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 Family Showdown - White House Press Briefing by Tony Fratto 1/13/09 — Tuesday, January 13, 2009 —  MR. FRATTO: Yes, Mark. Q Tony, the President-elect's decision, impending decision, to close Guantanamo -- the Vice President has just given an interview in which he says, "I think it's a bad decision." He says it's a first-rate facility, it's a good facility, there's a reason why it's there. I thought President Bush wanted to close Guantanamo. MR. FRATTO: When you say -- first, when you say "close Guantanamo," Guantanamo is a base. You're talking about the detention facility? It's obviously our position, you've heard the President say this many times, that over time it's a goal to close the Guantanamo facility also. I didn't see the interview that you're referring to. But I think what everyone has realized -- I've seen it in a lot of the reporting, some of it today and in recent weeks -- is the incredible complexity of actually closing Guantanamo, the legal and national security concerns that people are noticing now. It's complicated. And it would take a great deal of time to do it, and you do have the problem of what do you do with known and hardened and experienced terrorists. Where do you put them? I would agree with the Vice President that, for now, Guantanamo is the place to keep them until we can find other solutions. Q The President doesn't think it's a bad decision to close Guantanamo. He wants to do that. MR. FRATTO: Well, like I said, I don't know the context of Vice President's reaction with the -- whether it was referencing a time frame or something else. Dick Cheney | Guantanamo | President Bush | President-Elect Obama | Press Briefing | Tony Fratto | Vice President | War on Terror | White House Press Corps Labels: Dick Cheney, Guantanamo, President Bush, President-Elect Obama, Press Briefing, Tony Fratto, Vice President, War on Terror, White House Press Corps >> Full Story
Posted by White House Press Corps @ 5:49:00 PM  Asking the Tough Questions in Troubled Times - White House Press Briefing by Dana Perino 1/6/09 — Tuesday, January 06, 2009 —  MS. PERINO: Ann. Q Hi. According to a release from Laura Bush's office this morning, there's going to be a set of George W. Bush state china. Any idea why it's being delivered two weeks before he leaves office? MS. PERINO: No time like the present. (Laughter.) I think that it just took a while for them to figure out the design that they wanted. Then it was produced and it has arrived at the White House. And so Mrs. Bush will be happy to share that with everybody soon. Q Do you know anything about it or why they're doing -- because not every President does this kind of thing. MS. PERINO: I haven't seen it yet and I'll let her talk about that. I'll see if I can get some more information. I just know that it has arrived. Q Is it a good expenditure for an administration when the economy is in the kind of state it is? MS. PERINO: I think that it was probably done within the White House budget, but we'll check for you. Q Got pictures of them? What does it look like? MS. PERINO: I'll check with Mrs. Bush's office. I just -- I haven't had the pleasure of seeing it yet. Q Do you know those Obama plates you see on television? (Laughter.) Q Yes, I know, I'm wondering. (Laughter.) Dana Perino | Economy | First Lady | President-Elect Obama | Press Briefing | White House Press Corps Labels: Dana Perino, Economy, First Lady, President-Elect Obama, Press Briefing, White House Press Corps >> Full Story
Posted by White House Press Corps @ 9:34:00 PM India Globe's Goyal on Obama & Terrorism - White House Press Briefing by Tony Fratto 11/26/08 — Wednesday, November 26, 2008 —  MR. FRATTO: Yes, Goyal. Q Two questions, please. One, President-Elect Obama had been already talking during his campaign as far as Afghanistan and terrorism is concerned and bringing Osama bin Laden and the top of his advisors back to justice. Now he's thinking of keeping Secretary of Defense Gates as his next Defense Secretary. Does President have any problem, or is he supporting this move by President-Elect Obama? MR. FRATTO: That's not something I can comment on, Goyal. I'll just tell you we're very proud of our Secretary of Defense. And your second question? Defense Secretary Robert Gates | Goyal | President-Elect Obama | Press Briefing | War on Terror | White House Press Corps Labels: Defense Secretary Robert Gates, Goyal, President-Elect Obama, Press Briefing, Tony Fratto, War on Terror, White House Press Corps >> Full Story
Posted by White House Press Corps @ 6:41:00 PM Al Qaeda's Latest Tape Rant - White House Press Briefing by Dana Perino 11/19/08 — Wednesday, November 19, 2008 —  Q Dana, on the tape, what is the White House saying about the tape from al Qaeda's number two? And also, does this raise the question again to the government officials here and those who are trying to work on this bin Laden case that he could, indeed, be dead? Does that raise that question that he did not do this tape? MS. PERINO: I'd have to refer you to the intelligence community for that. I don't believe that we have any intelligence that suggests that he is not living. But let me address the tape. What we have here is more despicable and pathetic comments by al Qaeda terrorists. And in America, we are going to have a smooth transition from one administration to the next, and that will be a period of change in our country. What won't change is our commitment as a country to fighting terrorism. And I think that these comments just remind everybody of the kind of people that we're dealing with. Q A follow-up. Does this make it clear that it's not necessarily about race, it's about the presidency, what al Qaeda is attacking? I mean, granted, they've put a lot of racial statements in the statement, but it's mostly about the power structure, what America represents, not -- MS. PERINO: I think that the comments that al Qaeda makes are totally irrational. They attack everything and anything that is American. And so they just look for targets of opportunity, both verbally and physically, and that's why we have to stop them. Al Qaeda | Dana Perino | President-Elect Obama | Press Briefing | War on Terror | White House Press Corps Labels: Al Qaeda, Dana Perino, President-Elect Obama, Press Briefing, War on Terror, White House Press Corps >> Full Story
Posted by White House Press Corps @ 9:37:00 PM Helen has a question - White House Press Briefing by Dana Perino 11/12/08 — Wednesday, November 12, 2008 —  Q I think Helen had a question. MS. PERINO: Helen has a question. Q Yes, I do. You say the President is not at fault for the auto industry problem. Do you think he's responsible for a solution? MS. PERINO: Well, I think that he -- Q And also, is there a quid pro quo on the Colombia trade agreement? MS. PERINO: There is absolutely no quid pro quo for that. And I was able to clarify that yesterday, and I was pleased that the President-elect's team clarified that as well. But I think that the President of the United States believes that companies are responsible for finding solutions. However, this is an industry, as I've said before, that's very important to the American people. And there are a lot of regulations that the government has tried to place on these companies over the years. And so Congress and the administration and the companies have an obligation to put their best minds towards trying to find out -- figure out what we can do to the greatest extent possible to try to keep these companies viable. And if we can do that, we certainly will. Q Is he aware that Michigan has 9 percent unemployment? MS. PERINO: Very well aware of it. And he's been very concerned about it. It's one of the reasons that he agreed to the UI extension from -- unemployment insurance extension that we provided in August. And we'll see what the Congress puts forward on that if they come back for a lame duck. Q Is he aware that Detroit won World War II by retooling in a matter of days to a wartime condition? MS. PERINO: He knows how important Detroit is, how -- its history, the industry, and how many people it supports, not just in Detroit, but all across our country, and the people all around the world who work for those corporations. He's very mindful of it. Automobile Industry | Dana Perino | Economy | Helen | President Bush | President-Elect Obama | Press Briefing | Unemployment | White House Press Corps Labels: Automobile Industry, Dana Perino, Economy, Helen, President Bush, President-Elect Obama, Press Briefing, Unemployment, White House Press Secretary >> Full Story
Posted by White House Press Corps @ 7:56:00 PM Obama Leaks About Bush White House Meeting - Intrepid Sea, Air & Space Museum Press Gaggle by Dana Perino 11/11/08 — Tuesday, November 11, 2008 —  Q Dana, so just to make that even clearer, is it wrong to say that the President told President-elect Obama that he would consider loans to automakers if Congress passed the free trade agreement or took up the free trade agreement? MS. PERINO: As I said, there was no linkage between -- Q So this was an incorrect report? MS. PERINO: Well, look, there's two anonymous aides -- or one anonymous aide who is apparently telling this story. I know from some reporters who told me that they were encouraged by others on the Obama team not to write that story because it was inaccurate. So, look, I'll let unidentified aides defend themselves, if you guys can find them. But I can tell you here, on the record, not afraid to say it, the President does support free trade; that's no secret. Everyone knows the President has talked about that a lot. He even spent time in his State of the Union address talking about the concerns he has about protectionism and isolationism, which could lead to a further weakening of our economy. That's what he's trying to work against. And when he has the leaders here this weekend, he's going to talk a lot about that. Dana Perino | Leaks | President Bush | President-Elect Obama | Press Gaggle | White House Press Corps Labels: Dana Perino, Leaks, President Bush, President-Elect Obama, Press Gaggle, White House Press Corps >> Full Story
Posted by White House Press Corps @ 5:05:00 PM Obama Campaign Rhetoric on Bush - White House Press Briefing by Dana Perino 11/10/08  Q You know, you talked about this a little bit ago, about the differences in policy, obviously, that these two men have. There was a lot of heated rhetoric on the campaign trail. Not to belabor the point, but how does that affect the dynamic when -- you know, the President obviously understands, I know, he's a politician, he understands full well what it's like on the campaign trail, but could you just elaborate a little bit on how the heated rhetoric -- MS. PERINO: It's always amazed me how President Bush is able to let heated rhetoric like that just slide off his back and move forward and do what he thinks is right for the country. Obviously right now the most important thing we can do is ensure a smooth transition to Barack Obama and his team, and that's what he's committed to doing. He just lets those things go and will be focused on helping the next team have what they need. I think it's probably something that's hard for all of us to understand, but President Bush has been involved in politics since the mid-'60s, when he watched his father run for Congress. And then their whole political life has been about a rough and tumble campaign. This President was not involved in the campaign, we studiously stayed out of it, even when it was very hard for us sometimes to let attacks go unanswered. But we did that because he thought it was the right thing to do for the Republican Party. Now in the next few weeks I think you'll be able to see us revisit some of those issues and put a marker down for history of what this President stood for and why he made the decisions that he did. Dana Perino | Political Campaigns | President Bush | President-Elect Obama | Press Briefing | White House Press Corps Labels: Dana Perino, Political Campaigns, President Bush, President-Elect Obama, Press Briefing, White House Press Corps >> Full Story
Posted by White House Press Corps @ 12:53:00 AM
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