White House Gaggle
Wednesday, February 1, 2006 at 3:00AM
Staff in News/Commentary
By Scott McClellan
February 1, 2006

Office of the Press Secretary
(Nashville, Tennessee)

Aboard Air Force One
En route Nashville, Tennessee

11:54 A.M. EST


MR. McCLELLAN: All right, good morning. Let me go over the


President's day first, and then I'll take whatever questions you have.
First of all, the President had two world leader calls this morning.
The President spoke with President Putin. They discussed the Iranian
nuclear issue and they both agreed that it was important to stay in
close contact as we move forward to address this issue. I think both
leaders have a shared concern about Iran developing a nuclear weapon
under the guise of a civilian program. The President reiterated his
appreciation for President Putin's initiative when it comes to offering
to enrich uranium for Iran and then providing it to the regime for
peaceful nuclear energy, and then taking that fuel back once it has been
used.



Then following that, the President spoke with President Morales of
Bolivia. The President called to congratulate President Morales on his
election and inauguration. The President also commended the Bolivian
people for their strong commitment to the democratic process. The
President expressed our commitment to helping the Bolivian people
realize their aspirations for a better life. And President Morales
outlined his agenda for social and economic change in Bolivia. Both
leaders reiterated their interest in a constructive U.S.-Bolivian
relationship and dialogue.



Those were the two calls from this morning. Then the President had
his usual briefings. He participated in the signing for the
proclamation in honor of American Heart Month. And here shortly the
President looks forward to speaking to people in Nashville. I think
this will be somewhat of a recap of last night's remarks. You all will
be there to cover it. It's not a formal remarks.



And then following that, we return back to the White House this
afternoon, and the President will participate in the ceremonial
swearing-in ceremony for Justice Alito. As you know, he was actually
sworn in yesterday at the Supreme Court by Chief Justice Roberts. And
this afternoon we'll have the ceremonial swearing-in in the East Room.
It will be very similar to the one for Chief Justice Roberts.



Q Who initiated the Putin call?



MR. McCLELLAN: The President called him.



Q The President.



MR. McCLELLAN: It's set up at a mutually beneficial time.



Anything else? Read all about in the wires?



Q Give us a recap of what he told them. (Laughter.)



MR. McCLELLAN: Well, let me mention that one thing the President
is focused on, and I think he may reiterate today when he goes to
Nashville, is the importance of elevating the tone in Washington and
working together to get things done. I think the President believes
that most members of Congress are committed to doing so. And as he
said, he's going to do his part, but he really believes strongly that
there are some areas where we can work together in a bipartisan way to
achieve important priorities for the American people.



And one of those is on Iraq. As he said last night, no matter
where you stood before, we all -- all of us have a responsibility to
help make sure that we succeed in Iraq. And the President believes that
we can work together to support our troops and make sure that we win.
And as he said last night, we are winning.



The President also talked about addressing the problems with our
entitlement programs -- Social Security and Medicare and Medicaid. With
the baby boom generation getting ready to retire, it's going to put a
lot of strain on those programs. And those are problems that are not
going to go away. We need to address them. And that's why the
President reached out last night, and said -- he recognized these are
difficult issues to address, but they are issues that are only going to
get worse with time. And that's why the President reached out last
night, and emphasized that he wanted to see a truly bipartisan
commission come together and look for solutions to address these issues.



We're already beginning to reach out to Congress and seek their
ideas for how we put that commission together. As the President
indicated, if Congress wants to have some current members, Democrats and
Republicans on that commission, then we should have that.



The President stressed two important domestic priorities last
night, reducing our dependence on foreign sources of energy. He talked
about how we're on the verge of important breakthroughs, technological
breakthroughs. And that's an important area where we can work together
to advance technology and address the issue of our reliance on
hydrocarbons.



Then also on the competitiveness issue, the President talked at
length about how it is important that we need to -- important in the
dynamic economy that we're in to keep America competitive. And the way
we do that is by continuing to invest in research and development and
support the physical sciences and support math and science education,
and make sure that workers have the skills they need to fill the jobs
that are being created, the high-paying jobs. And so those are areas
where the President really believes that we can work together in a
bipartisan way to get a lot of things done for the American people.



Q What about health care, which Americans are increasingly
concerned about? There was some talk about that last night. Are we
going to hear more about that today, or more about that in the coming
days?



MR. McCLELLAN: Yes, you will. And in fact, remember, I talked
about how now that the State of the Union is behind us, the President is
going to be going out across the country, talking in greater detail
about the initiatives he outlined last night. And one of those areas is
addressing the issue of rising health care costs. Americans are
concerned about high health care costs. They're concerned about high
energy costs. And that's reason one why the President laid out some
bold initiatives to address the root causes of those issues. And that's
another area where we need to continue to work together. The President
called for expanding health saving accounts, and making sure that
Americans who participate in health saving accounts have the same sort
of advantages that big businesses have. And the small businesses can
have those kind of tax advantages, as well.



He talked about the importance of information technology, that can
help us reduce costs, and advancing health information technology, and
making sure that consumers have information on pricing and quality of
health care. And then, of course, medical liability reform is a very
important area that needs to be addressed, particularly when it comes to
the OB/GYN profession.



Q He talked about civility, changing the tone a little bit. Ten
days ago, Karl Rove gave a very pointed and sharp speech. Many see it
as a preview of the election strategy forward, drawing some clear
distinctions between Republicans and Democrats and also taking a lot of
shots at Democrats. Is the President going to discourage Rove or Ken
Melhman or any other surrogates from making those kinds of speeches
going forward?



MR. McCLELLAN: Well, I think that those individuals said a lot
more than just that, first of all. But the President is -- believes
it's his obligation to call on all of us -- Republicans and Democrats
alike -- who are in elected office to do our part and focus on the
priorities of the American people. We've been talking about some of the
important priorities that the American people are most concerned about.
They're concerned about high energy prices, they're concerned about high
-- rising health care costs, they're concerned about the situation in
Iraq. And we need to come together and address those issues in a
bipartisan way.



And that's why I went through the four areas where the President
believes there's a great opportunity for us to do so, and get some
things done. You know, we recognize it's an election year, and there
will be plenty of time for people to talk about the differences between
the parties, but we should do so in a respectful way.

And the President is going to continue focusing on the priorities
of the American people. There will be plenty of time to talk about the
differences on the issues later in the election year.



Q Can I just -- on that -- just on the --



MR. McCLELLAN: Sure.



Q Will the President agree that there was a shared
responsibility for the tone having gotten to the point where it is now?



MR. McCLELLAN: Absolutely. All of us -- first of all, this is
something that has been building for years, well before his presidency.
And the President saw what it was like when he was the governor of
Texas. People were able to put aside election-year politicking and come
together and get things done in a bipartisan way. And one -- he said
one of his biggest disappointments is that we haven't been able to do
more to change the tone in Washington. But that's a two-way street.
The President has always worked to elevate the tone. I think you've
seen that in what he has said, and he's always worked to reach out.
When he came into office, we were able to reach out and get some
important things done on historic education reforms.



And the President -- the President was the first to go out there
and share the credit. The President believes very important -- believes
very strongly in sharing credit when we work together to get things
done. And that's what -- that's what -- he has a history of doing that.



But yes, all of us -- Republicans and Democrats alike -- have a
responsibility to work together to elevate the tone and focus on getting
things done for the American people.



Q On the --



MR. McCLELLAN: That sums up Terry Hunt's interview right there.
I'm sorry, go ahead.



Q On the issue of immigration, some of your critics have said
they would like to see some sort of bill or more formal language coming
out of the White House, to define what they really want. Will there be
any sort of language like that? And if not, how will you all try to
promote a guest worker program in the Senate after it's already --



MR. McCLELLAN: First of all, I think the President has outlined a
very comprehensive -- the President has outlined a comprehensive
approach to fixing our immigration system. It is a broken system. What
we did -- spent much of last year doing was engaging congressional
leaders -- Democrats and Republicans alike -- and consulting with them
about how to move forward to get this done. The House began moving
forward on immigration; the Senate began moving forward on immigration
toward the end of last year.



And we think that there's a real opportunity to get something done
on immigration reform this year. We've taken steps to strengthen our
borders. We need to do more to enforce laws inside the U.S. when it
comes to immigration laws. But we also need to move forward on a -- as
the President said last night -- a humane temporary worker program that
addresses really two needs: an economic need and humane treatment of
people who are coming to this country simply to seek a better quality of
life for their families back home.



And so this is very much a priority for this President. It's
something we need to address to keep us competitive as we move forward.
The economy is strong, with 4.6 million new jobs being created and the
unemployment rate down to 4.9 percent over the -- since the last couple
of years, in terms of job creation. And as the President said, those
who are coming here are filling an important economic need. He talked
about that in his remarks last night.



So we look forward to continuing to work with Congress in a
bipartisan way and trying to get something done. I think there's a lot
of interest in doing so within Congress. And so the President will
continue to lead to push them to get something done and continue working
with them in a bipartisan way.



Q On the Social Security Commission, any idea of what you would
want them to report back? You talked about how things -- as you get
closer to election, obviously, you know, the political cycle -- when you
would want that report, the commission report?



MR. McCLELLAN: Right now, we're just in the early stages of
engaging Congress on it. The President announced it last night, so
we're talking with members of Congress to get their feedback and get
their thoughts on how we can move forward on this in a bipartisan way.
That's why the President stressed he wants Republicans and Democrats on
this commission, including members of Congress if they feel that that's
the best thing to do.



So we'll work on flushing out all these details as we move forward.
But we've already started moving forward on it.



All right.



Q How does the Fran -- Fran Townsend's review of Katrina -- when
can we expect a report on that?



MR. McCLELLAN: It's very near completion and I expect we'll have
more to say on it soon.



Q Any more on Minnesota, Albuquerque, Dallas -- what he'll be
talking about at each?



MR. McCLELLAN: On competitiveness. Tomorrow, the President -- the
remainder of this week will really focus on the American Competitiveness
Initiative he outlined last night. Tomorrow, when we go to Maplewood,
Minnesota, the President will be visiting the 3M plant there, and
certainly they -- 3M has been a leader in innovation. And so the
President will give remarks on his competitiveness agenda and talk about
it in greater detail.



And then on Friday -- we'll be overnighting in Albuquerque. And
then in the morning, he's going to be participating in a panel on
competitiveness with some experts and others, and then we'll go on to
Dallas from there. And the President will visit a school -- advanced
placement school in Dallas that focuses on math and science education,
and what he announced there in terms of training 70,000 more teachers
for advanced placement, math and science.



Okay, thanks.



END 12:10 P.M. EST
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