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Skriven 2005-05-09 23:34:22 av Whitehouse Press (1:3634/12.0)
Ärende: Press Release (0505092) for Mon, 2005 May 9
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Press Gaggle with Scott McClellan
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For Immediate Release
Office of the Press Secretary
May 9, 2005

Press Gaggle with Scott McClellan



4:24 P.M. (Local)

MR. McCLELLAN: All right, good afternoon -- and good morning, if we're back
on D.C. time. I want to walk through the President's day, give a little bit
more information on the meetings, and then I'll answer whatever questions
you all have. My apologies to the larger press corps; because of the time
between now and the speech, it was just easier to come here and visit with
you guys. First of all, in the President's meeting this morning with
President Vike-Frieberga, they had a very good discussion. President
Vike-Frieberga welcomed the President and expressed her appreciation for
the President's trip and for America's involvement in supporting the three
Baltic states. The President talked about his belief in the importance of
freedom and advancing freedom to achieve peace. He talked about how
advancing peace around the world makes us safer. He also talked about the
difficult time that it is, as we mark the occasion of World War II -- the
difficult time that it is here in the Baltic states, because while this was
the liberation of many people in Europe, it was not the -- well, as
essentially what he was saying later on today, that it was the beginning of
an occupation and painful period for the Baltic states. And he talked about
how now is the time to move beyond it while remembering the history,
something he touched on in his press conference, as well. And they talked
about relations with Russia, and the President talked about how he had a
good relationship with President Putin, and that enabled him to be able to
speak clearly with him when they have meetings, and to talk about the
benefit of having democracies on Russia's border and the benefit that that
is for Russia, and that he would emphasize to President Putin, too, the
importance of moving -- being able to move beyond the past. They also had a
discussion about the development of democracies here in the Baltics, and
the President talked about some of the things you've heard us talking about
recently, the importance of minority rights; they talked about language
issues -- that's something I'm going to come back to when I talk about the
civil society meeting. But the President pointed to an example of his own
state of Texas, and how we have many people in the state of Texas whose
first language was Spanish. And he talked about the importance of what we
have there in Texas, which is English-plus, in that people learn English,
but it shows respect for people's own heritage. And then President
Vike-Frieberga talked about the importance of civil society and they had a
good discussion about that. The President talked about his -- they had a
discussion about the President's trip to Moscow, and the President talked
about the importance of newer democracies like Russia to make sure they
pursue economic reforms and have openness and transparency, that that's
important for -- that's important for attracting capital and growth. Let's
see. Then they discussed a range of other issues. They talked about Iraq.
The President thanked the President for Latvia's involvement in Iraq and
Afghanistan, and talked about the progress that's going on in both those
countries. He particularly talked about the formation of the new government
in Iraq, touched on Syria and the importance of Syria getting out of
Lebanon so that Lebanon can have freedom and sovereignty. They talked about
the Middle East and the President talked about his vision for peace and the
developments in Gaza. Then they talked about some bilateral issues, like
visas, which you heard the President talk about in his remarks at the press
avail. And on that discussion, they talked about the importance of opening
up educational opportunities for Latvians in the U.S. And you heard the
President, again, touch on that at the press avail. Let's see what else.
Talked a little -- touched on reform at the United Nations, and they also
talked about the neighborhood. They talked about Belarus and Ukraine and
Georgia and Moldova. And they talked about the importance of supporting and
working for democracy in Belarus. They talked about the importance of
supporting reform leaders in Ukraine and Georgia and Moldova, as they move
forward on the path to democracy. And then the President, at the end,
essentially summed up the meeting by talking about how free nations must
work to support freedom in the world, that we cannot accept tyranny in the
world. And you're going to hear some more on that in his remarks here
shortly. And by the way, the remarks are going out probably right about
now. We're going to send out, as prepared for delivery, the President's
remarks, so hopefully, that will be helpful to you all. And, let's see --
then following that, the President had the meeting with the civil society
leaders. I think you all have the background sheet on the roundtable, and
you see that it's a very -- it was a very diverse group of representatives
from Latvia society, included a number of representatives of NGOs, the
education -- of educational institutions, included representatives of
various ethnic backgrounds, and as you see, as well, business people. I
know there's a small business woman in there that spoke, and another
businessman that talked about the importance of free market principles and
so forth. But that was -- it was a very good meeting. It was a good -- it
was an opportunity for the President to have a good discussion, a
back-and-forth discussion with the civil society leaders, and to hear from
them some of the concerns that they have as Latvia continues to move
forward on a democratic path, being a relatively young democracy. And the
President was able to relate some of our own history in America as we
worked to address some of the problems over the course of our -- course of
our history to develop a truly free and democratic society. A couple of
things to highlight from it. At the beginning, the President talked about
his belief that all people want to live in freedom. He talked about the
importance of free societies, to make sure that they're inclusive. And he
talked about the importance of welcoming diversity within free societies,
and he talked about how that was a strength. He also talked about the right
of all people to live in freedom throughout the world. And then he stood --
then they went around the table, had briefing opening remarks, they went
around the table. He heard from essentially I think everybody in the room.
I think there was about 20 people, if I counted correctly. As I said, it
was a diverse cross-section of Latvian society. The President talked about
-- I think it began with the small business woman, and the President -- she
was talking about opportunities and how in business everybody is playing on
the same -- playing under the same rules, and the President used that to
talk about how all people ought to have the same chance to succeed. Then he
heard from -- he heard from an opposition leader from an ethnic Russian who
was one of the opposition leaders, and he talked about some of his thoughts
on democracy. He heard from a university professor who was also a
regulator. The President also talked about -- he said, I understand the
mixed message of the moment. He said that this is a time where we celebrate
the defeat of Hitler, but on the other hand, it was a time when a
government was imposed on you, and -- Q I'm sorry, you said the President
talking -- MR. McCLELLAN: This is the President talking, yes. It's not a
direct quote, but it's paraphrased, talking to the participants in the
room, when he said -- when he talked about how he understood the mixed
message of the moment, that we're celebrating the defeat of Hitler and
fascism, but at the same time, this was a period when a government was
imposed on you. And so he was really reflecting on the painful history that
they had gone through. But then he went on to say -- and this is a quote,
"When you go and celebrate the past, it gives you an opportunity to look at
the future." That's a quote from the President. Q An opportunity to look at
the future. MR. McCLELLAN: Look at the future. And he talked about how
Latvia is a country where the future seems bright, or the future is bright.
And then he heard from NGO representatives, and he talked about the
importance of supporting nongovernmental organizations and how they're a
vital part of developing democracy. The President heard from a
representative of the press -- you all will be glad to know -- and she
reflected on the importance of a free press and how there's been a rapid
development in Latvia because of the open debate that they've had over the
last 15 years and how that stimulated the rapid development. Q Pool report
from her? MR. McCLELLAN: Yes -- (laughter) -- go track her down. I think
she's on the list you have. Then she talked about -- then she talked about
the different views of history that some had, and -- oh, and one other
thing the President said about nongovernmental organizations, when he heard
from another representative, was that it's important to have organizations,
strong independent organizations that are independent from government, that
that really helps develop democracy. Let's see, a couple other highlights.
Another quote from the President: He talked about how democracy is about
convincing people to change to meet the needs of humankind. And at one
point, he reflected on -- because he heard from the representatives -- Q
Where's the quote -- MR. McCLELLAN: -- one of the representatives talked
about the Holocaust, and he said, one thing my country will never do is let
people forget the Holocaust. And he talked about how we can never let
history be rewritten. And then at the end he heard from a democratic
activist, and he closed by talking about how he -- he thanked them for
their work, and he talked about how democracy is like a wildfire, people
want to be free. And then he went on to talk about, it's important to have
a follow-up, meaning that democracy is about more than just elections. And
he pointed to Latvia as an example to many other parts of the world, like
Afghanistan and Iraq, and that building free societies in this part of the
world are examples to other parts of the world, as well. And that's where
he reflected a little bit on the Middle East and what -- the great progress
that is going on in the Middle East. And then, quickly, and I'll go to your
questions -- at the lunch, it was a wide-ranging discussion. They had a
very good discussion. This was the President with the three leaders of the
Baltic states. And the President started off, really, by talking about
World War II and defeating fascism, and then he talked about ending
communism. And he used that to talk about the freedom agenda. And they
spent a good bit of time talking about the freedom agenda. And as they were
talking about the freedom agenda, they talked about places like Moldova and
Belarus and Ukraine and Georgia. And again, he talked about -- they talked
about Russia and the relationship there. And the President talked about his
ability to sit down with President Putin and have a frank discussion with
him on the issues which I touched on his earlier meeting, as well. And then
they covered a range of other issues, as well, like North Korea, China,
China-Taiwan, Iran, Lebanon, the Middle East peace process, and Iraq and
Afghanistan. Of course, the President, there, again, thanked these
countries for all the sacrifices that they have made and the help that they
have provided in places like Afghanistan and Iraq. And the President gave
an update on Iraq and the progress that we're making there. And they talked
about the visa issue, as well. Oh, and back up, in the civil society
meeting, someone brought up the importance of -- someone that had been
involved in higher education brought up the importance of their education
in the United States, and the President talked about making sure that we
have institutions that are accessible and open. And that kind of ties into
the visa issue, as well. I think that's all I've got. That's the readout
from today. He had his briefing this morning, as well, beforehand. And I'll
be glad to take whatever questions. Q Can I ask you about something that he
said a couple different times in different ways in the news conference just
now? He talked about how this could potentially be a time to move on past
the dispute, past the pain of the Baltic occupation. And the particular
quote that I'm interested in, where he said, "This moment in history will
give everyone a chance to recognize what took place in the past and move
on." That says to me, everyone, including Russia, recognize this, and then
we can move on. So is that not sort of a back-door way of asking -- MR.
McCLELLAN: Well, you heard what he said. And I've got some of his remarks
here, too, where I think he was responding -- he was responding to your
question, I believe. But he talked about, "My hope is that we're now able
to move beyond that phase of history and into a phase that is embracing
democracy and free societies." And a lot of his speech will focus on that
and advancing freedom. I think one point he was making is that we should
all recognize history for what it is. We must remember the past as we look
to the future. And so I think that's what he was talking about in his
remarks. Q What does he mean -- does he mean, now we can move on, like
Russia doesn't have to do anything, or we should all recognize, including
Russia, and then we can move on? MR. McCLELLAN: No, I don't think that's
the same -- but he was just emphasizing what we've -- what he said and what
we've said before, which is that you have to acknowledge the past and
recognize the past to be able to move ahead to the future. And our efforts
now should be focusing on how we can continue to strengthen democracy in
emerging free societies, as well as expand freedom and democracy around the
world, because that's what will make the world a more peaceful place. Q
Should Russia issue a statement of regret about the Soviet domination? MR.
McCLELLAN: The President has spoken with President Putin about that in the
past, and, again, all of us should recognize history for what it is. And
the President spoke very clearly about the past, about the occasion that
we're marking and celebrating with the defeat of the Nazis and fascism, but
it was also a period here in this country and neighboring countries that
was a very painful time. And -- but, like I said, that's an issue the
President has brought up in the past. Q You're unwilling to -- you're
unwilling to ask President Putin to do this, specifically? MR. McCLELLAN:
Well, it's an issue that has been brought up with him in the past. Q But he
seemed to be saying today that it still should happen. MR. McCLELLAN: --
the President will -- we will be going to Russia. The President will, as he
said, be talking about how to move forward on the path of democracy, and
about how important having free and democratic societies on your -- on
Russia's border are to Russia, itself. Q Well, given that he talked about
the anger and frustration, I think were his words, that the Baltic nations
still feel over what happened, does the President think it would be helpful
if President Putin reiterated past comments by other Russian leaders of
regretting what happened during the occupation? Is he going to -- MR.
McCLELLAN: I think I'll leave it where I did. The issue has been raised
with him, and all of us should recognize history for what it is. That's the
best -- I think that's the best way to describe it. And we do. The United
States does recognize history for what it is. The President talked about
Yalta in his remarks -- will talk about Yalta in his remarks coming up. And
he'll talk about the pact -- the secret pact that was formed. And he talked
about, in response to one of the questions at the press avail, about how we
shouldn't have secret deals -- Q Does he think it might be -- MR.
McCLELLAN: -- when it comes to issues of this nature. Q Given President
Putin's difficulties with some of these neighbors that President Bush is
visiting today here, does the President believe that it might be helpful
for President Putin to revisit -- MR. McCLELLAN: I think I've addressed it
from our standpoint. Do you want to move on to other questions? We've only
got a few minutes left. Q Do all three of these countries have troops in
Iraq? And was there any discussion at their meeting about when they can get
their troops out of Iraq? MR. McCLELLAN: I didn't hear -- no, not that I'm
aware of. Q Do you know the grand total of the three countries -- MR.
McCLELLAN: No, but I can probably get you that information. We're greatly
appreciative of those efforts. Q On a different issue, has the -- what's
the White House's reaction to Harry Reid's comment yesterday that the
President is a loser? And did he, in fact, call Karl Rove to apologize? MR.
McCLELLAN: I haven't had a chance to hear from Karl this morning because of
the time change. My understanding is that did occur, but I haven't had a
chance to talk to him yet. So I don't have -- but I think I'd make a couple
of points. The President has worked to change the tone in Washington by
elevating the discourse and reaching out to find common ground to get
things done. It has been a challenge and it has been disappointing that we
haven't been able to make more progress on that front. I think the American
people want their elected leaders to elevate the discourse and to reach out
across partisan lines. And that's what the President will continue to do. Q
Belatedly, Scott, in Asia, a number of countries, including some U.S.
allies, feel that Japan is not a country that has faced up to its past,
that it's confronted its past completely and dealt with it. What's your
sense of that? Is Japan suffering from some historical amnesia in the way
that Russia is, perhaps? MR. McCLELLAN: I don't have any particular update
at this point. I mean, it's something I think that Japan has worked to
address and it's not necessarily an easy thing to do. But, as I said, we
all need to -- we all should recognize history for what it is and we need
to look at the facts. As I pointed out, in the civil society meeting, the
President said, we can't let history be rewritten. Q -- Japan recognize
history for what it is? MR. McCLELLAN: Again, I don't have anything more at
this point. Q Do you have anything more on North Korea? MR. McCLELLAN:
What's your question? Q Whether they have been testing? There's evidence
they might be preparing to test a nuclear -- MR. McCLELLAN: A couple of
things, I guess. One, we do have concerns about North Korea. I think it's
shared by our partners in the region. North Korea would only further
isolate itself if it took such a provocative step. We are working with our
partners in the region to get North Korea to come back to the talks and to
be prepared to move forward in a serious way. We've had ongoing discussions
with our partners on those matters about how to get North Korea back to the
talks, and that's where our focus remains. I think you heard from Secretary
Rice earlier this week -- we have a robust deterrent capability and
everybody needs to remember that, too. Q Say it again. MR. McCLELLAN: We
have a robust deterrent capability and no one should mistake what our
capability is. But we're working to try to get North Korea back to the
six-party talks and we're in close consultation with our partners about
that, because the six-party talks is the way to resolve this issue and
realize the goal of a nuclear-free peninsula. Q Scott, by saying that you
-- that we share concerns of neighbors in the region about North Korea, are
you confirming that they're ready to conduct a test -- MR. McCLELLAN: I'm
not getting into discussing intelligence matters, but I think one thing the
President talked about with President Hu the other day was North Korea's
unwillingness to come back to the six-party talks. They had said long ago
that they wanted to work through the six-party talks, and now they've been
unwilling to come back to those talks. And that's a concern I think that
parties in the region have because we believe the six-party talks are the
way to resolve this and achieve a diplomatic solution, which is what we all
want. Q When you say you have a robust deterrent capability, is that just
to remind North Korea that -- MR. McCLELLAN: I just point out that -- what
Secretary Rice had said the other day. Q That they should be forewarned?
MR. McCLELLAN: Well, that we have a strong deterrent capability. Q Has the
President made any calls on this today? MR. McCLELLAN: And the President
also talked about the importance of moving forward on missile defense in
his press conference. And it's another reason why that's so important. Q
Has the President made any calls on this today? MR. McCLELLAN: Thank you.
END 4:47 P.M. (Local)
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