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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  The Secret About Presidential Press Conferences - White House Press Briefing by Tony Fratto 12/23/08 — Tuesday, December 23, 2008 —  Q Tony, obviously the President is not going to have any press conferences this year, for the remainder of the year. But in 2009 will he commit to having one before he leaves office? Can he at least -- MR. FRATTO: The truth is we get asked about this a lot, and I think I was asked about it yesterday and noted the number of interviews the President does, and he may do some additional interviews. The secret about presidential press conferences is we never make the final decision until the day of. There's always lots of speculation, I know, on the part of all of you when you see a day on the -- without public events, and we begin getting calls wondering if there's going to be a press conference. We'll make those decisions as we get into the new year, whether we see a good reason and an opportunity to do one. But those are game day decisions and so we'll have to wait until the day. President Bush | Presidential Press Conference | Press Briefing | Tony Fratto | White House Press Corps Labels: President Bush, Presidential Press Conference, Press Briefing, Tony Fratto, White House Press Corps >> Full Story
Posted by White House Press Corps @ 5:10:00 PM Joe "Absolutely Tanking" Biden - White House Press Briefing by Tony Fratto 12/22/08 — Monday, December 22, 2008 —  MR. FRATTO: Yes, John. Q Joe Biden said yesterday that -- a couple things on the economy. He said the Obama administration will probably inherit the largest deficit in American history, probably more than a trillion dollars, and that's why we need a second stimulus package in the range of $600 billion to $700 billion -- some people are saying more than $700 billion, as you know. Two questions -- MR. FRATTO: I'm sorry, he said that we need a -- Q He said that's why we need a second stimulus package. MR. FRATTO: Because of the size of the deficit? Q Because in the long run, it would bring the deficit down because -- it's sort of Republican thinking, actually. (Laughter.) Do you agree that by January 20th, the deficit could bust a trillion dollars? And secondly, what's the latest thinking on a second stimulus package -- in the administration? MR. FRATTO: Well, I don't think there's any chance of a second stimulus package at the end of this administration in the days that we have remaining. I know that the next administration and congressional leaders are discussing what they intend to do and what their plans are, but it's not something we'll be doing. Look, the size of the budget deficit, whatever the number is, I can't predict whether it's going to be $1 trillion or something less than that. It's going to be large. And it's going to be a very significant number. And I think it's going to reflect two things. One, is the downturn in the economy, and the slowing of receipts coming into the federal government. It's also going to reflect the large increase in spending over the short term to deal with the financial crisis. And on the front end, the $350 billion that have been committed so far, and other funds for the financial crisis are -- they show up on the books as straight expenditures, money going out the door to financial institutions. As we've said, these funds are actually investments in these institutions. Some of them are equity positions and other ways of holding assets in some form that will return back to the taxpayer. So over time, we believe that if it works, and if the financial institutions are as successful as we hope they'll be over time, that it should be, at worst, a wash for the taxpayers and those deficit numbers will come down. Economy | Press Briefing | Tony Fratto | Vice President-Elect Biden | White House Press Corps Labels: Economy, Press Briefing, Tony Fratto, Vice President-Elect Biden, White House Press Corps >> Full Story
Posted by White House Press Corps @ 6:21:00 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 Banks vs. Automakers - White House Press Briefing by Tony Fratto 11/24/08 — Monday, November 24, 2008 —  MR. FRATTO: Yes, Mark.Q Tony, in Lima over the weekend, President Bush spoke at length about the importance of free markets. Why don't all these bailouts undermine free markets by keeping troubled, distressed companies from failing? MR. FRATTO: Well, not at all. I mean, what these efforts are doing are to prevent the financial system from failing. It's never been about any one particular company. We let thousands of companies fail in this economy every year. It's a -- actually, an important part of a healthy company is to have companies competing against each other, and some of them fail, and the winners win, and that's good. But when you have systemically large companies that can bring down not just the entire U.S. financial system but the global financial system, and have a devastating effect on our broader economy, the government has to step in. And so we have an obligation to preserve that very important part of our economy, and that supports the free market system. Our firms can't get out there and do trade if they don't have trade financing. Firms can't get out there and distribute funds to their -- to companies who distribute products here and around the world if they don't have overnight credit financing. So that part of our economy is critical. We need to keep it in place; we need it to be strong; we need it to fill all of the holes in our economy that need financing in order to be able to do their business in a free and open economy. Q What guarantees do you have that they will do that, in terms of lending? MR. FRATTO: That they will lend? That's the business they're in, and the banks have no -- Q That may be, but they're not doing it. MR. FRATTO: Well, look, I think we're pretty confident in the guidance that we've given to banks to get out there and lend. They actually have been lending. They've had to shore up their balance sheets to make sure that they're in a good position. But banks only make money one way, and that's to be out there lending and making loans. Now, it's a very difficult economy we're in right now, so there's a question of the demand side of people requesting loans from banks also and whether there are good bets out there. We want them to make good business decisions. But banks are only in the business of lending, so they can't be profitable companies going forward unless they are looking for opportunities to lend. Q Why don't we help the automakers? MR. FRATTO: We are helping the automakers -- or at least we have a plan to help the automakers. We had a bipartisan agreement on the floor of Congress -- well, actually, it never made it to the floor because the Democratic leadership decided not to bring it to the floor. But we had a bipartisan agreement that we believe would get bipartisan support. It was for $25 billion in the loan program that would have freed up that money in a way that would support the automakers in their efforts -- to help to support them as they become viable firms, because these are important parts of our manufacturing base. We want to see the automakers succeed. There seems to be some misconception out there that we don't want to help the automakers. We do want to help the automakers. We had a bipartisan agreement to do just that, and we believe that's where those funds should come from. And by the way, the news overnight where -- this was a relatively unexpected effort by Treasury and the Fed. If you had said two weeks ago that they were going to have to take this action for Citibank, I think that would have seemed unlikely. This is a very dynamic situation we're dealing with, and the financial system is still fragile. But that also speaks to the need to preserve the funds in the TARP for their intended purpose. We don't need to be taking funds out of the TARP program for other purposes -- and with respect to the automakers, especially when we have a $25 billion loan program that was specifically set up for their use. Q Well, what's the hang-up? Is it because the money is coming out of the -- MR. FRATTO: That's a question for Congress, Helen. The money is there; we tried to work on both sides of the aisle to design it in a way that the automakers could access it and to help them move forward and be viable. So I would put that question to the Democratic leadership of the Congress. Automobile Industry | Economy | Press Briefing | TARP | Tony Fratto | White House Press Corps Labels: Automobile Industry, Economy, Press Briefing, TARP, Tony Fratto, White House Press Corps >> Full Story
Posted by White House Press Corps @ 6:33:00 PM Bailout Pork - White House Press Briefing by Tony Fratto 10/3/08 — Friday, October 03, 2008 —  MR. FRATTO: Yes, Mark.Q Tony, listening to the debate on the House floor, many of the opponents were quite alarmed by what they described as a "pork-laden, earmark-laden bill." They talked about tax breaks for rum producers in Puerto Rico, arrow -- wooden arrow makers in Oregon for Hollywood producers -- MR. FRATTO: I think you should look for -- Q How do you answer that? MR. FRATTO: Well, the ranking member, ranking Republican on the House Ways and Means Committee just put out a very long statement addressing some of those things. And as he pointed out, this was the same package that was promoted by Republicans not too long ago. I think Representative Camp had sent it up as -- or put it forth on their motion to recommit, same exact package. There are -- the rum provision, it's not a tax break for rum producers. These are excise taxes that actually go back to the government of Puerto Rico. Some of these things have sort of interesting headline-making characteristics to them, but when you look deeper at them, they make a lot of sense. I mean, I didn't know anything about children's arrows, but I've learned a lot over the last 24 hours, and it turns out that the -- Q Did you get the point? (Laughter.) MR. FRATTO: You hit the bulls-eye with that one, Mark. (Laughter.) It turns out that the excise tax is -- would be 39 cents an arrow, but it only costs about 30 cents an arrow to make, so there are very real reasons why you wouldn't want to have that kind of tax on that kind of product. So I would point you to what Representative McCrery put out. He has a document that explains each one of these provisions. And the entire package of extenders is something that we are very, very comfortable supporting. Congress | Legislation | Pork | Press Briefing | Tony Fratto | White House Press Corps Labels: Congress, Legislation, Pork, Press Briefing, Tony Fratto, White House Press Corps
Posted by White House Press Corps @ 6:14:00 PM Raising FDIC Coverage - White House Press Briefing by Tony Fratto 10/2/08 — Thursday, October 02, 2008 —  MR. FRATOO: Jennifer.Q I'm trying to understand this deposit insurance increase. MR. FRATTO: Sure. Q One of the reasons obviously that the vote went the way it did on Monday was that folks were uncomfortable with the idea of so much government money into the private markets, into Wall Street, that whole line of concern. But I'm trying to understand how protecting deposits that are over $100,000, which is a lot of money -- not -- most regular people don't have $100,000 sitting around in any one account --how is that getting to the Main Street regular people -- MR. FRATTO: Sure. Actually, it's one of -- America's small businesses use their local banks in order to fund their operations. That's where they keep their money for day-to-day operations -- their funds for payroll, for example. And so they would have -- in fact, a great many of them would have far more than $100,000 in their accounts. And what a lot of small businesses have had to do across the country is to split up their accounts as they felt that maybe banks were threatened -- split up their accounts in numerous banks, which is incredibly inefficient; it's not a very efficient way to do business. And you're also noticing that small businesses were moving their funds from banks that were perceived to be weak to banks that were perceived to be strong, and so really not normal ways of doing business. Raising the cap allows them to have the confidence that they can keep those funds in their local bank. They don't have to move them around. And so it's a much bigger cushion. Q Okay. Congress | Legislation | FDIC | Press Briefing | Tony Fratto | White House Press Corps Labels: Congress, FDIC, Legislation, Press Briefing, Tony Fratto, White House Press Corps >> Full Story
Posted by White House Press Corps @ 4:32:00 PM Add-ons to Financial Bailout Bill - White House Press Briefing by Tony Fratto 10/1/08 — Wednesday, October 01, 2008 —  Q Tony, is the White House concerned at all about the possibility of losing votes in the House because of the add-ons in the Senate bill?MR. FRATTO: Right now we're focused on the Senate. We think the modifications are helpful and will help to achieve passage in the House. Q Didn't you want a clean bill, though? You didn't want a lot of add-ons and you're ending up with add-ons. MR. FRATTO: Well, we didn't want a lot of add-ons. We didn't want things that we felt would be harmful to the economy. But since we started working with the Congress 10 days ago on the actual legislation, we've made a number of changes and modifications. The things that are being added on right now, on the tax extenders, these are things that we have all supported. In fact, both Houses support extending the tax credits for renewable energy; both support AMT reform. There's a dispute in terms of whether they should be offset, and of course, we have opposed increasing taxes to pay for fixing a problem in the tax code. And the FDIC decision has been a recent one that we think will garner some additional support. So, yes, look, this is not -- it's never a straight line in trying to get legislation like this, and we're very appreciative of the Senate's efforts to try to develop this legislation in a way that will be successful. Congress | Legislation | Press Briefing | Senate | Tony Fratto | Wall Street | White House Press Corps Labels: Congress, Legislation, Press Briefing, Senate, Tony Fratto, Wall Street, White House Press Corps >> Full Story
Posted by White House Press Corps @ 5:26:00 PM Unemployment Insurance - White House Press Briefing by Tony Fratto 9/30/08 — Tuesday, September 30, 2008 —  MR. FRATTO: Paula.Q You mentioned repeatedly of frozen assets, assets that have value. But what about human assets? Because there's a lot of argument out there that people around that kitchen table might not be able to wait three or four steps along the way. As you know, unemployment insurance is running out mid-October, about three weeks before the election. The White House said it opposes that. There's supposedly a bargaining chip out there by Democrats for the President to drop his veto threat on the second stimulus bill. Are you rethinking any of these positions? MR. FRATTO: Which -- let me try to break down your question in a few different ways. You talked about unemployment insurance. We extended unemployment insurance. Congress put that forward for a 13-week extension of unemployment insurance, from 26 weeks-six months, for an additional 13 weeks extension. Q It expires in October -- MR. FRATTO: The additional 13 weeks for those people who have been on unemployment insurance already for six months, for them it does expire. But it rolls, depending on when you get on the program, so that if you are on the program today, if you go on this week, you have the original 26 weeks, plus an additional 13 weeks. So that's where it stands today. Congress may have ideas on things that they want to try to do with respect to unemployment insurance. They may try to find legislative vehicles to deal with them. We'll have those conversations with Congress if there are other efforts that they want to do. But with respect to this particular problem, if you want to help those people at their kitchen table, if you want to help the ability of their employers to keep them employed, then you want to fix the problem that we're trying to fix this week. And there will be -- there is nothing we can do that is more important for the U.S. economy, short term and long term, than to fix this problem with this frozen asset class. It is the single best thing we can do for the economy. That's our primary focus, and that's what we're going to be working on. We'll obviously continue to talk about other issues also if Congress has interest in them. Q But you have to acknowledge that one of the key issues here is also to get something that will pass. And if the bargaining chip is to drop the veto threat on a second stimulus package, would you reconsider it? MR. FRATTO: I think we will leave our negotiations for our discussions with members of Congress and not try to have me negotiate from here. Congress | Press Briefing | Tony Fratto | Unemployment | White House Press Corps Labels: Congress, Press Briefing, Tony Fratto, Unemployment, White House Press Corps >> Full Story
Posted by White House Press Corps @ 7:24:00 PM Treasury Department Economic Contingency Plans - White House Press Briefing by Tony Fratto 9/29/08 — Monday, September 29, 2008 —  Q Treasury had been working on a contingency plan for an economic meltdown for over a year. Treasury told me that. Did the White House know this? Did you ever see details of this plan?MR. FRATTO: We work very closely with Treasury. Q So why is it so complex? I mean, why -- MR. FRATTO: It's a complex -- it is an incredibly complex problem. And I think you can see that Treasury was dealing with some very difficult issues: the failure of a major investment bank, the failure of the world's largest insurance company, the failure of two government-sponsored enterprises that needed to go into conservatorship. I think Treasury was ahead of this, but -- I think we said this last week, your first choice isn't a $700-billion-program commitment of taxpayer dollars. That is, I think, a last choice, a major government intervention into the financial sector. That's not what you lead with. You see if there are ways that we can try to contain the problem. That's what Treasury and the Fed tried to do. It had some limited success. But we've seen an incredible transformation in our financial sector right now. But we're in -- we're in a point where because of the tightness in credit, the extreme illiquidity in credit markets, that something major had to be done. And it was the decision of Secretary Paulson. Q But Treasury saw this happening, the possibility -- MR. FRATTO: No. No, the Treasury -- the Treasury was aware of a lot of different potential solutions, and this was one of them. Q They knew a problem was coming, that's why they were looking for solutions a year ago. I mean, why didn't they -- MR. FRATTO: I don't know about a year ago, if that's what they -- if that's what they've told you. But I know that they were looking at different ideas for a long time. But I -- still, I think the point that I made is the right point. You don't -- you don't do this kind of major intervention as a first choice. Q My point is they could have warned the public a year ago that something was coming; they could have talked to Congress. MR. FRATTO: They were warning the public. And they were talking a great deal about the problems in credit markets. And I know it's something Secretary Paulson had been focused on for a great deal of time. And in particular, his focus on Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac as the -- one of the largest players in mortgage backed securities, he had been focused on that for a great deal of time. The administration had been focused on it for six years, even long before the Secretary came to Treasury. Henry Paulson | Press Briefing | Tony Fratto | Treasury Department | Treasury Secretary | Wall Street | White House Press Corps Labels: Henry Paulson, Press Briefing, Tony Fratto, Treasury Department, Treasury Secretary, Wall Street, White House Press Corps >> Full Story
Posted by White House Press Corps @ 5:23:00 PM White House Press Briefing by Tony Fratto (Gas Prices) — Saturday, April 19, 2008 —  MR. FRATTO: Les.Q Tony, thank you very much. Two questions. First, could you briefly summarize the White House reaction and proposed solution to reports from California of gasoline now selling at $4.00 a gallon or more? MR. FRATTO: Briefly summarize? No, I don't think that's possible, and you're not going to have immediate short-term solutions on things like gasoline prices. It took us a long time to get to a place where the price of gasoline is where it is. It's going to take us a long time to get off of oil as much as possible. We've already taken steps through the energy act in terms of conservation and increasing CAFE standards, and also replacing oil with alternative fuels. And so that will continue and we hope it does bring down the price of gasoline. We'd also like to see increased production from oil producers. Q That's a good answer. How -- MR. FRATTO: Thank you. Q Yeah. (Laughter.) Q Congratulations. Q Yeah, nice job. MR. FRATTO: Do I get a star for that? (Laughter.) Les | Oil | Press Briefing | Tony Fratto | White House Press Corps Labels: Les, Oil, Press Briefing, Tony Fratto, White House Press Corps >> Full Story
Posted by White House Press Corps @ 12:29:00 AM Press Gaggle by Tony Fratto 4/17/08 (British Prime Minister Gordon Brown) — Thursday, April 17, 2008 —  MR. FRATTO: Any other questions?Q Yes, the Gordon Brown. So last time the President told us, no, he's not angry at Gordon Brown for pulling troops out of Iraq; Gordon Brown has since said, since the fighting erupted around Basra, the clampdown on the Shiite militias -- attempted clampdown, he's going to put those withdrawal plans on hold. Is the President going to say "I told you so" today? MR. FRATTO: No, look -- we think that the British have been very responsible -- (Announcement interruption.) MR. FRATTO: Maybe someone could tell our staff that a gaggle is still ongoing. (Laughter.) No, look, we have a -- we think the British have been very responsible in their operations in Basra. Their support for the Iraqi-led operation a couple weeks ago was impressive, even heroic, flying helicopter runs evacuating injured soldiers from the fighting, was -- under fire -- was very impressive. They're performing their overwatch mission we think with great courage and distinction. And of course we expect that Iraq, Afghanistan and other operations that we're involved with with the U.K. will be discussed today. And so you'll have a chance to hear from the President and the Prime Minister this afternoon on that. Q Does the President have any feelings about Gordon Brown meeting with the -- his would-be successors this morning? Does he feel that's good, a problem? What's his reaction to that? MR. FRATTO: We don't think it's a problem. I haven't asked the President on that, but I can tell you, you know, generally we think it's probably a wise move by the Prime Minister to get to know who -- one of the individuals who will likely be President in a year from now. So it makes sense. We think it's -- we certainly have no objections to it at all. Afghanistan | Gordon Brown | Iraq | President Bush | Press Gaggle | Tony Fratto | United Kingdom | White House Press Corps Labels: Afghanistan, Gordon Brown, Iraq, President Bush, Press Gaggle, Tony Fratto, United Kingdom, White House Press Corps >> Full Story
Posted by White House Press Corps @ 9:37:00 PM White House Press Briefing by Tony Fratto 4/7/08 (General Petraeus Iraq Testimony) — Monday, April 07, 2008 — Q You acted like the President wouldn't know what Petraeus and Crocker are going to testify. Do you mean he's going to be surprised tomorrow -- MR. FRATTO: No, I hope I didn't leave -- Q -- when they say the surge is working and all? MR. FRATTO: No, I hope I didn't leave that impression. I think he has a good sense of what the thinking of General Petraeus and Ambassador Crocker is. Obviously they speak on a fairly regular basis and the President is briefed by General Petraeus. And he's also briefed by lots of -- Q But he's the President, isn't he calling the policy? I mean, we don't have President Petraeus, do we? We have President -- MR. FRATTO: No, we don't. We have commander Petraeus, who is running the operations on the ground in Iraq and he's closest to the military operations. He knows the capabilities of his forces, the coalition forces, and what the Iraqi security forces can do, and has a good sense of what's needed to complete his mission. And it's a mission that he designed. So we want to look forward to his testimony and hear how he thinks it's going and what the requirements are to complete that mission for the remainder of the year. Q What is the mission? MR. FRATTO: Well, it's pretty clear, says to bring -- is to bring -- Q Are you asking -- to continue the occupation of Iraq? MR. FRATTO: -- security in Iraq, sufficient security, so that the political leadership can continue to make gains. And they've made some very impressive gains, whether it's with the budget and reconstruction funding and the Baathist legislation and provincial elections. These are all very, very important elements of political reconciliation in Iraq. We'd like to see more. We want to see more action on oil revenue law. And so there's more to be done. We're going to keep a very close eye on implementation of the laws that have been passed. But I think it's clear General Petraeus's mission was to reduce violence in Baghdad and in Iraq, more broadly, and I think it's hard to deny -- it would be hard for anybody to deny that he hasn't been successful in that mission. Now, we know that it's a -- the reduction of violence is fragile and it's reversible, but we like the trend and we like what the Iraqi political leadership has shown about their ability to take action. Q And paying off 90,000 Iraqis not to fight? MR. FRATTO: Kathleen. General Petraeus | Helen | Iraq | Middle East | President Bush | Press Briefing | Tony Fratto | White House Press Corps Labels: General Petraeus, Helen, Iraq, Middle East, President Bush, Press Briefing, Tony Fratto, White House Press Corps >> Full Story
Posted by White House Press Corps @ 10:55:00 PM White House Press Briefing by Tony Fratto 10/22/07 (S-CHIP Veto) — Monday, October 22, 2007 — MR. FRATTO: Well, I could see that point if that was what the President said, but that's exactly not what the President said. What the President said was is that they have the policy wrong on SCHIP, not that it's too expensive or is -- Q They were asking for too much, though, right? MR. FRATTO: No, they were asking for a policy that was bad. Let me tell you something about the -- what the SCHIP bill that Nancy Pelosi and Harry Reid are proposing, okay. If you look at the eligible communities in this bill, it would result in 57 percent of children in this country and about 53 percent of families with children on public assistance, or at least eligible for public assistance. Now what the President has said is that poor children should come first. Now there are a lot of things you can say about half the families in America. Half of them aren't poor. And so the President has said that the policy is wrong. He didn't say that it's too expensive -- although it is too expensive to spend money on the wrong policy. So what he has said is the policy is wrong. Now, with regard to the supplemental request, children -- the right children, poor children getting their health care, and the needs of our troops can both be accomplished. They're both priorities and we can handle both of those requests. Iraq | President Bush | Press Briefing | S-CHIP | Tony Fratto | Vetoes | White House Press Corps Labels: Iraq, President Bush, Press Briefing, S-CHIP, Tony Fratto, Vetoes, White House Press Corps >> Full Story
Posted by White House Press Corps @ 8:41:00 PM Air Force One Press Gaggle by Tony Fratto 10/15/07 (Armenian Genocide Resolution) — Monday, October 15, 2007 — MR. FRATTO: I don't have -- I don't know anything about plans for a phone call. But there should be no question of the President's views on this issue and the damage that this resolution can do to our U.S. foreign policy interests. This isn't just a view that's expressed by the administration; this is a view that's been expressed by at least, I believe eight former Secretaries of State on a bipartisan basis, a number of former Defense Secretaries, by our Turkish allies, by independent experts, that this is an important time for U.S.-Turkish relations, and we would strongly encourage the Speaker not to bring this to a vote, and should it come to a vote, we will strongly encourage members not to support it. This is not the best way to deal with this issue. It is, admittedly, a tragic historical event, which has been well documented, but there are better ways to deal with this issue than -- the most important outcome that I think everyone would like to see are improved Turkish and Armenian relations. And so we encourage the Turks and Armenian authorities to resolve this issue between themselves, and not for the U.S. House of Representatives to insert itself and make this -- make the prospects for resolving the issue more difficult. We should be trying to make it less difficult. Air Force One | Armenia | Genocide | Iraq | Middle East Labels: Air Force One, Armenia, Genocide, Iraq, Middle East, Press Gaggle, Resolutions, Tony Fratto, Turkey, White House Press Corps >> Full Story
Posted by White House Press Corps @ 8:41:00 PM Air Force One Press Gaggle by Tony Fratto 10/12/07 (Al Gore and the Nobel Prize) — Friday, October 12, 2007 — MR. FRATTO: Yes, the President learned about it this morning. Of course, he's happy for Vice President Gore, happy for the International Panel on Climate Change scientists, who also shared the Peace Prize. Obviously it's an important recognition and we're sure the Vice President is thrilled. Q Is he going to call him? MR. FRATTO: I don't know of any plans to make calls to any of the winners at this point. Q (Inaudible.) MR. FRATTO: Well, obviously Vice President Gore has helped to bring attention to climate change. The IPCC scientists have done remarkable work to bring scientific rigor to the questions surrounding climate change. And obviously the next step for -- and really the most difficult step is implementing climate change strategies that are effective and practical, and that allow for continued economic development and for countries to do the work that they need to do to lift people out of poverty. And that's a challenging task. That's why the President brought together the major economies -- the announcement he had prior to the G8 and then the summit meeting last week -- I guess it was two weeks ago now -- to discuss a strategy for climate change. And that's the next step and that's an important step. Q Given that his approach on climate is so different from Al Gore's, does he feel that this award is in any way sending a message about his own policies? MR. FRATTO: I'm not sure what -- no, I don't see it that way at all. No. Q Does he think, though, that the award will place pressure on him and on the Bush administration to do more quickly, and to maybe fall into line with what other countries want, which are mandatory caps on emissions? MR. FRATTO: No. Al Gore | Global Warming | Nobel Prize | Press Gaggle | President Bush | Tony Fratto Labels: Air Force One, Al Gore, Global Warming, Nobel Prize, President Bush, Press Gaggle, Tony Fratto >> Full Story
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