For Immediate Release
Office of the Press Secretary
June 28, 2002
Press Briefing by Ari Fleischer
James S. Brady Briefing Room
12:47 P.M. EDT
MR. FLEISCHER: Good afternoon. Let me give you a summary of the
President's day, then I have a brief statement I'd like to make, and
then I'd be happy to take your questions.
The President began this morning with his briefing from the CIA,
followed by a briefing from the FBI. Then he convened a meeting of the
National Security Council. The President has just concluded his
remarks at the Friends of Connie Morella for Congress luncheon. And
the President will depart for Camp David later this afternoon.
I do want to note that as the Congress leaves for its July 4th
recess, the President believes that this week particularly was a week
of accomplishment for the American people. The House of
Representatives passed the trade promotion authority legislation, which
enhances the likelihood of a conference agreement. That's something
the President will work for, because he believes trade is important to
creating jobs.
The House also passed an exciting new law, or new bill, providing
for prescription drug coverage for America's seniors, something the
President thinks is long overdue. He's very pleased that the House has
taken this action. The House of Representatives has also put our
nation's defense first, and they have passed the defense appropriations
bill, as well as the military construction bill. The President is
pleased to see action on this. He hopes the Senate will follow.
And the President also wants to note an important Supreme Court
case this week dealing with providing more educational choices for our
nation's schoolchildren. As the President said, the Supreme Court
decision was a landmark ruling, a victory for parents and children
throughout America. By upholding the constitutionality of Cleveland's
school choice program, the Supreme Court has offered the hope of an
excellent education to parents and children throughout our country.
And the President said, this decision clears the way for other
innovative school choice programs, so that no child in America will be
left behind.
The President is pleased with this week of accomplishment in the
Congress, looks forward to more successful work when Congress returns
in August, as many items are now pending in conference committees.
With that, I'm happy to take your questions. Ron.
Q Ari, have you, or to your knowledge, the President, been
involved in any meetings to talk about the possible political
ramifications of the Worldcom and Enron cases?
MR. FLEISCHER: No. And, Ron, I was with the President when the
President discussed the Worldcom case, when it was in the papers in
Canada. And I can tell you, the President was just outraged. The
President read about it, he talked to us about it, and that's why the
President went out and spoke about it as strongly as he did.
Q But were you, or to your knowledge the President, involved in
any meetings that talked about the political ramifications of the
case?
MR. FLEISCHER: No. And I can tell you, the President's focus is
on solving problems. That's why he has spoken out about this as long
as he has, as repeatedly as he has, going back months.
Q So you haven't been involved in any meetings that talked about
the political --
MR. FLEISCHER: No. Haven't.
Q But certainly, a continued lack of confidence in the economy,
and possibly even another dip or at least continued slowdown would
likely hurt him in the fall, wouldn't it?
MR. FLEISCHER: These are not the issues the President is focused
on. I mean, some in Washington may want to focus on the politics of
this. The President is focused on people's jobs, and the fact that
corporations have a responsibility to be above board, to honor the call
of ethics and high ethics. And just as the President calls on all in
our society to honor their role in the responsibility era, the
President calls on corporate America to do the same thing. That's his
focus.
Q Ari, when you say you have not attended any of these meetings,
you're not saying that you don't know of any such meetings, are you?
MR. FLEISCHER: No, Ron's question was have I attended or have any
knowledge of them, and I don't.
Q So, so far as you know, nobody in the White House is
discussing the politics of the fallout?
MR. FLEISCHER: I have no idea. I mean, its politics can get
discussed. Politics -- I don't rule out politics get discussed. I
can tell you, though, what the President is focused on is helping
America to know that corporations are above board in their reporting of
their numbers, so that investors and employees have confidence in a
system, a free enterprise system that has worked well for our country.
Q How can they know that, when everything's falling apart?
Really. They're falling like tenpins, one corporation after another.
So why should they have confidence?
MR. FLEISCHER: And that's why the President feels so strongly
about it, Helen. And that's why he speaks out.
Q Well, what's he going to do about it?
MR. FLEISCHER: Well, I'm glad you asked me that question. The
President has already made several proposals which are working their
way through the system, which would address this directly. And two of
the most important provisions in there -- and the President's radio
address this weekend will be about this -- are that if any corporate
leaders have stock options and report profits, and have their own
personal gains as a result of these inflated, phony numbers, the
Securities and Exchange Commission has the authority to get the money
back, because it should not belong to these people in the first place.
And so they have actively been going after these corporate leaders,
not only to get the money back and make them lose these ill-gotten
profits. But, as well, people who abuse the public trust should no
longer be in the position to hold any public trust and they would be
banned from serving on corporate boards or board of directors. And let
me give you some numbers. In this fiscal year, the Security Exchange
Commission has sought to bar 54 officers and directors. That is more
than was sought during all of last year, and it's a 40-percent increase
in the number of people who were acted against in the year 2000, in the
full year.
So this fiscal year is not even over yet, and the number of people
the Security and Exchange Commission is going after to bar is way up.
Q Barred from what?
Q Barred from serving --
MR. FLEISCHER: Barred from serving as officers and directors.
Kelly.
Q Ari, as you know, some Democrats say those measures don't go
far enough, that it relies a little bit on self-policing. Case in
point: those measures, would they have prevented Worldcom from
potentially misaccounting for $3.8 billion? Just that, in and of
itself, affected shareholders, not whether these officers have stock
options connected to those profits. How would the President's
proposals prevent a company from "cooking the books"?
MR. FLEISCHER: Well, one of the things that Congress can do is
pass the President's request -- there's money in the supplemental
right now for $20 million for the Security and Exchange Commission to
have another 100 enforcers of the law. And that's something the
President has worked with Congress on. It's in the supplemental that's
pending in the Congress, and that's action that can be taken so the
Security and Exchange Commission has even more resources to go after
these bad apples. And the President supports that funding; he hopes
Congress will be able to pass it.
And let me walk you through several of the President's other
proposals on corporate responsibility --
Q Can I just interrupt a minute?
MR. FLEISCHER: Go ahead, Helen.
Q When did the President first become aware of this tremendous
abuses?
MR. FLEISCHER: The President made these proposals back in March,
and this is something, as you know from being on the trail with the
President, you hear him talk about it very often.
Let me walk you through some of the President's specific proposals
dealing with how to clean up corporate America and make certain that
their actions are above board and the shareholders, investors and the
public have confidence in the information they're receiving.
Q Ari, these are from the 10-point plan?
MR. FLEISCHER: That's right, these are some proposals the
President made earlier, way before Worldcom, because the President
recognized the need for better enforcement to take action to make
certain that corporate books are honest, open and accurate.
And here's the President's proposals. The President believes that
investors should have quarterly access to information needed to judge
financial performance, conditions and risks. That CEOs need to
personally vouch for the veracity, timeliness and fairness of the
company's public disclosures, including their financial statements.
And on that point I want to note that the Security and Exchange
Commission just yesterday ordered CEOS and CFOs of the thousand largest
public companies to certify that the financial information they
submitted last year was fair and accurate. So they're going to make
them go back and show that it's accurate, which is a helpful step to
promote consumer and investor confidence.
The President also believes, as I indicated earlier, that CEOs and
officers should not be allowed to profit from erroneous financial
statements; that if they receive any bonuses or any stock options,
incentive-based forms of compensation that were based on phony, pumped
up, fraudulent numbers, they need to give the money back. And the SEC
has been taking action on this. That's called disgorging the profits.
And finally, as I indicated earlier, CEOs and officers who clearly
abuse their power should lose their right to serve in any corporate
leadership position.
Kelly, go ahead.
Q Does the President believe that if people are found to be
"cooking the books," that they should go to jail?
MR. FLEISCHER: Absolutely. Absolutely. All determined by the
Department of Justice in accordance with the laws. And what you're
seeing in the case of Enron, in the case of Arthur Andersen, is
vigorous enforcement of the laws.
Ron.
Q The President said today that the Justice Department will hold
people accountable. Was he confirming that the Justice Department is
looking into the Worldcom case? And separately, can you confirm what's
been in the papers today, that you're looking at even more initiatives
for July on this?
MR. FLEISCHER: Ron, I will always allow the law enforcement
agencies to describe their own law enforcement actions. I don't think
the White House should get into the specifics of a law enforcement
action. That's for the individual agency to detail.
The President will be giving a speech on July 12th in New York City
about corporate governance again. The President spoke about it today
at his luncheon, and as those of you who traveled with the President,
you've heard him talk about it on a repeated basis. He will continue
to say it, because he thinks it's important to hold corporate America
responsible.
Having said that, what I want to emphasize is the President has
tremendous faith in our free enterprise system. The President believes
that America's free enterprise system is a system that has done very
well for the American people; it's led to much comfort; it's led to a
strong way of life for the American people; and that if there are any
bad apples, those bad apples need to be targeted, the light shown, and
they need to get after --
Q Let me follow up real quickly. You said July 12th -- are
you sure it's not July 9th --
MR. FLEISCHER: July 9th? I'm sorry, July 9th. Thank you for the
correction.
Q When the President made these proposals it appeared that Enron
was an isolated case. Now we know that's not the case. So hasn't he
changed his opinion at all about what needs to be done, including
perhaps more sweeping changes at the SEC or anything --
MR. FLEISCHER: As to when the President made these proposals, he
made them because he thought these were the right proposals for all
corporate America to protect investors and shareholders and the
public. So it was aimed more broadly.
Steve.
Q What's the President's position on the Sarbanes legislation,
which seems to be gaining ground in the Senate?
MR. FLEISCHER: The President shares the goal of the Sarbanes
bill. He believes that we need more disclosure, we need better
information, increased corporate responsibility and a crackdown on
corporate wrongdoing. He's pleased that Senator Sarbanes' bill calls
for stepped-up enforcement by the SEC. And we do have some concerns
that the Sarbanes' bill doesn't give the President -- doesn't give
the SEC administrative authority to ban officers and directors from
serving on those positions if they're involved in wrongdoing. The
President wants the SEC to be able to do that administratively, so that
way it can be done quickly and fast, and done where the case is
deserving.
On the accounting board, we think that Chairman Pitt has laid it
out in a good approach that would be speedier and more effective in
creating greater accountability.
We'll continue to work with the Congress on this. The measure that
passed the House that the President proposed passed by an overwhelming
bipartisan vote of 334 to 90. So there clearly is bipartisan support
for the President's approach.
John. Then I want to keep moving to the second row.
Q Ari, there are those who have said for some years now that if
you rob a bank and are caught, you go to jail for a long time. If
you're a corporate officer who's guilty of fraud or juggling the books
in some way, you -- or misrepresenting the accounting, you go to jail
for a short period of time, you get a fine and you go back and you're
still a zillionaire. Does the President feel that way at all? Does he
feel that the sentencing is out of kilter?
MR. FLEISCHER: Well, I think there are some severe sentences that
are available under the law, and this is why the Department of Justice
makes individual decisions based on the facts before them on every
individual case. And what the President has said is the law needs to
be fully enforced and enforced vigorously. And that's how his approach
is.
Q But does he feel there need to be tougher sentences, as well
as more of these people going to jail?
MR. FLEISCHER: The President believes that the laws need to be
enforced vigorously, and that involves putting people in jail.
Q Ari, besides giving the speech tomorrow and giving a speech in
New York on July 9th, the President has the bully pulpit and he has
convened many conferences already in the White House about different
issues. There is a crisis of confidence out there. Will he convene a
White House conference on this issue?
MR. FLEISCHER: The President will continue to talk to the American
people and to corporate leaders. I can tell you, there was a meeting
the President had earlier this month with corporate leaders to discuss
getting them involved in Freedom Corps, having people who are involved
in corporate America give their employees time to sign up for
charitable work. And during that meeting -- it was an unrelated
topic -- during that meeting the President called on these leading
business leaders to exercise corporate responsibility, to make certain
that their books were open and transparent and accurate, to make
certain that their compensation packages were reasonable for the
times. So this is a message that the President brings up in public, he
brings up in private, and he'll continue to bring it up.
Q How about focusing on it at a White House conference?
MR. FLEISCHER: I think you'll hear a lot from the President
directly when he goes to Wall Street and talks about it in less than
two weeks' time.
Keith.
Q One clarification. When you said the accounting board that
the chairman laid out, that the President supports, you meant Chairman
Pitt, not Chairman Sarbanes, correct?
MR. FLEISCHER: That's correct, Chairman Pitt.
Q And what's the state of play on the debt limit?
MR. FLEISCHER: The White House has not yet received the debt limit
bill. It remains possible that it will be received today prior to the
President's departure. We'll keep you posted. As soon as the
President receives it, he intends to sign it.
Finley.
Q Ari, what's the scoop behind General Downing's departure? And
to what extent does this signal policy differences over the next phase
of the war on terrorism?
MR. FLEISCHER: There's nothing to that, in terms of signal of the
next phase of the war on terrorism. General Downing accomplished what
he set out to do when he was brought back to government service, and he
has decided that he wants to return to private life. And the President
has been very gratified by the good job that he did here, and he once
again has answered the call to service that the nation asked him to
do.
Q -- was identified with a particular approach to the next
phase involving Iraq. Are you saying that that had nothing to do at
all --
MR. FLEISCHER: That's correct. His departure was not
issue-based. His departure was based on the fact that he was able to
accomplish what he set out to do with the creation of the office which
he held. And he has been basically commuting from his home in
Colorado. And so I think that he's made, again, career sacrifices for
America. He's made an additional sacrifice, as a retired four-star
general, to come back in and do what he has done to help create the
office and get it started.
Goyal.
Q Ari, about a dozen Pakistani soldiers died fighting with al
Qaedas on the border. And if the President is ready to send the U.S.
forces inside Pakistan to find all those al Qaedas, including maybe,
possibly, Osama bin Laden inside Pakistan? Because that was the
request from Pakistan earlier, to help on the border, their soldiers.
And also, if the President has any comments on the Newsweek
interview with General Musharraf the other day, that he said he never
told Secretary Rumsfeld and Deputy Secretary Armitage that infiltration
into India's border will be permanent?
Q One, Goyal, the President believes that President Musharraf
has been doing an excellent job in fighting the war on terrorism. The
Afghani-Pakistan border is a very difficult border to patrol, and he
believes that Pakistan has committed itself and is doing a strong job
of taking action against al Qaeda within Pakistan's borders, as well as
on the border area. So the President is very pleased with the actions
of President Musharraf and the Pakistani leadership.
Vis-a-vis India-Pakistan, the President remains pleased with the
amount of diminution in the tensions that were present in the region
just weeks ago. It remains an issue that the President is going to
continue to monitor. It remains that the administration at all levels
continues to work very hard, because it is volatile, it's important,
but it is certainly far less tense now than it was just recently.
Q Can I follow one more? If the President has any comments or
worried about the Russian and Chinese military to military deals,
including submarines and other -- Russia is selling to China?
MR. FLEISCHER: Do you have a specific military -- you need to
give me a specific military --
Q This week Russia is selling six more submarines.
MR. FLEISCHER: I don't have anything specific on that.
Q Well, in general?
MR. FLEISCHER: I don't have anything specific.
Q Is he --
MR. FLEISCHER: I'd have to take a look at the exact
circumstances.
Q Aside from the speech that the President is going to be giving
on corporate responsibility, his overall message, and aside from the
10-point plan which he already has proposed, does the President feel
there are additional measures that need to be taken? Are you all
considering anything else that's more than just message?
MR. FLEISCHER: I would invite you again to the President's speech
and I think you'll hear from the President directly about what he
thinks needs to be done, including whether anything additional. But
one important starting place for additional activity to be done that
goes beyond what the President has already called for is Congress to
pass the supplemental, which provides for 100 more enforcement agents
for the Security and Exchange Commission. It's one more good reason
for Congress to pass that bill and get it to the President. It's
called an emergency bill for a reason, and the fiscal year is almost
over. Congress needs to pass that bill.
Go ahead, Francine, follow up. And then Paula.
Q Can you just respond to the criticism that the White House
kind of just let these 10 points lie low, quietly, until it was
reminded again by Worldcom that this is a big problem that we need to
pay attention to?
MR. FLEISCHER: If it lied low quietly, then why did the House pass
it by such a huge overwhelming vote before Worldcom took place?
Paula.
Q Along the line of Francine's question, when the President is
in Wall Street, one of the areas the SEC has received criticism in is
its conflict rules with respect to Wall Street analysts
when they hype
stocks that they publicly -- Is that possibly an area that the White
House thinks the SEC should revisit?
MR. FLEISCHER: I'm not going to get into any guess work about what
may or may not be in the President's speech. Suffice it to say that
the areas that the President is going to focus on, as he already has,
is transparency, accuracy, accountability, and high sense of ethics.
And I think you'll continue to hear that message from the President,
and I'm not going to get into any potential specifics.
Q You won't rule out conflict rules might be --
MR. FLEISCHER: I'm just not going to speculate about what may or
may not be in.
Q Ari, the President, as you told us this morning, is going to
be focusing on the compassionate conservative agenda in speeches on
Monday and Tuesday.
MR. FLEISCHER: That's correct.
Q When it comes to welfare reform, and the faith-based and those
other items that he'll be talking about, is the President's message
resonating on the Hill? Particularly in the Senate, given where we
stand on the congressional calendar right now?
MR. FLEISCHER: Well, I think the President's message is certainly
resonating in the House. The President's agenda on faith-based
initiatives has already been passed by the House. And it remains to be
seen what will happen in the Senate.
The Senate Finance Committee has passed some helpful steps
involving faith-based programs. On welfare, on the other hand, the
Senate has taken steps that move in the opposite direction of moving
people from welfare to work. And so the President will, as always,
continue to work with the Congress.
I think what -- looking broadly at August, Congress is about to
leave for July 4th. And I think -- it remains to be seen about
whether this will be a summer of productivity in the Congress when all
is said and done, or a summer of inaction. There are many important
issues that are currently pending in the Congress between the House and
the Senate, that the American people are looking to the Congress and to
people in Washington to work together to get resolved.
That includes a patients' bill of rights, something the President
cares very deeply about, that he would like to get passed and enacted
into law. Energy legislation, to make the country more energy
independent; that, too, is caught right now between a House and Senate
conference committee. Faith-based legislation. A ban on cloning.
Trade promotion authority. Terrorism insurance. These are all
important issues that are pending in the Congress.
There is a good possibility that this will be a summer of
productivity in the Congress. Certainly this last week in the House of
Representatives is an encouraging sign, heading into the final month of
the summer. But it will remain to be seen. The President's going to
do his part, though, to bring people together and to get it done.
I've been here a long time in Washington. I've seen, even in
election years, very explosive, productive summers by the Congress.
And the President will be curious to see which one it is this summer.
He wants it to be a summer of productivity.
Q Ari, do you have any response to the letter from the Worldcom
CEO stating that he was "surprised and outraged" at the accounting
irregularities? Is there any White House response to that?
MR. FLEISCHER: The response is just what the President indicated
today at his lunch. The President believes that corporate leaders have
a responsibility to be aboveboard and transparent, and that if there
are any violations that took place they will be fully prosecuted. So
these issues involving Worldcom are going to be in the hands of the
investigatory agencies, properly so, that's where they belong.
Q Are you confirming, Ari, that he did receive and see that
letter, though?
MR. FLEISCHER: The President has not seen it. The letter just
arrived, and the President has not seen it. He was away from the White
House at the event, as you know.
Campbell.
Q Ari, in the past, July 4th has been a kind of target date for
terrorists planning attacks. Does the White House have any information
about an increase in threats surrounding this coming July 4th, or are
there any plans to put the country on heightened alert, given the --
MR. FLEISCHER: Campbell, we remain a nation that is at war with
terrorists who want to bring harm to America. And there's nothing
immediate, a hard specific that I can point to, other than to say there
is still a generalized sense of awareness and level of awareness in the
country that there are terrorists who want to hit us. The President's
message to America is, have a wonderful, happy holiday, enjoy July 4th
season, enjoy the break and the vacation; but we are a nation at war
and people need to remember that.
I think all you need to do is look here in Washington, D.C., an
event that has historically been a wide-open event where people can
come and go as they please on the Mall to gather and, now, for the
first time since September 11th, there will be different procedures to
guarantee people's -- to help guarantee people's safety on the Mall.
It's a reflection of a nation that's dealing with a country that has
every meaningful expectation and right to celebrate while being
cautious.
Q So nothing specific, though, relating to this 4th of July?
MR. FLEISCHER: There's always a general level of awareness. Any
time Americans gather in large numbers, there is a sense of awareness
that terrorists who seek to do harm to our country look at events that
have large numbers. That's the general level of awareness I think
we've all recognized before at sporting events and other things of that
nature.
Ed, Sarah, and then we'll come to you, Les, and we'll come back
up. Ed.
Q Ari, given that Congresswoman Connie Morella votes perhaps
more often than any other House Republican against the President's
agenda, why did the President attend a fundraiser for her? Does it
reflect some concern that she's in danger of losing her seat?
MR. FLEISCHER: One, I'm not sure about the premise of your
question. It is very well possible there is some other Republicans who
vote even more against the President. But I think it just shows that
--
Q Who? (Laughter.)
MR. FLEISCHER: -- the Republican Party is a --
Q Name one.
MR. FLEISCHER: That's your question, Les. You're done.
(Laughter.) Thank you, Les.
Ed. I think it's just further evidence that the Republican Party
is a big tent and that the President is going to work hard to reelect
people who broadly support the Republican agenda, the compassionate
conservative agenda that the President has talked about, and who focus
on education, particularly an important issue for all Republicans. And
that's what you're seeing. The President will continue to work hard to
support people who support him.
Sarah.
Q Thank you, Ari. Defense Secretary Rumsfeld says the war
against terrorism is worldwide, and includes Hamas, Hezbollah, and
Islamic Jihad. How is the President going to combat those
organizations and stop them from conducting suicide attacks?
MR. FLEISCHER: Well, the war on terrorism, as the President has
said, is a war on many fronts. And those fronts include the financial
war, the diplomatic war, the political war, as well as the military
war. And in the case of those entities, there have been steps taken to
freeze their assets to prevent them from being able to fund terrorism.
And certainly the President's message about the Middle East involves
the Palestinian Authority and its support for terrorism, and that's
tied in many cases to some of these groups.
Les?
Q Ari?
MR. FLEISCHER: You have to stick to one question, because you've
already had one. Pick your two, and choose one, because you're only
going to have one.
Q Really --
MR. FLEISCHER: No, no, no.
Q -- you go away for a whole week. And it was two traffic
jams I went through. (Laughter.)
MR. FLEISCHER: You're about to go through a third. (Laughter.)
Q The New York Times reports meager harvests in Africa leave
millions at the edge of starvation, "including Zimbabwe, to whom
neighboring nations used to turn for help during food shortages. But
now Zimbabwe can barely help itself, let alone its neighbors, because
it, too, is facing famine." And my question: What is the President's
belief about Robert Mugabe's agricultural reverse apartheid in seizing
hundreds of farms because they're owned by white farmers? And why
didn't the President even bring this up, this destructive racism, at
the G-8 meeting?
MR. FLEISCHER: Well, as you know from the President's announcement
in Monterrey, Mexico, and to the announcement that was made this week
in Calgary, the President is focused, as well as the G-8 nations, on
bringing help to Africa. And the President believes very strongly that
the best way to help the people of Africa is by giving incentives for
the governments that are open, that are transparent, that follow the
rule of law. And those nations that do that will receive increased
aid, so that aid can actually get down to the people and make a
difference and help in their lives.
The case of Zimbabwe, Zimbabwe has moved in the wrong direction,
and particularly in terms of their election that they just held. And
so this is a very deeply seated belief with the President, that people
around the world deserve help from the United States. The President
has announced a Millennium Challenge Account to provide that funding,
but he wants to make sure that the funding is not a waste of money --
that not only loses money for the taxpayers but is harmful to people in
these nations if the
money ends up in the hands of corrupt governments.
And I promised --
Q That was an excellent answer. What --
MR. FLEISCHER: And I promised Helen -- you've had your two.
Helen has -- Helen has been patient.
Q No, no, no. I've been away for a week. Just one more.
MR. FLEISCHER: I haven't seen Helen since this morning. Helen.
(Laughter.)
Q I'll yield to Helen, but could you come back, Ari?
MR. FLEISCHER: Helen, do you accept his yield?
Q I want to know, would the President accept campaign
contributions from any of the companies that seem to be culpable? I
know they give to both parties, but the President himself? He's on
fundraisers every week, and I wondered whether these corporations,
would he accept their money if they were under a cloud?
MR. FLEISCHER: I think, as you know, the National Republican
Congressional Committee and the National Republican Senatorial
Committee announced yesterday they were giving back their money. And
the Republican National Committee is making a similar decision.
Q Could you reprise the administration's decision on the
international criminal court, the reasons why it's not interested in
being a party?
MR. FLEISCHER: The administration believes very strongly, as
you've seen in our actions with Slobodon Milosevic and with the war
criminals in the former Yugoslavia that the importance of prosecuting
people for human rights violations is they conducted a war against
their own people and the tribunal has been set up successfully so to
bring these former leaders -- would-be leaders to justice. And that
has worked and worked well on the basis it's been established.
The administration does have a very deep-seated concern about the
international criminal court as a separate entity, because that court
will have jurisdiction over people who are not even members signed up
to be under its jurisdiction. That would pose unacceptable risk to
American peacekeepers throughout the world, and that's why the
President does not support the international criminal court while, of
course, the United States does support and will continue to support the
creation of tribunals or judicial entities to bring war criminals to
justice, as we've proved in the case of Serbia and Milosevic and
others.
Q Ari, given the current firestorm over corporate fraud and
corporate responsibility, has either the President or the Vice
President gone back to make sure that the accounting practices at
Halliburton didn't violate any rules and didn't try to bend the rules?
As you know, the SEC is looking into Halliburton -- including the
period in which the Vice President was employed at Halliburton. Have
they gone back to double check to make sure nothing was wrong?
MR. FLEISCHER: Anything like that, I would refer you to
Halliburton. Halliburton can address those questions about any of
their records.
Q But has the White House tried to make sure -- has anybody
from the White House said, we want to make sure that nothing happened?
-
MR. FLEISCHER: Not to my knowledge. Not to my knowledge.
Thank you.
Q Do you have the week in advance, Ari?
MR. FLEISCHER: I did that this morning. Yes, the week ahead was
done this morning. We'll get you a copy of it.
END 1:16 P.M. EDT
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