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Skriven 2006-10-04 23:31:42 av Whitehouse Press (1:3634/12.0)
Ärende: Press Release (0610044) for Wed, 2006 Oct 4
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Press Gaggle by Dana Perino
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For Immediate Release
Office of the Press Secretary
October 4, 2006

Press Gaggle by Dana Perino
Aboard Air Force One
En Route Aurora, Colorado



12:03 P.M. MDT

MS. PERINO: Let's get started. The President, this morning, had his regular
briefings. You all attended the remarks at Renzi for Congress. He signed
the DHS appropriations bill and made remarks. We are now traveling to
Colorado for the Bob Beauprez for Governor event. Then we will head back
home. The President is due to arrive at the White House at 8:10 p.m.

I'm going to give a quick readout on tomorrow's event so you all have it
for tomorrow. The President is going to be doing an education event. He
will be going over to the Department of Education and is visiting a school.
Just a couple comments on that -- that since the No Child Left Behind Act
went into effect, Woodridge Elementary and Middle Campus has achieved some
great success. The President chose to visit this school to highlight its
clear record of improvement. And during his remarks, the President will
highlight the No Child Left Behind positive impact on schools throughout
our country and also discuss what else must be done in the future to ensure
that every child receives a high-quality education.

I remind you that the No Child Left Behind Act is up for reauthorization in
2007. And I'll take your questions.

Q What is the Department of Education event? What will he do over there
before he goes to the school?

MS. PERINO: He's going to be getting a briefing from Secretary Spellings.
If you think back to August, when the President went to the State
Department and the NCTC -- into, I think, the Pentagon, where he received
briefings, it's a chance for him to go to the departments, hear from the
Cabinet official and their supporting cast. So he will get that briefing. I
believe there's pool coverage at the end. And then he'll go to the school
after that.

Q -- the conference next week on school safety, is that going to come up
tomorrow and will he talk about that?

MS. PERINO: The planning for next Tuesday's conference is underway back at
the White House. If we have more information on any details of that, I'll
try to get those to you this afternoon. I'm sure that in the context of the
discussion tomorrow at the Department of Education it will come up. You'll
also hear the President mention again -- of course, they had the tragedy in
Colorado just last week, and he will mention school violence in Colorado in
today's remarks at the Governor Beauprez event.

Q When the President talks about the Terrorist Surveillance Program and he
says that the people who voted against that are saying they don't want to
listen in on terrorist phone calls -- is that fair? A lot of people say we
want to listen on terrorist phone calls, we just don't like the way you set
up this program and the judicial oversight.

MS. PERINO: Yes, I think it is fair. What the President is saying, as he
continues to draw clear distinctions between Republicans and Democrats in
their approach to fighting the war on terror, is that they voted against
it. They voted against the TSP. And I don't think it's fair that anyone be
allowed to have it both ways. The President has been saying that the
Democrats talk very tough on terror, but they don't follow through. And
actions speak louder than words. And Americans don't send their congressmen
to D.C. to talk tough; they send them there to take positions on issues and
to vote. And I think what the President is saying is that when it came down
to the vote, 177 -- 160 was the military commission bill, but 177 is the
TSP bill -- when it came down to take that vote, they voted against it.

And professionals in the intelligence community have said this is a program
that has saved lives and helped to detect and prevent terrorist attacks.
They've gone up to the Hill, talked about the program at length and
provided as much information as possible. They say that they need this
program in addition to the other tools that we have, such as the FISA
court, and that if they didn't have it they wouldn't be able to do their
jobs as effectively as they have been.

So I think it's absolutely appropriate for the President to be able to
remind people that someone can talk tough on terror, but when it comes down
to actually taking the votes, they have said that they wouldn't have voted
-- they don't support it, they wouldn't have voted for it. Now, I don't
know what sort of changes that they would have proposed. And the President
has said he doesn't question the patriotism; he questions the philosophical
difference. And he is trying to lay that out clearly for voters as they
make choices in November.

Q Do you have anything on these reports that -- of possible activity in
North Korea that would suggest that they're preparing for a nuclear test?

MS. PERINO: Last night we issued a statement on the rumblings coming out of
North Korea, and we expect that they would be listening to that statement.
But I don't have anything today, in addition to what we said last night.

Q Has the President gotten any updated briefings on what's going on in Iraq
with the police there involved, possibly, in some corruption with the
sectarian violence?

MS. PERINO: He did get his regular briefings this morning. I can't tell you
specifically if that was a part of it, but he is kept up to speed
regularly, and I can find out if there's anything to add on that. I know
that DOD spoke to it today. It's obviously very disturbing and troubling. I
think it was Major Caldwell who I saw addressing it this morning. So I'd
have to refer you to DOD for now, but I will check and see if there's
anything else.

Q What would the President advise the Republican Party on how to handle
this Foley scandal, in terms of the midterm elections being so close?

MS. PERINO: I think the President has his eye on the ball when it comes to
campaigning and I think his advice to other candidates would be to be
campaigning in their districts on the Republicans' clear record of
achievement when it comes to protecting the country and making sure that we
have policies in place that will ensure a strong and growing economy;
drawing distinctions between the tough talk that we've heard, about the
votes that are taken; and also the congressmen in their own words regarding
tax policy, the higher taxes that they might advocate if they were to go
into power.

So I think that keeping your eye on the ball would be the best advice, in
terms of this midterm election season as we head into the home stretch.

Okay, thank you.

12:09 P.M. MDT
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