Text 700, 787 rader
Skriven 2005-03-29 23:33:26 av Whitehouse Press (1:3634/12.0)
Ärende: Press Release (0503291) for Tue, 2005 Mar 29
====================================================
===========================================================================
Press Briefing by Scott McClellan
===========================================================================

For Immediate Release
Office of the Press Secretary
March 29, 2005

Press Briefing by Scott McClellan
The James S. Brady Press Briefing Room

Press Briefing
"); //--> view

  þ Recommendations from the WMD report
      þ Reference B
  þ Oil-for-food scandal
  þ India and Pakistan/weapons sale
      þ Reference B
  þ Iraqi national assembly/new government
      þ Reference B
    Terri Schiavo case
      þ Reference B
      þ Reference C
  þ Mexico/border/Minutemen
  þ Social Security/President's trip to Iowa
      þ Reference B
  þ Loans to China
  þ Ticket holders to presidential events
  þ Trade/Congressman Porter
  þ Venezuela/haven for al Qaeda?
  þ First Lady's trip to Afghanistan

MR. McCLELLAN: Good afternoon. I want to welcome all those who are back
from the great state of Texas, and welcome back to Les, too. Glad to see
that you're doing well. It's good to have you back and you've been in our
thoughts and prayers.

MR. KINSOLVING: Thank you very much. I appreciate it very much.

MR. McCLELLAN: With that, I will go straight to questions, to those that
weren't in Crawford. Not to single anybody out.

Q Right. Have copies of the WMD report been circulated among members of the
White House staff, and has the President seen it yet?

MR. McCLELLAN: He is going to be, actually, be briefed on it later today.
We do have some copies of the report. Obviously, it went through a
classification review process, as well. There will be a declassified
version made available publicly, and then there's a classified version, as
well. The President looks forward to meeting with the commission on
Thursday and receiving a copy of the official report from the
commissioners.

Making sure we have the best possible intelligence is critical to
protecting the American people. And the President's most solemn obligation
is the safety and security of the American people. He begins each day by
receiving an intelligence briefing on the threats that we face. And so the
President appointed this bipartisan commission to take a broad look at
intelligence relating to the threats we face in the 21st century, namely
from weapons of mass destruction. And so he appreciates all the work that
they have done and looks forward to meeting with them on Thursday and
talking to them about the recommendations. We will carefully consider the
recommendations and act quickly on the recommendations, as well. They build
upon the steps we've already taken to improve our intelligence-sharing and
gathering.

Q Well, based on the information that you've gleaned from the things in
circulation, do you find the conclusions troubling? Or how would you
characterize the reaction to them?

MR. McCLELLAN: I would not today, but we will on Thursday. And just so you
know, as I said, the President will meet with the commission, the full
commission here at the White House on Thursday morning. I also expect,
following that meeting, the President will be meeting with members from
relevant Cabinet departments who would be affected by some of the
recommendations that are going to be put forward by the commission. And
then, following that, we will have a press event where the President will
participate with the co-chairs. And I know the co-chairs will also take
questions from the press following that event, to talk about the report and
to talk about their recommendations. And I know that they look forward to
doing that.

They have done a very thorough job. They have had many meetings; they've
had hundreds of interviews; they've looked through thousands of documents.
This was a very comprehensive look at our intelligence capabilities and our
intelligence relating to weapons of mass destruction. Their work is very
important. The President appreciates the job that they have done.

It's important that we do everything we can to support our men and women in
the intelligence community. We have many hardworking, dedicated and capable
individuals who work day in and day out to protect the American people, and
we want to do everything we can to support them. We've taken a number of
steps to improve our intelligence capabilities. We've worked to transform
the FBI, to make sure that its mission is focused on confronting threats
from terrorism and improving their intelligence capabilities. We've created
the position of the Director of National Intelligence. And the National
Counter-Terrorism Threat Center -- the National Counter-Terrorism Center.
We've created the Terrorist Threat Integration Center to improve our
intelligence sharing and gathering of information. So there are many steps
that we've taken.

We've also made sure that we're acting on all fronts, with our allies and
others, to confront the spread of weapons of mass destruction. That is the
most serious threat we face in this day and age. And so the work of the
commission and the recommendations that they are going to be putting
forward will help us build upon those many steps we've already taken. And
the President looks forward to meeting with them this week.

Q But the steps, all that you've just outlined, they don't go far enough;
is that what you're saying?

MR. McCLELLAN: I'm sorry?

Q The steps that you just outlined, everything --

MR. McCLELLAN: Well, remember, since September 11th, we've taken a number
of steps already to improve our intelligence capabilities. We also acted on
recommendations from the 9/11 Commission; we appreciate the work that they
did. This commission took a broader look at our intelligence capabilities
relating to the threats that we face in this day and age, and they build
upon the steps that we've taken. So we look forward to seeing those
recommendations and acting on those recommendations. We are going to give
all of them careful consideration.

Q Scott, two questions. First, Paul Volcker's report on the oil-for-food
scandal at the U.N. is out, and while it shows that Secretary General Annan
was not directly implicated in the scandal, it suggests strongly that he
was, at the very least, negligent in his oversight of it and obtuse about
the role his own son, Kojo, played in the fraud. Should he stay or should
he go?

MR. McCLELLAN: Well, first of all, let me back up. We've always felt it was
important for there to be a full investigation of the allegations of
corruption and fraud in the oil-for-food program. We appreciate the work
that the Volcker Commission is doing. We look forward to seeing the final
results. This is another report that they are putting forward today. There
needs to be a full accounting. We have always said that it needs to be an
open, transparent and full investigation. And so we appreciate the work
that's been going on by the Volcker investigation. We have just received a
copy of the report today; it's just been made available today. We're going
to carefully study that report, and look at what it says.

It's also important that we continue to move forward on reforms at the
United Nations, to make sure that it is addressing the challenges that we
face in the most effective way, and that things like this are prevented
from happening in the future.

Q One of the things in this report is that Kofi Annan's own chief of staff
shredded documents relating to the oil-for-food scandal the day after they
were requested. With that kind of event, with that kind of activity in the
Secretary General's office, can he continue to lead this organization?

MR. McCLELLAN: This is a very serious matter; we have stated that
repeatedly. Congress has been looking into it, as well. We continue to
support the United Nations. We continue to support Secretary General Annan
in his work at the United Nations. We will carefully study the report that
Mr. Volcker has put forward today. We'll also look forward to seeing the
final results of his investigation, and we'll also look forward to seeing
whatever else Congress uncovers, as well.

Q What sort of confidence do you have in the job that Annan is doing?

MR. McCLELLAN: Like I said, we continue to support the work of the
Secretary General, and we'll continue to work with him and the United
Nations on the many challenges that we face. In terms of this report,
again, it's just been made available today. We're going to have to take a
look at it, and we'll study it closely.

Q Would the President still have gone into war if he'd known what will be
in this report, that there were no weapons of mass destruction?

MR. McCLELLAN: I think he's already addressed that issue, and his position
remains the same. And I think that what he said earlier today was important
to note, as well. We are seeing that the Iraqi people are serving as an
example --

Q That was not the point when we went to war.

MR. McCLELLAN: We are seeing that the Iraqi people are --

Q They were supposed to be threatening us.

MR. McCLELLAN: Okay, well, you've expressed your opinion, and you've heard
ours, as well.

Go ahead, Goyal.

Q I've told you what you told us.

MR. McCLELLAN: Saddam Hussein's regime was creating instability in the
region and we are better off with his regime out of power. And the Iraqi
people are showing --

Q The American people were told they were under threat.

MR. McCLELLAN: The Iraqi people are showing, through their courage and
determination --

Q Are you sorry you told the American people a falsehood?

MR. McCLELLAN: Go ahead.

Q I don't know what is right behind what President has good relations with
Indian leader Dr. Manmohan Singh, and also President General Musharraf of
Pakistan. And he seems to have them to have peace in the region, and to
have direct line. General Musharraf is going to India to watch the games on
the 16th of April. And I hope I will see him there. But at the same time,
the U.S. is sending weapons to both India and Pakistan, and they have -- on
Kashmir and the problem, they are saying, is Kashmir -- to solve the
Kashmir problem. How can they solve the Kashmir problem if Kasmiris will be
killed in the war because they will use all the weapons buying from the
U.S., Russia, China and U.K. and France against --

MR. McCLELLAN: First of all, there's been some --

Q And also, could you please clarify, the President spoke with Dr. Manmohan
Singh of India and General Musharraf on the sale of F16s.

MR. McCLELLAN: He did speak to Prime Minister Singh last week, and my
deputy read that call out last week from Waco and talked about what they
discussed in the call. Part of the discussion was regarding the F16s. And
she read out the additional details of that call, as well.

In terms of the Kashmir situation and the progress in the region, there has
been some positive steps moving forward on reducing tensions in the region.
We support the dialogue that's going on between the two countries and the
opening of that dialogue between the two countries. And we will continue to
do that. We have great relations with both countries and both countries
have been good allies in the war on terrorism, the global war on terrorism.
And so we look forward to continuing to work with both those countries and
building upon what is already strong relations.

Q What is the logic behind selling weapons to both countries?

MR. McCLELLAN: Well, first of all, we said that we would look at the
situation with regards to India and look at ways we can move forward to
support them, as well, in this regard. And that was read out as part of the
call last week. I mean, we gave out all these details. There's a background
briefing on the matter, as well, at the Department of State, and I really
don't have anything to add to it at this point.

Q Can I follow up on that?

MR. McCLELLAN: I'll try to come back to you. Let me keep going. Go ahead,
Wendell.

Q As the President was applauding Iraq's parliament today and the Iraqi
people, the parliament was failing again to reach a decision on a speaker
and the formation of a new government. Does the President have a message
for the parliament? Is he concerned about the two-month time frame they've
spent -- as concerned as some members of the parliament appear to be --
that they have not yet reached a decision?

MR. McCLELLAN: Well, we're seeing that the Iraqi leaders are moving forward
on this new phase in Iraq. They're now in a phase of moving forward on the
political process. These are leaders that were chosen by the Iraqi people.
They are committed to moving forward on the political process. The national
assembly met for the second time today. That's another step on the path to
a free society, as the President talked about earlier today.

We look forward to working with the new government once it is in place. We
expect that's going to happen soon. I think any time you have a democracy,
on issues like this there is going to be time -- it's going to take some
time to forge a consensus and to reach a compromise. And that's what you're
seeing happening in Iraq. But the Iraqi people are determined to live in
freedom. And the Iraqi leaders are working to reach a consensus. And you're
seeing compromise, which is always part of any democracy, move forward. We
expect that they will have a new government in place soon.

Q I take it, then, the time frame doesn't trouble you?

Q How do you call it "moving forward"?

MR. McCLELLAN: Well, this is the second meeting of the national assembly.
The fact that they have met for the second time is another step on the path
to democracy. That's a positive development. These are leaders that were
elected by the Iraqi people. The Iraqi people are determining their future.
I don't know that they set any specific time frame for putting that new
government in place -- obviously, they want to get it in place as quickly
as possible, and they're working to do that. There's a lot of discussion
going on between the various coalitions and parties in Iraq, and they're
working to move forward on that political process so that they can move
forward on drafting a constitution and putting that constitution before the
people, and then move forward on permanent elections. The fact that they
had elections and have chosen an assembly of 275 representatives is a very
positive development.

Q If I could follow that, the time they take here in choosing a new
government comes out of the time they theoretically have to draft the
constitution. So, once again, I will ask you, is the President concerned
that they don't seem to be moving as fast as some members of the Iraqi
parliament think they should?

MR. McCLELLAN: No, I think you heard from him earlier today -- it's going
to be an Iraqi-driven process. The Iraqi leaders are determining their
future, and they're working to reach a compromise. This is part of moving
forward on the political process and coming to an agreement, and they're
continuing to have those discussions and that's a healthy part of
democracy. And we believe that they will have a new government in place
soon, and we're going to do everything we can to support that new
government as they work to draft a new constitution, and as they work to
move forward on elections for a permanent government. This is a
transitional government, but it is a government that has been chosen by the
Iraqi people and they're representing the views of the Iraqi people, and
they're trying to reach a compromise now.

Q Scott, do you think the issuance of the WMD report will help maybe repair
some of the damage to U.S. credibility around the world? A lot of people
are still very suspicious now.

MR. McCLELLAN: Well, again -- and I don't want to jump ahead of the report,
so I think it's going to be important for each of you all to look at the
report and see what the conclusions are and see what the recommendations
are. I think what is important is for us to focus on the path forward to
improving our intelligence capabilities.

We've taken a number of steps; we want to build upon those steps by the
recommendations that this commission will be putting forward. We work very
closely with the international community on the threats that we face in
this day and age. And we work very closely in sharing information with
them, and we will continue to do that. We have good cooperation on a number
of different fronts. Like I mentioned, the Proliferation Security
Initiative is something that this President implemented. It's more than 60
nations working together to confront the spread of weapons of mass
destruction and to share intelligence information they gather.

I think it's also going to be important -- because this commission took a
broad look at intelligence -- and to take a look at some areas where there
has been great success, like Libya, for instance.

Q Will it be that much different from what we've already heard?

MR. McCLELLAN: Again, you're asking me to comment on a report that hasn't
been released publicly at this point. I want to wait until that report is
released publicly, and then we can talk about it more at that point. And
the President will be talking about it more at that point, as well.

Q In the Terri Schiavo case, there seems to be more efforts to exhaust
legal wranglings to reinsert Terri Schiavo's tube. What are the President's
thoughts about this. As he said, there's nothing else he could have done.

MR. McCLELLAN: Well, I don't think that's what the President said, first of
all. Let me correct you on that. The President is saddened by the
situation. We continue to stand on the side of defending life. We stand on
the side of the parents and all those who are working to defend life. This
is a complex case, and the President believes in a situation like this, we
should always err on the side of life. And so we will continue to stand
with all those who are seeking to defend life.

Q So is he working with the senators in some kind

-- working the phones, some kind of backdoor approach to possibly work out
some kind of emergency situation to reinsert this tube?

MR. McCLELLAN: As he spoke about last week, we looked at all our options,
we explored all our options from the executive branch side, and we made a
decision to support the congressional efforts. And Congress passed
legislation that the President signed; that legislation gave her parents
another opportunity to try to save their daughter's life. They are
continuing to work, as well as others, to save their daughters life. And we
will continue to stand with those who are on the side of defending life.
The President believes that our nation, in situations like this, where
someone is at the mercy of others, we should have a presumption in favor of
life.

Q Has the President, since he feels so strongly about this, has he reached
out to the parents of Terri Schiavo?

MR. McCLELLAN: I don't have any updates on phone calls he's had with them,
but obviously, like I said, we continue to stand on the side of the parents
and all those who are working to defend life in this situation.

Q Mexico's President Fox announced during his news conference that our
border fence between San Diego and Tijuana, in his words, must be
demolished. My first question: During their subsequent Waco summit, did
President Bush in any way reply to this Fox demand, which Senator Kyl of
Arizona called, downright insulting, other than Mr. Bush denouncing the
American Minutemen as "vigilantes"?

MR. McCLELLAN: Les, a couple things. First of all, this goes to a much
larger issue, this question, and the larger issue is making sure that we
have a safe, orderly and humane migration system. We have worked closely
with Mexico on issues relating to our borders. There is more that we can do
to control our borders, and the Department of Homeland Security is working
to do that every day. We have an increase in the number of agents along the
border, they're working to address the situation in some of the areas where
you're referencing, as well.

And the President put forward an initiative, his temporary worker
initiative, to address some of these issues, because we have a problem in
this country where now I think it's some 10 million undocumented immigrants
working in this country. And they oftentimes are coming here simply to
support their families back home. And they're also filling jobs that
otherwise are not being filled by American citizens. So there is an
economic need that we can address.

And there is also -- by addressing this situation, the President believes
we can do a better job of enforcing our borders and going after those who
are coming here for the wrong reason -- whether it's terrorists or people
intent on criminal activity. This will free up our border patrol and border
agents to go after those who should not be coming into this country in the
first place.

Q The Washington Times has listed nine countries who have either built or
are building border fences. Has President Fox, to your knowledge, condemned
any border fence, beside our border fence? And why is denouncing the
Arizona Minutemen any better than denouncing neighborhood crime watchers?

MR. McCLELLAN: A couple of things. I mean, the President spoke to this
issue last week and I think he addressed it very clearly for you all.

In terms of President Fox, I'm not going to try to comment for him -- you
might want to direct those questions to his office. But I know that the
Department of Homeland Security, regarding the question you're bringing up,
tomorrow is going to be having an announcement in Tucson, Arizona, about an
initiative they're undertaking along the Arizona border to better control
the border there.

In terms of the issue of the Minutemen that you bring up, again, the
President spoke to that issue last week. And it's one thing if people are
working along the border, simply to report suspicious activity, and that
activity should be reported to the proper authorities -- the Department of
Homeland Security officials, who are there to enforce our borders. If
people are operating outside of the law, that cannot be tolerated. That's a
different --

Q Well, that's my point. That's what they're doing -- they're neighborhood
crime watch.

MR. McCLELLAN: Hang on. Hang on. That's a different matter. People cannot
take things into their own hands. But if they see suspicious activity, they
should report that suspicious activity to the proper authorities and --

Q And that doesn't make them vigilantes, does it?

MR. McCLELLAN: Well, if you're talking about a group of armed, untrained
individuals roaming around the desert, that would be something that would
concern us and it would increase the chance that someone could get hurt.
And we don't want people operating outside the law -- the President made
that very clear last week. So if you're talking about people reporting
suspicious activity, that's one thing. If you're talking about people
operating outside the law, that's another matter and it's one that cannot
be allowed to happen.

Q Just to follow up on the Schiavo case, if I can. The parents' allies have
suggested that the President has it within his power to ask the Attorney
General to take the daughter into protective custody as a potential federal
witness, thus saving her life. Does he have it within his power?

MR. McCLELLAN: Mark, again, I think the President addressed the issue last
week. We did look at all our options, our White House Counsel's Office. We
worked with the Justice Department, looked at all options. The decision was
made to support the congressional efforts. But we will continue to stand
with those who are defending life. This is a complex case and there are
extraordinary circumstances involved here. And there are people that are
still working to save her life.

Q He doesn't have that power --

MR. McCLELLAN: I think we addressed it last week. I don't think there's a
need to repeat what we've already addressed.

Q For the President's trip tomorrow to Iowa, given all the recent polls in
Social Security, is there going to be any update on his speeches on Social
Security, or any changes in it?

MR. McCLELLAN: A couple of things. The President looks forward to going to
Iowa tomorrow to continue his effort to reach out to the American people
and educate them about the problems facing Social Security, and also to
reassure our seniors that when it comes to them, nothing is going to
change. The Social Security system is working fine for those who are
currently receiving the benefits. It's for our children and grandchildren
that it needs to be fixed, because it's on an unsustainable course. And you
saw last week, with the Social Security trustees report, that it is only
getting worse, and that it only continues to get worse each year that we
wait. The date for when it starts experiencing shortfalls is now 2017,
instead of 2018, and the date when it becomes insolvent is now 2041,
instead of 2042.

So this would be -- I believe it's the 20th state that the President will
travel to as part of our outreach efforts to the American people. And he
looks forward to going to Iowa, he looks forward to being with Senator
Grassley. We appreciate the efforts of Senator Grassley to move forward on
legislation that would make it permanently sound and strengthen it for our
children and grandchildren. He is someone who has stated that he intends to
move forward on legislation in his committee, and we're going to continue
reaching out to the American people. More and more Americans recognize that
there are serious problems facing Social Security. That's important in the
first phase. And we will continue to work with members of Congress, like
Senator Grassley, to come up with a bipartisan solution this year.

And also, while he's in Iowa, prior to the conversation on Social Security
that he will be participating in, he will be stopping by a diner in Cedar
Rapids and participating in a radio interview with an Iowa radio station.
And the pool will be there to cover that, as well.

Q So he likes radio now? (Laughter.)

MR. McCLELLAN: Go ahead, John.

Q On April 6th, the Small Business Committee in the House, under Chairman
Donald Manzullo of Illinois, are going to hold hearings that, among other
things, will deal with nuclear proliferation and whether the sale of parts
to build nuclear reactors to China, as the -- or to loan money to China,
through the Ex-Im Bank, could possibly lead to proliferation. Is this
something the administration will watch carefully, the hearings coming up,
in whether or not to determine to go ahead with the loans and loan
guarantees to China?

MR. McCLELLAN: I would hesitate to use the words that we watch Congress
carefully, but I'll say that we follow Congress closely -- (laughter) --
and obviously, we work very closely with members of Congress and we will
continue to do so. I don't have any update in terms of this specific issue
for you.

Q Any date set for the visit of Prime Minister Abbas here to the United
States?

MR. McCLELLAN: No.

Q Any chance he might show up with Prime Minister Sharon?

MR. McCLELLAN: No, that's a visit with Prime Minister Sharon. We would look
forward to it at a time that's convenient for President Abbas to come to
the United States, as well.

Q Scott, President Bush met yesterday with the Greek Foreign Minister
Petros Molyviatis, and a big member of prominent Greek-American community
here at the White House and delivered a 15-minute speech. May we have a
readout? What was it about and what the President said exactly?

MR. McCLELLAN: Well, I think you -- oh, it was celebrating Greek
Independence Day, and the President was honored to welcome all those people
you mentioned to the White House. And this is something we've done each
year.

Q Also, I was told that the President said something about the Cyprus
issue, and the Greek/Turkish relations in general. I wonder if you could
say anything about that.

MR. McCLELLAN: Our position remains the same. We continue to support the
efforts by the Secretary General Annan when it comes to reunification.
That's what our position is.

Q Scott, another question about this trip to Iowa tomorrow. And this is an
issue that's come up here before, but it's back in the news today. There's
a wire story from Colorado that three people were barred -- who had tickets
to go to the President's Social Security conversation in Colorado were
barred because of a bumper sticker that someone thought to be anti-Bush.
Can you tell us what the guidelines are for local volunteers, in terms of
allowing people to come in and hear their President speak?

MR. McCLELLAN: In terms of volunteers?

Q In the past you've blamed this kind of thing on over-zealous volunteers.

MR. McCLELLAN: I don't know all the specific circumstances you're bringing
up regarding that event. But in terms of the events, we distribute tickets
to these conversations, and they are typically given to congressional
offices or institutions like -- at Notre Dame University we provided
tickets to the university, and they distributed those tickets, or a
congressional office distribute the tickets. In Tennessee, when we were, I
believe it was Memphis -- when we were in Memphis we provided some tickets
to Congressman Ford's office. And I think he had 40 or 50 tickets that he
distributed. And so people came to the events, as well.

We welcome a diversity of views at the events. Obviously, the conversations
that the President is participating in are designed to educate the American
people about the problems facing our Social Security system, the problems
that are facing it for our children and grandchildren. And so it's part of
an educational effort. I think that there's plenty of people out there
talking about the other side of the issue, and you see those people talking
about it on a daily basis.

Q What are the marching orders that are given to the people at the door?

MR. McCLELLAN: I'm sorry?

Q What are the marching orders --

MR. McCLELLAN: I don't know. I'll be glad to look into it and see what else
I can find. I don't know if there's formal marching orders, as you referred
to them. But I'll be glad to look at them.

Q Are you concerned that the President is not hearing a lot of different
viewpoints in these conversations?

MR. McCLELLAN: I think the President hears a lot of different viewpoints
every day, when we follow the news. I mean, there's plenty of viewpoints
being expressed on this issue. As I said, these conversations are about
educating the American people about the problems facing Social Security.
That's what they're designed for, to talk about the problems that we face
and to talk about possible ideas for solving it. I think the American
people expect that when members of Congress and their elected officials in
Washington, D.C., see problems, that they work together to find ways to
solve those problems.

Our door has been open for Democratic leaders to come forward and work with
us to fashion a bipartisan solution on this issue. And so far we have seen
little response from Democratic leaders. There are some Democrats who have
stepped forward and said that they recognize there is a problem -- that's
an important first step. And now we need to work together to find a
bipartisan solution. But there are plenty of views being expressed on this
issue. And we're going to continue talking to the American people about the
problems facing Social Security. And that's what these conversations are
about.

Q Two short questions. Does the President favor changing the laws in this
country so that parents, rather than the husband, could have custody of a
person in this situation?

MR. McCLELLAN: Again, I think that the case that we're talking about here
with Terri Schiavo is an extraordinary circumstance, and that's the way we
looked at this. I know Congress -- some members of Congress are looking at
some legislation, that's something they're looking at. Obviously, if
legislation came our way, we would take a look at it, at that point.

Q On the U.N., would this administration favor Bill Clinton becoming U.N.
Secretary General?

MR. McCLELLAN: There is a Secretary General and I addressed that issue
earlier today.

Q Scott, going back to Iraq again, was the President trying to send them a
message today? He kept -- he seemed to emphasize compromise, majority rule
with minority rights. I couldn't help but feel that he was trying to send a
message, because we hear reports of the political lines becoming more firm,
more entrenched, not much give-and-take going on.

MR. McCLELLAN: Well, those are important principles that we feel are part
of any democracy. Obviously, the democracy that the Iraqi people are
building is going to be based on their own culture and their own heritage,
but there are certain fundamental principles that are important for any
democracy. And we've made those views known repeatedly, and we will
continue to in all places across the world.

It's important that there be rule of law. It's important that there be
democratic institutions in place that are built on protecting the rights of
all people. And those are important aspects. In fact, that's something that
was adopted by the interim government in the transitional administrative
law, and I think you've seen a number of Iraqi leaders step forward and
state how important that is to their future. And so they will be working to
move forward on drafting a constitution, and it's important that -- we
believe it's important that the constitution addresses some of those
fundamental principles of any democracy.

Q With Congress facing some contentious trade issues, CAFTA among them,
fast track also included in that category, to what extent was Congressman
Portman's position in the House a factor -- that is, an extent to which you
will be able to leverage his connections in the House on those two issues
-- to what extent was that a factor in picking him for Trade
Representative?

MR. McCLELLAN: Well, I think the President talked about the factors that
were considered in picking him. I mean, he's someone who is close to the
President, who enjoys the President's trust. He is someone who has a
background as an international trade lawyer. He's someone with a lot of
experience in working to build compromises and to get things done. And he's
someone who is fully committed, like the President, to expanding free trade
and to making sure that there's a level playing field. And so I think
that's the reasons that he was selected.

You mentioned a couple of important priorities of this administration --
the Central American Free Trade Agreement -- and Deputy Secretary Zoellick
was speaking to that issue, I believe, earlier today, as well.

Q To what extent are you concerned about your trade agenda at this point?

MR. McCLELLAN: Well, we've made a lot of progress over the last four years
on advancing free and fair trade, and thanks in large part to the work of
Deputy Secretary Zoellick when he was head, when he was in the position.
And we believe that Congressman Portman will build upon his work at the
U.S. Trade Representative, and so we look forward to Congress, or to the
Senate, moving quickly on his confirmation to get him in place.

Q Hugo Chavez of Venezuela has made some extremely strong anti-American
statements. Is there a concern that he could turn into the Saddam Hussein
of Latin America and be a haven for al Qaeda in the months or years to
come?

MR. McCLELLAN: One of the things that was discussed last week with our
partners from Mexico and Canada was the importance of supporting democratic
institutions in our own hemisphere. And that's the broader issue here, that
all of us in the Americas should work together to support the advance of
democratic institutions throughout the region and not take steps back from
moving forward on democracy.

We've expressed our concerns when it comes to the situation in Venezuela.
Those concerns remain. Those are discussions we discuss with others, as
well. And it's important to work through the Organization of American
States to address some of those issues, as well.

Let me keep going, because I need to get back here to Terry, and -- go
ahead.

Q Yes, the First Lady is on her way to Afghanistan for a trip to express
America's solidarity with that country. She's going to be on the ground
about five hours, max, in which time she's going to have dinner with U.S.
forces, she's going to meet with President Karzai, and meet with some
women. But in that time, isn't it literally only going to be a photo op?
How much can she actually achieve?

MR. McCLELLAN: No, she has a very full schedule while she is there. I went
through that schedule earlier today. And one of the things that she is
going to be doing is using this opportunity to visit Afghanistan to
highlight the advances of women in Afghanistan. That is something that is
near and dear to her heart. It's also an opportunity to show our continued
support for the people of Afghanistan as they work to move forward on
building a free and democratic future. They've made tremendous progress --
as the President talked about earlier today, freedom is on the march in the
broader Middle East region. And the people of Afghanistan have shown their
commitment to moving forward on a free and democratic future.

And Mrs. Bush has been looking forward to going to Afghanistan for some
time now, to focus on an area that has always been important to her, and
that is education. So she will be visiting with teachers and students at
the Women's Teacher Training Institute. She will be announcing some grant
money that's being provided by the United States to a university there, as
well as an elementary school, to support those efforts to educate all the
people of Afghanistan. And she will be there to thank our men and women in
uniform for their service and sacrifice in Afghanistan, as well.

So this is a trip where, when she hits the ground it will be a very busy
schedule. And she will also meet with President Karzai during that time. So
I think that the people of Afghanistan, and particularly the women of
Afghanistan, appreciate her coming there to show our support for the people
of Afghanistan.

Q What about the tremendous difficulties the women in Afghanistan,
particularly outside the capital, are facing with regard to being able to
go to school, where schools are being burned down, being forced to go back
to wearing burqas and not being given the freedoms that --

MR. McCLELLAN: Well, and that's one of the reasons we created the U.S.
Afghan Women's Council, was to support exchanges between our two countries
and between the ministries in Afghanistan and agencies here in the United
States, and to help advance the rights of women in the country and help to
advance the rights of all people in that country. And we will continue to
support those efforts and do all that we can.

Q I just wanted to get you on the record here, a follow-up on Goyal's
question on the sale of F16s to Pakistan. What is the logic here? What is
the rationale? You spoke of reducing tensions in south Asia. How does it
reduce tensions to sell these advanced aircraft which can deliver nuclear
weapons, to a government -- which, by the way, as the President promotes
democracy, is headed by a man who took power in a military coup?

MR. McCLELLAN: I think we are in a different period in the region, where
there is greater stability in the region, and that's one of the things that
was discussed in the briefing last Friday, as well. And Pakistan has been
an important ally in the global war on terrorism and we want to make sure
we are supporting them as they work to confront the threats from terrorism
that we continue to face. They continue to go after members of al Qaeda and
members of the Taliban.

We also work very closely with India on these issues, and that's why the
President reached out to Prime Minister Singh, to inform him of the
decision. But this is something we've talked about for some time with both
countries.

Q Scott, on Social Security, quickly, some people are concerned that if you
do the private accounts that it would take away the disability benefits. Is
that the case? Could you explain that?

MR. McCLELLAN: No, and the President has made it very clear previously that
we're not talking about changing benefits for those with disabilities. This
is about focusing on the retirement side of Social Security, and that's
where our focus is. And we want to make sure -- as the President has talked
about, as well -- that we work toward making sure it's a progressive
system, so that we have a system that is focused, first and foremost, on
helping those lower-income Americans who depend on Social Security for
their livelihood.

But we know right now that if we do nothing, they're going to face massive
benefit cuts or massive tax increases. That's why we need to act now. But
in terms of the disability side of things, the President has already
addressed that and made that clear.

Thanks.

END 1:43 P.M. EST
===========================================================================
Return to this article at:
http://www.whitehouse.gov/news/releases/2005/03/20050329-1.html

 * Origin: (1:3634/12)