White House Press Corps.org: Press Briefing by Tony Snow 3/5/07 (Topic: Walter Reed)

Daily adventures with the

in their own words

Press Briefing by Tony Snow 3/5/07 (Topic: Walter Reed)
— Tuesday, March 06, 2007 —

MR. SNOW: You guys have been -- you've been briefing -- I know, we've got the answer to briefing fatigue.

Please, questions. Anybody. Victoria?

Q Is it something the President should do, as Commander-in-Chief, to say, the buck stops here and take responsibility for the scandal at Walter Reed?

MR. SNOW: Well, in a sense, the President, and also everybody within the chain of command are taking responsibility. It's time to shine a bright light on the entire system and find out where the failings may be, and address them. The people who have served have given us their best; it's time for us to make sure that they get our best when it comes to treatment.

You already have ongoing, I think, very swift and definitive action on the part of the Department of Defense, not only on the personnel side, but the Secretary of Defense has put together a team involving medical professionals, and on a bipartisan basis, to take a look specifically at Walter Reed and Bethesda.

Meanwhile, there's an interagency task force working out of the V.A. to take a look at the entire medical system and the care system for veterans. And the President is putting together also a presidential commission that will take an even broader look at the needs, and also possible future needs.

So we take a very exhaustive look at this. It is very important to figure out what's wrong, and get it fixed. And the President is committed to that.

Q But the President hasn't said in any way, shape, or form, this is my responsibility, this is on me?

MR. SNOW: Okay, well, I'll take the rhetorical flourish under advisement.

Full Press Briefing

Posted by White House Press Corps @ 12:43 AM

0 Comments: