For Immediate Release
Office of the Press Secretary
March 27, 2002
President Discusses Campaign Finance Reform with Reporters
Remarks by the President to the Travel Pool
Main Firehouse
Greenville, South Carolina
10:10 A.M. EST
Q Good morning.
THE PRESIDENT: I'm looking forward to getting down to
Texas. But, first, I'm really looking forward to campaigning
here in South Carolina for Lindsey Graham. And I'm looking
forward to making some announcements about homeland security, both in
South Carolina and in Georgia. And then I'm going on from
there to help my friend, Saxby Chambliss. Then I'll be
heading home tonight.
It's good to be back in South Carolina. I've got a lot of friends
down here. And it's always good to stay in touch with your
friends.
Q On campaign finance --
THE PRESIDENT: Yes, I signed the bill this morning.
Q But without much fanfare -- a signal that you're really
unhappy with it?
THE PRESIDENT: No, I wouldn't have signed it if I was
really unhappy with it. I think it improves the
system. And it improves the system because it enables an
individual to give more money. And I want to do is have a
system that encourages more individual participation, as
well as more disclosure.
I've always been concerned about a system where money is given to
entities and stakeholders have no say. So I was concerned
about shareholders of corporate America not having a say, as well as
labor union members not having a say about how their money is being
spent. This bill improves the system.
Q Mr. President, the objection you raised in the last week of
debate on the bill is that it didn't take effect immediately, the ban
on soft money would not take effect until after the
election. Do you find it ironic that given that that was
your opposition, today, right after signing the bill you're out raising
--
THE PRESIDENT: I'm not going to lay down my
arms. I'm going to participate in the rules of the
system. The Senate races are very important for
me. I want the Republicans to take control of the Senate and
I want Denny Hastert to be the Speaker of the House. And
these are the rules. And that's why I'm going to campaign
for like-minded people.
Q Do you have any plans to talk to Prime Minister Sharon?
THE PRESIDENT: I don't today. I'm sure the
Secretary of State is in touch in the area, with the leaders of the
area. But let me say this -- and I think the important thing
about the Middle East is that we're making very good progress on the
Tenet accord. In other words, there's a chance we'll have an
agreement on the security arrangements necessary to hopefully then get
into Mitchell.
General Zinni is still in the area. Let me put it this
way: I'm optimistic that progress is being made and I've
asked General Zinni to continue to work with both parties, regardless
of whether or not they're headed to Beirut or not. The most
important thing is getting into Tenet, getting into a security
arrangement.
And we're optimistic, and we'll see.
Q -- Arafat's absence today?
THE PRESIDENT: That the most important thing for my
administration is to -- is to work with both parties to make progress
on a settlement in the area. And the first stage of any
progress is going to be an agreement on what's been called the Tenet
agreement, which is the security arrangements. And I believe
we're making -- I know we're making very good
progress. Whether or not we're able to sign an accord soon
or not remains to be seen. But progress has been made and
that is where the focus of this administration, is to get into Tenet.
Q Mr. President, are you going to do anything for the textile
industry, like you did for the steel industry, in terms of tariffs?
THE PRESIDENT: One of the things that I want the people
of Greenville to know is I've worked very closely with Jim DeMint, and
we've laid out a strategy to help the textile industry. And
Representative DeMint, Congressman DeMint has been very forceful about
this. We had a very good agreement with the Commerce
Department. The Commerce Department is now following
through.
Q Mr. President, what was your reaction to Crown Prince
Abdullah's speech in Beirut?
THE PRESIDENT: You mean the one this
morning? I haven't seen the text yet. I haven't
seen the speech -- let me get the speech, I may have a comment later
on, once I get the text of the speech.
END 10:15 A.M. EST
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