For Immediate Release
Office of the Press Secretary
July 28, 2004
Press Gaggle by Trent Duffy
Crawford Middle School
Crawford, Texas
2:58 P.M. CDT
MR. DUFFY: Good afternoon. The President had his regular
intelligence briefings this morning, and was then briefed on the
progress being made on the recommendations of the 9/11 Commission.
President Bush's most solemn priority is the safety and security of the
American people, which is why he created this task force to analyze the
commission's recommendations. President Bush has made it clear that he
will waste no time in acting on those efforts that will make America
safer. The conference on the 9/11 Commission recommendations lasted
approximately 30 minutes, and the entire task force was represented,
including the Vice President.
The President then taped some new ads for his reelection campaign,
and for more details on that, I would refer you to the campaign
headquarters in Arlington.
Following that, he went mountain biking for roughly one hour and 19
minutes, according to the President, and the ride was for about 18
miles.
I have one international call to read out to you. The President
today spoke with Crown Prince Abdullah of Saudi Arabia for roughly 10
minutes. The President thanked the Crown Prince for meeting with
Secretary Powell today, and the two of them discussed the situation in
Iraq and Saudi Arabia's efforts to fight terrorism on its own soil.
With that, I'd be happy to answer any questions you might have.
Q Anything new, Trent, on the White House decision on extending
the life of the 9/11 Commission? We haven't really gotten a straight
answer on that.
MR. DUFFY: The President's main focus right now is on analyzing
the recommendations of the 9/11 Commission and taking those steps that
will make America safer. And that's where his focus is. The task
force continues to deliberate, not only the recommendations, but this
latest proposal. And I would refer you to the campaign, the
Bush-Cheney campaign for any reaction to Senator Kerry's potential
motivations for putting that proposal out there.
Q Is there any progress on those recommendations? And is there
a concern that, perhaps, those who are saying we should move quickly,
that perhaps it's moving too fast?
MR. DUFFY: There is progress being made on the recommendations.
This was the second conference that the President held with Secretary
Card. There are recommendations that have the potential to be put into
place quickly. And the President, as I said, would waste no time in
doing that. But these are very big issues. And the task force's job
is to analyze them, to deliberate them carefully, so that we seize the
opportunity to make those kind of changes, both in the short and
long-term, to make America safer and to make sure that the President
has the best intelligence that the community can offer.
Q Can you describe what that progress is, other than the second
meeting?
MR. DUFFY: No, just that there are further deliberations and they
are moving very quickly.
Q Has the President been watching the Democratic Convention?
And will he watch Edwards tonight and Kerry tomorrow night?
MR. DUFFY: Well, obviously, the President has a great stake in
this election, a personal stake, and he has been keeping an eye on it.
He has been monitoring closely, as you might imagine, the events in
Boston. But he knows that the American League East won't be decided
until September. (Laughter.)
Q Trent, in the phone call with the Crown Prince, did they
touch on the possibility of sending Muslim troops to Iraq?
MR. DUFFY: I just have what I read out to you, Olivier.
Q Claire told us over the weekend that the President brought
down the 9/11 report -- has he finished reading it?
MR. DUFFY: He's got it with him. He has been reading it as part
of the deliberations with the task force. He is continuing to consult
it.
Q You said he's "monitoring closely." Can you say whether he's
actually watched any of the convention on TV?
MR. DUFFY: He has watched some of it from time to time.
Q Trent, is it still likely that we could have a decision on
some of the 9/11 recommendations within days?
MR. DUFFY: I think that is accurate for some of the
recommendations. The commission is going through some very serious
deliberations on these very fundamental questions. We have an historic
opportunity to improve and make changes to our intelligence
capabilities as we fight this war on terror, and that's why they're
proceeding at an appropriate pace.
We want to move quickly, but we want to get it done right, and
that's why he has his top advisors going through all these
recommendations.
Q And how is this coordinating with the deliberations over
naming a permanent CIA Director?
MR. DUFFY: Well, that's obviously part of it. As you know, we
don't speculate on timing or other personnel decisions. But the
President has great confidence in Director McLaughlin. He is serving
the American people and the intelligence community and the President
very capably, and that will be part of the consideration as we move
forward.
Q What can you say about the violence today in Iraq? It was a
really bad day, the police recruit --
MR. DUFFY: Yes, this attack on the Iraqi people is a terrible
tragedy and the U.S. condemns this attack in the strongest terms. Our
thoughts and prayers are with the families of the victims. But this
underscores why the Iraqi people, with the help of the world, must and
will prevail over terrorism in Iraq. Despite this violence, it's clear
that the Iraqi people are seizing this historic opportunity to create a
more peaceful, prosperous and democratic society. The new Iraqi army
and police force are stepping up and providing for their own security.
NATO and the international community are extending aid. And the reason
there is such a united effort to prevail in Iraq is because the world
recognizes that a free and peaceful Iraq will make the world a safer
and better place.
Yes, James.
Q Trent, can you tell us what the state of the White House
thinking is on the possible creation of a National Intelligence
Director, or what kind of obstacles there might be to the creation of
such a post?
MR. DUFFY: I don't have anything further on the specific
recommendations of the 9/11 Commission. Obviously, that's a high
profile one and it's getting a lot of consideration and thought by the
President's task force, as well it should be.
Q And on a different subject, Iyad Allawi, in Lebanon the other
day, said that Iraq will not be establishing normalized relations with
Israel until all the other Arab nations do so. Is that something that
the United States government approves of?
MR. DUFFY: I don't have anything for you on that, James. I'd
refer you to the State Department for any immediate comment. I
suspect, generally, that it's up to Iraq to decide what kinds of
foreign relations it wants to have with other countries.
Jeff.
Q Trent, when do you expect to release your new budget deficit
numbers? The congressional numbers suggest that the deficit could be
$420 billion, which Gene Sperling says is a new record for fiscal
mismanagement and deficit spending.
MR. DUFFY: Well, let's remember what caused the deficit. The
economy and the recession took a great toll on federal revenues.
Obviously, the President's response to that recession was an aggressive
economic program based on tax relief. And then the terrorists hit us,
and that required some appropriate spending increases, not only to
fight the global war on terror, but to protect the homeland.
And those three factors combined have created the deficit. It is
still relatively small, given where we are as far as its relation to
the economy, which is the appropriate measure. The administration is
working on its mid-session budget review. We want to make sure we have
the most accurate data. One thing I can say is that the economy,
that's created 1.5 million jobs since August, is having an effect on
the Treasury, and we would expect that that will show itself in the new
budget projections.
But the President is on track to cut the deficit in half over the
next five years through a combination of continued economic growth, as
well as serious spending restraint.
Q Trent, when do you expect to release those numbers?
MR. DUFFY: You can talk with OMB for an exact date. I know
they're going through the final preparations now.
Q Trent, there are some who say the numbers have been delayed
in their release -- I guess they were due on the 15th -- so as not to
give the Democrats any more fodder during their convention.
MR. DUFFY: I think the Democrats have shown that they have lots of
fodder for their convention.
Q What does the President make of what he saw at the Democratic Convention?
MR. DUFFY: I'd just leave it where I did, Scott. He's watching
it. He's got an obvious interest in this election. He's said many
times that he's going to be campaigning aggressively, and he looks
forward to a good campaign.
Q A little bit every day?
MR. DUFFY: I'll just leave it at what I said.
Q Can I ask you, too, about Michael Moore, what the President
knows and what he thinks about the film tonight?
MR. DUFFY: I don't have anything on that.
Q How long did the ad taping go on for today?
MR. DUFFY: You can contact the campaign for those types of
details. I think -- I think, generally --
Q More than --
MR. DUFFY: Well, I'd have to get that for you, James. I just --
anything further?
Yes, Alicia.
Q Will there be a still photo release of the President's
videoconference with the task force today?
MR. DUFFY: I don't have anything on that, but I can ask.
Q Do you know if the President is even aware of the fact that
this movie is going to be shown in Crawford tonight?
MR. DUFFY: I don't have anything for you on that, Maura.
Okay, thank you.
END 3:06 P.M. CDT
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