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Skriven 2005-03-04 23:36:44 av Whitehouse Press (1:3634/12.0)
Ärende: Press Release (0503044) for Fri, 2005 Mar 4
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Press Gaggle with Scott McClellan
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For Immediate Release
Office of the Press Secretary
March 4, 2005

Press Gaggle with Scott McClellan
Aboard Air Force One En Route Newark, New Jersey 9:46 A.M. EST


  þ President of Portugal Call
  þ Syria/Lebanon
  þ Iran
  þ Social Security
  þ Week Ahead

MR. McCLELLAN: First of all, the President called to congratulate Prime
Minister-designate Socrates of Portugal on his electoral victory. The two
leaders expressed their commitment to strengthening our bilateral and
Transatlantic relations, and agreed that the President's trip to Europe
helped advance the Transatlantic agenda in support of freedom. They also
welcomed the international community's growing commitment to support the
Iraqi people as they move forward on the path to democracy.

And then the President had the announcement of his nominee to be the
administrator for the EPA. You all have that information, I think. And
we've got the two conversations today, and then we're back at the White
House. And remind me, and I'll get to the week ahead after whatever
questions you guys have.

Q Is Bush setting a May deadline for Syria to withdraw completely from
Lebanon?

MR. McCLELLAN: I think the time line that the President has said is that
they need to leave now. That's what the President has stated clearly. I
don't know what that report is in reference to.

Q It was the interview in the New York Post.

MR. McCLELLAN: What's that?

Q The interview in the New York Post. He basically says they should get out
in time for the elections in May.

MR. McCLELLAN: Oh, yes, I got what you're saying. I thought -- at first --

Q So is that, basically, a deadline?

MR. McCLELLAN: Well, they have -- what the President was referring to is
they have parliamentary elections coming up in May, and we want to make
sure that those are free and fair elections, without outside interference.
That's what the Lebanese people want. And in order for the Lebanese people
-- in order to ensure that the Lebanese people have free and fair
elections, Syria needs to get out. That means they need to remove their
military forces, it means they need to remove their intelligence services
from Lebanon.

And we welcome the statement from Saudi Arabia in support of -- calling on
Syria to withdraw immediately. The international community is all saying to
Syria that they need to comply with Security Council Resolution 1559, which
calls for the immediate withdrawal of foreign forces inside Lebanon. And we
also welcome comments from others in the international community, like
Chancellor Schr der and Russia.

Q Are you encouraged at all -- there was a report that --

MR. McCLELLAN: And that's what the President was referring to, in terms of
May, in the interview.

Q So they need to get out by May, basically, in time for those
parliamentary --

MR. McCLELLAN: Well, we want to -- the President continues to say they need
to leave now. We are -- the international community is standing with the
Lebanese people in their desire to have free and fair elections. And that
means Syria needs to get out, so that we can ensure that those -- so that
we can ensure those elections are free and fair.

Q There were reports that President Assad is supposed to address the Syrian
parliament tomorrow. Are these encouraging signs that there may be movement
on this withdrawal issue by the Syrians?

MR. McCLELLAN: Well, we need to see action, not words. That's what the --
that's what we need to see. We need to see steps taken by Syria to withdraw
their forces and their intelligence services.

Q Specifically I think Assad is going to be announcing just a partial
withdrawal. Is that in any way satisfactory to the U.S.?

MR. McCLELLAN: I think that the Security Council resolution is very clear
on what it calls for. We appreciate the efforts of the French. We've been
working closely with the French. And you're seeing more and more people in
the international community join the call for Syria to stop interfering in
Lebanon. And that means they need to withdraw, and that -- withdraw all
their military forces and all their intelligence services from the country.

Q Would the President be happy with some movement, though?

MR. McCLELLAN: I'm sorry?

Q Would the President be happy with some movement? I mean, I think they're
--

MR. McCLELLAN: I think you've heard specifically from the President. He's
been very clear on what he has said, that they need to withdraw all their
military forces and all their intelligence services. It's more than just
military forces that they have inside Lebanon. And we support the
aspirations of the Lebanese people to build a future based on democracy and
to regain their sovereignty. And that requires any foreign occupation of
Syria to end -- I mean, any foreign occupation of Lebanon to end.

Q Can you give us an update on the incentives for Iran? Has the President
decided that it's time to --

MR. McCLELLAN: Incentives for Iran? Well, first of all, it's the Europeans
who are negotiating or talking with the Iranians. And I think you heard
from the President yesterday, and you heard from Secretary Rice, as well,
yesterday -- and me, in the briefing, too. What we are talking about is
looking at how we can best support the efforts of the Europeans to
accomplish our shared goal, and that is getting Iran to end its nuclear
weapons ambitions, and to fully comply with its international obligations.
That's what this is about. We have continued to discuss matters with our
European friends. We want to make sure that we have a common strategy going
forward to achieve our common purpose.

Q He's been mulling this over for some time. When is he going to make a
decision?

MR. McCLELLAN: I don't think it's for "some time." I mean, we're talking
about just last week the President had very good discussions with the
European leaders. And you saw a very clear unity of purpose coming out of
those discussions. That was a strong statement; you heard the President
reference it yesterday, how he welcomed the Europeans agreeing on the need
to make sure Iran does not develop nuclear weapons. And that's our common
purpose. There was some good discussion about some of the ideas for moving
the process forward. We want to see the European efforts succeed. We
continue to think through some of the ideas that were discussed, and
continue to have discussions with our European friends.

Q Is the time line part of the discussions there --

MR. McCLELLAN: Well, I think you've heard us talk about how Iran's
non-compliance -- continued non-compliance is grounds for looking to the
Security Council. We have continued to believe that their failure to comply
with their international obligations should be referred to the Security
Council. But there are diplomatic efforts ongoing that we support, and we
want to see those diplomatic efforts succeed. But Iran, for 20 years, had a
clandestine program that they hid from the international community. And
it's time for Iran to come clean and fully comply with their international
obligations.

And we appreciate the efforts of our European friends to get them to do
that. And that's where our focus is right now, is on how we can support
their efforts. So it's not about us providing incentives, as some people
have suggested, or not providing incentives, it's about us supporting the
efforts of the Europeans to succeed. But if they continue to fail to comply
with their international obligation, then there has to be a discussion
about the next step. And we have long believed that that next step is
referral to the Security Council.

Q Is that something you're seeking assurances from the Europeans that
they'll support before you give a nod to their efforts to offer --

MR. McCLELLAN: Again, we'll have -- I expect if there's more to talk --
more to say on the common strategy, we'll do so at that point. But right
now, we continue to think through those ideas and look at how we can best
support their efforts. And that's where our focus is.

Q On Social Security, with the news this week -- Grassley's comments,
Frist, the Democratic attack -- does the President feel he needs to shift
message at all or reinforce his message? What is today about?

MR. McCLELLAN: Continuing to clearly define the problems facing Social
Security. I think you have seen important progress made in the last several
weeks in the sense that more and more people recognize the problems facing
Social Security. And it's important for us to have a common understanding
of what those problems are. I mean, in just over a decade from now, Social
Security is going be experiencing shortfalls. They're not going to be --
they're going to be paying out more than they are taking into the system.
Just three years from now, the baby boomers start to retire, and it places
great strains on our Social Security system.

So Social Security cannot meet its future benefit promises because it's
going broke. And that's why we need to act now to strengthen it. And that's
the message the President is continuing to take to the American people.
It's important to engage all the American people in this discussion because
it affects everybody.

And what we're talking about doing is making sure nothing changes for
today's seniors, but making sure that our children and grandchildren have
that safety net guarantee. And he may talk about some of that today.

Q Is he going to stress the safety net, maybe, over the private accounts --
just put more emphasis on that?

MR. McCLELLAN: Well, personal accounts are part of a comprehensive
solution. He'll continue to talk about the importance of personal accounts.
But --

Q But is he going to talk more about --

MR. McCLELLAN: But the President is pursuing a comprehensive solution, and
we welcome -- we welcome others expressing their ideas for a solution. I
mean, people are now starting to talk about solutions. That's a significant
step from where we were several weeks ago when some who -- some were
initially just saying that there's not a problem, and they were stating,
simply, what they're against. Now, people are starting to talk about a
solution, and we hope people will continue to work in a constructive way
and offer ideas for solving this problem. The President wants to move
forward in a bipartisan way. And that's what he's going to continue talking
about.

But I expect he'll continue to talk about -- I expect he'll talk about the
importance of making sure that that safety net is there for our children
and grandchildren. Right now, that safety net does have a big hole in it.

Q More so than in past speeches on Social Security?

MR. McCLELLAN: Well, you'll be there for today's remarks. These are
conversations. So it's not prepared remarks, per se. He has some points
that I'm sure he'll want to make.

Q So you don't feel any need to retool the message? Or is it, just keep
doing what you're doing, and eventually people will come on board?

MR. McCLELLAN: Well, that's what I just pointed out. If you look at survey
after survey, it shows that the American people recognize there are serious
problems facing Social Security. That's very clear. But it's important to
have a clear understanding of what those problems are.

And this is the first stage, as the President has talked about, in our
efforts to strengthen Social Security. So we're still in this early stage
right now where we're reaching out to the American people, we're reaching
out to members of Congress in trying to find a way we can move forward in a
-- for a bipartisan solution.

Q Scott, those surveys that you mentioned a couple of times also show the
more the President talks, the less Americans seem to trust him on the issue
of Social Security, and the less they like the notion of private or
personal accounts. What accounts for that?

MR. McCLELLAN: Well, first of all, the President has talked about some of
his ideas for personal accounts. And I think there are surveys that show
Americans in support of being able to have the opportunity of owning more
of their retirement savings. This is about giving people -- giving all
Americans the opportunity to own their retirement savings by giving them a
voluntary option of investing in personal accounts. And the President will
continue to talk about that.

It was just 30 days -- just over 30 days ago when he outlined his idea for
personal accounts in the State of the Union address. And that's part of the
solution. But this is a comprehensive -- we need to make Social Security
permanently sound. If you recall, that's what the President has talked
about. And now you have a lot more people talking about the need to do just
that. And so we appreciate the progress that's been made there.

Q I guess I would follow up by saying, you've made progress, people have
heard the President's words, they recognize there's a crisis. They also
seem to be hearing his words on these other fronts, and trusting him less,
and liking private accounts less. So if he's effective on one front, isn't
he being quite uneffective on the other?

MR. McCLELLAN: No, I disagree, because it's very early in the process, and
you're trying to judge the outcome of the game in the very first inning.
And, so there's --

Q But it's early enough in the process -- it's early enough in the process
to have made a conclusion about whether you're making progress on educating
the American people. So they're only listening to part of what he's saying,
and not the other part, or they're not smart enough --

MR. McCLELLAN: The focus right now -- absolutely not. In fact, quite the
opposite. That's why we trust people to be able to have a -- more say over
their own retirement security. We're going to continue talking about the
importance of making sure that our children and grandchildren have a secure
retirement. There have been some scare tactics out there, saying that this
would affect seniors. Well, seniors are learning, that's not the case. It's
not going to affect today's seniors. They have their guarantee. We want to
make sure that their children and grandchildren have a guarantee. And
that's what this is about.

Q Go for it.

MR. McCLELLAN: Oh, week ahead. Monday, lunch with the King and Queen of
Norway at the White House. He looks forward to welcoming them to the White
House. Then he will go to Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania where he will -- along
with Mrs. Bush -- where he will visit Providence Family Support Center, and
then make remarks on helping America's youth.

On Tuesday, the President will make remarks on the war on terrorism at the
National Defense University in Washington. And then he will meet in the
Oval Office with former Presidents Bush and Clinton and receive an update
about their tsunami relief efforts and their recent trip to the region.

On Wednesday, March 9th, he'll meet with the President of Romania in the
Oval Office, and then he will go to Colombus, where he will tour the
Battelle Memorial Institute and make remarks on energy policy.

On Thursday, we've got conversations on strengthening Social Security in
Louisville, Kentucky and Montgomery, Alabama. We'll overnight in Memphis,
Tennessee.

And then on Friday, we've got conversations in Memphis and then Shreveport,
Louisiana.

And on Saturday, the President will attend the Gridiron Club Dinner in
Washington.

All right, thanks.

END 10:01 A.M. EST
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