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Ärende: Press Release (070425) for Wed, 2007 Apr 25
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Press Gaggle by Dana Perino and Administration Officials on Visit by
Japanese Prime Minister Abe
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For Immediate Release Office of the Press Secretary April 25, 2007

Press Gaggle by Dana Perino and Administration Officials on Visit by
Japanese Prime Minister Abe White House Conference Center Briefing Room

˙˙Press Briefings

˙˙˙˙˙ Visit by Japanese Prime Minister Abe ˙˙˙˙˙ In Focus: Global Diplomacy
9:37 A.M. EDT

PARTICIPANTS:
Dana Perino, Deputy White House Press Secretary
Dennis Wilder, NSC Senior Director for Asian Affairs
David McCormick, NSC Deputy National Security Advisor for International
Economic Affairs

MS. PERINO: Good morning. I'm going to do the schedule for you, and then we
have some guests from NSC to set up the Abe visit. And then I'll take the
rest of your questions.

The President had his normal briefings at 8:00 a.m., and then the rest of
the morning he'll be spending in policy time. At 1:15 p.m. today he will
make remarks on Malaria Awareness Day. The President declared today, April
27, 2007, to be the first-ever Malaria Awareness Day, and the purpose is to
educate people about combating malaria. And you'll see, Mrs. Bush did some
interviews, as well, on that. So he'll make remarks today; Mrs. Bush will
introduce him at the event.

At 2:10 p.m. the President will meet with the Congressional Hispanic Caucus
and the Congressional Hispanic Conference. And at 3:15 p.m. he has a
meeting on financial literacy. April is Financial Literacy Month.

Q What does that mean?

MS. PERINO: Well, it is a chance for -- the President is going to be
meeting with a group of people to talk about the need to help them organize
efforts to make sure people understand the importance of savings and how to
make sure that they understand all that they need to do to help protect
themselves, both when they're younger, in terms of consumer credit and
those types of things, and then on into their later years, as they head
into retirement. And we will release an event backgrounder with information
on the meeting participants to that one.

And then on the Virginia Tech update. As you know, last Saturday in the
radio address -- I guess last Friday, when we released the radio address --
the President had directed officials from the Department of Education,
Health and Human Services and the Justice Department to provide assistance
to the Virginia Tech community and participate in the review of the broader
discussions of policy issues surrounding the tragedy. And starting today,
Secretaries Leavitt and Spellings, and the Attorney General will begin to
convene meetings throughout the country. States include Minnesota,
Colorado, Utah, Iowa, Tennessee and Texas. In many of these states, similar
tragedies have occurred and the lessons learned from those events will
provide valuable input for this review.

Administration officials are also going to be meeting with Virginia
Governor Kaine's commission, which is conducting an in-depth investigation
of this tragedy from the state's perspective. And when I listed those
states, I think that that is inclusive of the states, but not the
exhaustive list.

So now it's my pleasure to introduce to you Dennis Wilder. He is the Senior
Director for East Asia at the National Security Council, and he'll talk to
you about the President's meeting with Abe.

DIRECTOR WILDER: Good morning. The President and Mrs. Bush are looking
forward to hosting the first visit of Prime Minister Abe and his wife,
Akie, to Washington since the Prime Minister took office last September.
They did have an opportunity to meet in Hanoi and have a one-on-one meeting
there last November, just after Mr. Abe took office.

But this visit is designed to offer the two leaders not only a significant
amount of time to discuss bilateral issues, but also to allow them to
develop their personal relationship further.

The Abes will arrive tomorrow. They'll stay at Blair House. The Prime
Minister will meet with congressional leaders. He'll pay his respects at
Arlington Cemetery, and he's planning to visit wounded troops at Bethesda
Naval Hospital.

Mrs. Bush will take Mrs. Abe Thursday afternoon to visit Mount Vernon, and
then they'll be guests -- the Abes, that is, will be guests of the
President and Mrs. Bush at a small, informal dinner in the private quarters
of the White House tomorrow evening.

On Friday morning, the President will host Prime Minister Abe at Camp David
for a morning of discussions, press briefing and lunch. And then Prime
Minister and Mrs. Abe will leave Washington on Friday evening for the
Middle East.

I think with all the attention and discussion that the emergence of China
and India in Asia has been given, it's useful to remind ourselves that
Japan remains the world's second largest economy with a gross domestic
product greater than that of China and India combined. Indeed, we see Japan
as our greatest strategic partner in East Asia, and an increasingly
indispensable global partner. Japan has made the largest financial
commitment of any nation, except the United States, to the rebuilding of
Iraq, with a total commitment of over $12 billion in grants, loans and debt
relief. Japan is also the third largest contributor in Afghanistan, with an
overall commitment of $1.45 billion since 2002, to do such things as build
roads and airports and boost health and educational services.

Japanese defense forces have conducted refueling operations for the United
States and coalition forces worth more than $180 million to support naval
operations in Operation Enduring Freedom. And Japan is the second largest
contributor to the United Nations, the World Bank and the International
Monetary Fund. In fact, Japan has about 5,700 people involved in
peace-keeping operations worldwide.

In terms of the discussions topics during their meeting, obviously topping
the agenda is the security situation in East Asia, as they'll discuss our
common approach to the North Korean nuclear problem, the ongoing
realignment of U.S. forces in Japan, and ways to deepen our defense
cooperation.

As the leaders of the world's largest high-technology economies and
wealthiest democracies, they'll discuss ways to use their resources to
promote political freedom in Asia and around the globe, address
environmental issues and help advance the development of clean technologies
for nuclear and non-nuclear energy generation, and to promote sustainable
development in the developing world.

As you know, the international compact meeting will be held next week and
Prime Minister Abe, as I said, is going to travel to the Middle East, so
you can expect that they will exchange views on the Middle East peace
process, Iraq, Iran and Afghanistan.

In anticipation of the G8 summit in Germany in June, and of Japan's role as
chair of the G8 next year, we'll also be looking for ways to better
coordinate our approaches on the Doha round and global and bilateral trade
liberalization, and our approaches to energy security and environmental
challenges.

Let me just sum up by saying that we hope this visit will help remind the
American people of the breadth and depth of U.S.-Japan global alliance.
Prime Minister Abe has ably taken up where his predecessor left off, in
terms of the close ties to Washington, and we very much look forward to
offering he and his wife a very special visit.

Q Dennis, thanks. Abe says he wants to discuss the Japanese abductee issue
with the President. The Japanese say that they're concerned that the United
States might consider de-listing North Korea as a state sponsor of
terrorism before the abductee issue is resolved. What's the United States
position on those two issues?

DIRECTOR WILDER: I think Ambassador Hill and the rest of the American team
have been very clear with the North Koreans on this issue. We aren't going
to de-link the abductee issue from the state sponsor of terrorism issue. We
fully expect that the bilateral working group between Japan and the DPRK is
going to have success in moving forward on this issue. And we very much
hope that, obviously, that we get back to those working group discussions
as soon as possible.

Q On April 3rd, the President spoke with Prime Minister Abe on telephone
about the comfort issue. Does the President agree with Prime Minister Abe's
views on that subject? And does the United States think that Japan should
do more on this issue?

DIRECTOR WILDER: The President believes that Prime Minister Abe has done a
lot to clear up the misunderstandings in the last couple of weeks on this
issue. As you know, Mr. Abe, in interviews and in statements, has indicated
that the Japanese position, the official position of Japan has not changed,
and that he personally apologizes for the horrible things that happened to
those women. I don't think this is going to be a major issue of the visit
because the two have discussed these issues in depth.

Q A quick question on the congressional leaders, is there any more details
on that? The exact where and when?

DIRECTOR WILDER: I believe it's going to be at Blair House. I will leave it
to the Japanese to give you any details that they have on exactly which
leaders are going to be there. But I think it's a bipartisan group of
senior leadership in U.S. Congress.

Q Is the playing -- automakers and trade, is the playing field fair, from
the U.S. point of view, between U.S. and Japan, especially since Toyota has
now surpassed GM?

DIRECTOR WILDER: Dave, do you want to talk about economic questions?

MR. McCORMICK: Hi, I'm Dave McCormick from the NSC. I work on economic
issues. And certainly we continue to work with the Japanese. They are our
second largest trading relationship, and a very, very important one. And we
look to have open markets in all areas, and are focused on continuing to
find ways for Japan to open up its markets, particularly for foreign
investment in the automotive sector. We think that we've generally had a
lot of good progress, in terms of a good open exchange of trade in the
automotive sector.

Q Is the playing field fair?

MR. McCORMICK: The automotive makers have met with the President on this
issue and, generally, we think it is.

Q Will currency also be coming up, or other trade issues in their talks?

MR. McCORMICK: I think there will a couple of trade issues that will be
talked about. One will certainly be Doha. And Prime Minister Abe and the
President are both, we know, very committed to trying to find a successful
conclusion to the Doha round, so that will be part of the dialogue, I
suspect. And certainly another issue will be APEC and trying to think about
how those two leaders work together to ensure that APEC remains the premier
economic forum in Asia for discussing economic integration and the economic
agenda.

Q And currency?

MR. McCORMICK: It may come up in the agenda, I suspect it probably won't be
a central part of the discussion.

Q Just one question on the comfort women, just to follow up. You said you
don't expect that to be a major issue, but do you think that's something
the President will, on his own, raise with the Prime Minister?

DIRECTOR WILDER: I don't know whether the President will actually raise
this particular issue. The President has had discussions with both Prime
Minister Abe and Prime Minister Koizumi about how you deal with issues of
history, how Japan can work with its neighbors to resolve some of those
issues. It may come up in that context.

Q And what's the point the President made in this conversation?

DIRECTOR WILDER: I think the point the President makes is historical issues
are tough, and these are issues that we all contend with in our societies.
The United States is not free of some rather poignant historical issues,
ourselves. But that as you move forward, Japan as a modern, democratic
nation needs to find a way to place these issues behind it so it can move
forward in cooperation with its neighbors.

Q Just one other question on Abe. You had mentioned about this is a visit
that you're going to try to improve the -- not "improve," but develop a
personal relationship between the two leaders. Obviously, Prime Minister
Koizumi was one of the President's closest allies personally, before he
stepped down --

DIRECTOR WILDER: And is still a close friend.

Q Okay. I just was kind of curious if you can give us any indication
whether this relationship is off to that kind of development.

DIRECTOR WILDER: Well, I was there at their meeting in Hanoi and I can tell
you that there was a lot of warmth. There are interesting historical, sort
of, ties between the two men: Abe's grandfather actually played golf with
the President's grandfather, and in Hanoi, gave him a picture of President
Eisenhower and the two grandfathers golfing together. I think that the
President admires Abe's leadership.

I do want to stress this global alliance that we have with the Japanese,
and this transcends the Koizumi administration. We think the Japanese have
an important role to play internationally, but they can play a bigger role
internationally. And the President admires what the Japanese are trying to
do not only in peacekeeping and reconstruction in the Middle East, but also
in democracy building in East Asia.

So we are like-minded democracies pursuing a common agenda and, again, that
transcends whether it's Prime Minister Koizumi or Prime Minister Abe.

Q But is Abe an Elvis fan? (Laughter.)

Q Would that grandfather be Walker?

DIRECTOR WILDER: I'm sorry?

Q The grandfather would be Walker, the President's grandfather?

DIRECTOR WILDER: Yes.

Q Or Prescott?

DIRECTOR WILDER: I'm sorry, Prescott.

Q Senator Prescott.

DIRECTOR WILDER: Yes, I'm sorry. That's right.

Q Where did they play golf together?

DIRECTOR WILDER: I believe it was Burning Tree.

Q What did they shoot? (Laughter.)

DIRECTOR WILDER: Now we're getting beyond my capabilities.

Q I understand Prime Minister Abe wants some kind of post-Kyoto agreement
on the climate change, and that issue may come up. What is President Bush
planning to tell him about climate change?

DIRECTOR WILDER: Mr. McCormick has all the answers.

MR. McCORMICK: Thanks. Yes, I think this will be a constructive discussion
on climate and energy security and economic growth, which are three topics
that really need to be discussed together. Prime Minister Abe has expressed
his climate priorities within that context -- the President talks about it
in that context. So I think you'll find a good bit of common ground on
that. Both leaders also are very committed to technology development and
deployment around the world as being a key component of addressing those
issues. So Japan, as you know, has taken the leadership role, particularly
in the nuclear industry. And so I think that will be a part of the
discussion.

The third part of the discussion, I suspect, will be around the importance
of emerging economies, like China and India, engaging in this dialogue. And
you may have noticed that Prime Minister Abe and Premier Wen had recently
announced a series of statements and agreements to cooperate in this area,
I think indicative of Japan's commitment to try to engage China in this
dialogue. We, of course, are engaging China in a very similar dialogue
through the strategic economic dialogue. So I think there's a lot of
opportunity here for collaboration.

Final point is that Japan hosts the G8 next year, 2008. So this is clearly
a topic on the agenda for the G8 here in 2007, and I think will continue to
be with Japan's leadership, the topic in '08.

Q Will President Bush bring something new on climate change to the G8,
because that's where we're all headed on this.

MR. McCORMICK: Well, it's clearly going to be on the agenda. The President
has brought a lot new to the climate discussion, most recently in the State
of the Union, in terms of his initiatives there. So I think those
principles that I outlined will continue to be a central part of how the
President talks about this. And being in the middle of the G8 discussions
now, I think that there is a lot of room for finding common ground on those
principles.

Q I wanted to ask about Russia. Japan is one of the few major powers in the
world not to send a special representative to the funeral of President
Yeltsin -- happening today -- which is kind of indicative of what's
happening in the relationship. Do you expect relations with Russia to be on
the agenda in any way? Either with relation to the territorial issue or the
energy issue or whatever?

DIRECTOR WILDER: I'll answer that in a moment, but can I go back to the
Elvis question for just a quick second? You know, one thing they do share
is a love of baseball, and a great deal of interest in Japan's most
significant export to the United States in the last year, and that is the
Boston Red Sox pitcher, who won his second game on Sunday. So I'm sure
they'll be discussing that. And the Japanese are very proud that they are
now exporting baseball players to the United States.

On the question of Russia, the Japanese are working hard, I think, to
improve their relationship with Russia. I think that Foreign Minister Aso
is planning to have meetings within the next week with his Russian
counterpart.

Obviously, there are significant issues over the northern territories that
they need to work out, some energy issues that they would like to work with
the Russians on. I think the Japanese are eager to find a way to work
forward on these issues. I don't see the relationship as quite as strained
as you may be portraying it, but --

Q No, I'm not. I was not trying to over-dramatize it. But is there a role
for the U.S., basically?

DIRECTOR WILDER: This is a bilateral relationship. I'm not sure that we
would play a major role in it.

Q As long as we're talking about the personal relationship, I wondered if
you could just elaborate a little bit on the setting for the meeting at
Camp David, rather than the White House. Also why a small dinner and no big
state dinner?

DIRECTOR WILDER: First of all, I think both the President and the First
Lady did find there was personal chemistry between them and the Abes in
Hanoi. I would say that Mrs. Abe is a dynamic young Japanese woman who has
a very interesting background. She was a DJ on Japanese radio, she has a
wide-ranging set of interests, she speaks English well. And so I think they
really want the opportunity not to be constrained, if you will, by a very
large state event to get to know each other much better.

Also, as I indicated, I hope, in my opening remarks, there's a tremendous
amount for these two -- the President and the Prime Minister -- these two
leaders to discuss. And Laurel cabin gives you a much better opportunity --
particularly when you have to translate between English and Japanese -- for
an extended discussion.

And so I think it reflects the depth of the global alliance with Japan,
that we found that it would be better to do this at Camp David, where you
could relax, take some time, and really go in depth into some of the big
issues of the day.

Q Do you expect to hear Abe express concerns to the President that the U.S.
is softening its stance towards North Korea a little too fast for their
taste, especially without the issue of the kidnapped Japanese being
resolved?

DIRECTOR WILDER: I've seen these press reports, and I must admit I find
them a little confusing. We have worked very well with the Japanese to
coordinate in the six-party talk process. I speak to my counterparts on a
daily basis about the six-party process. Ambassador Hill is very close to
his Japanese counterpart. I think we're in the same place on this issue.

We have expectations, as you know, that the North Koreans are going to
fulfill their commitments. I think, frankly, people all across East Asia
breathed a sigh of relief in February when there was an agreement, and I
think East Asians in general are waiting to see whether the North Koreans
will live up to their agreements.

So I don't know where this difference is between the United States and
Japan; I certainly can't identify it at this point.

MS. PERINO: Last one.

Q Can you give any details on the dinner? I know that Senator Baucus and
Specter sent a request that U.S. beef be served. I'm just curious, because
there's still some back and forth, even though the market is open, there
are restraints. So --

DIRECTOR WILDER: If you ask my personal recommendation, I think, obviously,
Prime Minister Abe ought to have a steak dinner sometime while he's here in
Washington, just as Mr. Koizumi, by the way, last year had a steak dinner.

Q Do you know if they're serving it?

DIRECTOR WILDER: I think I'm going to refer you to the First Lady's press
office. I don't get into those details.

MS. PERINO: Great answer. (Laughter.)

DIRECTOR WILDER: Thanks.

MS. PERINO: Thanks, Dennis. We'll release this transcript, as well, so you
guys have it, unlike usual for the gaggles.

Terry.

Q I'd like to ask you about the level of political discourse about Iraq.
The Vice President and President are accusing the Democrats of being
defeatist, they're talking about surrender dates. Senator Reid comes back
and calls the Vice President an attack dog. What happened to the thought
that there was going to be an elevated debate; they were going to be more
high minded, not as mean spirited?

MS. PERINO: Well, I think that what happens in Washington at times of high
drama and passion on both sides of the aisle, and on both sides of
Pennsylvania Avenue, that there are times when you're trying to make your
substantive point, that the rhetoric can sometimes lead you to say things
that you might not otherwise say in a one-on-one conversation.

I do think that when talking about a surrender date, it is very descriptive
of what we believe is in the legislation. It says, you must leave on this
day, and we think that that tells the enemy that they've won and that we've
surrendered. And I think that's a good way to explain it to the American
people.

Q Well, and you say that you're not questioning their patriotism, but by
calling them defeatist and talking about surrender, you don't think that
that gets close to that line of not --

MS. PERINO: I think that what we have done is argued on the merits and on
the substance of our arguments. And I don't know if that's always been the
case on the other side. I grant you that I think that tension is high,
because the stakes are high. And we feel very strongly that leaving before
the job is done is turning over the victory to the enemy. And this is an
enemy that, as the President has said many times, people need to understand
is not only vying for control of Iraq, is a sworn enemy of the United
States being helped by other sworn enemies of the United States, and that
we ought to take this very seriously.

Q But don't you think that words matter? I mean, doesn't that suggest --

MS. PERINO: I certainly think --

Q -- "helping the enemy" -- doesn't "helping the enemy" suggest some kind
of lack of patriotism?

MS. PERINO: I think if you look at what the President has said, is that we
are kidding ourselves if we think that the Qaeda is not trying to create a
safe haven as they had in Afghanistan. And by us leaving too soon, before
the Iraqis are able to take care of their country themselves, that that is
what the President is trying to argue. And I would say that someone who
calls the President a liar and a loser does not have very strong ground to
stand on in talking about name-calling.

Ann.

Q When the President vetoes the war supplemental, as we think he'll get it,
what does he do then? Will he reach out to Congress and say, okay, here's
where we can move from here?

MS. PERINO: I think we'll have to wait and see what happens. I think that
both sides of Pennsylvania Avenue are going to have to come together to try
to work it out. And I think that both sides recognize that.

Q And when do you think -- how quickly would he veto it after the Senate
votes?

MS. PERINO: Let us try to -- we don't even know when we're going to get the
actual vote. We have some general idea, but not specifically. I think it's
safe to say soon after.

Q Well, "soon after" meaning -- I mean, if the President is at Camp David
for the day, would he do it without any ceremony?

MS. PERINO: Let me just say soon after. I don't believe that we're going to
be getting it on Friday.

Q Do you think that there would be --

MS. PERINO: I think our indications are that we don't anticipate getting
the bill on Friday.

Q Do you envision, though, a formal -- I don't want to call it a ceremony,
but for lack of a better word -- event, at this point?

MS. PERINO: We're talking about it, and what we would do, but we don't have
any plans yet to announce. We're thinking about it.

Q Okay.

MS. PERINO: But, obviously, the President has said he's going to veto it,
and I think that it's important that the American people see him doing it.

Q But this would be only his second veto, and I recall that during the stem
cell veto, there was an elaborate event in which he brought families. I'm
wondering if you're planning to bring military --

MS. PERINO: A little bit too early for us to preview, since we don't even
have the bill yet and we don't know what day that it's coming. It's
important.

Q Yes, but you can get it together.

MS. PERINO: We're pretty good. (Laughter.)

Q Just call it a "no surrender" party. (Laughter.)

MS. PERINO: We'll take that under consideration.

Q A great Bruce Springsteen, "No Retreat, No Surrender."

MS. PERINO: I don't think he'd come. (Laughter.)

Roger.

Q Dana, continuing on the political discourse, Rahm Emanuel is going to
have a speech today in which he's going to say that Bush is more corrupt
than Nixon in Watergate, and that the government has become a step-child,
his words, of the Republican Party.

MS. PERINO: That's really surprising, given the messenger, that this is the
speech that he's going to be giving. I heard yesterday, too, that he's
going to be calling it part of a grand conspiracy, which I think is the
recurring nightmare. But the nightmare we thought we had woken up from is
recurring. We thought that the vast right-wing conspiracy was over, and I
think that some of the comments that, at least were described to me
yesterday from a reporter who had seen the prepared remarks, it sounded a
little more like something you would see in the National Enquirer, not at a
prestigious American think tank.

And I do think that when you're 100-hour plan is faltering, maybe the best
thing to fall back on is a conspiracy theory. But they're usually a little
bit better than this one.

Go ahead.

Q Al Jazeera is reporting, in an interview with Taliban commander Mullah
Dadullah, that Mullah Omar and Osama bin Laden are alive and well, and that
Osama bin Laden had directed the attack on Vice President Cheney in
Afghanistan. I was wondering if you have any comment or reaction to that.

MS. PERINO: No, I think -- it's an interesting comment from somebody over
there. I haven't seen al Jazeera's transcript, and we'll see if we can look
into it, but we don't have any comment from here.

Kelly.

Q Did the President have an opportunity to see or review any of the
testimony from the Tillman family or Jessica Lynch on the Hill yesterday?

MS. PERINO: I don't believe so, since he was traveling and he had a full
day yesterday. And I haven't talked to him today in terms of whether he saw
any news coverage of it.

Q Well, maybe if you could check on that -- as the Commander-in-Chief --

MS. PERINO: I would doubt it. I mean, he was on the road all day. He didn't
get home until about 8:30 p.m. last night.

Q He was on the road all day when Gonzales testified, too, and he was fully
briefed on that.

MS. PERINO: Yes. That's because his Attorney General was testifying, and
you guys were --

Q I'm just curious if --

MS. PERINO: -- wanting to know what the President's reaction to the
testimony was. And I don't know if he saw any of the testimony. Obviously,
he feels very deeply for the Tillman family and what they are going
through, and he said so.

Q The allegations made yesterday, there were deliberate attempts to use Pat
Tillman's character, popularity, et cetera, and Jessica Lynch also saying
that her unfortunate episode was used to try to -- used for PR purposes --

MS. PERINO: I think those accusations were taken very seriously, and that's
why the Department of Defense did the extensive investigations that they
did. There is no indication that the President had prior knowledge to the
question surrounding their circumstances and their aftermath, and obviously
the President feels very strongly that the Department of Defense should
follow up when there are questions of -- whenever something might have been
improperly told from the ground.

Q Does the President feel as though he was deceived on the Tillman and
Lynch cases?

MS. PERINO: There's no indication that the President got any word that
there was questions surrounding his death, other than what had been
reported in the paper. We checked into this, Gordon and I, and there's just
no indication. I never asked him if he felt personally deceived, but
obviously he's glad that the Department of Defense is trying to find out
what happened, and to hold people accountable for it.

Q When you said -- I believe you said that he learned of it from news
reports.

MS. PERINO: I was asked by your network yesterday, and I said that there
was no indication that he had any prior knowledge before the family would
have known.

Q Isn't that a little odd that, if this were the case, the Department of
Defense wouldn't let him know?

MS. PERINO: Well, I think that that's why there was an investigation.

Olivier.

Q Did you get a chance to see whether there was a reaction to the Hamas
armed wing, and an end to the truce?

MS. PERINO: I did not. But I believe that someone has made comments on it
from the State Department.

Q State has commented, but just --

MS. PERINO: Okay, we'll see you at 1:00 p.m. -- 12:15 p.m.; 12:00 p.m.

END 10:12 A.M. EDT

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