For Immediate Release
June 26, 2004
Press Gaggle By Claire Buchan
Crawford Middle School, Crawford, Texas
1:47 P.M. CDT
MS. BUCHAN: Okay, happy to take your questions. No opening.
Yes.
Q Does the United States agree with the European Union that
the United States should put sanctions on Sudan, if Sudan doesn't do
more to end the conflict in Darfur?
MS. BUCHAN: Ending the violence in Darfur is one of the
President's highest priorities. The President has called on the
government of Sudan to stop the Jinjaweed violence and he has called on
all sides to respect the cease-fire, to allow humanitarian assistance
to flow readily. As you know, Secretary Powell has been to Sudan, and
he has impressed upon the parties the importance of acting on these --
the specific steps that he has laid out.
We are closely monitoring the government of Sudan's response.
There have been some improvements. But the picture is mixed, and we
believe that more needs to be done on the security front and we're
continuing to monitor that.
Q Claire, what was the purpose of the meeting at the White
House this morning with Mueller, Ridge, Ashcroft and Dr. Rice?
MS. BUCHAN: Norah, this morning, following the President's
National Security Council meeting, he received an update from Secretary
Card and the group that he has charged with reviewing the 9/11
Commission reports -- I'm sorry, recommendations. So that was the
purpose of that meeting. The President participated in that by secure
videoconference.
Q Were any decisions made today?
MS. BUCHAN: They were not made today. The President charged the
group with reviewing the recommendations and impressed upon them the
importance of acting quickly. The President believes that the 9/11
Commission has done some important work and he greatly appreciates
their efforts, and the recommendations that they've put forward.
The President favors reform. And he wants a rapid review of the
recommendations, so that if we can do anything to make America safer,
the President wants to be acting on that as quickly as possible.
Q Should we expect action this week?
MS. BUCHAN: Well, the President has asked the group to fast-track
their review and the implementation of the recommendations. And to the
extent that there are some recommendations that could be acted on
sooner rather than later, the President could certainly act within days
on some, obviously longer on others.
Just to give you a sense, over the weekend the President was in
touch with Secretary Card and with other staff about the 9/11
Commission report and recommendations. He, I think, will continue to
get updates throughout the week from Secretary Card and others. Dr.
Rice is arriving this afternoon. Staff over the weekend worked through
some of the recommendations, looking at those recommendations that the
President could act on with executive authority, as opposed to those
that would need congressional approval. So they're going to continue
-- at a staff level, to continue to look through them, also, over the
weekend.
Q Claire, are you able to give us an example of some of the
actions the President might take or could take because of his executive
authority?
MS. BUCHAN: I'm not going to go through the recommendations one by
one. The staff is in the process of reviewing those, and we'll let the
review take place.
Q Is it safe to assume that the NID is not something that can
be fast-tracked?
MS. BUCHAN: That the what?
Q The proposal for a national intelligence director is not
one of the ideas that could be fast-tracked?
MS. BUCHAN: That is one of the recommendations that the commission
has put forward, and it's a recommendation that the President takes
seriously. It is a serious recommendation by the commission. The
President wants that thoroughly reviewed. And the President's goal is
to make sure that we have the best intelligence possible to protect the
country. He has laid out three principles for reform, including
improving human intelligence, improving the use of technology in
intelligence gathering, and improving the coordination among
intelligence agencies. And the President will be viewing the
recommendations in light of those principles that he has laid out. And
certainly the Director of National Intelligence is one of the
recommendations that will receive very careful consideration.
Q Back to Mark's question, should we expect any announcements
yet this week while we're in Texas here? As best you know?
MS. BUCHAN: We'll keep you posted. The review has begun. It's
underway and the President wants it fast-tracked. He has charged
Secretary Card and others with putting forth the options as quickly as
possible, and to doing so on an accelerated basis. So we'll keep you
posted if there are developments.
Q Does the President have any other scheduled teleconferences
or meetings specifically for those recommendations the rest of the
week? And, if not -- that he's involved in, or that his team is
involved in?
MS. BUCHAN: Well, I expect the President will continue to get
daily updates, both from Secretary Card and from Dr. Rice while she's
down here, as well as from other staff. We'll try and keep you posted,
if we can, on the format that those will take. But I expect him to be
in daily contact with Secretary Card and, likewise, I expect that
Secretary Card will be in daily contact with others on the team who are
undertaking the review. And that could take a variety of formats,
whether it be by phone or by videoconference.
Q Who exactly is on the task force?
MS. BUCHAN: The people who participated today -- the Chief of
Staff, the Vice President, Secretaries Rumsfeld and Ridge, General
Ashcroft, Director Bolten, Secretary Armitage, Director Mueller,
Harriet Miers, Dr. Rice, Fran Townsend and Steve Hadley. *(also
participating were Judge Gonzales and Acting Director John McLaughlin
Q The Kerry campaign has already done a review of the 41
recommendations that were in the report and they said that their
analysis is that 25 of them could be enacted solely by presidential
action. Is that an analysis that the White House hasn't completed
yet?
MS. BUCHAN: As I said, the staff is and has been reviewing the
recommendations to determine those that can be done with executive
authority and those that would need congressional authority. And I
would remind you that the President has already taken a number of
actions to make America safer post-9/11. We have established the
Terrorist Threat Integration Center, we have enacted a number of steps
to increase our biosecurity, we've undertaken the most sweeping reform
of government in 50 years with the establishment of the Department of
Homeland Security. So we have done a tremendous amount to make the
country safer and the President agrees with the Commission that we are
safe -- I'm sorry, that we are safer, but that we are not safe and that
there is more to do.
Q Has the President read the Commission report?
MS. BUCHAN: The President is reading the Commission report. He
brought it with him on the trips on Thursday and Friday. He has it
down here with him, and he has been reading it. He is finding it
interesting, and he agrees with the commission that we are safer, but
not safe, and that there is more to do.
Q The videoconference meeting this morning, how long did that
take?
MS. BUCHAN: I don't have the specifics on the time.
Q But is it safe to say that the President was on
videoconference, and all of the rest of the participants were in the
White House? Or where were they?
MS. BUCHAN: That wouldn't necessarily be the case, they wouldn't
have to be. Some of them could well have been elsewhere. I don't
know, specifically, if there were others participating from there
agencies. They could have been.
Q Has the President been in touch with members of Congress at
all on their hearings, and stuff? Or has he had any communications on
these --
MS. BUCHAN: I don't know, Roger. I'll see if I can get you more
on that. He had some members, I believe, traveling with him, or that
he saw at his events at the end of the week, and they may well have
discussed it, but I don't have any specifics for you.
Q Claire, two clarifications, and then a real, full-borne
question. Was this videoconference meeting on the report and its
recommendations separate from a National Security Council
videoconference?
MS. BUCHAN: Yes.
Q Or they were one and the same meeting?
MS. BUCHAN: Separate. One followed the other.
Q Okay.
MS. BUCHAN: Some different people in the second.
Q Second clarification is, I'm not sure I got the answer to
Caren's question, which was, we know that it's a serious proposal that
there be a national intelligence director, and we know the President is
considering it seriously. But is that considered one of those
proposals that could be enacted without congressional approval or not?
MS. BUCHAN: Well, I think they're continuing to do that review,
James, in terms of making determinations as to which could be done with
executive authority and which would need congressional authority. I
think, as it would be structured in the 9/11 Commission report, my
guess is that that would be one, since it would require Senate
confirmation, I don't know if that's something the President can do on
his own or not.
Q And my full-blown question, a different subject, is, Ayad
Allawi, on his trip to Lebanon, was quoted as saying that Iraq would
not seek to establish normalized relations with Israel until the
Israeli-Palestinian question was fully resolved and until all other
Arab nations, in fact, established normalized relations with Israel.
Is that something that the United States encouraged?
MS. BUCHAN: You know, James, let me get back to you on that. I
don't have answer for you.
Q Claire, should we expect the President to watch any of the
convention tonight -- getting popcorn ready? (Laughter.)
MS. BUCHAN: We'll see if we can keep you posted. You know he is
an observer of the political process, and he's got a stake in this
one. So I expect he'll at least keep an eye on it in some form. But
we'll keep you posted.
Q Two things. Is Dr. Rice here primarily to work with him on
the 9/11 report recommendations?
MS. BUCHAN: Well, there's always someone from the National
Security Council here with him. So that will certainly be one of the
things that she will be working with the President on while she's here,
but not exclusively.
Q With the Democratic Convention opening later today, what is
the latest on the terrorist threat? Is there any update on the
terrorist threat level or --
MS. BUCHAN: I don't have any more specifics beyond what we have
already put out.
Q Is it possible the White House would release a photo of the
teleconference, of Bush participating in the teleconference this
morning?
MS. BUCHAN: Yes, I think that's actually likely.
Q Claire, what has the President been doing today?
MS. BUCHAN: He had his regular intelligence briefings. He
participated in a National Security Council meeting. He then received
this update from Secretary Card and the team reviewing the 9/11
recommendations, did a little bit of bike riding.
Q Claire, how do you respond to the criticism that if the
President makes this announcement this week --
MS. BUCHAN: That what?
Q How do you respond to the criticism that the President may
be planning to make this announcement about things he can do without
congressional approval as a means to upstage the Democrats at their
convention?
MS. BUCHAN: I guess I would respond by saying that the President
thinks that his most important obligation is to protect the American
people. He is committed to reform and to making any improvements that
would make us safer. And he will be governed by doing what's best and
doing what's right and by acting as quickly as possible. If there is
something we can do to protect the American people, the President isn't
going to wait.
Q Do you know if the President has spoken with Kean or
Hamilton since they came to the Oval Office?
MS. BUCHAN: I don't have any updates on that.
Q Claire, another point. By reiterating the President's
three principles through which he would review the recommendations, are
you suggesting that the President is unlikely to accept the
recommendations as they were written by the Commission and is more
likely, then, to come up with a series of his own proposals, simply
using that as advice?
MS. BUCHAN: I'm suggesting that he's laid out those principles
because he believes they are important guiding principles and that the
9/11 Commission has put together some very thoughtful recommendations.
The President appreciates those. And he is going to review them in the
context of the goals he has already laid out.
Q That sounds like he's inclined to edit the recommendations,
at least to some degree.
MS. BUCHAN: The President wants to review them and to do what's
best to make America safer, to do what's best to build on the reforms
that we've already undertaken in the area of intelligence. And he's
going to take each and every recommendation that the commission has put
forward seriously.
Q Claire, can you just help me out with today's meeting a
little bit more? What was the purpose of the meeting? Is it for them,
for the task force, to present the President with their recommendations
after reviewing the material this weekend? Have they come to the point
where they can present the President with recommendations? Or was it
just a discussion of what they have been discussing this weekend?
MS. BUCHAN: I'm not going to get too deeply into the specifics of
it. But they are continuing to review the recommendations, so they
were not giving him their recommendations on the recommendations, if
you will.
And the President talked with them, impressed upon them his view
that we need to take any action that makes sense, that could help make
America safer. The people in the intelligence community are doing good
work and the President respects that, and if there is more to do, the
President wants to do more. And he wanted to talk to this group today
to review their work over the weekend and also to talk about going
forward and his commitment to reform.
Q Claire, this is his first opportunity to speak to the
entire panel; is that right?
MS. BUCHAN: To the entire panel, but as I said, he's been talking
with staff over the weekend, he talked to Secretary Card over the
weekend. So, together, yes.
Q So did today's meeting formally inaugurate the processes,
then?
MS. BUCHAN: Well, the President charged Secretary Card with the
review on Friday, and I would say that was the beginning.
Q Are we to infer that his only telephone call in the past
several days has been to Lance Armstrong?
MS. BUCHAN: No.
Q Who else, then? (Laughter.)
MS. BUCHAN: He has not, that I'm aware of, made any calls to world
leaders, which are ones we typically read out. But, James, if you were
paying attention, you would have heard that he has been in touch with
Secretary Card, with other staff members, and others over the weekend,
as well.
Q Thank you. I try. (Laughter.)
Q Claire, are there any other family members joining the
President?
MS. BUCHAN: Mrs. Bush is here.
Q His daughters?
MS. BUCHAN: No.
Q Anybody from the campaign, Claire, down?
MS. BUCHAN: I think he may at some point have -- be in touch with
folks from the campaign. We'll let you know if there's anything to
read out on that.
Q But by phone, not in person?
MS. BUCHAN: It may be a combination. We'll let you know if
there's anything.
Q The Kerry campaign is accusing the President of
flip-flopping in his reaction to the report, saying that initially
there was no time line given and the talk was of reviewing the
recommendations carefully, and now the talk is of fast-tracking and
moving swiftly.
MS. BUCHAN: I'll leave the politics to the campaign, but the
President has always been committed to reform and to reviewing the
recommendations carefully and thoroughly, and to doing whatever we can,
as soon as we can, to make America safer and to improve our
intelligence-gathering operations if there is more to be done.
Anything else?
Q Claire, when you say the situation in Darfur is improving,
what are you referring to specifically?
MS. BUCHAN: I think we've seen some positive steps. I believe
those relate to some of the steps that Secretary Powell has put
forward. But Secretary Powell has impressed upon them the importance
of improving the security situation. And that's an area that, I
believe, we have not seen the improvement that needs to happen there.
State may have more for you on that.
Okay, thank you all.
END 2:06 P.M. CDT
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