For Immediate Release
Office of the Press Secretary
August 26, 2003
Press Gaggle by Claire Buchan
Aboard Air Force One
En Route Minneapolis, Minnesota
10:38 A.M. CDT
MS. BUCHAN: Good morning. Let me start by going over the
President's day for you. At the ranch this morning, before he departed, the
President had his regular intelligence briefings. On board the
plane this morning, the President called the Prime Minister of India,
Vajpayee, to offer him condolences on behalf of the American people
for the attacks yesterday. The President told the Prime Minister
that India has no stronger friend than the United States in combating
terrorism, and he offered assistance to the Prime Minister and to
the people of India.
The President, as you know, is en route to Minneapolis, where he
will be met by a Freedom Corps volunteer, actually two Freedom Corps volunteers, Edward and Jane Bardon. Edward Bardon began being
involved with the Peace Corps in 1963, when he was a professor at the
University of Minnesota, where he spent two-to-three months helping
to evaluate individuals, to determine whether they were fit to meet
the challenges that encounter Peace Corps volunteers. Following their retirement, of Edward and Jane, in 1995, they began
to pursue international volunteer service opportunities in both Russia
and Romania. And after learning that there is no age limit on
serving in the Peace Corps, Edward and Jane have both signed up to travel
to Turkmenistan next month as Peace Corps volunteers. They are -- by
the way, Edward is 70 and Jane is 68. And they will be working in the
area of health education. The President will then participate in a
Bush-Cheney 2004 fundraising luncheon.
Then he will travel to St. Louis, where he will be met by James Mareschal, who is a structural steel iron worker, who served in the
U.S. Army from 1961 to 1963. He is a member of the American Legion,
has been for the past 26 years. And for the past 10 years, he has
spent one Saturday every month delivering home-cooked meals to
patients in the spinal cord unit at the Jefferson Barracks
Hospital,
providing comfort and a friendly face to veterans with
disabilities.
He also has helped raise money for the substance abuse unit at the
Jefferson Barracks Hospital. He's involved in Boys State of
Missouri
and Boys and Girls Town of Missouri, and he is an honor guardsman
with
the Missouri Military Funeral Honors program at the Jefferson
Barracks
Hospital.
The President will then make remarks to the 85th Annual American
Legion convention, where he will talk about the resolve of the
United
States in fighting and winning the war on terrorism, the importance
of
that mission and how we are on the offensive and committed to
winning
that battle. He will then participate in a fundraiser for Senator
Kit
Bond and return to the ranch this evening.
Q How much?
MS. BUCHAN: One million dollars.
Q Which is --
MS. BUCHAN: The event for Senator Bond is expected to raise $1
million.
Q How about the fundraiser?
MS. BUCHAN: You would have to talk to the campaign about that.
Q Obviously, he offered assistance to the Prime Minister of India.
Did
the Prime Minister take him up on the offer, and what are we doing
for
them?
MS. BUCHAN: The President offered the assistance to the Prime
Minister, the Prime Minister thanked him for that offer.
Q Claire, I want to ask you one thing about the speech today. You
said
yesterday, Dr. Rice has said, that it's better to be fighting
terrorists overseas than in the United States. But is there any
evidence that by fighting them over there, that's keeping people
from
the United States? People have said that the war in Iraq has
spawned
more -- recruited more members for al Qaeda and other groups. So my
question is, is there any sign that by engaging in an offensive,
engaging in a war overseas, you are limiting terrorism in the
United
States?
MS. BUCHAN: What the President has said is that we will take the
battle to the terrorists, so that we don't fight that on our
shores.
And I think part of what you're seeing and what you've heard the
President talk about is that the terrorists are seeing the progress
that's being made, and that is making them more desperate. And you
are
seeing the true nature of the terrorists.
So we are on the offensive, and the President is resolved and
believes
that we cannot retreat in this battle; it is important for the
safety
and security of the American people, as well as for the world.
Q There's no evidence that the war in Iraq did anything to stop al
Qaeda from plotting terrorist attacks here in the U.S.
MS. BUCHAN: There's no question that Iraq was a threat to the
people
of the United States, to the region and to the world. And that
threat,
in the form of Saddam Hussein and his regime, is gone.
Q Does the administration have any response to the NASA report, the
report on the shuttle?
MS. BUCHAN: I expect you'll see a statement by the President
shortly.
Q On paper?
MS. BUCHAN: Yes.
Q There's a report this morning that says the administration is
leaning toward asking for a $3 billion supplemental between now and
the budget to help pay for -- on day-to-day activities in Iraq. Is
that going to -- is the administration doing that, are they
thinking
about doing that?
MS. BUCHAN: Well, the President has said that he will work with
Congress to ensure that we have the resources necessary to win that
battle and do what it takes to help the people of Iraq. And that's
what we're doing. So we're going to work with Congress, and we'll
be
talking with Ambassador Bremer. We'll work with Congress, we'll
talk
with Ambassador Bremer, and the President is committed to ensuring
that we have the resources necessary.
Q Is it possible that they might decide to ask for money before the
budget?
MS. BUCHAN: If there's something to announce, we'll certainly
announce
it. But the President has made clear that we will ensure that our
troops have the resources that they need and that the people on the
ground in Iraq have the resources necessary.
Q Have the commanders in Iraq asked for more troops?
MS. BUCHAN: Have they?
Q Have they asked for more?
MS. BUCHAN: I think you've heard General Myers talk about it. I
think
you've heard the commanders in the field talk about it. And I'll
leave
that to them. The President has, again, said that he will listen to
the military commanders on the ground and ensure that they have the
resources necessary.
Q But they haven't asked for more?
MS. BUCHAN: I think I'll let them speak for themselves. But
Secretary
Rumsfeld and General Myers have addressed that.
Q Does the administration have any comment about Arafat's new
efforts
to undermine Abbas?
MS. BUCHAN: Well, the way forward in Israel is -- and as part of
the
road map -- the security forces need to be consolidated under Prime
Minister Abbas and Minister Dahlen. That is the way forward, and
that
is important.
Q But apparently that's not happening. How do you respond to the --
what do you do to respond to the actions that have been taking
place
over the last couple days?
MS. BUCHAN: Clearly, by blocking the consolidation of the
Palestinian
security forces under Prime Minister Abbas, Yasser Arafat undercuts
the fight against the terrorism and further undermines the hopes of
the Palestinian people for peace and for a Palestinian state that
can
live side-by-side with Israel in peace and security.
Q There's a special envoy to the negotiating team for North Korea
who
has resigned. And there was some thought that -- some people were
saying that this means the administration's stance, posture in
going
into these talks tomorrow is in disarray, that they are confused,
that
they don't have it together.
MS. BUCHAN: Number one, I think the State Department addressed
yesterday the departure of this individual, and I would refer you
to
their comments yesterday and also to talk with them about specific
State Department personnel matters.
With regard to the talks in North Korea, I think -- we welcome the
multi-national talks. The President has always believed that this
is a
multi-national or a multi-lateral problem which requires a
multi-lateral solution. So we go into these discussions with great
seriousness of purpose and look forward to them.
Q One more time. We go into these discussions --
MS. BUCHAN: -- with great seriousness of purpose, and we look
forward
to the talks.
Q Any other travel the rest of the week?
MS. BUCHAN: Any travel the rest of the week? No, not that I'm aware
of.
Q When will the week end? Is there a firm return date?
MS. BUCHAN: We'll let you know what the exact timing is on the
departure, the return to Washington.
END
10:47 A.M. CDT
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