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Skriven 2005-01-14 23:33:00 av Whitehouse Press (1:3634/12.0)
Ärende: Press Release (0501143) for Fri, 2005 Jan 14
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Press Gaggle with Scott McClellan
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For Immediate Release
Office of the Press Secretary
January 14, 2005

Press Gaggle with Scott McClellan
Aboard Air Force One
En Route Jacksonville, Florida


  þ President's Schedule
  þ Personnel announcement
  þ Iraq/terrorism
  þ North Korea
  þ Pell Grants
  þ Inaugural costs
  þ Inaugural speech
  þ Budget
  þ Week ahead schedule

11:32 A.M. EST

MR. McCLELLAN: First of all, the President had a phone call with President
Yawar this morning. They talked about President Yawar's current trip to
Europe, as well as the preparations for the upcoming elections. And both
leaders reaffirmed their commitment to moving forward on the January 30th
date for the election.

Then he taped his radio address. He had his usual briefings.

Q And the topic on that?

MR. McCLELLAN: Social Security. And when we land, there will be -- we'll go
to a community college, the Florida Community College in Jacksonville,
where the President will participate in a conversation on higher education
and job training. And we'll get you a fact sheet here very shortly, but the
President today will be talking about his plan to expand the Pell Grant
program through reforms to the student loan program. And this expansion of
the Pell Grant program will provide more assistance to low-income students
to receive higher education and enter the work force with the skills they
need to succeed, and fill the jobs of the 21st century. And so that will be
a specific part of his conversation remarks today. And we'll get you the
fact sheet on that.

And one personnel announcement, and then remind me about the week ahead
when you're done with your questions. Heidi Smith, who has been our
Director of Personnel -- Presidential Correspondence, will now be Special
Assistance to the President for Cabinet Liaison. So she'll be the Cabinet
Liaison going into the second term.

Q -- the Cabinet Secretary?

MR. McCLELLAN: Well, the -- the Secretary of Cabinet Affairs?

Q Yes.

MR. McCLELLAN: Yes, that will -- we've restructured that office a little
bit, and she will be the Cabinet Liaison. Brian Montgomery announced
previously that he was going to be looking at other opportunities. And the
President appreciates the great job that Brian Montgomery has done
coordinating our Cabinet efforts, and he has a tremendous amount of trust
in Heidi to fill this important role as the Cabinet Liaison.

Q There's a report out that Iraq could become an important breeding ground
for terrorism. Is the President concerned about that?

MR. McCLELLAN: Well, I think the report talks a lot more -- about a lot
more than that. We welcome the report. I think the report confirms that our
strategy of staying on the offensive and spreading freedom to win the war
on terrorism is the right approach. We are in a struggle of epic
proportions and the stakes are high, and the President believes it's
important to continue to advance freedom in a dangerous region of the world
because it will make the world a more peaceful place, and make America more
secure. And so I think that's the -- this report is a speculative report
about things that could happen in the world, but we welcome the report and
--

Q To what extent is he concerned that Iraq has become, or is becoming a
breeding ground for terrorism --

MR. McCLELLAN: I think we talked about this before -- the terrorists
recognize how high the stakes are. We're fighting them abroad so that we
don't have to fight them here at home. And the way to win the war on
terrorism is to stay on the offensive and work with the international
community to bring to justice those who seek to do us harm, and to work
together to advance freedom, particularly in the broader Middle East
region. And that's how we ultimately defeat the ideology of hatred that
terrorists espouse.

Q But has the war -- did the war create a vacuum that has made it more
conducive for terrorists to use Iraq as a base?

MR. McCLELLAN: The President talked about that during the campaign. I mean,
that's just a misunderstanding of the war on terrorism.

Q -- the President to talk about this, as a central front of the war on
terrorism, when essentially, what the report is suggesting is that it is a
central front created by and essentially helping terrorism.

MR. McCLELLAN: Did the report say that?

Q -- insinuating that it's a place where it's a breeding ground for --

MR. McCLELLAN: I think the report, like I said, confirms that we have the
right strategy for winning the war on terrorism, which is to stay on the
offensive and go after the terrorists, and to work to spread freedom and
hope to regions of the world that have only known tyranny and oppression.
And the war on terrorism is won by staying on the offensive and spreading
freedom.

We are staying on the offensive to defeat the terrorists, and to suggest
otherwise is just a misunderstanding. We are fighting them abroad so that
we don't have to fight them at home. The terrorists recognize how high the
stakes are. The elections coming up in Iraq are a significant achievement
for the Iraqi people, and it's another step forward on the path to
democracy in Iraq. And when we achieve peace and democracy in Iraq, it will
be a significant blow to the ambitions of the terrorists and their ideology
of hatred and oppression that they espouse.

Q Does the President --

MR. McCLELLAN: That's the stakes that are involved. This is a struggle of
ideologies. It is an epic struggle, and the stakes are high.

Q Does the President disagree with the report's conclusion that the war and
the uncertainty on the ground has created a breeding ground for terrorism?

MR. McCLELLAN: I think we just answered this question. We just went through
it, so I would go back to what I just said, and those are, I think, the
points to make.

Q I mean, the reason that we keep asking the question again is that it's
just confusing to me how you can say it confirms your strategy is the right
approach when there is terrorism in Iraq now, a terrorist breeding ground
in Iraq now and growing there, and wasn't there before. So how does that
confirm your approach?

MR. McCLELLAN: That's assuming that terrorists would just be sitting around
doing nothing if we weren't staying on the offensive in the war on
terrorism. I mean, by going on the offensive we've been able to liberate
two countries, the people of two countries -- in Afghanistan and Iraq. And
now we must continue to do everything we can to support efforts to build
democratic futures for the people of the region. And that's exactly what
we'll continue to do.

But I disagree with the characterization of the report, because I think the
report confirms that we have the right strategy to win the war on
terrorism, because of what I said a minute ago. So I would disagree with
that. And this is -- the report looks at much more than just that. It's a
speculative report that looks at a number of areas in the world, and we
welcome the report. It's important to look at what the report has to say.
And I don't think we've had time to look at the whole report, and I would
encourage each of you to look at the whole report, as well, and maybe --
because I think some of the characterization is off the mark.

Q Can we turn to North Korea?

Q Excuse me just -- are you talking about our characterization, or the
characterization in the report?

MR. McCLELLAN: Some of the characterization of the questions this morning
-- in the gaggle this morning, not the report.

Q Okay.

Q Can we turn to North Korea? You probably saw that they're willing to
return to the table, as long as the administration doesn't slander their
internal system or meddle with their internal system. What do you make of
what they said?

MR. McCLELLAN: As long as the administration doesn't what?

Q Doesn't slander their internal system or meddle with their internal
affairs.

MR. McCLELLAN: We put forward a practical proposal at the last round of
six-party talks. It's a proposal that we believe addresses the concerns of
all parties. The six-party talks are the way forward to achieving the goal
of all the countries in the region, which is a non-nuclear peninsula. And
it is time to move forward on the six-party talks, and so we would hope
that they are willing to come back to the six-party talks so we can talk
about how we can move forward on the proposal that we outlined at the last
round of talks.

Q You don't sound hopeful or welcoming of the statement they made.

MR. McCLELLAN: Well, we'll see -- we'll see by their action how serious
they are. I think all parties in the region have made it very clear that
they want to see a non-nuclear peninsula, and they're all saying the same
thing to North Korea. And we want to work through a peaceful, diplomatic
process that involves all six parties. That's what we're committed to
doing. We have a number of practical steps that address the concerns of all
parties that we think is the way forward, and we look forward to the next
round of talks. We hope that those can occur soon and that we can talk
about how to move forward on the proposal. We have not set any
preconditions for the next round of talks.

Q On today's event, the President has fallen short from his 2000
commitments on Pell Grants. Why should we take today's commitment
seriously?

MR. McCLELLAN: Well, there's come congressional action I think that is --
because of action by Congress has led to a shortfall, in terms of funding
the Pell Grant awards, and that's what the President will be talking about
in his conversation, and we'll have for you in the fact sheets so you might
want to look at that. But the President has always been a strong supporter
of Pell Grants to help low-income students receive higher education and get
the skills they need to succeed in the 21st century work force. We live in
a changing economy, and Pell Grants are key to making sure more low-income
Americans are able to pursue and realize their dreams.

And so he'll talk about the way we're reforming these programs, and
focusing in on results, because the President is interested in achieving
results. Pell Grants have been a great success, and now we want to make it
-- we want to make more low-income Americans eligible for those Pell
Grants. That's why he's committed to expanding the program.

Q Scott, there's been some criticism of the inaugural costs, $40 million
being spent on the inauguration at a time when people are dying in Iraq and
the tsunami disaster has created a sobering mood. Does the President feel
that it's appropriate to have a lavish celebration like that at such a
time?

MR. McCLELLAN: I think we talked about this earlier in the week, and I
think the Inaugural Committee has talked about it, as well. But the
inaugural is a great American tradition, and this is a time not only to
celebrate freedom, but to pay tribute to our men and women in uniform. And
these are private contributions from people all across America who are
enthusiastic about this great celebration that will be going on next week
in Washington, D.C.

Q But it's --

MR. McCLELLAN: Hang on, hang on -- and it enables -- those private
contributes enable more everyday Americans to enjoy this unique and grand
American celebration. And so the President is appreciative of all those
people who have helped provide support for our inaugural.

Q How is the speech going? I'm sorry, go ahead.

Q What about scaling it back, though, just making it --

Q Is he at all uncomfortable with the scale or the lavishness of what we're
going to see next week?

MR. McCLELLAN: The inaugural is a celebration of our democracy. It's an
opportunity for all Americans to come together around a great tradition.
And it's an opportunity to show the world the democratic values that
America stands for. And so I think it's an important moment and a great
tradition.

Q Are there any members of Congress on board?

MR. McCLELLAN: Congressman Crenshaw. He's with the President right now.

Q Is his brother going to be there?

MR. McCLELLAN: Governor Bush will be there. And Senator Martinez.

Q What are you -- what are the themes of the speech going to be?

MR. McCLELLAN: He's going to be talking about the Pell Grant program.

Q No, no, I'm talking about the inaugural speech.

MR. McCLELLAN: I know, I'm kidding. (Laughter.) It's Friday, so I -- well,
I don't want to --

Q Press Secretary humor. (Laughter.)

MR. McCLELLAN: It's Friday, you know. I don't want to get too far ahead of
the President at this point because you still have about a week to go
before the remarks. But the President, he's still working on it and he did
some speech preparation -- participated in some speech preparation
yesterday. But the President -- he'll talk about the importance of
advancing freedom to achieving peace. And he looks forward to giving the
speech. I think it's a -- I'll leave it at that for now.

Q All right.

Q Can we get back to the Pell Grants --

MR. McCLELLAN: No.

Q Please?

MR. McCLELLAN: We'll have the week ahead in a minute.

Q Certainly. Just humor me here. The expansion that he's going to be
talking about today I presume is one area of budget increases that he's
going to be proposing for the next fiscal year. But there have been lots of
reports out there about budget cuts in housing programs -- you saw the
report about HUD today -- Veterans Affairs programs, those kinds of things.
Can you talk about the priorities that he's looking at, in terms of cuts?

MR. McCLELLAN: Sure. And I think that it's important to remind everyone
that the budget will be released on February 7th, and that's a time when
we'll have the opportunity to look at the entire budget and see how we're
addressing the nation's priorities, because if you look back over the past
four years, we've proposed budgets that meet our nation's highest
priorities, and also changed the way we look at budgeting. We've worked to
put in place performance-based budgeting that focuses on results, that
focuses on making sure programs are working to achieve the results that
they were intended to in the first place.

And so we are -- and the President wants -- the President is firmly
committed to making sure we're using taxpayer dollars, spending taxpayers
wisely. He's committed to being a good steward of the taxpayer dollars, and
he's also committed to meeting his commitment to cut the deficit in half
over the next five years.

So this will be a responsible budget that funds our highest priorities and
focuses on making programs work better and achieve meaningful results for
the American people. And you mentioned one story today, and one of the
President's priorities is to make sure that we are supporting economic
development in America. And he is strongly committed to helping those in
need, but he wants to make sure that the programs are working to achieve
that result.

And so, we're looking at programs that maybe are duplicative; we're looking
at programs that are -- to see if they're achieving their intended results.
I think the American people recognize we can do much more with a little
less, and so that's the way we're approaching the budget.

Q So is the moving around of those HUD community development programs, is
that going to result in a cut?

MR. McCLELLAN: I'm not going to get into specific areas of the budget. The
budget will be released on February 7th. But that's why I was making the
point that the President is strongly committed to economic development and
strongly committed to making sure we're meeting the needs of lower-income
Americans who are struggling. And I think that will be reflected in how we
approach the budget.

Q How do you respond to the argument that programs for poor Americans are
being cut, and there's a lot of austerity --

MR. McCLELLAN: Have you seen the budget?

Q I've seen a lot of reports about what --

MR. McCLELLAN: I think that's -- the points I just made -- I mean, one,
let's wait until the budget comes out and then we can talk about the
President's priorities and his commitments and how that's reflected in the
budget. But we have an obligation to make sure we're meeting our highest --
funding our highest priorities and meeting other priorities, and also being
a good steward of the taxpayers' dollars. And part of doing that is making
sure we have performance-based budgeting, that we're looking at programs. I
think that when you have a budget that's well over $2 trillion and
discretionary spending of over $800 billion, that most Americans look at
that and recognize that we can improve results by looking at all the
programs, and save money at the same time on some of those efforts.

Q But even without seeing the budget, officials in the administration made
clear that domestic spending is going to be kept within very tight limits.

MR. McCLELLAN: Anonymous officials have talked about it. The President has
made clear that we're going to have a responsible budget that exercises
spending restraint and that meets our commitment to cut the deficit in half
over the next five years. And we look forward to talking more about that
budget. We look forward to talking about the priorities that the President
is working to meet and how we're working to meet those priorities.

Q Week ahead?

MR. McCLELLAN: It's a lengthy one.

Q Is he doing anything Thursday of next week?

MR. McCLELLAN: I think we're going to be in D.C. that day.

Q TBD.

MR. McCLELLAN: No travel on Thursday. (Laughter.) No. And Mrs. Bush will be
participating with the President with all these events that I'm going to go
through for next week.

On Monday, the President will make remarks at Georgetown University's "Let
Freedom Ring" celebration, honoring Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. That will
be at the John F. Kennedy Center.

Q Do you have a time on that?

MR. McCLELLAN: No, but we'll get it to you later today.

On Tuesday, the President will make remarks at "Saluting Those Who Serve."
It's at the MCI Center. He'll make remarks at "America's Future Rocks
Today, A Call to Service." That is a youth event at the D.C. Armory.

And then, on Wednesday, the President will make remarks at a Celebration of
Freedom Inaugural Concert; that's on the Ellipse. And then he'll attend
three candlelight dinners -- at Union Station, the National Building Museum
and Washington Hilton Hotel. Then he'll attend the Black Tie and Boots Ball
at the Marriott.

On Thursday, Inauguration Day, the President will attend a prayer service
at St. John's. Then he will participate in the swearing-in ceremony at the
Capitol, which he looks forward to. Then he will attend an Inaugural Day
Luncheon at the Capitol. Then he will participate in the Presidential
Inaugural Parade. And then he will attend the Salute to Heroes Veterans
Inaugural Ball, honoring Medal of Honor recipients. And he will attend nine
inaugural balls. You can probably get all of those from the Inaugural
Committee.

And on Friday, he will attend the National Prayer Service at the National
Cathedral. And then on Saturday, he looks forward to the Alfalfa Club
Dinner at the Capital Hilton. And that's the week ahead.

Thank you all.

Q Camp David this weekend?

MR. McCLELLAN: No.

END 11:52 A.M. EST
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