For Immediate Release
Office of the Press Secretary
January 22, 2002
President's Remarks During Tour of Facility
Remarks by the President in Tour of Walker Machinery Company
Powertrain and Engine Rebuild Facility
Belle, West Virginia
Q Mr. President, do you think the Enron
investigation will become a distraction for Congress and, by extension,
your goals?
THE PRESIDENT: No.
Q Is the attack in Calcutta an attack on
America? Was the attack in Calcutta an attack on our
country?
THE PRESIDENT: Well, we're gathering more information
about it, to find out exactly what the facts are. Terror is
terror, however -- it doesn't matter whether it's an attack on us or an
attack on other people. You've got to work together to fight off
terrorists.
For your question, I believe Congress knows what it needs to
do. It needs to fund the war; it needs to fund homeland
security; it needs to work on ways to create jobs. And I'm
confident that all the facts will come out on Enron. And I'm
also confident that if Congress has the right attitude, we can get a
lot done. We need an energy policy, a trade
policy. So I'm going to keep talking about it until we get
it done.
Q Do you worry that Enron creates a negative
perception about you or your policies?
THE PRESIDENT: Our administration has done the exact
right thing. There has been a couple of contacts with people in my
Cabinet. And my Cabinet officers said, no help
here. And we're starting an investigation before anybody
started paying attention to Enron. Last December, Elaine
Chao started an investigation of pensions. And I'm
absolutely confident the American people know that my administration
has acted the right way.
What I'm outraged about is that shareholders and employees didn't
know all the facts about Enron. My own mother-in-law bought
stock last summer, and it's not worth anything now. If she
had known all the facts, I don't know what her decision would have been
made, but she didn't know all the facts. And a lot of
shareholders didn't know all the facts. And that's wrong.
And so our government must do something about it; must make sure
that the accounting practices that have been going on for quite a while
are addressed; make sure there's full disclosure and the corporate
government's issues are wide open for everybody to understand.
If Congress is going to do its business, and should -- the Congress
also needs to stay focused on the American people. We're
running a war. We've got to make sure our homeland is
secure. And we've got to make sure people can find
work. And we'll take care of our business.
Q -- call the information about meetings
between the Vice President and Enron and energy policy, just to get it
out --
THE PRESIDENT: If somebody has got an accusation about
some wrongdoing, just let me know. It's like when I talked
with Don Evans and O'Neill, they told me they had spoke to
Enron. I said, tell the people what you did. And
if there's any accusations, if you've got anything on your mind -- the
energy report should speak for itself. We laid out the
energy report, it's fully disclosed. People now know that we
need an energy plan based upon conservation and increasing supplies and
better transmission of energy. And there's no better place
to talk about energy than right here in West Virginia, which is an
energy dependent state.
Q The West Virginia coal miners, sir, what
do you say to --
THE PRESIDENT: My answer is that with a comprehensive
energy plan, they're going to be able to find work. And we
need an energy plan. And there are ways to have coal
exploration and coal development with a sensitivity toward our
environment.
Q What about the West Virginian who's not
into coal, the other part of the state that needs help so badly?
THE PRESIDENT: Well, education is going to be the first
step, people getting a good education are going to be able to find good
work. And West Virginia has got an interesting, burgeoning
tourist industry; they've got a good natural gas industry; and they've
got a lot going for them. But a lot of it is going to be the
ability to educate the people so they can find work. And
that's why this education bill is a good piece of legislation.