White House Gaggle

By Scott McClellan
THE WHITE HOUSE

Office of the Press Secretary
(Knoxville, Tennessee)
_____________________________________________________________________
For Immediate Release January 8, 2004



PRESS GAGGLE WITH
SCOTT McCLELLAN

Aboard Air Force One
En Route Knoxville, Tennessee

9:53 A.M. EST

MR. McCLELLAN: Good morning, pool. Let me begin with the President's day.
The President had two world leader calls this morning, to the President of
Colombia and the President of Ecuador. If you all will recall, there was a
senior member of FARC who was apprehended late last week. The President spoke
with President Uribe and the President congratulated him on the recent successes
of Colombia against FARC narco terrorists. And both leaders indicated they look
forward to working together on a successful hemispheric summit next week in
Mexico.

Then the President spoke with President Gutierrez. The President thanked
President Gutierrez for his support in fighting terrorism, and again, both
leaders indicated that they look forward to working together for a successful
hemispheric summit next week.

Q He called Gutierrez to thank him?

MR. McCLELLAN: Yes. Because they're involved in the -- well, one, they
were involved in apprehending this senior member of FARC last Friday.

Q Both leaders were involved?

MR. McCLELLAN: Yes, both countries.

Then the President had his usual briefings. Upon arrival in Knoxville, the
President will meet briefly with a Freedom Corps greeter. His name is Nathaniel
Foster. He's an active volunteer in the Knoxville community for 25 years now,
and he chairs the mentoring committee of the Knoxville chapter of 100 Black Men
of America, which is a nonprofit which seeks to improve the lives of young
African Americans through mentoring, health and wellness, education, economic
development.

And following that, the President will go to West View Elementary -- and
let me give you a little bit about West View Elementary. West View Elementary
serves 237 students in grades K through 5; 91 percent of the students are
low-income, from low-income families. West View is a Title I school and they
did make adequate yearly progress this year.

Q They did?

MR. McCLELLAN: They did. Eighty percent of 3rd graders scored
proficiently in reading and math on last year's state test, and students also
made above average gains in both reading and math between 2002 and 2003.

When the President first gets there he will briefly visit with students,
about 40 students and 3 teachers from the school in a classroom, and that will
be pool coverage, as it was the other day. And then, following that, the
President will participate in a conversation on the second anniversary of the No
Child Left Behind Act.

This is the second -- today marks the second anniversary of the signing of
the No Child Left Behind Act. And the President will continue to highlight the
unprecedented commitment we have made to making sure that every child is
learning and succeeding by insisting on high standards and real accountability
and results. And the President, I expect, will also talk about the historic
levels of support we've provided to make sure we meet that commitment by giving
states the resources they need to implement these standards.

And the participants in that, in the conversation, will include Secretary
Paige, who is traveling with us. It will include the State Superintendent of
Schools for the Georgia Department of Education. It will include some leaders
from education groups, the principal of Barton Elementary School from Milwaukee,
Wisconsin; the superintendent from Charlotte, North Carolina. And the President
I expect will also touch on the progress that we are making on the national
level in student achievement, and the progress we are making to close the
achievement gap.

And then, following that, the President makes remarks at a Bush-Cheney 2004
luncheon in Knoxville. Then we will go to Palm Beach, Florida, and the
President, upon arrival, will have a Freedom Corps greeter there, Gordon
Stanley, who is an active volunteer with the Delray Beach Police Department
since 1996. This is part of the Volunteers in Police Service which is part of
our Citizen Corps initiative. Gordon Stanley is a retired individual living in
Florida and he is spending his time volunteering with the local police
department.

And then he makes remarks at a Bush-Cheney 2004 reception in Palm Beach
Gardens, Florida. And that's all I've got.

Q Is he still loosening up, or is he going to say anything more directly
--

MR. McCLELLAN: He's still focused on the people's business, he's still
loosening up.

Q Do you have anything about the helicopter down, the Blackhawk
helicopter?

MR. McCLELLAN: Yes. First of all, our men and women in the military are
serving and sacrificing in Iraq for an important cause, a cause that is making
the world a safer and better place. I know exactly what you all have heard
publicly from the Central Command officials in Iraq. And the President is
saddened any time we lose men and women in the military.

Q Saddened any time --

MR. McCLELLAN: Any time we lose a member of our military. And our
thoughts and prayers are always with the families and loved ones of those who
lose their lives, sacrificing to make the world a better place.

Q Scott, there are reports that the United States has quietly pulled out
its team searching for weapons of mass destruction in Iraq. Is that correct,
and does that amount to a concession that you don't expect to find --

MR. McCLELLAN: Well, there was a report in one of the papers this morning
that was talking about I think two separate things -- in the paper talking about
some of the members who are responsible for disposing of weapons, and separate
and apart from, I believe, the Iraq Survey Group. I mean, obviously, you talk
to the military about how they're allocating our resources, but the Iraq Survey
Group continues to do its work. We already know from their interim report that
Saddam Hussein's regime was in serious violation of 1441, which called for
serious consequences.

Q Are our efforts to find weapons being scaled down in Iraq?

MR. McCLELLAN: Again, you want to talk to our military in terms of the
resources being allocated to all our different priorities in Iraq. But the Iraq
Survey Group continues to do its work, continues to pursue its mission.

Q You mentioned Secretary Paige would be on the trip. 60 Minutes had a
show last night detailing how the Houston School District overstated its
graduation rates, or understated dropout rates, overstated its achievement. Is
the President still confident in Secretary Paige's leadership?

MR. McCLELLAN: Secretary Paige is doing an outstanding job and he shares
the President's commitment to making sure that we set high expectations, because
we believe that every child can learn and succeed. And that's what the
President and the Secretary will be talking about today in Tennessee. Texas
certainly has been a state that was on the leading edge of improving our public
schools.

Q Does he see a need for safeguards to ensure against the sort of
manipulation that was alleged in this --

MR. McCLELLAN: Well, I disagree with the way you're characterizing things
in the first place, and I think Secretary Paige has addressed that matter
himself.

Q So no additional steps need to be taken?

MR. McCLELLAN: For what? I mean, I disagree with the premise of your
question. I just disagree with the premise of your question in the first place.
What the President is talking about today is the importance of making sure that
we set high standards and real accountability and we insist on results so that
every child is learning and succeeding. And he will talk about the progress
that we are making as we measure the student achievement.

Q Will he announce any new budget figures or anything --

MR. McCLELLAN: Yes, in fact --

Q Can we have a factsheet?

MR. McCLELLAN: Yes, we have a factsheet that Mr. Deckard is getting for
you right now. And the President will talk about -- as I mentioned, he will
talk about the historic levels of support that we are providing in terms of
resources for states and school districts as we make an unprecedented commitment
to improving public schools.

And this factsheet lays out some of the additional increases the President
will be seeking in his '05 budget proposal. And his '05 budget proposal
represents a 48-percent increase for elementary and secondary education since
Fiscal Year 2001. It includes an additional $1 billion in Title I funding for
disadvantaged students; it includes an additional $138 million for reading
programs. The President often talks about reading is the key to success. And
an additional $1 billion for special education programs.

I would just point out that there are still -- there are nearly -- and this
is in the factsheet, as well -- that there's nearly $6 billion in federal
education funds that remained unspent, waiting to be drawn down by the states.

Q -- Democrats who are saying that this measure is not funded
adequately, they're just wrong?

MR. McCLELLAN: Well, I think that that argument rings hollow after what I
just pointed out to you, the fact that I just pointed out to you that there's
nearly $6 billion in unspent federal education funds that states have yet to
draw down.

Q Is that just an absorption problem, or is there -- has the
administration looked into why $6 billion is still --

MR. McCLELLAN: Well, it talks in here, it lays out in here that we've made
these resources available to local school districts, but that they've -- but
those states and local school districts have not been able to take full
advantage of the ample resources that are currently available to them. So we've
made --

Q I'm sorry, how much is that --

MR. McCLELLAN: The $6 billion.

Q Why is that? I'm sure you've analyzed that and looked at why they
haven't been able to use the $6 billion. Why would that be?

MR. McCLELLAN: Well, I think there are probably a variety of reasons. You
have to look at each -- at the states and the local school districts about their
ability to spend those resources.

Q -- you guys put out, break it down by states for us?

MR. McCLELLAN: Yes, the Department of Education has actually put this
information out, so you can get that from the Department of Education. They
actually have or are about to or are putting out this information. So they can
get you all that information in terms of those questions you're asking right
now. We can check and maybe we can get that to you on the road. The Tennessee
numbers are actually in the factsheet.

Q On the education bill, people -- Democrats like Kennedy, George Miller
worked with the President real closely. Given this divide over this issue now,
what are the chances that the President and the Democrats can get together on
any other legislation in this election year?

MR. McCLELLAN: Well, one, the President has never been someone to shy away
from the big challenges that face this country. And I think that we've often
heard on some very important priorities those same kind of questions. If you go
back to the No Child Left Behind Act two years ago, there were a lot of
questions about whether or not it would get passed. There were questions about
whether or not the Medicare legislation would get passed.

This President is committed to leading and acting decisively to address our
nation's highest priorities, and we have achieved some important success on a
number of areas, including the two I just mentioned, as well as passing tax cuts
for the American people to get the economy growing again. And the President is
someone that will continue to remind members of Congress that there are
remaining big challenges that face this country and we need to work together
across the aisle to address those priorities, including one that he talked about
yesterday.

Anything else? Thank you.

END 10:08 A.M. EST