For Immediate Release
Office of the Press Secretary
November 21, 2003
Press Gaggle with Claire Buchan
Aboard Air Force One
En Route Sedgefield, England
11:13 A.M. (Local)
MS. BUCHAN: Let me go over the President's schedule. And then
I'll have a little bit more on the week ahead for next week, if you'll
kind of remind me here at the end.
The President, this morning, taped his radio address on Medicare.
He then participated in the Queen's official farewell. He will be --
when he gets to Sedgefield, be going to Myrobella House, which is the
Prime Minister and Mrs. Blair's home in Sedgefield. He will have tea
in their home. And then they will go to the Dun Cow Inn, which is a
local restaurant, where they'll have lunch with constituents of the
Prime Minister.
They will then go to Sedgefield Community College. Sedgefield
Community College is sort of the equivalent of a U.S. magnet school.
It has students aged about 11 to 18, and it's a sports specialist
school. They also have drama and music programs, and they've produce
four professional soccer players, members of the national ice skating
team, and badminton teams, and also a youth sailing champion. The
President will receive a briefing on their team-building exercises.
He'll also view a skills demonstration of soccer.
And then the President and Mrs. Bush will depart Sedgefield and
return to the White House this evening. I do expect the President
might be making some calls throughout the day, and we'll keep you
posted on those.
With that, I'll take your questions.
Q Has he called Erdogan?
MS. BUCHAN: He has not. I expect he will later today. We'll let
you know when he does.
Q What's the point of this visit to the school? What message
is he trying to send or pick up while he's there?
MS. BUCHAN: The President and the Prime Minister have many shared
values, including not only fighting the war on terrorism, but as you
saw yesterday, they had a roundtable on combating global AIDS, and
today they'll be highlighting the education initiative at Sedgefield
Community College. And the President looks forward to going to the
Prime Minister's home district to visit with his constituents and have
an opportunity to talk with some of them in the restaurant, as well as
see the students at the community college.
Q Is he going to make remarks at the community college then? I
mean, that will be the --
MS. BUCHAN: No, not remarks.
Q He'll make -- we're not going to hear from him, really, the
whole time?
MS. BUCHAN: I don't expect formal remarks of any --
Q What is the coverage of that? Pool?
MS. BUCHAN: There is pool coverage at the Dun Cow Inn, and there
is also some pool coverage I believe on the soccer demonstration field
at the community college.
Q Claire, some people are saying that, Bush came here and he's
asked a lot of Tony Blair, but he hasn't given much to Tony Blair. He
didn't give him anything on Guantanamo or steel tariffs. I mean, what
is Blair getting out of this visit, do you think? What is the White
House giving --
MS. BUCHAN: The President regards this trip as having been a
tremendous opportunity to highlight the alliance between the United
States and the United Kingdom. The President has described it as one
of the great alliances of mankind. And this was an opportunity for him
to highlight that, to meet with the Prime Minister and to talk about
their shared goals. The Prime Minister is a steadfast supporter of the
war on terror. And the two had a good opportunity to meet yesterday.
They talked about a broad variety of issues of interest to both of
them. And it was a very successful trip.
Q Did the President watch any of the coverage of the protests
last night?
MS. BUCHAN: Well, he had the reciprocal dinner for the Queen, so
I'm not aware if he was watching TV. I think he was pretty busy with
the dinner for the Queen.
Q How does he feel the white tie went down?
MS. BUCHAN: How does he feel the what?
Q The white tie and tails went down? I mean, there was some
worry, wasn't there, that he wouldn't look good in them, some talk
about whether he should wear them. What happened in the end?
MS. BUCHAN: I'm not aware of that. I know he rented them, and was
pleased to do so for the occasion.
Q Where did he rent it from?
MS. BUCHAN: I don't know the name of the store.
Q Did the Queen have any comment on the Tex-Mex dinner?
MS. BUCHAN: I think the Queen very much enjoyed herself. It was
an intimate dinner. And Andrew Lloyd Webber performed for them,
performed some pieces from his new play, and I think all the guests
enjoyed it very much.
Q Dr. Rice talked broadly about U.S. aid to Turkey yesterday --
anything they want type of thing. Do you see a specific offer of aid,
assistance, law enforcement, investigation?
MS. BUCHAN: Well, we'll keep you posted on this phone call. When
the President talked to the Prime Minister last week he expressed the
commitment of the United States to help Turkey.
Q Is it fair to say that the events in Turkey, although they
were horrible and plainly shocking to everyone concerned, actually
helped, in a sense, to solidify the visit and to bring the two men
together, because it was a way of them hitting home their main message,
that there is still a war going on on terrorism and that people have to
choose which side they're on?
MS. BUCHAN: Well, the President and the Prime Minister I think
made very clear that the acts yesterday in Turkey were acts of hatred
and acts of terrorism, and we deplore those acts. We are very resolved
to fight this war and we're united in our resolve.
Q Claire, is there any comment on the latest attacks in
Baghdad? The Palestine Hotel was attacked.
MS. BUCHAN: I don't have any updates on that.
Q Claire, sorry I missed at the beginning. What's he making
calls on?
MS. BUCHAN: We'll keep you posted. He will call Prime Minister
Erdogan later today. And if there are other phone calls, we'll keep
you posted on those, as well.
Q Is he doing anything on Medicare, calling anybody, working
that at all?
MS. BUCHAN: He may. If he does, we'll try and keep you posted.
Q So he hasn't --
MS. BUCHAN: Others have been very involved in making phone calls,
talking to members. The President has been being briefed, been asking
questions about the progress. And if he does make calls, I'll try and
keep you posted on that.
Q Did the steel tariffs issue come up yesterday when Bush and
Blair met? Did they talk about steel?
MS. BUCHAN: I believe the President said that the Prime Minister
raised it three times.
Q All right, is anything closer to happening on that?
MS. BUCHAN: The President said he has not made a decision.
Q Week ahead?
MS. BUCHAN: Okay. Actually, first, before we do week ahead, today
on Ask the White House, at 10:00 a.m. EST, we will have Ask the Turkey
Guy, who -- as a Thanksgiving treat, and Ask the Turkey Guy will be
able to talk about all the history behind the pardoning ceremonies of
the turkey and anything else you want to know. At 3:00 p.m. EST,
Secretary Veneman will also participate in Ask the White House. She
will be talking about her most recent trip to Iraq.
And on Monday, the President will pardon the aforementioned
national Thanksgiving turkey, which, by the way, on the website, the
contest continues for the naming. And right now, it's between "Stars
and Stripes" and "Pumpkin and Cranberry."
The President will then sign the National Defense Authorization Act
at the White House. He'll then travel to Fort Carson where he will
have lunch with soldiers, and he will also make remarks to soldiers and
families.
Q Fort Carson?
MS. BUCHAN: Fort Carson, Colorado. Fort Carson is -- there are
many troops at Fort Carson who are providing some of the critical work
in Iraq. And the President looks forward to going there to thank them
for their service and to express his appreciation for all that they're
doing in this war that has such high stakes.
Q Isn't it also where some of the soldiers who were downed in
the helicopters were from?
MS. BUCHAN: Yes.
Q Is he going to meet with the families?
MS. BUCHAN: Yes. He'll meet privately with families, as well,
while he's there.
Q Families of those victims?
MS. BUCHAN: Of fallen soldiers.
On Tuesday, he'll travel -- well, he'll remain overnight at the
ranch on Monday night. Tuesday, travel to Las Vegas, Nevada, where he
will make remarks on Medicare and medical liability. Then he'll attend
a Bush-Cheney 2004 luncheon. Then he'll travel to Phoenix, Arizona,
and participate in a conversation on Medicare, and then attend a
Bush-Cheney 2004 reception. He will then return to the ranch and -- to
celebrate the Thanksgiving holiday. And he will remain there through
the weekend.
Thank you.
END 11:24 A.M. (Local)
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