drug benefit, and they're, in fact, very pleased
that they're realizing significant savings.

Q But given the ongoing confusion for many --

MR. McCLELLAN: I don't -- I don't know that I agree with that, Peter.

Q Well, I mean, there are some members of Congress who are still hearing
from their constituents that they're confused about this and some --

MR. McCLELLAN: No, I think there are still some members of Congress that
are trying to politicize this issue. The AARP recently spoke out about
that. They said -- they said -- "The focus should be on helping people, not
playing politics. Discouraging enrollment is a disservice to the millions
who could be saving money on prescription drugs." This is what the AARP
said. And that's where all of us should be focusing, is on making sure that
this program is working as well as possible for those who depend on it and
those who need help with their prescription drugs.

Q So there's no chance it will be extended past May 15th?

MR. McCLELLAN: We don't think that would be a good idea, and the President
has expressed his opposition to doing so.

Q Thank you.

MR. McCLELLAN: Thank you.

END 1:15 P.M. EDT

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