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Skriven 2005-04-05 23:33:18 av Whitehouse Press (1:3634/12.0)
Ärende: Press Release (0504053) for Tue, 2005 Apr 5
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Press Gaggle by Scott McClellan
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For Immediate Release
April 5, 2005

Press Gaggle by Scott McClellan
Aboard Air Force One
En Route Parkersburg, West Virginia


  þ President's Schedule
  þ Social Security Trust Fund
      þ Reference B
  þ Delegation for funeral of Pope John Paul II
  þ Congressional Relations
  þ Social Security Discussion

9:42 A.M. EDT

MR. McCLELLAN: All right, good morning. First of all, the President's day
-- let me begin with the President's day. He had his usual briefing this
morning. When we get to West Virginia, we'll tour the Bureau of Public
Debt. There will be pool coverage of that. And then we'll go to West
Virginia University, Parkersburg, where the President will make remarks.

And then he -- when we get back, the President has his Cabinet meeting this
afternoon. And at the Cabinet meeting, he'll receive updates from various
Cabinet Secretaries, like the Secretary of State, Secretary of Defense, and
Secretary of Homeland Security, as well as the Director of OMB. And I
expect that one of the messages that he'll emphasize in the Cabinet meeting
is the importance of fiscal discipline.

As you all are aware, the House and Senate have passed budget resolutions
and now they're working to come to an agreement on a budget resolution, and
it's important that we move forward in a way that meets our nation's
highest priorities while holding the line on spending elsewhere in the
budget. And the President will talk about spending our taxpayer dollars
wisely, I suspect. So the message is really one of fiscal discipline today.

In terms of the tour today, that's one of the things that the President is
going to highlight in his remarks at West Virginia University. He's going
to talk about the Social Security trust fund and how there really is not a
trust fund. I think most people think of a -- when they think of Social
Security having a trust fund, that their money is being set aside in the
Social Security -- the system is holding it for them for when they retire.
But that's not the case.

And as you'll see today, what's happening is that their future is being
stored away in filing cabinets at the Bureau of Public Debt in West
Virginia. It's in the form of paper IOUs. And that's -- one of the points
the President will make is that we need to strengthen the Social Security
system and make it permanently sound so that it is there for our children
and grandchildren. And so that's some of what he'll talk about in his
remarks. And I expect that language will be pretty high up in his remarks
today when he begins.

Let's see, on other matters, I don't have an update on the delegation at
this point. We're still finalizing that, for the delegation for the
funeral. And we are finalizing all the details for Thursday meetings, as
well. But we -- I fully expect we'll have that later -- I fully expect
we'll have that later today, and we're just trying to finalize up those
details. Then we'll get it out to you as soon as that happens.

Q Do we know what the hold up on the delegation -- I mean, is it that
somebody has not confirmed that they're coming or not?

MR. McCLELLAN: I don't know that -- I don't know that I'd look at it as a
"hold up." First of all, it's a small delegation. We have five slots
available for the delegation. Yes, the President and Mrs. Bush are leading
the delegation, and they're going to be two of those --

Q Is it five plus them?

MR. McCLELLAN: No, they'll be two of those five.

Q So there's three more.

MR. McCLELLAN: And so there are calls being made, as well -- courtesy
calls, as well. And we're just finalizing up the details and making sure
that the other three are all able to participate.

Q Scott, is it at all related to President Clinton's health?

MR. McCLELLAN: We'll have more to say on the delegation once it's final.

Q Are you going to put it out in a paper statement, or are you going to
just come around and tell us?

MR. McCLELLAN: I'll try to do both. I mean, yes, we will have a paper
announcement, as well, as soon as it's ready. It's just being finalized
right now.

Q Is this -- today's message about the trust fund, is that going to become
sort of a recurring theme in the --

MR. McCLELLAN: Well, it's something he's touched on in the past, but he's
really focusing on that today. So I suspect he will continue to talk about
it as we move forward. You know, more and more Americans are recognizing
that there are serious problems facing Social Security, and that's been
part of the focus of our outreach efforts to the American people, is to
highlight the problems facing Social Security and to talk about how now is
the time to act to make it permanently sound for future generations. And
that's one of the key messages today.

Q Can you tell us any of the bilats or have any of them been set up yet?

MR. McCLELLAN: Just finalizing those details. I know you all are wanting
them as soon as possible, and I'm trying to get it to you as soon as
possible.

Q -- Novak column yesterday and then some other reports about Republicans
wavering on Social Security. In the Novak report, he quoted a senior member
of Congress, saying, you know, congressional relations with this White
House are the worst they've ever been. And another -- a number of other
Republicans agreed. And I wonder, what does that do to the fate of your
Social Security bill, especially when you have someone like Speaker Hastert
coming out and saying, this is not something -- who sort of doubt whether
it will happen this year?

MR. McCLELLAN: First of all, I think we have very good relations with
congressional leaders. The President has reached out throughout his first
term and going into his second term to members of Congress on both sides of
the aisle. The President believes it's important that we work together to
get things done for the American people. That's why he's focusing on big
priorities and the big challenges that we face.

In terms of the Social Security discussion, I think members of Congress
have been spending more time back in their district and they're hearing
from people that -- from more and more people that they recognize there are
problems that we need to fix in the Social Security system. Social Security
system -- the Social Security system has worked well for some 70 years now,
but it's headed on a path that is unsustainable and it's making -- and
another thing the President will talk about, I suspect, in his remarks,
that it's making promises to our children and grandchildren that it cannot
keep. That's why we need to fix it. And that's one of the things he'll be
emphasizing in his remarks today.

And congressional leaders that we've been working with, like Speaker
Hastert and Senator Grassley and Leader Frist and others, recognize that --
Chairman Thomas, for instance -- recognize that now is the time to act to
fix the system. And Senator Grassley has talked about how he's going to be
moving forward in his committee on legislation.

And so I think it's time for Democrats to start -- and let me back up.
Another thing, you're seeing that more and more Americans are recognizing
there's a problem, and you're also seeing that now Social Security has
risen to the top priority among -- on the domestic side among the American
people. And so progress is being made in that sense.

And now it's the time for people to start coming forward with ideas for
finding a bipartisan solution. It's easy to stand up and say, we're against
this, or, we oppose this. But the American people expect better of their
elected officials. They expect their elected officials to put forward ideas
for solving problems, and that's why we've opened up the door and said,
let's put all ideas on the table and come up with a bipartisan solution.

Q Are there any indications that any Democrats are coming up with --

MR. McCLELLAN: We continue to reach out to Democrats. We are in regular
contact with a number of Democrats that we think recognize the importance
of fixing the Social Security system. And we're hopeful that Democratic
leaders, instead of simply trying to say what they're against, will start
talking about what they're for and how we can work together to find a
solution.

Okay, thanks.

END 9:52 A.M. EDT
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