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Press Briefing by Tony Snow 10/31/06 (Topic: Iraq)
— Tuesday, October 31, 2006 — Q Tony, let me just ask your plan about this idea of -- I believe it was called withdrawal without assurance of victory in Iraq, which I think was the summary of the Democrats' position. And it gets back to this notion of this being a referendum, because isn't what the President putting forward -- is to stay without an assurance of victory in Iraq? MR. SNOW: No, it's to stay with a determination of victory. Q There's no assurance of victory in Iraq. MR. SNOW: Well, Jim, are you saying that you don't think our troops are going to be able to complete the job? Q I'm not saying -- it doesn't matter what I'm saying. It only matters what you folks are saying. MR. SNOW: Okay, here's -- let me put it this way. If you'd asked the same question in World War II, people would have looked at you like you were crazy, because even when times looked toughest, there was a national determination to win. And there is a national determination to win in Iraq. And so the assurance I'm giving you is based on the quality and determination not only of U.S. forces, but also the Iraqis who are fighting with them. And the question is not if, but when. White House Press Corps | Press Briefing | Tony Snow | News Media | Bush Administration | Iraq
Posted by WhiteHousePressCorps.org @ 8:16 PM  Press Gaggle by Dana Perino 10/30/06 (Topic: Iraq) Q Is the White House getting a sense that there's a need for other person-to-person contact? You have this phone call between the Prime Minister and the President on Saturday; now Hadley is there. There has been a lot of talk of some dissatisfaction within the Iraqi government with the ambassador. And so is it time for others to sort of step in and provide that face-to-face contact? MS. PERINO: I haven't heard any discussion of that. I think that any time you can have a face-to-face discussion, despite the difficult logistics that are presented in the current situation because of the security -- and also because of the distance -- that -- certainly, secure video provides you a little bit of that opportunity. It's certainly not as intimate as a personal meeting. And he really felt -- I think that the President enjoyed his time -- well, I know that he enjoyed his trip to Baghdad, and then when Mr. Maliki had been in town and participated at the White House, it always is good for relationship building. But I think those two men, in particular, feel like their relationship is strong and that they have a common goal, and one -- it's a matter of execution. And the statement that we released on Saturday talks about the three goals that they're working on, in terms of turning over security forces. I haven't heard any discussion -- I've certainly read reports that there might be some people discussing dissatisfaction with one person or another, but it's not anything that's widely talked about within the White House. I think everyone is focused, has their eye on the ball and focused on getting the job done. White House Press Corps | Press Briefing | Dana Perino | News Media | Bush Administration | Iraq
Posted by WhiteHousePressCorps.org @ 12:45 AM Press Briefing by Tony Snow 10/27/06 (Topic: Torture) — Friday, October 27, 2006 — Q Is the emphasis on "we don't torture" when we send captives to notorious places that do torture? Does that absolve you? MR. SNOW: No, it's -- as we've said many times, when we move people to another place, we have to have assurances that there will be no torture, and the treatment will be in accordance with international law. Q Why do you send them there? Why? Why don't you keep them in your own captivity? MR. SNOW: Well, wait a minute, I thought you guys wanted to close off Guantanamo. The only way you do that -- we quite often try to repatriate people to places -- Q No, this was going on before you even had any intention, or you certainly don't now. MR. SNOW: Let me just make it clear again. We don't condone torture. We don't participate in torture. We don't do torture. Q How can we believe you when there's so much indication otherwise? Cheney went to the Hill to convince them they should not vote for a ban on torture. MR. SNOW: Well, the people on the Hill have expressed their will, and furthermore, the administration has always said that we don't conduct acts of torture. And we don't condone torture. Q I think the larger issue is credibility -- yours and the White House's. We're talking both in this instance and yesterday about very clear -- about specific language where you refute the semantic differences within the language and refuse to acknowledge what's very clear. MR. SNOW: No, I can understand that people will look at this and draw the conclusions that you're trying to draw, as for yesterday. Those are two entirely different issues, and I think I've explained that on the issues of Prime Minister Maliki in the United States, we're playing off the same playbook. I understand this. We will try to deal with it. I think you guys are -- maybe it's the end of the week. You're getting whipped into a frenzy. Q Do you have contempt for the American people, do you think they don't understand? Q That's not fair. MR. SNOW: No, what I'm saying -- no, I think it is because you guys know Dick Cheney. You know the issue. I will go back and I will try to find some language for you. Q We don't know him. Q That's a logical fallacy. Q Will he disavow dunking people in water as a part of the robust interrogation -- MR. SNOW: I think what he will disavow is torture, and he will not talk about specific techniques. White House Press Corps | Press Briefing | Tony Snow | News Media | Bush Administration | Torture
Posted by WhiteHousePressCorps.org @ 11:20 PM Press Gaggle by Dana Perino 10/26/06 (Topic: Campaign Ads) — Thursday, October 26, 2006 — Q Any reaction to the tone of the campaign in the closing weeks, particularly in regard to the Rush comments on the Michael J. Fox ad, and also the Harold Ford ads that are running in Tennessee? MS. PERINO: I haven't seen the second one. I do know that Rush Limbaugh apologized for the -- well, and it was appropriate to. The President was the first President to fund embryonic stem cell research. What he did with embryonic stem cell research, though, is draw a moral line that said that taxpayer dollars should not go to research that destroys embryos. We have been aggressive in funding for adult stem cell research and cord blood cell research that -- both of which show great promise. But that was that one moral -- that was the moral line that the President said that he would not cross. It's important that people understand that -- what the policy is. It's amazing to me and such a disappointment that repeatedly it's said that the President is against any sort of stem cell research. That's just not the case. So if I can help set the record straight here, I will. White House Press Corps | Press Briefing | Dana Perino | News Media | Bush Administration | Campaign Ads
Posted by WhiteHousePressCorps.org @ 10:48 PM Press Conference by the President 10/25/06 (Topic: Rumsfeld) — Wednesday, October 25, 2006 — Q When you first ran for President, sir, you talked about the importance of accountability. We learned from Bob Woodward's recent book that Secretary Card, on two occasions, suggested that you replace Secretary Rumsfeld, and both times you said, no. Given that the war in Iraq is not going as well as you want, and given that you're not satisfied as you just told us today, why hasn't anybody been held accountable? Should somebody be held accountable? THE PRESIDENT: Peter, you're asking me why I believe Secretary Rumsfeld is doing a good job, I think, if I might decipher through the Washington code. Q -- or someone else -- THE PRESIDENT: Well, let's start with Rumsfeld, Secretary Rumsfeld. I've asked him to do some difficult tasks as the Secretary of Defense -- one, wage war in two different theaters of this war on terror, Afghanistan and Iraq, and at the same time, asked him to transform our military posture around the world and our military readiness here at home. In other words, the transformation effort into itself is a big project for any Secretary to handle. But to compound the job he has, he's got to do that and, at the same time, wage war. And I'm satisfied of how he's done all his jobs. He is a smart, tough, capable administrator. As importantly, he understands that the best way to fight this war, whether it be in Iraq or anywhere else around the world, is to make sure our troops are ready, that morale is high, that we transform the nature of our military to meet the threats, and that we give our commanders on the ground the flexibility necessary to make the tactical changes to achieve victory. This is a tough war in Iraq. I mean, it's a hard fight, no question about it. All you've got to do is turn on your TV. But I believe that the military strategy we have is going to work. That's what I believe, Peter. And so we've made changes throughout the war, we'll continue to make changes throughout the war. But the important thing is whether or not we have the right strategy and the tactics necessary to achieve that goal. And I believe we do. White House Press Corps | Press Briefing | News Media | Bush Administration | Rumsfeld
Posted by WhiteHousePressCorps.org @ 9:11 PM Press Gaggle by Tony Fratto 10/24/06 (Topic:Midterm Elections) — Tuesday, October 24, 2006 — Q You said that it's the only way to proceed, to prepare for a Republican-controlled Congress. With such a close election, and with both parties recognizing how close it's going to be, why not at least consider both alternatives? MR. FRATTO: We're still in the game, and -- if you're in the game, you're in it to win. Q But you don't know the outcome of the game any more than I do, and -- MR. FRATTO: We feel confident about the outcome, and that's the way we're going to proceed. Q Continuing the analogy, but government isn't a game, and you are governing, and so your responsibility is to prepare for how to govern regardless of how it turns out. So it may be a game in the political sense, but it's really not a game to Americans who want their government to be ready to do what needs to be done. MR. FRATTO: He'll be ready. Q That means you're preparing for the other outcome? MR. FRATTO: We are ready. We are ready for -- we're ready for a -- we're ready to work with a Republican Congress. Nice try, Jennifer. Q That would suggest not ready for a Democratic Congress. MR. FRATTO: Questions? Anything else? Thank you White House Press Corps | Press Briefing | Tony Snow | News Media | Bush Administration | Midterm Elections
Posted by WhiteHousePressCorps.org @ 4:10 PM Press Briefing by Tony Snow 10/23/06 (Topic: Economic News Coverage) — Monday, October 23, 2006 — Q Tony, why the focus on the economy now? It's been hard to get good news on the economy through the doom and gloom on Iraq. MR. SNOW: Well, it's an amazing thing. You take a look at consumer confidence levels, they're sky rocketing. People are feeling good about the economy. And if you take a look at the news coverage of it, it has been overwhelmingly negative at a time when you do have just an extraordinary situation. Today, at least there has been a high during the trading day once again in the Dow Jones Industrial Average. I don't know where it's going to end up. But the fact is that you have trends that demonstrate that not only is -- the economy has weathered incredible storms. We have built more wealth in the last three years than at any period in our nation's history, period. That's an extraordinary accomplishment in the face of two wars and Katrina, all of which have taken place since then. Q Has it been hard to pierce the bad news from Iraq with the economy? MR. SNOW: I don't know. It has been hard to get people to report on it. That's a question to ask you because people doing the reporting are the ones who write the stories. White House Press Corps | Press Briefing | Tony Snow | News Media | Bush Administration | Economy
Posted by WhiteHousePressCorps.org @ 7:56 PM Press Briefing by Tony Snow 10/20/06 (Topic: Iraq War Media Coverage) — Saturday, October 21, 2006 — Q Can I ask you something about what the President said today at The Mayflower? He was talking about the terrorists trying to influence public opinion, filming their atrocities, he said, emailing messages and video clips to Middle Eastern cable networks like Al Jazeera and opinion leaders throughout the West. Why the mention of Al Jazeera? And to whom was he referring when he talked about "opinion leaders" in the West? MR. SNOW: Well, your network has shown pictures of snipers hitting Americans, which was used as a propaganda tool, so the fact is that -- it shows real sophistication on the part of these guys, because it creates the impression that Americans are sitting ducks, and that these guys are capable, when, in fact, while you have a capable enemy, they're dying in much greater numbers and suffering much greater damage. Now I know that's hard to -- as General Caldwell said yesterday, you can have this carnage and progress existing side by side. Unfortunately, the pictures are all moving in one way. The President was referring to the attempt to take images like that and use those as a way of not only -- of trying to break the will of the American people. It's not going to work. Q Does the President believe it's wrong for CNN to show that? MR. SNOW: No, we're not -- I'm just telling you what happened. Those are editorial judgments, and I'm not going to tell you what you do and don't run. This is a free country. Q But by mentioning this in a -- MR. SNOW: Well, because you asked the question. You asked who I was referring to. Q Well, by the President raising it, I'm saying. By the President raising that issue, is he sending a message that he thinks it's wrong for networks to air that? MR. SNOW: No, again, I'm going to let -- the President, I think, is smart enough not to tell television networks what they can run and can't run. But all we're doing is making it clear what's going on. I think, perhaps -- I'm sure the editors are savvy enough to know that when they get a video like this, it's designed less to give you a full and complete view of what's going on in the country than to create a sense of triumphalism for the killers of Americans. That's the intention of that. I think that's hard to dispute. That's the only point. White House Press Corps | Press Briefing | Tony Snow | News Media | Bush Administration | Iraq
Posted by WhiteHousePressCorps.org @ 12:34 AM Press Briefing by Tony Snow 10/19/06 (Topic: Iraq) — Thursday, October 19, 2006 — Q Tony, could I come back to the -- answered Terry by saying, yes, you're convinced the war on terror is a winning issue for Republicans. Is Iraq, by itself? MR. SNOW: Yes, because I think what's happened is, the idea of trying to take out Iraq, and say, we're going to leave there, but we're going to win the war on terror; we're going to strategically withdraw, but we're doing to win; we are against a terrorist surveillance program, but we're going to win; we are opposed to the detention act, the military commissions, but we're going to win. Q You're still tying other things in there. MR. SNOW: That's because, I hate to tell you, but Iraq is not a standalone issue. As bin Laden has said, it's the semper fi in the war on terror. And the idea, somehow, the you could separate them from what's going on is to take a naive look at a world in which people have satellite communications, and the rest of the world watches what happens. So if, in fact, people were to draw the conclusion that the United States is going to cut and run from Iraq, don't you think Iran or --(interruption in briefing) -- let me continue. I was in the midst, before we did the planes, trains and automobiles. So the fact is, that what goes on on the ground, and how the United States deals with these challenges has impact throughout the world, and also throughout the terror networks. So lots of luck in trying to sort of pluck that out and treat it as an isolated issue. It's not, and it's not in the words of the people who are right at the heart of the issue. Q If that's the case, Tony, how do you ever debate the war? We hear all this "put up a solid front." How do you debate the war at all if all opposition to any component, any aspect of the war -- MR. SNOW: I didn't say that. Q That's the suggestion. MR. SNOW: No, the suggestion was to treat the war in isolation from the war on terror. That's different. Q But there are people who don't believe it is a part of the war on terror. You know what -- MR. SNOW: We'll be happy to engage in the debate. I think I've laid out a lot of the arguments. White House Press Corps | Press Briefing | Tony Snow | News Media | Bush Administration | Iraq
Posted by WhiteHousePressCorps.org @ 8:29 PM Press Gaggle by Tony Snow 10/18/06 (Topic: Iraq) — Wednesday, October 18, 2006 — Q Tony, does the deaths of 10 U.S. soldiers in Iraq today cause the President to rethink his strategy there? MR. SNOW: No, the strategy is to win. The President understands not only the difficulty of it, but he grieves for the people who have served and served with valor. But as everybody says, correctly, we got to win. And that comes at a cost. And God bless the men and women who have risked their lives going into hostile areas because they do believe in the mission. White House Press Corps | Press Briefing | Tony Snow | News Media | Bush Administration | Iraq
Posted by WhiteHousePressCorps.org @ 9:15 PM Press Briefing by Tony Snow 10/17/06 (Topic: Detainee Interrogation) — Tuesday, October 17, 2006 — Q I'm trying to develop some sense of a way to get my arms around this. If you have a police department in the United States conducting interrogations, and they police themselves, and the public never has any idea about what's going on behind their closed doors -- of interrogation techniques, there probably wouldn't -- it doesn't smack of something that's American. It probably runs -- and to question those police officers is not an un-American thing, is it, to question -- MR. SNOW: Well, as you know, there are within police departments internal affairs departments which take a look at things, and there are analogous departments within the military that take a look at these things. But again, if you have run-of-the-mill prisoners, these things may apply. Jim, these people are so bad that their host governments don't want them back. I mean, so the point is you're dealing with very dangerous characters. It's a very small group of people we're talking about. And they have not traditionally been accorded exactly the same level of transparency. However, what they have been guaranteed are their full rights. They have legal representation, they have the ability to appeal in court, they have the ability to appeal about the admissibility of evidence. They have all these rights. I mean, all of this is in the law. And furthermore, if somebody is construed to have gone over the line in the questioning, that is something that also can be adjudicated. Q But that's the difference here, is the quality of the detainee we're talking about? MR. SNOW: It's the unique nature of the detainees. Q -- that allows for a different procedure -- MR. SNOW: It's a different procedure, but it is the same effort to guarantee representation and human rights. White House Press Corps | Press Briefing | Tony Snow | News Media | Bush Administration | Interrogation
Posted by WhiteHousePressCorps.org @ 8:34 PM Press Briefing by Tony Snow 10/16/06 (Topic: Iraq) — Monday, October 16, 2006 — Q Tony, when you were talking before about the Iraqi military being trained more, they have -- it does seem that more police, more Iraqi military have been trained in recent months, over the last couple of years. But the White House had repeatedly said that as they stood up, we'd stand down. Does that principle still hold? Does the White House still believe, as they stand up, we're standing down? MR. SNOW: Yes. Q Because it doesn't appear like we're standing down. MR. SNOW: Well, we're not standing down because everybody is needed in the fight right now. Also, when it comes to police, both sides -- I mean, the Maliki government -- and Prime Minister Maliki, in his USA Today interview, acknowledged they've had some real problems, and they've -- the matter of professionalizing the army -- I mean, the police still remains undone. The army training has been more effective, but at this time, with these levels of violence, you still have to work together to help go after the people whose vested interests are in destroying Iraq. When those levels of violence wane, and when we believe that the Iraqis are secure and able to stand, then we will be prepared to move, but we're not going to do it under the present circumstances. Q So they are standing up, but we're not standing down. So is that principle no longer operable? MR. SNOW: Well, let's see, they stand up, and also, in standing up, you quell the violence and you also deal with some of the root causes of the difficulties. Q That's the proposition that the White House put out there, that as they stood up, violence would come down, and we'd stand down. MR. SNOW: As part of our constant adjustment, let me just add that apparently, the terrorists have also decided not to stand down. They've got to stand down. Q Right, so that's my question. So is "stand up, stand down" no longer the principle, or -- MR. SNOW: Well, it depends on how you -- how you want to cast it. It seems to me that we're playing -- this is kind of a fun verbal game, but -- Q No, but that's what the President said, stand up/stand down. MR. SNOW: But, yes -- Q We're standing up -- MR. SNOW: Well, you know, then you get into, what does he mean by, "stand up," and "stand up" means you have the ability to assert effective control within Iraq so that you have peaceful, secure neighborhoods. We're not there yet. White House Press Corps | Press Briefing | Tony Snow | News Media | Bush Administration | Iraq
Posted by WhiteHousePressCorps.org @ 8:51 PM Press Briefing by Tony Snow 10/13/06 (Topic: Iraq) — Saturday, October 14, 2006 — Q As long as we're on Iraq -- one of the things the President keeps saying is that he depends on General Casey and his commanders. And yet it's a political solution, the commanders will say it's a political solution. Why in the world is he saying it's up to the military commanders to formulate a political solution? MR. SNOW: No, no. What he's talking about is the military commanders in terms of their ability to work on the security issues that are going to make it possible -- Q He's talking about strategy, he's not just talking about security. He's asked consistently about strategy in Iraq, and he keeps throwing it back to General Casey. MR. SNOW: Well, when you're talking about -- what you're -- let's try to separate. On the political front, Prime Minister Maliki is pursuing a whole series of initiatives that have everything to do with economic development to reconciliation. Those are within his ambit. Now, General Casey is not telling him how to pursue reconciliation. General Casey is there to work on security issues, trying to figure out how do you go into the tough areas of Baghdad, how do you try to stabilize them; how do you try at the same time to be training up Iraqi military; how do you try to professionalize the Iraqi police forces. Those are the kinds of activities on which General Casey provides advice. But he is not telling the Prime Minister the strategies he ought to pursue, because that's the Prime Minister's job. Q I understand that, but consistently the President is asked about the strategy for victory in Iraq, and he keeps throwing it to the military. MR. SNOW: Yes, but when you're talking about strategy -- oh, I see what you're -- the strategy involves having the military in security conditions such that the United States and the allies can withdraw. And Iraq will have the security it needs. General Casey -- again, let me just reiterate -- is not telling Prime Minister Maliki, or advising him on reconciliation strategy or reconstruction or that sort of thing. What you do have are other venues. For instance, you've got -- the Iraqis now have been reaching out to the rest of the world in terms of development. That is something that we announced when we were in Baghdad earlier this year. And so there are any number of areas in which the Iraqis are going to get help from abroad. But, again, when the President is talking about the military and security strategy with General Casey, as you'd expect him to do. White House Press Corps | Press Briefing | Tony Snow | News Media | Bush Administration | Iraq
Posted by WhiteHousePressCorps.org @ 12:58 AM Press Conference by the President 10/11/06 (Topic: Democrat Position On Iraq) — Thursday, October 12, 2006 — Let's see. Yes, sir, Mr. NPR. Welcome to the front row. Yes, it's good. Q Thank you. It's good to be here. Appreciate it. Following up on that answer, one of the things Democrats complain about is the way you portray their position -- THE PRESIDENT: Oh, really? Q -- in wanting to fight the war on terror. They would say you portray it as either they support exactly what you want to do, or they want to do nothing. We hear it in some of your speeches. Is it fair to portray it to the American people that way? THE PRESIDENT: Well, I think it's fair to use the words of the people in Congress or their votes. The vote was on the Hamdan legislation: Do you want to continue a program that enabled us to interrogate folks, or not? And all I was doing was reciting the votes. I would cite my opponent in the 2004 campaign when he said there needs to be a date certain from which to withdraw from Iraq. I characterize that as cut and run because I believe it is cut and run. In other words, I've been using either their votes or their words to characterize their positions. Q But they don't say cut and run. THE PRESIDENT: Well, they may not use cut and run, but they say date certain is when to get out, before the job is done. That is cut and run. Nobody has accused me of having a real sophisticated vocabulary, I understand that. And maybe their -- their words are more sophisticated than mine. But when you pull out before the job is done, that's cut and run as far as I'm concerned. And that's cut and run as far as most Americans are concerned. And so, yes, I'm going to continue reminding them of their words and their votes. White House Press Corps | Press Conference | George W Bush | Iraq | Democrat Party
Posted by WhiteHousePressCorps.org @ 11:58 PM Press Briefing by Tony Snow 10/10/06 (Topic: North Korea) — Tuesday, October 10, 2006 — Q Okay, a couple of things you've just said -- you've said that you've got to approach this diplomatically, you've got millions of people who are starving to death there under a repressive regime, which is pretty much what you had in Iraq and we invaded. What's the difference here? MR. SNOW: Well, one of the differences is that you have neighbors that have extensive ties in a way that you did not, with trade and other activity. Also the North Koreans are far more heavily reliant for basic resources, whether they be food or energy, than the Iraqis were under Saddam Hussein -- Saddam not being wholly dependent. Also you have the additional bit of geographic proximity; whereas Baghdad was hundreds of miles from the nearest border, Pyongyang is very close, as you know, to Seoul and the borders are close. So there are differences in the two situations. Q You also had inspectors on the ground at the time. We had, as far as we thought then, better intelligence. And yet, you're even saying this morning our intelligence is unclear. The President has long said they do not want to wait for a mushroom cloud, and yet you seem willing here. MR. SNOW: No, you seem to think we ought to go to war. We don't. Q I don't think anything, I'm asking you. MR. SNOW: No, no, you do. The declared insinuation -- Q I'm asking you to explain the difference between why we went to war with Iraq and why -- MR. SNOW: Because in the case of Iraq we had exhausted all diplomatic possibilities. We're just exploring them now in the case of North Korea. We're going to approach -- Q But you had inspectors on the ground. What was completely exhausted? And you had the U.N. saying, wait, wait, wait. MR. SNOW: No, some members of the U.N. were saying, wait, wait, wait, and other members in the U.N. Security Council believed Resolution 1441 was pretty clear in terms of the obligations. Q Didn't say, go to war. MR. SNOW: Furthermore, what you ended up having, as you know, was a constant attempt to try to make life difficult for the inspectors. You can go back and re-litigate that. I think it makes a lot more sense to try to talk about diplomatically what's going on. You have a concerted diplomatic effort that involves, fully now as equal partners, the Russians, the Chinese, the Japanese, the South Koreans. That offers the best hope. And if you want to argue for war, you're going to have to argue it someplace else. Q I'm not arguing for anything, Tony. I know you like to do that, but I'm not arguing for anything. MR. SNOW: I'm arguing for diplomacy. White House Press Corps | Press Briefing | Tony Snow | News Media | Bush Administration | North Korea
Posted by WhiteHousePressCorps.org @ 4:14 PM Press Briefing by Dana Perino 10/06/06 (Topic: Gun Control) — Friday, October 06, 2006 — Q And also, another question to ask, as a follow up, does this administration believe guns are playing a central part, more so than just a healing of the community in this conference? And this recent wave of shootings across the country -- MS. PERINO: Well, no doubt that American citizens who have a gun should abide by the laws and should understand the difference between right and wrong. The purpose of this conference really is to bring together the best practices of everyone's thinking on those range of issues that I talked about, not only the security side of things, in terms of prevention of the violence before it happens, but also looking at how to make sure that the schools are safe buildings, and that's one of the things the Secret Service can really help shed some light on, on Tuesday. And then moving on into the other pieces in terms of the healing. Q Will one of the panels specifically deal with the issue of guns, because many are concerned that this administration, with the President's view of Second Amendment rights, that this administration will kind of gloss over the gun use issue, or gun issue and just move into -- MS. PERINO: There will be no glossing over of any issues at this conference. It is an open-ended discussion. Let me give you a little bit more description of that first panel. I think that's the one that you're most interested in. This is the one that is headed by Attorney General Gonzales called, "Preventing Violence in Schools." The panel will examine the scope of the school violence problem and focus on lessons learned from prior experiences. The goal of this best practices session is to offer common sense ideas and solutions from law enforcement and security experts. They can help the schools effectively from both outside and inside, prevent these attackers. That doesn't -- that means that we're not ruling anything in or out in terms of the discussion. White House Press Corps | Press Briefing | Dana Perino | News Media | Bush Administration | Gun Control
Posted by WhiteHousePressCorps.org @ 11:30 PM Press Briefing by Tony Snow 10/05/06 (Topic: Congressional Handling of Foley Scandal) — Thursday, October 05, 2006 — Q Well, what about the question about whether or not the President thinks that this issue has been handled properly? MR. SNOW: Again, we're not getting into telling the House how to do its business. The most important thing to do right now, from our standpoint, is to talk about the important issues, and that's what the President is doing. Q The President, he's the leader of the Republican Party -- MR. SNOW: I believe you were there for the briefing on separate but co-equal branches of government. The President understands -- Q I don't -- MR. SNOW: Well, it was sixth grade, maybe you skipped that day. (Laughter.) But in any event -- you know, it's where they did the "how laws are made," and all that kind of stuff. Q Was that a backgrounder? MR. SNOW: That's a backgrounder. We could bring in a senior administration official to help out at some future date. Look, Speaker Hastert is going to be addressing these issues and let's hear what he has to say. White House Press Corps | Press Briefing | Tony Snow | News Media | Bush Administration | Foley Scandal
Posted by WhiteHousePressCorps.org @ 11:46 PM Press Gaggle by Dana Perino 10/04/06 (Topic: Foley & Midterm Election) Q What would the President advise the Republican Party on how to handle this Foley scandal, in terms of the midterm elections being so close? MS. PERINO: I think the President has his eye on the ball when it comes to campaigning and I think his advice to other candidates would be to be campaigning in their districts on the Republicans' clear record of achievement when it comes to protecting the country and making sure that we have policies in place that will ensure a strong and growing economy; drawing distinctions between the tough talk that we've heard, about the votes that are taken; and also the congressmen in their own words regarding tax policy, the higher taxes that they might advocate if they were to go into power. So I think that keeping your eye on the ball would be the best advice, in terms of this midterm election season as we head into the home stretch. White House Press Corps | Press Briefing | Dana Perino | News Media | Bush Administration | Foley
Posted by WhiteHousePressCorps.org @ 12:40 AM Press Gaggle by Dana Perino 10/03/06 (Topic: Political Leaking) — Tuesday, October 03, 2006 — Q Does the White House think that the Democrats leaked this information because of the election? MS. PERINO: I wouldn't ascribe a political motivation to anyone in particular, in terms of this very serious situation. I think what the American public would not stand for is -- or not put up with -- what the American public would not put up with is taking a serious issue, such as this one, with the, as the President called it, disgusting communications between the former congressman and this former page, and using that for political gamesmanship during the course of an investigation. So I'm not going to ascribe political motivation as to how this information came to light, but that's all probably part of the investigation, as well, in terms of the investigators talking to the pages, et cetera. Q But you're not suggesting that it was. MS. PERINO: I am not suggesting that it was, no. I'll let other people -- other people can come to their own conclusions. The Speaker has called for an investigation and I think that's the appropriate place to be. These are really serious allegations. You heard the President talk today about how disgusted he was by it, and I think most Americans agree with that. So I think we need to let the investigation play out. White House Press Corps | Press Briefing | Dana Perino | News Media | Bush Administration | Political Leaks
Posted by WhiteHousePressCorps.org @ 10:51 PM Press Briefing by Tony Snow 10/02/06 (Topic: Rove & Abramoff) — Monday, October 02, 2006 — Q Did Karl Rove run afoul of any White House ethics policies when he went to a basketball game with Jack Abramoff? MR. SNOW: According to Karl -- and, again, we're still looking through all this -- he paid for any and all tickets. If you pay for a ticket, and you have a pre-existing social relationship, as everybody in this room knows, the pre-existing social relationship rules. But as I said on Friday, we are looking very carefully through all of it. I don't want to be presumptuous about doing it -- the laws are actually fairly complex in sorting through this stuff, and the Office of Legal Counsel and others have taken a good, hard look. Q But even if he paid for it, he was using one of the most powerful lobbyists in Washington like a valet service -- here, I'll go get you some tickets. I mean, is that permissible? MR. SNOW: Again, what the characterization -- he was using it as a "valet service" -- that's colorful, that's good, that's really good. Q That's why people read my column. (Laughter.) White House Press Corps | Press Briefing | Tony Snow | News Media | Bush Administration | Karl Rove
Posted by WhiteHousePressCorps.org @ 10:01 PM
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