For Immediate Release
Office of the Press Secretary
January 10, 2002
President Calls for Review of Pension Regulations and Corporate Disclosure Rules
Remarks by the President in Meeting with His Economic Team
The Oval Office
Corporate Responsibility Portal Page
9:42 A.M. EST
THE PRESIDENT: Thank you all for coming. I
met with my economic security team last week to talk about ways to
create jobs. We're meeting again with the components of the
team to talk about one part of economic security, and that's pension
security.
One of the things we're deeply concerned about is that there have
been a wave of bankruptcies that have caused many workers to lose their
pensions, and that's deeply troubling to me. And so I've
asked the Secretary of Treasury, Secretary of Labor and Secretary of
Commerce to convene a working group to analyze pensions, rules and
regulations, to look into the effects of the current law on
hard-working Americans, and to come up with recommendations how to
reform the system to make sure that people are not exposed to losing
their life savings as a result of a bankruptcy, for example.
As well, Secretary of Treasury, along with the SEC, the Fed, and
the CFTC, are going to convene a working group to analyze corporate
disclosure rules and regulations. In light of the most
recent bankruptcy, Enron, there needs to be a full review of disclosure
rules, to make sure that the American stockholder, or any stockholder,
is protected.
And so, I think this is an important part of, obviously, other
investigations that are ongoing. The Justice Department
announced and informed us late yesterday that they're in the process of
investigating aspects of the Enron bankruptcy. The
administration is deeply concerned about its effects on the
economy. We're also deeply concerned about its effects on
the lives of our citizenry.
I'll be glad to answer a few questions.
Q When was the last time you talked to either Mr. Lay or any
other Enron official, about the -- about anything? And did
discussions involve the financial problems of the company?
THE PRESIDENT: I have never discussed, with Mr. Lay, the
financial problems of the company. The last time that I saw
Mr. Lay was at my mother's fundraising event to -- for literacy, in
Houston. That would have been last spring. I do
know that Mr. Lay came to the White House in -- early in my
administration, along with, I think 20 other business leaders, to
discuss the state of the economy. It was just kind of a
general discussion. I have not met with him personally.
Q -- to inoculate and your administration politically from
the fallout?
THE PRESIDENT: Well, first of all, Ken Lay is a
supporter. And I got to know Ken Lay when he was the head of
the -- what they call the Governor's Business Council in
Texas. He was a supporter of Ann Richards in my run in
1994. And she had named him the head of the Governor's
Business Council. And I decided to leave him in place, just
for the sake of continuity. And that's when I first got to
know Ken, and worked with Ken, and he supported my candidacy.
This is -- what anybody's going to find, if -- is that this
administration will fully investigate issues such as the Enron
bankruptcy, to make sure we can learn from the past, and make sure that
workers are protected.
Q Mr. President, does it appear that Iran is flexing its
muscles in Western Afghanistan, and does that threaten the U.S. war on
terrorism in that region?
THE PRESIDENT: Well, first of all, Iran must be a
contributor in the war against terror; that our nation and our fight
against terror will uphold the doctrine, either you're with us or
against us; and any nation that thwarts our ability to rout terror out
where it exists will be held to account, one way or the other.
I hope -- we had some positive signals early -- early in this war
from the Iranians. We would hope that they would continue to
be a positive force in helping us bring people to
justice. We would hope, for example, they wouldn't allow al
Qaeda murderers to hide in their country. We would hope that
if that be the case, if someone tries to flee into Iran, that they
would hand them over to us, that they're a part of -- if they're a part
of the coalition, then they need to be an active part of the
coalition.
In terms of Afghanistan, we are -- we would like to work with the
Iranians, as well as other neighboring countries, to bring a stable
interim government to stabilize the interim government. And
to the extent that they're involved, we would hope that they would
participate, if they are trying -- if they in any way, shape, or form
try to destabilize the government, the coalition will be -- we'll deal
with them, in diplomatic ways, initially. And we would like
very much for them to be active participants in a stable
Afghanistan. It's to their advantage, by the way, that
Afghanistan be stable.
Q Mr. President, based on the evidence the Israeli delegation
presented at the State Department yesterday, about this arms shipment,
do you believe that it's time for the United States to either break or
suspend relations with Mr. Arafat and the Palestinian Authority?
THE PRESIDENT: John, I think it's very important for our
administration to remain engaged with both
parties. Obviously, I want to make sure that the evidence is
definitive. But I'm, like many, beginning to suspect that
those arms were headed in the wrong -- to promote
terror. And terror will never enable us to achieve peace in
the Middle East. So long as there's terrorists trying to
disrupt the peace process, there won't be peace.
I do believe that, once the evidence is in, that those responsible
need to be held to account. On the other hand, I also
believe that our country must stay engaged in the process. I
intend to ask Zinni to go back to the region at the appropriate time,
to keep pushing for a dialogue, to keep pushing for the process to go
forward.
Mr. Arafat must renounce terror, must reject those who would
disrupt the peace process through terror, and must work hard to get to
the peace table. It seems like it's up to him to make these
decisions.
Q But has he been less that truthful in speaking to Secretary
Powell, General Zinni and others, in saying he had nothing to do with
this and no knowledge of it?
THE PRESIDENT: We will find out the facts,
John. But he is -- you asked a question, should we basically
disengage? And the answer is no, we won't disengage from the
Middle East. We will stay involved in the Middle East peace
process -- or trying to get to the peace process. And it
starts with making the region more secure.
Mr. Arafat must renounce terror, and must reject those in the
region that would disrupt the peace process by the use of terrorist
means.
Q What can you do about pensioners -- what can you do about
pensioners now? Isn't that horse already out of the barn at
Enron?
THE PRESIDENT: Our group is meeting, and they will bring
recommendations here. They'll look at -- fully investigate
what went on. My concern, of course, is for the shareholders
of Enron. But my -- I have great concern for the stories --
for those I read about in the stories who put their life savings aside,
and for whatever reason, based upon some rule or regulation, got
trapped in this awful bankruptcy and have lost life savings.
And one of the things this group is going to do is take a good hard
look at it.
Thank you all.
END 9:50 A.M. EST
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