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Ärende: Press Release (0606282) for Wed, 2006 Jun 28
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Press Briefing by Tony Snow
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For Immediate Release
Office of the Press Secretary
June 28, 2006

Press Briefing by Tony Snow
James S. Brady Briefing Room

Press Briefing view
10:30 A.M. EDT

MR. SNOW: Good morning. Let me begin with housekeeping items. First, the
President's schedule today: He will be -- he has already met with the
Secretary of Defense. He will travel to St. Louis later in the day, meet
with military personnel who have returned from Iraq and Afghanistan. There
will be remarks at a dinner for Jim Talent's Senate bid. Then he will
return tonight to the White House.

Within the administration -- Energy Secretary Bodman is going to announce a
$170-million solicitation over three years for cost shared public-private
partnerships to advance solar energy technology. As you know, the President
had talked often about the importance of innovation in ways -- as a way of
trying to overcome the addiction to oil. As part of the President's Solar
America Initiative, one of the ideas is to try to make the cost of solar
energy systems, to make them competitive with conventional sources by 2015.

Also today, at the invitation of Chancellor Angela Merkel, the President
will travel to Northeastern Germany in advance of participation in the G8
summit in St. Petersburg, Russia. Chancellor Merkel will host the President
on July 13, 2006, in the towns of Stralsund and Trinwillershagen -- you'll
have to read it. (Applause.) Thank you, thank you very much.

Q You have to spell it.

MR. SNOW: You'll be able to read the -- the visit, which will take place at
what had been communist East Germany, will underscore our two nations'
commitment to advancing freedom and prosperity, and to strengthening the
transatlantic partnership. The two leaders look forward to discussing a
wide range of global challenges, in particular, their consultations on Iran
and preparing for the G8 summit.

Also today of note, stories overnight out of Iraq. First, President Maliki
has made clear what a number of people had been wondering about, which is
that those who have killed Americans and Iraqis will not be eligible for
pardon. Meanwhile, the U.S. military says that, in fact, it will meet its
training goal for Iraqi security forces by the end of the year.

And those are the preliminaries. Questions, please. Terry.

Q Does the United States support what Israel is doing in Gaza?

MR. SNOW: Let me be -- I'm going to be very precise on this, because, as
you know, these things are reported carefully. The hostage-taking and the
attacks by Hamas last weekend have precipitated the current events in Gaza.
As we have said since the attack, Hamas should release and return the
kidnapped Israeli soldier immediately. It's the responsibility of the
Palestinian Authority to stop all acts of violence and terror. Hamas has
done the opposite: It's been complicit in perpetrating violence, terror and
hostage-taking. Israel has the right to defend itself and the lives of its
citizens. In any actions the government of Israel may undertake, the United
States urges that it ensures that innocent civilians are not harmed, and
also that it avoid the unnecessary destruction of property and
infrastructure. All parties ought to take every measure to restore the
security situation in Gaza.

Q And do we think that the Israeli response has been appropriate and within
the limits that you're talking about?

MR. SNOW: I'm not going to characterize further than what I've told you.
There's your statement of position.

Q But, Tony, the Israelis have bombed a power plant -- that harms innocent
civilians. Haven't they, like, clearly gone beyond what you've just
described here?

MR. SNOW: Again, I'm not going to get into operational details here. Let's
just point out once again, you have the Israeli -- the Israeli forces are
trying to reclaim somebody who is kidnapped and is being held hostage in
Gaza, and they are doing what they can to return him. It would be a lot
easier if the Palestinian Authority and if Hamas simply returned the
kidnapped soldier. I am not going to get into rendering judgment on any of
the operational details of what's going on there.

Q Palestinian leaders have called this "collective punishment." Is it, or
isn't it?

MR. SNOW: Again, I will just simply refer to it. I'm not going to get into
the midst of the characterizations. I'll repeat, the Palestinian Authority
could make this very simple -- they could return the kidnapped soldier. And
the most important thing is to try to restore some semblance of security as
rapidly as possible, and we hope both sides will cooperate in that.

Q Can you describe for us the way the U.S. government has received
assurances that insurgents who may have been responsible for killing U.S.
troops would not be in any way subjected to this sort of amnesty proposal,
and how --

MR. SNOW: I'm sorry, clarify that again.

Q How will the U.S. receive assurances that those who may have been
responsible for harming or killing U.S. troops would not in some way be
given amnesty, and -- as the reconciliation program goes forward, how do
you know that they won't be? And what assurances do you have that they're
on track for this training program by the end of the year?

MR. SNOW: Okay. I'll have to refer you to General Dempsey, who was making
the comments, about the fitness of Iraqi forces. Obviously, the people on
the ground who are doing that have given us their assurances, and I'll take
them at their word.

As far as the situation regarding amnesty, also, I'll take Prime Minister
Maliki at his word, and we do. But keep in mind, again, we're still at a
stage where the Iraqis are debating this. Prime Minister Maliki has now
made clear what his position is. The Iraqi parliament now is going to take
it up, and there will be vigorous debates about it. But he has made his
position clear, but he is not somebody who, as the Prime Minister, has the
ability to sort of write the law and issue decrees. Instead, it's a
democracy now. And we'll have to see what happens. It's not the final word,
but at least now he's clarified his position, which is, those who have
participated in killings of Americans or Iraqis, coalition forces or
Iraqis, will not, under his proposal, be eligible for amnesty.

Q Tony, what was the Secretary of Defense meeting with the President?

MR. SNOW: It's a regular meeting with the President. I mean, he comes in
regularly and they discuss a wide range of issues. It's the Defense
Secretary briefing. I do not have a specific agenda because, typically what
happens is they'll cover a whole series of things, and the President will
ask questions of things that are on his mind. Obviously, the Secretary will
be talking about Iraq and Afghanistan and ongoing operations. But I don't
have anything more specific in terms of guidance.

Q Tony, in terms of welfare reform, can I just ask you to flesh out a
little bit of the administration's thinking behind the need to close
loopholes in the welfare-to-work requirements? And this idea that there are
people on sort of bed rest and that's not an appropriate use of the funds
-- has the administration or anybody quantified how many people were
talking about that -- and is there any time in which it's appropriate, a
woman in her eighth or ninth month of pregnancy, that kind of thing?

MR. SNOW: I can't give you that kind of detail. I just don't know. I'll try
to find answers for you. And rather than me trying to tap dance on it, Jim,
I'll -- we'll give you an asterisk in the transcript.

Q Could you dial back and sort of give me a broad, philosophical
underpinning of why --

MR. SNOW: Philosophically, what we're talking about, the Temporary
Assistance for Needy Families Program, the TANF Program is designed to do
what we can to encourage two-parent families, because the research is
awfully clear in terms of what happens when you have two-parent households,
which is that the track record is better for children. Children have lower
dropout rates, lower crime rates, lower rates of mental disorders later in
life, lower levels of dysfunction, higher levels of graduation, higher
levels of income, a greater likelihood of having intact families of their
own. All those are important goals as policy goals. But in terms of
drilling down into the specific kind of case you've cited, rather than,
again, trying to tap dance around it, let me just get you as good an answer
as I can. And we'll attach it to the transcript of the briefing.*

Q What's your reaction to the Supreme Court decision on Texas
redistricting?

MR. SNOW: At this point we are still -- we haven't had a chance to review
fully. The Supreme Court is coming out with a number of decisions, and I
think rather than making a comment right now, we'll have an opportunity to
give it a full look and consult with the lawyers. And probably tomorrow,
we'll be able to give you a much fuller answer.

Q Separately on Iran --

MR. SNOW: Yes.

Q -- the German Defense Minister has said that it should be okay for Iran
to enrich uranium for civilian purposes. Is this comment at odds with the
U.S. position?

MR. SNOW: The American position has always been that Iran ought to be able
to have the right for civilian nuclear development. We have also said --
and this has been the position of the EU3, and I think you need to stick
with the EU3 official consultations, as well as the P5 plus one -- that
Iran must suspend uranium enrichment-related and reprocessing activities.
That has not changed. So you may be able to match up the statements.

But our position is that Iran -- there have been a number of offers, for
instance, to do enrichment out of country and also to take spent fuel out,
as well. There are a number of options out there, but the key provision --
and this is the provision that would allow the Iranians to return to the
table -- remains unchanged: They must suspend uranium enrichment-related or
reprocessing activities, period.

Q So you're not willing to allow the same kind of possibility?

MR. SNOW: I'm not -- I'm simply repeating our position. And I think that
remains the position of the EU3. And rather than reacting to comments from
various players, I will stick with the stated position of the entire group.

Victoria.

Q What's the President's response to Senator Specter's plan to have
something drawn up to enable the legislative branch to sue the executive
branch?

MR. SNOW: The legislative branch to sue the executive branch -- I'm afraid
I'm not familiar with that particular aspect of Senator Specter's plan.

Q That came up yesterday during the Senate Judiciary Committee hearing.

MR. SNOW: Okay, well, that -- we have talked about many things dealing with
Senator Specter, and let me simply say that, in general, the working
relationship has all been constructive, but it's more been dealing with
issues of the FISA court and so on. So I'll find out for you.

Q Thank you.

MR. SNOW: You're welcome.

Q Tony, I was at the briefing at the Pentagon yesterday by General Dempsey,
and it was actually a very sobering briefing, because when he talked about
the Iraqi troops, he talked about their lack of equipment, the problems
with attrition, and in response to my question, the biggest problem,
leadership, not being able to find good leaders to lead the Iraqi troops
that we train. And when he talked about them being equipped and ready for
the end of the year, wasn't ready to do anything independently -- he said
independent is not a word that applies now or anytime soon to these Iraqi
forces.

MR. SNOW: That is correct.

Q Is the President concerned about the lack of progress, even more than
three years into this?

MR. SNOW: Well, you are defining it as a lack of progress. I think what
you're talking about is basic training levels. But the President is
perfectly aware of the need for developing leadership cadres. As you know,
we have embedded teams working with training mid-level officers to, in
fact, become capable of serving as unit commanders in Iraq.

Q How quickly is a case of progress --

MR. SNOW: Well, you do it as quickly as you can. And there is certainly no
foot-dragging on the part of our guys, or I think of the Iraqis. And,
again, I think you get an interesting new dynamic with the new government,
because it becomes something more tangible also for Iraqi forces. They know
that they've got a Minister of Defense to whom they answer. They know that
they have a civilian chain of command that ends up with the Prime Minister.
All those -- who knows what kind of impact they're going to have. The
answer is, we are still determined to do everything as quickly, but as
thoroughly and effectively as possible to enable Iraqi military forces to
take full control of securing Iraq. This also includes the police forces,
as you know, and that's also been part of the ongoing dialogue. But we are
certainly --

Q So the President is satisfied with the current pace?

MR. SNOW: The President -- satisfied or dissatisfied, they're moving as
quickly as they can. So the most important thing is our forces are doing
everything they can to help Iraq get trained up as quickly as possible,
period.

Q Thank you, Tony. Yesterday you said that reauthorization of the Voting
Rights Act was a top priority of the administration -- correct?

MR. SNOW: Correct.

Q All right. Let me ask a follow-up question. Is it reauthorization of the
Voting Rights Act in its current form, or is it reauthorization with the
amendments or some of the amendments that Republican leaders have proposed?

MR. SNOW: The President supports reauthorization in its current form. If
Congress provides something else in its process of legislative
deliberation, then we will examine what Congress sets before the President.
I am not going to get into the position, at this point, of trying to give
advice to either the House or Senate on particular measures -- or
particular ways in which they may be reviewing the Voting Rights Act. But
his position is, renew it as written, and obviously, he will consider
whatever the two Houses put together.

Q Follow-up question. What is -- on a separate matter, rather, what is the
reaction to the court decisions in Texas saying Tom DeLay cannot get off
the ballot?

MR. SNOW: Again, I'm not going to get into the court decisions. I will
allow Texas authorities to handle what is within their proper purview.

Goyal.

Q Tony, today and yesterday, Dr. Condoleezza Rice, Secretary of State, is
in Afghanistan -- Pakistan and Afghanistan. Two nations are at odds and
they are blaming each other that Osama bin Laden is in Pakistan;
Afghanistan is saying that he's not in Afghanistan, he's in Pakistan. And
she's trying to get the rift between the two Muslim nations and neighbors.
Is she carrying any special message from the President at this time?
Because so much has been written about Afghanistan.

MR. SNOW: What Secretary Rice is doing is really talking about the fact
that three nations have a common interest in that border area, which is to
provide security, and also to try to get rid of Taliban or al Qaeda
fighters who are there -- and all three have a common interest -- and to
work with the Afghan and Pakistani governments, to cooperate more fully in
that venture.

There were no -- I don't know if she had any specific direction. As
Secretary of State, everything she does is at the direction of the
President, and therefore, you can assume that her deliberations, as the
representative of this government, will reflect the President's views. But
what she's trying to do is to get them to work together through the common
goal of trying to provide security in those border areas.

Q Just to follow up, yesterday, also, the United States Institute of Peace,
they had a conference there on Afghanistan especially -- what they're
talking about that today, Afghan people do not need anything from the U.S.
but human security, which is not there, because what they are saying is
international community promised them that they will be there whenever and
how long they will be needed. Now, the international security people, they
only turn up once a month, and Talibans are there. And now what they're
saying is, today you are here, tomorrow you are not here.

MR. SNOW: Well, I can't respond to specific local questions about the
presence of security forces. On the other hand, you've had reports that
people think that there's been too much vigor in pursuing the Taliban and
also killing Afghans who have become part of the Taliban who are
terrorizing the populace. The fact is, you've got NATO forces taking over
in the southern parts of Afghanistan, and you have coalition forces doing
what they can to expand the effective jurisdiction of the democratic
government of Afghanistan, and will continue to do that.

Q Thank you. Tony, it's still legal to burn the American flag. With
Americans still in Iraq and Afghanistan, does the President plan to have
the Senate leadership try again to make it illegal to burn the flag in
protest?

MR. SNOW: Sarah, as you know, the administration has supported the flag
burning amendment. And I don't think that you can accuse Senate leaders of
not having tried. They got within one vote of passage yesterday. There was
a very vigorous campaign within the Senate to secure the passage and it's
the closest they've ever gotten in the Senate. So it is what it is.

Q Tony, how are the American people going to benefit from another interest
rate increase this week?

MR. SNOW: Nice try. (Laughter.)

Q Well, can I follow up?

MR. SNOW: Yes.

Q Can you say how much confidence the President has that the Fed Chairman
won't raise interest rates too high and hurt the economy?

MR. SNOW: As you know, the Fed is an independent agency, and it does not
answer to the President, nor does the President try to influence
deliberations of the Fed. And we will permit the Federal Reserve Board of
Governors to do its job as it sees fit.

Q Tony, two questions. Both the Associated Press and WorldNet Daily report
that U.S. Immigration and Customs at Palm Beach International Airport
detained Rush Limbaugh for three hours on Monday because they found in his
searched luggage one bottle of Viagra, which fact was revealed to the
world. And my question: Does the President believe this federal treatment
of Limbaugh was fair, and did he believe Rush was wrong to make references
to both Bob Dole and Bill Clinton and to announce, "I was worried about the
next election," as quoted by The Washington Post?

MR. SNOW: I think the President has had very little to say about it, but it
was an amusing question and I thank you for it. (Laughter.)

Q Does the President believe that New London, Connecticut homeowners should
have to give up their homes because of a reported National Guard museum --
National Coast Guard museum -- to be erected nearby with fundraising
co-chairmen Arnold Palmer and the honorable George H.W. Bush?

MR. SNOW: Again, you're getting into takings issues -- or positions on
takings --

Q On what? I didn't understand.

MR. SNOW: Is this part of the New London-Kelo?

Q Yes.

MR. SNOW: Okay, and the positions on takings.

Q -- on immigration now, given these new public hearings, and is there
realistic hope you can get something by the end of the year?

MR. SNOW: The last thing I want to do is to handicap, but, Dave, I'm glad
you asked because it is important to realize that immigration not only is
an important issue, but it's one on which we've received assurances from
the House and Senate that they do intend to take it seriously and that
there are going to be attempts to take up comprehensive reform. And now
everything that we have seen -- you saw the Chris Cannon race yesterday,
where he wins by a 56/44 margin against a well-financed challenger. That's
only slightly smaller than his margin in a previous race.

Comprehensive reform is something that Americans want, and it's something
that if you start running down the list, you can ask opponents, which do
you not agree with. And the fact is, everybody is agreed -- you want border
security; you want to be able to figure out who the illegal immigrants are;
you also want to figure out how to punish employers who have improperly and
knowingly hired illegal immigrants; you want to find ways of creating a
temporary work program so that many of the people who are here can leave
and have a reason for doing it; you also want to find some way of dealing
with the 11 million to 12 million illegals, including those who do want to
return home.

All of those things are issues that Americans want addressed, and the
virtue of comprehensive reform is each one of those is addressed. And at
the top of the roster is the issue of border enforcement, where, in the
first year of the President's plan we've already put together $1.9 billion
for not only getting National Guard forces to the border, but also starting
to train more rapidly Border Patrol agents. I would remind you that that
was originally the figure that the House of Representatives thought over
the first five years of its plan. So the President is much more active and
aggressive on those issues.

So I think that, as I've said before, we welcome a chance for the American
people to start examining the virtues and also the impact of comprehensive
reform. I think you're going to find -- these are probably -- we're going
to find out if they're House hearings or whether they're site visits. I
mean, there is still some discussion of what it's going to be. But there's
going to be --

Q Will you have people there --

MR. SNOW: -- I'm sorry, what?

Q Will the administration have people there at those events whenever they
--

MR. SNOW: I don't think so. It's the House of Representatives, members of
the House are going to be convening them. I think that they want to do it
themselves and they ought to be permitted to.

Q What are you all going to do to get the matter to the floor? I mean, is
there any specific strategy?

MR. SNOW: On an issue like this we continue to have conversations with
members of the House and the Senate. I would also point you back to the
fact that Chairman Sensenbrenner and Chairman Specter have been having
conversations, and we welcome those. Rather than having the White House --
we've got our hands busy with the executive branch. The legislative branch,
I think, can conduct its business well, and we will certainly remain in
communication with them.

Q But there does seem to be some sound coming off the Hill now that perhaps
the Senate would be open to this idea of taking up the border security
issue first, and then doubling back to some kind of temporary worker. How
does that --

MR. SNOW: Well, let me put it this way: We already have. I mean, that's a
statement, really, of reality, which is that the border security piece has
begun. But also, Senator Specter has talked about -- publicly, about the
need for addressing the issue comprehensively, so I'm not sure that there's
a natural disjunction between the two. A number of senators have pointed
out, for instance, that it takes longer to go ahead and do the biometric ID
program and to get the temporary guest worker program up and running. We
already have the border security piece first, it's underway. The President
wants to make sure that you have comprehensive reform, period.

Q But if there was a situation where what came out and what passed was
simply dealing -- and they were going to do it piecemeal -- and you first
were going to deal with this border issue, would the President sign a bill
that just had to do with security --

MR. SNOW: The President will not negotiate against himself, nor will I. The
key here is, we've already done that. I mean, the first part of your
premise, Jim, has already been taken care of, in the sense that the
administration has moved more aggressively and more rapidly than either
House in Congress had previously proposed in getting assets to the border
to try to secure the border, and that the President remains determined to
get all of the pieces addressed at once in legislation, and not to do it
piecemeal, but do have comprehensive reform.

Q Thank you.

MR. SNOW: Thank you.

END 10:54 A.M. EDT

* Two of the President's key objectives for welfare reform are
strengthening work requirements and promoting stable, two-parent families.
Today, HHS is announcing interim final regulations that will implement the
next phase of welfare reform and establish clearer definitions of eligible
work activities than had existed previously.

The Deficit Reduction Act of 2005, which reauthorized TANF, reestablishes a
50 percent state work participation requirement and stipulates that HHS
issue regulations that define and tighten the focus on work requirements.

These requirements are important because in FY 2004 - on average - adults
in nearly 58% of families receiving TANF assistance did not report even one
hour of work the previous month.

States are now required to engage 50 percent of their welfare caseloads in
eligible work activities. This allows states flexibility in serving
individuals who face multiple challenges to entering the workforce.
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