Text 5151, 168 rader
Skriven 2007-08-20 23:31:02 av Whitehouse Press (1:3634/12.0)
Ärende: Press Release (070820) for Mon, 2007 Aug 20
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Press Gaggle by Gordon Johndroe
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For Immediate Release Office of the Press Secretary August 20, 2007

Press Gaggle by Gordon Johndroe Aboard Air Force One En Route Canada

˙˙Press Briefings


11:48 A.M. EDT

MR. JOHNDROE: The President is on his way to Canada now for meetings with
the President of Mexico and the Prime Minister of Canada. First of all, he
had his normal intelligence briefing this morning. He's also been briefed
on the latest with Hurricane Dean. As far as that is concerned, our
Ambassador in Jamaica has taken action there to free $100,000 in initial
funds for Jamaica. Southern Command has also moved some assets into the
area, some ships, in case they are needed in Jamaica.

When it comes to Mexico, USAID, the Agency for International Development,
and specifically its Office of Foreign Disaster Assistance, has sent
additional personnel to Mexico and will be there to help them as they
assess their potential needs as Hurricane Dean strikes.

It's also -- we know that FEMA continues to work with Texas, although it's
less likely at the moment that Texas is in the direct path, but it's
something that we don't take lightly and will continue to monitor.

Also, with regards to the remnants of Tropical Storm Erin and the flooding
that that has caused, the President was also briefed on that this morning.
Secretary Chertoff is on board for the trip to -- for the meetings in
Canada. He will update the President on FEMA activities, both in
preparation in Texas, as well as on the remnants of Tropical Storm Erin in
Oklahoma and the Midwest.

Also on board is Secretary of Commerce Gutierrez, traveling to Canada for
the meetings with the Mexicans and the Canadians.

One update to the schedule: On Air Force One, prior to takeoff, the
President awarded a Department of Defense Medal for Exceptional Public
Service to Harry McKillop, age 85, of Dallas, Texas. For nearly four
decades, Mr. McKillop has undertaken missions to find Americans either
captured or lost as POWs and MIAs, or men, women and children kidnapped and
imprisoned in foreign lands. Mr. McKillop served as a naval officer aboard
the USS Phoenix in the Pacific during World War II.

This afternoon, when the President lands at 1:15 p.m., he'll be greeted by
the Governor General of Canada. We will then head to the meeting location
and the President will meet with Prime Minister Harper, then have a
bilateral with President Calder n. And then the three leaders will
participate in a dinner about 7:00 p.m. tonight, where they will focus on
Western Hemisphere affairs issues.

And with that, I'm happy to take your questions.

Q Two on Iraq, if I could. First, Prime Minister Maliki is in Syria. Are
there any concerns about that kind of a mission to Syria? Is he carrying
any particular message that you know of?

MR. JOHNDROE: Well, I think, one, we want the Iraqis to have good relations
with their neighbors. That's important. But I also think that the Prime
Minister will be delivering a message to the Syrians, which is, please stop
allowing foreign fighters, extremists, to enter Iraq through your country.

I think that the Prime Minister feels strongly about that. He knows it's a
problem of foreign fighters coming over the Syrian border into Iraq and
then killing innocent Iraqis, killing American and coalition forces. And so
I think it's important that they have good relations with Syria, but I also
know that he'll deliver -- likely deliver a strong message that a stable
Iraq is in the interests of Syria.

Q And the second one is, there's been some confusion about the whens, hows,
wherefores of the Crocker-Petraeus testimony to Congress. Can you say when
they're going to testify before Congress and under what conditions?

MR. JOHNDROE: Yes. General Petraeus and Ambassador Crocker will testify in
open hearings on the Hill. Administration officials are reaching out to
Hill leadership today to discuss with them the potential dates for that
testimony. Given the tight schedule leading up to September 15th and the
congressional recess with Rosh Hashanah coming up, the likely dates for
testimony are September 11th and 12th.

Q That's really just because of the tight schedule and not because it's
September 11th?

MR. JOHNDROE: That's right. Congress is not -- as of right now, based on
the last we checked, Congress is not in session because of the Rosh
Hashanah holiday, very much the week leading up to that Saturday, September
15th.

Q Have you heard anything about Calder n might not stay because of the
hurricane?

MR. JOHNDROE: As of right now, the schedule -- the scheduled bilateral
meetings with President Calder n are going forward. We have been in touch
with the Mexicans. I know that the Mexicans are monitoring the situation as
Hurricane Dean approaches. No change in the schedule as of noon Eastern
right now, but obviously we're staying in touch with them and would
understand, certainly, if he needed to cut his visit to Canada short to
return to Mexico to deal with problems there.

Q What is the top thing that you expect to come out of this summit?

MR. JOHNDROE: Well, I think this meeting is a reaffirmation of the
commitment that all three of these countries have to creating a secure and
prosperous continent. I think they're going to go over a number of issues
on both the security and the prosperity front, from trade to border
security to a host of issues. And I think that we've got very close
relationships -- relations with these two countries, and this meeting
reaffirms that.

Q Do you expect this meeting to yield any concrete agreements?

MR. JOHNDROE: I don't expect any major announcements to come from the
meeting. I think it's a continuance of discussions that we have regularly
with our two closest neighbors.

Q Gordon, what do you make of Canada's quest to claim the Northwest
Passage?

MR. JOHNDROE: We look at the Northwest Passage as an international
waterway, and want the international transit rights to be respected there.
But certainly President Bush will listen to what Prime Minister Harper has
to say. But I know that the Canadians and the Russians have had some
discussions and some little back-and-forth on the issue. So that's separate
and apart, I think, from the Northwest Passage.

Q On the NSA wiretap stuff, documents for the subpoenas are due today.
There's word that Fred Fielding is going to ask for more time. Why is that?

MR. JOHNDROE: Mr. Fielding sent a letter to, I believe, Senator Leahy last
week outlining why additional time was necessary, I think in part because
we didn't -- an August 20th deadline was not in the original request. But I
think Mr. Fielding's letter lays out specifically how we're going to work
with them and hopefully come to some sort of accommodation. So we'll get
you a copy of that.

Q The Canadian press is reporting that the three leaders are going to be
announcing some sort of new border protocol, for like if an emergency
happens, these kind of regulations would take effect -- eliminate tie-ups
that we saw back in -- under September 11th.

MR. JOHNDROE: I think -- two of the topics on the agenda are emergency
preparedness, as well as border security. So I'm sure they'll discuss the
issue. But I don't have any specific announcements to make right now.

Okay?

Q Thank you.

Q Gordon, is that why -- the awarding of the medal, is that why we were
delayed 15 minutes on the ground?

MR. JOHNDROE: Yes.

Q And does that gentleman work with any organization in particular?

MR. JOHNDROE: Not that I'm aware of.

END 11:57 A.M. EDT
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