Text 3989, 188 rader
Skriven 2007-01-24 23:33:26 av Whitehouse Press (1:3634/12.0)
Ärende: Press Release (070124) for Wed, 2007 Jan 24
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Press Gaggle by Dana Perino
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For Immediate Release
Office of the Press Secretary
January 24, 2007

Press Gaggle by Dana Perino
Aboard Air Force One
En Route Wilmington, Delaware



9:27 A.M. EST

MS. PERINO: All right, we have a short flight to -- we have a short flight
to Delaware. So I have a few announcements to make, and I'll take as many
questions as possible, and we'll see as far as we can get. And then we'll
be around the rest of the day if you need anything.

So the President had his normal briefings this morning. He will tour -- can
you guys back these off just a little bit, thanks -- tour of DuPont
Experimental Station. He will tour a greenhouse that will feature
cellulosic energy research. He will make remarks. There's about 1,150
attendees -- mostly are made up of DuPont employees. Secretary Bodman is on
the plane. He will introduce the President. Congressman Mike Castle is also
on the plane.

At 1:00 p.m. today, the President will meet with -- I'm sorry, 1:10 p.m.,
the President meets with General Dan McNeil, incoming Commander for NATO's
International Security Assistance Force in Afghanistan. The President will
congratulate General McNeil on his appointment. He's the first American
assigned to this important position. They will discuss the situation in
Afghanistan and the importance of success in Afghanistan as it relates to
the war on terror. The United States is fully committed to providing the
necessary resources to President Karzai.

And at 5:00 p.m. -- this is an addition -- at 5:20 p.m. -- we didn't have
it on the schedule last night -- it was on the schedule, we just didn't put
it on the public schedule, but should have -- meeting with the Joint Chiefs
and combatant commanders. This is an annual meeting. The meeting will be in
the Cabinet Room, followed by a dinner in the residence, in the Yellow
Oval. He traditionally hosts this every year, as I mentioned.

This year's meeting with the President takes place on the first day of
their three-day conference. This is an opportunity for the President to
commend the senior defense leaders for their hard work and accomplishments
in fighting the war on terror, defending our homeland, and maintaining a
strong joint force.

I expect they will discuss progress to date on the new Iraq strategy, and
then the continued efforts in -- to counter the Taliban in Afghanistan.
He'll also talk about budgetary issues and working with Congress to ensure
that they have the needed support for DoD operations and key programs.

Secretary of Energy Sam Bodman will also be on "Ask the White House" this
afternoon to discuss the President's State of the Union address last night
and the energy policy that was proposed in that speech.

Q What times is that, Dana?

MS. PERINO: The "Ask the White House"?

Q Yes.

MS. PERINO: At 4:00 p.m.

And last announcement is that this morning, the President signed an
executive order that directs the federal government to lead by example in
advancing the nation's energy security and environmental performance needs.
It's an order that consolidates five existing executive orders and two
memoranda, and then establishes new and updated goals, practices, and
reporting requirements for environmental, energy, and transportation
performance and accountability.

A couple of examples are, the increased use of alternate fuels, including
more use of alternate fuel vehicles such as hybrids; reduce federal
petroleum consumption in fleet vehicles by 2 percent per year through 2015,
and increase use of non-petroleum-based fuels; and reduce greenhouse gas
emissions by reducing energy intensity by 3 percent a year, or 30 percent
by 2015. And we will release that EO upon landing.

With that, I'll take any questions.

Q Dana, can you recap that the 5:20 p.m. meeting with the Joint Chiefs and
combatant commanders, is that right?

MS. PERINO: Yes.

Q Is that annual --

MS. PERINO: Yes, the President traditionally hosts them every year. And so
they're going to meet in the Cabinet Room, and then they'll have dinner in
the Yellow Oval after.

Q Dana, now that the President has laid out his plans, particularly on
health care and energy, requiring congressional action, what is his next
step? What is he going to do now?

MS. PERINO: We were very pleased with the President's speech last night. We
think that once people get past sort of the canned prebuttals of the State
of the Union, and have a chance to look at the President's proposals, that
we'll be able to have continuing dialogue with them.

I think that you saw some initial positive reaction on the energy piece. I
think, collectively, everyone said, that might be something we can work on.
If you think about it, over the years, there's been core bipartisan support
for increased use of alternative fuels and renewable fuels. So that one is
a little bit more ripe for a full-fledged discussion and to get hearings
underway. It's an ambitious goal, but one, we think, that's attainable.

On health care, I see that one as a little bit more innovative and
challenging. I believe it challenges the political imagination to think
about how to upend the current health care system and have a very bold
proposal that would change the way health care insurance is done in this
country. I heard it was one of the most radical changes since Harry Truman
actually gave the employer health care benefit -- tax benefit back in 1940.

So we have a lot of work to do in order to bring Congress along, but I
think that the President also set a tone last night that will try to cool
political passions, especially on a topic like immigration. Remember he
said that convictions run very deep, but he believes that we can have a
civil and serious discussion. And what he would like to see is a bill to
his desk this year on that one. I think that that debate has been, again,
discussed over the past few years, and it's ripe now for legislation to
come to his desk.

Q -- hear anything new in today's speech, or is there any new thing to be
looking for?

MS. PERINO: Well, I just announced the EO that the President did, but in
the remarks of the President's speech? I think --

Q -- (inaudible) --

MS. PERINO: No.

Q Congressman Boehner says that the U.S. should know within 60 to 90 days
whether or not the Iraq surge plan is going to work. What's your reaction
to that? He's effectively laying down a marker, saying if something doesn't
happen within 60 to 90 days --

MS. PERINO: I think General Petraeus is the best person to talk about that,
and he did so yesterday. He's going to be the commander on the ground, and
so the President will look to him. The President believes that the plan
that he laid out is the best way to secure Baghdad so that we can help the
Iraqis get to a position for political reconciliation.

In addition to that, we are also going to be looking to make sure that the
Iraqis are meeting their end of the bargain, that they are ponying up the
troops and that they are moving forward on the oil law and the other
benchmarks that we laid out. So we'll be keeping a close watch.

Q The fact that you now have House Republicans openly saying there's a time
frame here, 60 to 90 days, does that -- how does that sort of factor into
the President's --

MS. PERINO: I didn't see his exact comments. I don't know if he meant --
what he meant -- what would happen at the end of 60 or 90 days. I think
maybe he said we would know if it was headed in the right direction. And I
think that General Petraeus and the commanders on the ground and supporters
are the ones that could best answer that question, and we're not going to
do it from Washington. And we're going to keep watch to make sure that
they're meeting their end of the deal.

Q Dana, your announcement on fuel usage, is that strictly for federal
government vehicles?

MS. PERINO: That's for the federal government.

Q Do you know how many vehicles that entails, how large the fleet is? I
mean, how extensive is it?

MS. PERINO: I do not. I will see if we can get that. Well, I do know that
the federal government is the single largest purchaser and user of energy
in the world.

Anything else? All right, see you on the ground.

END 9:35 A.M. EST

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