Text 4219, 697 rader
Skriven 2007-03-13 23:31:02 av Whitehouse Press (1:3634/12.0)
Ärende: Press Release (0703135) for Tue, 2007 Mar 13
====================================================

===========================================================================
Press Briefing by Tony Snow and Dan Fisk
===========================================================================

For Immediate Release Office of the Press Secretary March 13, 2007

Press Briefing by Tony Snow and Dan Fisk Holiday Inn Mérida, Mexico

˙˙Press Briefings

˙˙˙˙˙ President's Trip to Latin America

PARTICIPANTS
Tony Snow, White House Press Secretary
Dan Fisk, Special Assistant to the President and Senior Director of Western
Hemisphere Affairs

5:38 P.M. (Local)

MR. SNOW: Let me give you a quick readout of the President's meeting with
Calder n; Dan Fisk, of the National Security Council, also with me. Let me
begin with the important stuff, though, and that is color.

His lunch menu included three panuchos. these are corn tortillas filled
with refried beans -- actually, sort of layered, not "filled," your flat,
round tortillas, not great, big tortillas -- with pork, turkey and roast
chicken. Then there was a fresh grouper fillet, with white rice and a
Mexican herb called epazote, I think, and refried beans. Also we had the
little -- what do you call those, Dan? Was that tortillas we were wrapping
them up in?

MR. FISK: Yes, white corn tortillas.

MR. SNOW: And papaya compote ice cream, served with a marquesita, that's a
regional cr pe, quite good; grated Dutch cheese. There were also served red
and white wines; the President did not partake, but staff members who will
go unmentioned did.

Q Any blueberries?

MR. SNOW: No blueberries. That's Uruguay.

Q What did you partake -- what?

MR. SNOW: There were red and white wines being served.

Q Oh.

MR. SNOW: The President had detailed and very busy meetings with President
Calder n. I'll run through a list of the issues. Dan can brief you in much
greater detail also about what's going on -- but a whole series of
concerns, they range from economic development, trade, conservation and
environment, working together in the drug wars against drug traffickers,
organized crime, also against arms trafficking; talked about border and
port security, transportation -- I've already mentioned economic
development, NAFTA and trade would come under that. Let us see what else we
have here.

One of the other things that the Presidents talked about and members of the
Mexican Cabinet and certainly the President had the proxy for his own
Cabinet, is making sure that the two governments work together at the
ministerial level, because in a lot of these issues you end up having more
than one Cabinet department involved -- for instance, border security, a
perfect example. So it's very important to try to figure out how to
integrate all their activities. This would also include the Department of
Treasury. There will be Cabinet members from the United States government
coming down, I think quite soon. I'm not sure we're ready to announce --
we're not quite ready to announce any of those. But there will be continued
presence of U.S. Cabinet members in Mexico discussing some of these issues.

And that basically runs through it. There was a little discussion of
education, as well. That's basically it. So a quick run-through, but as you
can tell, it was a very brisk and businesslike meeting, but on the other
hand, the chemistry between the two leaders was quite good. They seemed
relaxed and they got along.

After they finished the meeting we had the luncheon on a balcony, sort of
overlooking the back side of the hacienda -- quite pretty. Afterward the
Presidents toured the hacienda with just themselves and their translators.
And then off we went to the ruins.

Ed.

Q Tony, I realize you're probably loathe to do this, but it's day six now,
we're almost on day seven -- after all these stops through five nations,
what do you feel are the President's accomplishments on this mission?

MR. SNOW: Let me put it this way -- I don't want to try to total up
accomplishments, but it's been very good in the sense that what you have
are close and warm working relations with South and Central American
leaders, all of whom share our goals of democracy, all of whom believe in
free markets, and all of whom understand and appreciate America's role in
the region, and with whom we have a whole wide variety of interests.

Again, we can go back and trot through them again, starting off with the
energy visits in Brazil, talking about ethanol and taking a look at the
plant; the visit to Uruguay where, really, we've got a very strong ally
there and Uruguay having the interesting situation of contributing more
people per capita to peacekeeping missions than anybody on the face of the
earth.

And Colombia, you have with President Uribe, a leader who really is being
very tough in the drug war, which is an enormously difficult and important
issue in his country, and is showing not only courage and leadership and
steadfastness, a very important ally there.

The stop in Guatemala gave us an opportunity also to take a look at some of
the ways in which America's commitment to development and to, really,
humanitarian outreach are paying dividends, both on the medical side, and
also on the business development side.

And then today in Mexico, here you've got our southern neighbor, a very
significant, strategic and economic ally, and the development of a
relationship that not only has friendship in it, but also a real capacity
to do serious work and roll up their sleeves and talk in practical terms
about how to move forward.

Q But do you think he pushed the ball forward on immigration reform, for
example? Like, what concrete -- when you say that they're democracies or
free markets, they were all those things before the President came to --

MR. SNOW: Well, yes, but you've got to understand, Ed, that when you deal
with issues this complex it is not always, you're going to punch out a
deliverable. For instance, again, when we were talking with President
Calder n today, the President, you had very detailed discussions about how
you move forward, but you're not going to have a piece of paper that's a
deliverable.

So if you want something that specific, you're not going to get it. But on
the other hand, I think it's very important for the President also to make
a statement. For instance, you saw the turnout in Guatemala yesterday as
people were lining the streets -- we also heard this in Uruguay, and in
Colombia. It's a very important statement for the President of the United
States to be at these places and to make it clear that the United States
may not have gotten the credit it deserves for the very aggressive action
that we continue to take, understanding the importance of our relations
with allies in the hemisphere, and also just how good things are when you
do have the ability to work together, and you build a basis for a
combination of political freedom and also economic growth.

Q Tony, did they specifically talk about the wall? Did President Calder n
bring up the wall issue, or --

MR. SNOW: I don't know if they did. They had a restricted bilat, and I
don't know if it came up there. But I think President Calder n understands
that the President -- the President has made the point that we're committed
to border security, and it is also pursuant to an act of Congress. But at
the same time, the United States certainly regards Mexico as a friendly
country and an important ally. And the President did explain, in some
detail, his approach to immigration reform and why it's important. And one
of the first steps, really, was building confidence among a lot of members
of Congress that we're serious about border security. But that is the first
step that is not the last step on immigration reform.

And I think the two leaders really do understand where they're coming from,
and they're looking forward to working together on a series of issues.
Obviously, Mexico doesn't have a direct role to play in the congressional
debate, but on the other hand, what the President did do was to reassure
President Calder n, as he has other leaders, was the absolute, non-wavering
commitment to working with Democrats and Republicans -- it's not going to
be done by one party alone -- and to get both parties working together so
that you have comprehensive immigration reform that is going to meet all
the various challenges and goals we have.

Q Tony, I know the President has had a really busy day, but he's had some
downtime since the DOJ thing sort of became very prominent today. Do you
know if he's had a chance to talk to Alberto Gonzales, or plans to this
evening?

MR. SNOW: I doubt it. I know he hadn't talked to him -- well, last time I
checked he had not talked to him. So I don't think so. And, Kelly, I'll try
to get a readout if there's any change; I'll be seeing the President in a
few minutes when we head off to this dinner. We'll figure out some way to
get an answer. But I seriously doubt it.

Q Were there any discussions about increasing the U.S. role in Mexico in
fighting drug trafficking?

MR. SNOW: Well, I think what you're talking about is increased cooperation
in trying to fight drug trafficking.

Q Will there be any specifics -- air surveillance has been cut back on the
U.S. side --

MR. SNOW: We did -- there was no discussion of specifics, but on the other
hand there was -- again, they're talking about -- the two leaders are
talking about ways to start dealing -- how do I put this -- a number of
particulars were mentioned; that was not one of them, at least in the
meeting I was in. But I can't rule it out in the bilat.

But what is -- where we're going to work on this is to have both sides come
up with specifics, and then begin working on it at the ministerial level,
so that you can figure out how you make the best use of the resources
available to you so that you can get the job done.

Drug trafficking, obviously, is a problem that involves Mexico, but other
countries in the region, as well, and you need to find a way -- and the
President mentioned this the other day

-- to come up with a comprehensive way of dealing with it. We're really at
the beginning stages of trying to work through that. And the two
governments are going to spend a lot of time I think trying to share their
ideas and go back and forth. And this is a classic one of these issues that
involves a whole series of departments, agencies and jurisdictions.

Q But did Calder n ask for additional help?

MR. SNOW: Again, I'm not going to characterize.

Q There's a whole bunch of little trade disputes, did they discuss any of
them, like the one on trucks, Mexican trucks?

MR. SNOW: Well, I don't know if you're talking about the trade dispute, but
the Mexican truck rule goes into effect next month.

Q Did that come up?

MR. SNOW: It came up briefly, taking note of the fact that it does.
Transportation -- again, it's an issue where you're going to tie together
transportation and border security and finding more effective ways to be
able to make sure that you have relatively rapid movement of people across
the border, at the same time that you have full security; that you make
sure that you not only don't compromise security, but that you enhance it
so that you have better ways of monitoring who's coming -- you know,
through trucks and cars and by foot and otherwise.

Okay, over here, and then I'll switch over. Peter.

Q Tony, the President said yesterday that the Republicans don't have a
coherent position on immigration, and that that has to be the first thing
he does, in terms of comprehensive legislation. So what is he going to do
when he comes back, exactly, to forge a coherent Republican --

MR. SNOW: Well, I think maybe it's -- well, I won't change the President's
word. I think what's going on is Republicans are trying to develop a
unified position and there continue to be leadership discussions. Those are
ongoing. Our legislative affairs people are in constant contact, and so is
the President.

But he feels pretty optimistic that there is going to be the basis to pull
something together in the Senate and to be working, Democrats and
Republicans, together on a bill. He would like to see one -- as you heard
yesterday -- it's going to be important to try to get one passed this year.

Q He has had to give all this as a public, non-time frame, non-deadline --

MR. SNOW: Well, he said it.

Q Does the President see himself as the main player in forging a consensus
Republican position on this? Or is he going to deputize somebody else to
kind of take that lead?

MR. SNOW: I don't have -- Maura, I'm not even sure how you rank order
something like that. The President is really committed --

Q Looking at it this way, there was a sense among some Republicans that the
President could have done more last year to get consensus and that was a
difficult time, it was an election season. But the question is, now that
the election is over, is the President maybe willing to come out more and
twist arms to get Republicans on the same --

MR. SNOW: Well, let me back up on that. The President gave a speech last
May to the nation on immigration. House Republican leadership at that time
said they were not going to move on it, other than a very restrictive way.
The President did, in fact, try to work with Republicans last year on it.
So I think -- I'd push back a little bit on the premise. But will the
President be actively engaged in it? You bet.

Q Tony, on port security, do you have anything specific on that? And, also,
what about energy? Did that come up today?

MR. SNOW: Energy did not. At least -- again, I can only -- and I don't know
if Dan has a further readout -- I'm not aware that energy came up. Port
security only in a kind of a notional way, in the sense that there
continues to be talk about how to work together on finding the best
technologies available to be able to make sure that we have security as
things make their way across the border.

Ann.

Q Tony, does the President think this is probably his last trip to Latin
America? He hasn't gone every year.

MR. SNOW: I don't know. That's --

MR. FISK: We're not going to --

MR. SNOW: Yes, I don't know. It's -- yes. I don't think he sees -- look,
the President -- I honestly don't know, Ann. But I also think that it's a
President who's deeply committed to the region, and this is -- I think
there is real energy, and I think you saw enthusiasm on the part of the
leaders we were dealing with, really, to work together and to work very
closely on issues that are going to be very good for us. So whether he's
going to travel or not, that's something that we'll determine at a future
date. But I certainly wouldn't rule it out, but I'm not going to rule it in
here, because -- I don't know how you put that on the transcript. Go ahead.

Q Did the President respond to President Calder n's suggestion that the
U.S. isn't doing enough on its own side of the border?

MR. SNOW: What the President did is, in the meetings, he explained what our
position is and why it is and the actions that we are taking. We have had a
very aggressive policy on the border, and we continue to. So I think -- I
don't think you had a conversation that quite unfolded in that way, but the
President laid out, and I think to the satisfaction of all, at least they
understand what our position is, why we pursue the policies we do the way
we do.

Q But did you get the sensation in opening statements today, opening
remarks --

MR. SNOW: I know, we've heard a lot of that. But they were opening
statements that I think were -- the Presidents were laying out issues that
were important to them, and they continued to follow up on those issues
once they got into the meetings.

Let's go to the back and then we'll work our way back up front again.

Q Tony, to what extent do the future of the relationships with this part of
the world hinge on what happens with immigration reform between now and the
summer? I mean, the President, you know, he really gave it the big buildup
that he'd stop here.

MR. SNOW: Well, that's because he thinks it's important. Look, the United
States is a hugely important player in the region. It is the dominant power
in the region and, at the same time, is absolutely committed with the
leading force in promoting the spread of democracy in the region, and
remains the leading force in securing democracy in the region.

So whatever happens on immigration reform, we're still going to be actively
involved not only out of sentiment, but also out of national interest. But
I don't want to play "what if." I think, again, the President has said he
feels pretty confident that we can get something done. And based on
conversations that have taken place with Democrats and Republicans on the
Hill, I think everybody understands that it is an important national
priority and we do need to get it done and get it done right and get it
done this year.

So rather than playing "what if," in terms of what if it were not to
happen, we're really thinking, how do we get it to happen.

Q What are they going to talk about tomorrow? What's left on the agenda?

MR. SNOW: I'll let Dan -- Dan, you got anything on tomorrow?

MR. FISK: Tomorrow is -- the President is meeting with --

Q We can't hear you.

MR. SNOW: Yes, come on up here, Dan.

MR. FISK: Tomorrow the President is going to meet with a group of young
Mexicans who have taken advantage of U.S.-provided scholarships; that will
be one event. And then he and President Calder n have their joint press
availability.

Q So they don't have any more bilateral talks, then, tomorrow?

MR. FISK: No, today -- the substance of the talks were today.

MR. SNOW: Yes, I mean, to the extent that there's any more bilateralizing,
it will be on a social basis tonight.

Q We all know that both Presidents want immigration reform from the U.S.
Congress. What has the U.S. President asked the Mexican Congress to do? I
mean, what does the U.S. want from Mexico at this point in time?

MR. SNOW: Well, I think what -- there were no demands made of the Mexican
Congress because that would be -- for instance, what we're talking about is
working with the Calder n government, and to the extent that there are
congressional relations involved, I'm sure President Calder n can handle
that.

Instead, what we're really talking about is working more effectively with
departments and agencies and getting Cabinet-level ministers involved --
because, let's face it, they can force the action a little more effectively
-- and rolling up their sleeves and coming up with very specific
suggestions, and then going back and forth and debating them through about
how we can be most effective in dealing with this host of important and
shared issues.

Q Tony, you said comprehensive immigration reform this year. The President
said he feels it needs to be done by August -- not a deadline, a goal --

MR. SNOW: Gooooaal! (Laughter.)

Q Yes, goal. At what point do you think that the presidential race will
overtake this -- (laughter) -- the issue? No, no, as far as presidential
candidates trying to use the issue in the race for the White House?

MR. SNOW: Actually, that is -- it's a great kind of political question, not
appropriate for me to answer. We're not playing pundit-in-chief because
that starts getting you into the juxtapositions of what does this candidate
say, and what does this candidate say?

Q I mean, is there pressure -- is there pressure that this race is going to
absorb this issue and --

MR. SNOW: I don't know, but I think the President does understand that the
political landscape is such that it's going to be a lot more -- I think
you've got a lot more opportunities for constructive action before both
parties, especially next year, get themselves into the throes of the
primary season.

Q On the DOJ thing, this afternoon Senators Leahy and Specter sent a letter
to the White House saying they'd like to see Karl Rove, Harriet Miers, I
think one other official, Mr. Kelley, I think, come in and voluntarily
testify and just sort of clear this up, rather than forcing a subpoena
showdown. Do you think there's any benefit, does the White House see any
benefit in just kind of voluntarily coming up there?

MR. SNOW: Well, as you know, Ed, it has been traditional in all White
Houses not to have staffers testify on Capitol Hill. So I think what we
have been trying to do is to work in a way to be as forthcoming with
members of Congress -- you saw all the emails coming out today -- give them
all the information so that they can make a fair judgment about it.

Q On the drug issue again, can we press Mexico in any way to address its
southern border? By their own admission, the new government says it's a
porous border that they haven't -- (inaudible) -- cross it. Is that why --
when you say "regional security," is that one of the things you were
talking of?

MR. SNOW: Well, regional security -- if you think about it, you've got a
drug problem that in many ways -- not in "many ways" -- primarily emanates
out of South America, and then you have various modes of transit. And what
you're trying to do is to figure out ways to be aggressive at every stage,
trying to deal with extermination -- crop extermination, trying to deal
with intercepting the transportation of the drugs to try to break up drug
rings and narco-terrorists, to try to come up with economic alternatives
for people for whom that is their method of subsistence.

So, again, it really wasn't -- you know, the President was not pushing on a
border issue. But on the other hand, there's widespread recognition that
the movement of drugs to its -- the largest market, the United States, is
important. The President also talked about the fact that demand in the
United States is a problem.

Q Did he say anything about how to -- any new ideas? Did he or anyone else
offer any new ideas about how to reduce that demand? He keeps talking about
that.

MR. SNOW: Well, they didn't go into detail about it, but it continues to be
something that we think about.

Q You say he didn't go into --

MR. SNOW: Did not go into detail, no.

Q In the way the trip was sort of planned, with the President doing a
little more sightseeing than he normally does and being in places where
he's had a lot more contact with people than -- compared to some trips,
where it's much more formal. Was that a part of trying to counter these
perception issues we've talked about in each country, of concerns about
U.S. attention to this region?

MR. SNOW: I think it's safe to say that part of it was to demonstrate the
fact that the United States is committed in a real way and with real
resources. For instance, yesterday, some of the meetings in the highlands,
where we went to a medical facility where the United States Army, on a
fairly regular basis, brings in regular -- as well as National Guard and
Reserves -- they do an immense amount of health care on a regular basis.
You know, we had everything from just regular exams to prenatal and
post-natal care, people getting their teeth pulled, the whole bit. You also
saw how free trade ends up working. Mr. Can -- Mariano Can , who has come
up with this amazing little business, where he's doing a lot of export in
the region with produce. We went up there and saw that.

I think those are important ways, also, of getting a real sense of how
these programs work on the ground. A lot of times you hear people
discussing in fairly abstract terms how trade is good, or how this
particular program or that particular program works. And I think you got
just a lot more detailed feel for it. And, furthermore, you got a sense of
the enthusiasm, and in some cases, gratitude and optimism of the people
involved.

I sat next to Mariano Can last night at dinner -- fortunately, other people
spoke Spanish so we could have a conversation. This is a guy who has
figured out that he can really build a business and he's exporting around
the region. And it's really interesting to see something like that in
operation. And I think it strengthens not only the President's commitment
to the issues of freedom and to markets, but also I think makes a real
point to the people in the region.

You can put faces with programs; you can demonstrate some real results. And
I think it is probable -- and, yes, I think it's good for the President,
too, in the sense that he was very enthusiastic and very much enjoyed the
meetings he's been able to have with people outside the highest levels of
government.

Q The comments by President Calder n this morning were really quite sharp.
Did that surprise the President? Do you think that President Calder n was
doing that mainly for --

MR. SNOW: I'll let others try to assess why or what, but the fact is the
meetings that they had were very productive, and the chemistry was good.
So, certainly, there was no sense on either side that either leader had any
personal difficulties with the other. And I think that what you saw were --
I mean, I've been in a lot of these meetings; this really was a lot more
detail, going through lists of things that people cared about, than most.

Q Mr. Fisk, how do you read Calder n's statement this morning, how would
you interpret that? And what does it mean for the larger relationship,
apart from the few hours they spent today together?

MR. FISK: Well, remember this is their second meeting. And I think the
important point on that is this is the first meeting that President Bush
had with President Calder n. And so one of the dynamics is clearly the
President wanted to get a sense, now that Calder n has been in office for
about a hundred days -- it's one thing to be a President-elect and another
thing to be President.

We recognize that President Calder n has a domestic constituency, he has
domestic issues that he's got to deal with. I think what the President --
what President Bush appreciates is the fact that President Calder n is
candid with him. This is not a case of saying something in public, and then
saying something behind closed doors. This is a case of where two
Presidents can have, to use an overused phrase, but it's true in this case,
a frank conversation, and can be very direct with each other in terms of
what's the issues that are on their mind, and can also then talk about with
equal frankness how we move forward.

And so one part of this goes the respective governments understanding that
there's a relationship at the leader level, and that the bureaucracies need
to respond to that. It's not just institutional relationships that count,
because we have a number of relationships with Mexico now, kind of
ministry-to-ministry, but also making sure that people understand that the
two Presidents are paying attention to issues and wanting to move the
agenda forward.

So the fact that there were direct with each other in public and direct
with each other behind closed doors in the meetings, I think is a comment
on the maturity of the relationship, and the fact that both Presidents want
to treat this as a partnership. To me I think that's the fundamental way to
look at this. It's not just a matter of geographic neighbors or the fact
that there's a number -- a large Mexican population in the United States.
It's the fact that we're partners and that we have a shared responsibility
and we have to move various agenda items forward, but also realizing we
both have domestic dynamics that neither President is going to deny.

MR. SNOW: Jim.

Q Tony, did the President see any of the protests outside the window of his
motorcade? And did he remark upon the protests? And what do you all think
the protests represent or say about --

MR. SNOW: Which protests are you talking about? Are you talking about on
this trip?

Q Yes.

MR. SNOW: Well, the fact is, yes, what we also saw, for instance, in
Guatemala was that the protestors -- maybe 1 percent, if you really take a
look at what happened on the roadside, and furthermore, apparently,
according to locals, some of the protestors weren't even local. So it's --
he understands that you can have protests, and that's -- but the other
thing he understands is that as a leader in the region, it's important to
work together with the governments on issues that matter. And at least the
clear sense we've gotten is if you're taking a look at whether the people
on balance were happy or sad that the President came, they're happy.

Q Does it say anything about work that would need to be done, still, in the
region, by the United States? And does it represent at any level a real
discontent --

MR. SNOW: Well, look, you got democracies now. And so you're going to have
protests everywhere. I don't think the President is going to -- he
understands that in any vigorous democracy, you're going to have people
protesting, and that certainly has been the case in this region for a very
long time. On the other hand, is there a way to go? Yes. One of the reasons
we're here is that there are a lot of action items that we think the United
States and its partners can work together on more effectively.

It's not a perfect world. That's one of the reasons why you get together
with leaders and try to take a cold look at what the problems are, and a
creative look on how to solve them.

Q When you say some of the protestors were not local, do you mean they came
in from out of the country? Or do you just mean from out of the --

MR. SNOW: No, no, no, no, no. They came from outside the area. They were in
country.

Q Mexico has been concerned about U.S. policy towards Cuba, post-Castro
Cuba -- I suspect that came up in the meetings. Can you share a little,
Dan, on what they might have asked of our policy, with respect to Cuba?

MR. FISK: Well, there is, I think, on Cuba, at a certain level, an
agreement to disagree. But where I think that -- where the two Presidents
focused the discussion was on the need for the international community to
support the Cuban people and to support their aspirations, and that what we
ought -- what the international community should see in Cuba is a
transition, not just simply one autocrat handing off power to another
autocrat, but in terms of being prepared at the right time. And each
country is going to have to define when that time is, to stand up for
things like free and fair multi-party competitive elections.

And so that is part of the President's message on Cuba throughout, that the
Western Hemisphere, in particular, has a unique responsibility to support
the Cuban people.

Q What did they ask of you? Did they ask you to ease the embargo? To think
about a post-reaching out to Raul?

MR. FISK: No.

Q Can I ask a question about North Korea and nuclear weapon issue, if you
don't mind?

MR. SNOW: Sure.

Q I came from Korea. I'm from Chosun Daily Newspaper. This week there will
be a couple of meeting in Beijing regarding North Korea nuclear weapon
issue between some of the concerned countries. And next week there will be
next round of six-party talks, including in addition, Mr. ElBaradei of IAEA
answering to North Korea -- today or tomorrow maybe. My question is what do
you, United States, expect from these meetings for the potential progress
of North Korea's nuclear --

MR. SNOW: Well, as you know, there are a whole series of things going on.
You've got a number of working groups. The United States has already had
working group talks with the North Koreans, as have the Japanese, and
you've got the other business items. What we've said all along is, you've
got a window now.

The first thing you've got to do is to seize operations, to shut Yongbyon
and let the IAEA in. And so what you have in many ways is simply following
through on the letter of the earlier agreement, which was that the IAEA
would come in within 60 days and begin inspections.

So I think what we expect is, at every juncture we have been prepared, and
the other parties in the six-party talks, to offer things to the North
Koreans, but in exchange, the North Koreans first have to demonstrate their
goodwill throughout action.

And so there will be -- undoubtedly, there will be continued attempts to
try to test the resolve of the six parties, but they pretty well
demonstrated it. So at this point, what we now have is a process in place
where there will be further discussions about what the North Koreans need
to do, in terms of the nuclear issue, so that you can proceed along the
track toward some of the other issues of interest to them, including
alternative ways of producing energy in the future, economic aid, and so
on. But again, you don't get to that trigger until they have met the early
-- the primary conditions on the nuclear front.

Q Can I come back to the U.S. attorneys for a second. Kyle Sampson sent an
email to Harriet Miers in March '05, ranked all these U.S. attorneys. And
one of the factors was that strong performers exhibited loyalty. I wonder
if you could talk about what role does loyalty play in evaluating
prosecutors who are charged with enforcing the law and investigating
corruption --

MR. SNOW: Peter, since that was -- we're putting these things out so people
can take a look at it. The most important thing that you have U.S.
attorneys is that they perform their jobs well.

Q But how does loyalty figure into that?

MR. SNOW: Again, I don't have an answer for you. I mean, what you're really
talking -- you're going to have to ask Kyle Sampson what that is.

Q Well, you've gotten rid of him, so -- (laughter) -- he's no longer --

MR. SNOW: Well, I know, but you know what, that's -- I'm just telling you
that the metric that's being used are effective, and for trying to figure
out what Kyle Sampson meant, you've got to ask him.

Q Well, how about now?

MR. SNOW: How about now? Again, what we've talked about is being effective
in going ahead and enforcing the law.

Q Is part of "effective" currently loyalty to the administration?

MR. SNOW: Look, these are political appointees, so these are people who
certainly have the support of the administration. But are we having loyalty
tests? No.

Thank you.

Q It's the last night of the trip, would you like to say anything about the
Venezuelan President? (Laughter.)

MR. SNOW: I am actually looking forward to tomorrow, when the valiant
Davidson Wildcats take on the Maryland Terrapins. That is of keen interest.

Q -- no Chavez? (Laughter.)

MR. SNOW: But thank you for trying.

END 6:12 P.M. (Local)
===========================================================================
Return to this article at:
http://www.whitehouse.gov/news/releases/2007/03/20070313-5.html

 * Origin: (1:3634/12)