Thursday
May252006
White House Gaggle
Thursday, May 25, 2006 at 3:00AM
By Gregory Gorman
May 25, 2006
President's Schedule
This morning the president will travel to Fort Lesley J. McNair in Washington, DC, to make remarks at the Change of Command Ceremony for the Commandant of the United States Coast Guard. This afternoon, he will welcome Prime Minister Tony Blair to the White House. Following a private meeting, the president and prime minister will participate in a joint press availability in the East Room.
Meeting with UK Prime Minister
When asked to discuss what President Bush and Prime Minister Blair will discuss in tonight's meeting, White House Press Secretary Tony Snow said that as the two leaders in the war on terrorism, they will take the opportunity to discuss the new Iraqi Prime Minister and ask practical questions about how the coalition and the new Iraqi government can work together in moving forward. Snow doubted that the conversation would focus on when troops would be pulled out of Iraq or deal with any specifics of departure dates or timetables. He said questions like that will be left to the generals. When asked if the White House had received any information from the prime minister's camp that he would be delivering a specific message to the president regarding Iraq, Snow said that he is not aware of any such information. In addition to Iraq, Snow stated that there would most likely be some discussion of the upcoming G8 summit in St. Petersburg, Russia.
Future of Iraqi Prime Minister
Snow refused to hypothesize about the future of new Iraqi Prime Minister Maliki. He reasoned that it would be premature to make predictions on a leader that has only been in power for five days. However, he admitted that the Iraqi Prime Minister will continue to be a topic of conversation for all sides. According to Snow, he " . . . will have to figure out what strategy is going to be appropriate for fighting violence, for going after troublesome areas . . . the prime minister has to figure out how he is going to proceed".
Veterans Affairs Secretary Nicholson
In response to a question about the ongoing investigation at Veterans Affairs and the theft of the personal information of millions of veterans, Snow read portions of Secretary Nicholson's recent statement regarding the incident. Snow quoting Nicholson said, "Upon notification, my first priority was to take all actions necessary to protect veterans from harm and to assist the law enforcement efforts. I am outraged at this loss of veteran's data and the fact that an employee would put it at risk by taking it home in violation of our policies. I am also concerned about the timing of the Department's response once the burglary became known. I will not tolerate inaction and poor judgment when it comes to protecting our veterans". Snow said that Congress will most likely have hard questions for the Secretary when he testifies before a Congressional committee today. Secretary Nicholson has not tendered his resignation.
FBI Raid on Representative Jefferson's Office
Snow directed questions on this issue to the Justice Department but he restated the administration's stated position. He said, "We acknowledge the constitutional concerns of the House of Representatives and we also acknowledge the law enforcement obligations of the Executive Branch and we hope that the two sides are going to be able to work this out".
May 25, 2006
President's Schedule
This morning the president will travel to Fort Lesley J. McNair in Washington, DC, to make remarks at the Change of Command Ceremony for the Commandant of the United States Coast Guard. This afternoon, he will welcome Prime Minister Tony Blair to the White House. Following a private meeting, the president and prime minister will participate in a joint press availability in the East Room.
Meeting with UK Prime Minister
When asked to discuss what President Bush and Prime Minister Blair will discuss in tonight's meeting, White House Press Secretary Tony Snow said that as the two leaders in the war on terrorism, they will take the opportunity to discuss the new Iraqi Prime Minister and ask practical questions about how the coalition and the new Iraqi government can work together in moving forward. Snow doubted that the conversation would focus on when troops would be pulled out of Iraq or deal with any specifics of departure dates or timetables. He said questions like that will be left to the generals. When asked if the White House had received any information from the prime minister's camp that he would be delivering a specific message to the president regarding Iraq, Snow said that he is not aware of any such information. In addition to Iraq, Snow stated that there would most likely be some discussion of the upcoming G8 summit in St. Petersburg, Russia.
Future of Iraqi Prime Minister
Snow refused to hypothesize about the future of new Iraqi Prime Minister Maliki. He reasoned that it would be premature to make predictions on a leader that has only been in power for five days. However, he admitted that the Iraqi Prime Minister will continue to be a topic of conversation for all sides. According to Snow, he " . . . will have to figure out what strategy is going to be appropriate for fighting violence, for going after troublesome areas . . . the prime minister has to figure out how he is going to proceed".
Veterans Affairs Secretary Nicholson
In response to a question about the ongoing investigation at Veterans Affairs and the theft of the personal information of millions of veterans, Snow read portions of Secretary Nicholson's recent statement regarding the incident. Snow quoting Nicholson said, "Upon notification, my first priority was to take all actions necessary to protect veterans from harm and to assist the law enforcement efforts. I am outraged at this loss of veteran's data and the fact that an employee would put it at risk by taking it home in violation of our policies. I am also concerned about the timing of the Department's response once the burglary became known. I will not tolerate inaction and poor judgment when it comes to protecting our veterans". Snow said that Congress will most likely have hard questions for the Secretary when he testifies before a Congressional committee today. Secretary Nicholson has not tendered his resignation.
FBI Raid on Representative Jefferson's Office
Snow directed questions on this issue to the Justice Department but he restated the administration's stated position. He said, "We acknowledge the constitutional concerns of the House of Representatives and we also acknowledge the law enforcement obligations of the Executive Branch and we hope that the two sides are going to be able to work this out".
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