Talk Radio News Service: News, Politics, Media

By Lovisa Frost
White House Gaggle
January 18, 2006

President's Schedule

President Bush had his usual intelligence briefings. Later he met with Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld. At 10.55 am, the President will host a meeting in the Roosevelt Room of the White House with victims of Saddam Hussein's regime.

White House Press Secretary Scott McClellan will brief the press at 12.45 pm today.
At 11 am, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice will make remarks to students at Georgetown University.
On Thursday, the President travels to Sterling, Virginia, hosted by the Loudoun County Chamber of Commerce, where he will address the economy.
On Monday, the President will depart for Manhattan, Kansas where he will make remarks on the global war on terrorism.

Saddam Hussein and the Iraq War

Today, the President is meeting with a small group of victims from Iraq who have seen first hand the brutality of Saddam Hussein's regime. "This is also an opportunity to take stock of how much progress has been made in Iraq in the last three years," McClellan said. When asked if the President still feels that he needs to justify the war to the American people, McClellan replied that is not the purpose of this meeting.

NSA Program Hearings

When asked if the President would support new laws to govern those types of communications intercepts, McClellan said it is "premature to get into those hearings." He continued to say that the Attorney General will be the one to go before the Senate Judiciary Committee to talk more about the legal justification for the authorization. No exact date has been set for the hearing, but McClellan told reporters that Senator Specter has indicated that it would be next month.
"When the President took the oath of office, he put his hand on the Bible and pledged to defend the American people against all threats, foreign and domestic, and that's exactly what he is doing," McClellan concluded.

Human Rights Watch Report

McClellan had not seen the Human Rights Watch report, but said that he has look news reports of it; however, he stated that, "It seems to be based more on a political agenda than facts." Furthermore, he said that the United States does more than any country in the world to advance freedom and promote human rights, including liberating 50 million people in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Hostage in Iraq

When asked about the journalist held hostage in Iraq, McClellan said that, "Anytime there is an American held hostage, it is a priority for the Administration. We are working for her safe return."

Supreme Court upholding Oregon Suicide Law

Questioned if the President wants Congress to act to overturn the Supreme Court ruling yesterday regarding the Oregon suicide law, McClellan said that the White House continues to review the decision and explained that most news reports focus more on the technical side of the Controlled Substances Act than the issue of the right to die. " The President will continue to work, promoting culture of life on America."

North Korea

McClellan talked about the attempts made to urge North Korea to return to the talks, where all parties agreed on getting them to abandon their nuclear weapons program. When asked if there are any discussions at all about lifting the United States sanctions, McClellan stated that the principles were spelled out very clearly, and North Korea must first make a strategic decision to dismantle their nuclear weapons program.

Economy

Before the President's trip to Sterling, Virginia tomorrow, McClellan outlined a preview of the remarks on the economy with emphasis on the inflation, "which appears to be well contained and is relatively low by historical standards."