White House Press Gaggle

By Press Secretary Jay Carney

Aboard Air Force One

En Route Cleveland, Ohio

MR. CARNEY:  Good morning, everybody. 

     Q    Good morning.

     MR. CARNEY:  You guys ready?  I just want — before I take your questions, I wanted to remind everybody why we’re here, for the Winning the Future Forum on Small Business.  As you know, in addition to the President of the United States, we have Cabinet members attending the event, and that includes the Treasury Secretary, Commerce Secretary, Labor Secretary, Energy Secretary, the SBA Administrator, the CEA Chair, and Gene Sperling, the National Economic Director.

     As you know, the President talked about the need for innovation and for businesses in particular and small businesses to be the engine of growth in our economy.  And he wants to hear from small business owners in this forum about what drives success and what barriers lie in the way of success.

     Cleveland is actually a city that’s done a great deal of positive work in positioning itself in both the field of biotechnology and clean energy.  It’s really poised to be a global leader in the 21st century in these new industries, and the President is obviously very excited about that.

     So from here on there will be other events similar to this that Cabinet secretaries will participate in.  This is not just a one-time deal.  It was a major theme of the President’s State of the Union address and will continue to be.

     So, with that, I will take your questions.

     Q    On Libya, can you tell us what is going on behind the scenes at the White House?  And also, is there concern that unlike in Egypt, there is nothing that you can really do, there’s no real ties with Libya and there’s very little the administration can do in that situation?

     MR. CARNEY:  Well, first let me point you to the fact that on Friday, while we were on this plane, the President issued a statement condemning the violence in Libya, the use of violence against peaceful protesters in Libya as well as two other countries.  Yesterday, the Secretary of State issued a very strongly worded statement condemning the violence and expressing our great alarm at the violence used against peaceful protesters.  We offer our condolences to the families of the victims in Libya of this appalling violence.  And the Secretary of State will speak again today at approximately 2:30 p.m. where she will address some of these issues.

     Q    Will the President speak about this today?

     MR. CARNEY:  I don’t anticipate that, but we’ll see.

     Q    Do you have a — can you give us anything on the death of the hostages at the hands of the pirates?

     MR. CARNEY:  Well, for details about what happened I’d refer you to the Pentagon.  What I can tell you is that the President was notified this morning at 4:42 a.m. by Homeland Security director — or advisor, rather, John Brennan about the outcome in which the four American citizens’ lives were lost, the tragic outcome of that event.

     The President did, over the weekend on Saturday, authorize the use of force in the case of imminent — of an imminent threat to those hostages, and that’s — for other details I can refer you to the Defense Department.

     Q    Are there, do you think, measures that — the Security Council is meeting today on Libya — are there international measures that the U.S. can take with its partners to try and affect what’s going on inside Libya, or is it a question of lacking substantial leverage?

     MR. CARNEY:  There is activity at the United Nations Security Council today.  We are participating in meetings.  We look forward to working with the international community so that the international community speaks with one voice in condemning the violence.  And we feel like when the international community speaks with one voice, it can be most effective, so we are obviously participating fully in that.

     Q    Is the White House having any conversations with other world leaders about — the President himself having any conversations with world leaders about Libya?

     MR. CARNEY:  I have no announcements on presidential conversations right now.

     Q    Oil is at a two-year high.  How closely is the President monitoring the situation in Libya?

     MR. CARNEY:  Well, as you know, when there is unrest in the world and specifically in that region, that can affect oil prices.  We are closely monitoring that situation, but I would not speculate on where oil prices would go in the future.

     Q    Do you think the events of the last few days have shown perhaps that the attempts to kind of rehabilitate Qaddafi — particularly the Europeans sort of took part in it the last administration as well — were a mistake?

     MR. CARNEY:  What I’ll say, Steve, is that the future of Libya needs to be decided by the Libyan people.  As is the case throughout the region, our policy is — pertains in Libya or towards Libya as it did — does to Egypt, to Bahrain and other countries, which is that we call very strongly for an end to the use of violence against peaceful protesters.  We call for respect for the universal rights that these — peoples of this region, as peoples all around the world, have:  the right to peaceful assembly, to freedom of expression.  And we recognize their legitimate aspirations.

     We call on the governments of the region to listen to and respect the legitimate aspirations of their people and to reform accordingly.

     Q    Jay, there’s going to be a labor rally in Columbus about the time that the President is here.  There’s of course the unrest in Wisconsin.  You’re also seeing it in Ohio and Indiana, and there’s going to be a large protest of teachers in early March over labor rules proposed by that legislature.  Is the President going to address any of that today?  And does he have any thoughts on this ongoing situation?

     MR. CARNEY:  I don’t have anything for you on what the President will say today.  He’s focused very much — with regard to that, he’s focused very much on this important forum, small business forum. 

And as far as his thoughts, he expressed them in an interview with a Wisconsin television station — I believe it was last week — where he made clear that he absolutely recognizes the need that state governments have, governors and legislators, to deal with their fiscal situation; that everyone needs to tighten their belts, and that includes public sector employees.  But he also expressed his concern that the efforts specifically in Wisconsin were aimed at going right after the collective bargaining rights of unions.

So — but that’s the extent of the White House involvement.

Q    What about Kasich’s efforts in Ohio to go after collective bargaining?

MR. CARNEY:  I don’t have anything on that for you.

Q    What’s his reaction to the House vote at 4:40 a.m. in the morning, Saturday morning?

MR. CARNEY:  Look, we continue to believe that we will be able to work out common ground on these issues.  I would point you to the fact that all four leaders of Congress, leaders of the House, leaders of the Senate, have expressed their confidence that we can work this out before March 4th, and we believe we can.

Q    Does the administration stand by a veto threat if the House-passed package gets to the President’s desk with those big cuts?

MR. CARNEY:  Well, the White House’s position, the President’s position was clearly stated in that statement of administration policy.  That hasn’t changed.

Q    Any contingency plans yet?  Are you still working on any plans for a shutdown?

MR. CARNEY:  I would refer you to the Office of Management and Budget, which is the agency within the executive branch that needs to deal with these sorts of things.  And I’d simply state that there have been contingency plans for government shutdowns since 1980, and those plans are obviously updated accordingly, but they’ve been around for a long time.

Q    You said 1980?

MR. CARNEY:  1980 is what I understand, but I’d refer you to Ken Baer at OMB.

Q    How confident are you that a shutdown can be avoided?

MR. CARNEY:  Well, as I said, we believe, as do the leaders of the House and the Senate, including Senator McConnell and Speaker Boehner — we agree with them that we do not want a shutdown of the government and that we can come to an agreement that avoids that.

Q    Any comment on the Iranian warships going through the Suez Canal today?

MR. CARNEY:  Nothing new beyond what I said Friday, I think it was, which was that we monitor that situation closely.  And obviously Iranian behavior in the region is something we always watch.

Anything else before we land, which looks to be in about —

Q    Any minute.

MR. CARNEY:  — two minutes to three minutes?  I don’t want anyone to get hurt. 

Q    Thanks, Jay.

MR. CARNEY:  Are you good?  Thanks a lot.

                      END             10:49 A.M. EST



White House Press Gaggle

White House Gaggle by Press Secretary Jay Carney

Aboard Air Force One

En Route Portland, Oregon

9:34 A.M. PST                               

     MR. CARNEY:  I’m going to try to do this relatively fast so that nobody gets hurt in landing here.  To begin, I want to read you a statement by the President on violence in Bahrain, Libya, and Yemen: 

     “I am deeply concerned by reports of violence in Bahrain, Libya, and Yemen.  The United States condemns the use of violence by governments against peaceful protesters in those countries and wherever else it may occur.  We express our condolences to the families and friends of those who have been killed during the demonstrations.  Wherever they are, people have certain universal rights, including the right to peaceful assembly.  The United States urges the governments of Bahrain, Libya, and Yemen to show restraint in responding to peaceful protests and to respect the rights of their people.”

     That’s the end of the statement.  If you — what I will do now, and we can come back to questions, if you want me to do the week ahead — is that helpful to everyone, or do you want to —

     Q    Can we just —

     MR. CARNEY:  Just go right into questions, sure.

     Q    What kind of briefings is the President getting on the situation in the Middle East?

     MR. CARNEY:  He’s getting regular briefings.  Obviously he has a national security aide with him, and he also has for several weeks now as this — these events in the Middle East have been unfolding, he tasked his national security staff to provide even more regular updates on the situation.  They now come to him obviously in his morning PDB but also in midday updates and end-of-day updates, every day.  So that obviously continues today.

     Q    What’s the impact of the Bahrain situation on the U.S. fleet that’s based there?

     MR. CARNEY:  I refer you to the Department of Defense on that, but specifically I think what we want to focus on here is the President’s deep concern about the use of violence against peaceful protesters in Bahrain, Libya, and Yemen.  And we are expressing that message directly to the government of Bahrain — in response to your question.  And these are universal rights that need to be recognized.  And as you can see, we — that position holds whether it’s Bahrain, Libya, Yemen, Egypt — to all countries in the region.

     Q    Staying a little bit with the uprising, there’s one in Africa now, in Djibouti, where the U.S. has the only military base in Africa.  Is there any concern there about possible loss of the military base, or is there any concern on the part of the U.S. government?

     MR. CARNEY:  I don’t have anything on that for you.  You’d have to go to the Department of Defense or the Department of State.

     Q    Has he spoken to the leaders of those four countries? 

     MR. CARNEY:  I’m sorry?

     Q    You named four countries.  Has he spoken to the leaders of any or all of those —

     MR. CARNEY:  He has made no calls to foreign leaders since we last spoke.

     Q    Jay, Egypt has given permission to the Iranians to send those warships through the Suez Canal.  Does the United States have any position on that?

     MR. CARNEY:  We’re monitoring that, obviously, but we also would say that Iran does not have a great track record for responsible behavior in the region, which is always a concern to us.  But beyond that, I don’t have a comment.

     Q    Jay, on Wisconsin, is the President keeping up with what’s going on there?  Speaker Boehner today said the President should tell OFA to stand down. 

     MR. CARNEY:  I want to make clear that — something about what — the President’s comments in the radio — the television interview he gave the other day.  There are two points he made.  One is that he is very understanding of the need for state governments, governors, state legislatures to reduce spending, to be — to make tough choices, to be fiscally responsible.  He’s doing that at the federal level and he understands that states need to do that at the state level.

     But he also feels very strongly that we need not to make this an assault on the collective bargaining rights of workers in a given state.  Public service workers need to make sacrifices just like everyone else, but there’s a distinction here that he sees.  And I just want to make sure that people see that he was very clear about his recognition that states need to deal with their budgets just like the federal government needs to deal with its budget.

     Q    Do you expect the President to weigh in on this activity in some of the other states — Ohio or Indiana?

     MR. CARNEY:  I have no scheduling announcement to make, or I have no information that he would do that.

     Q    The Post suggested this morning the White House had a role in stoking the protests in Madison.

     MR. CARNEY:  The President made a comment in a television interview.  That’s the only role that I see that we’ve had. 

     Q    What about Organizing For America?

     MR. CARNEY:  I’d refer you to the DNC for comment on that.

     Q    Does the President support federal funding for Planned Parenthood?

     MR. CARNEY:  I’m sorry?

     Q    Does the President support federal funding for Planned Parenthood?

     MR. CARNEY:  There’s a longstanding history of funding for Title 10 by HHS, and on the history of that program and the funding of that program and what it does, I’d refer you to HHS.

     Q    The Intel CEO — the announcement that was made this morning — back in September he was pretty critical of the administration, on stimulus and what not.  We know that he was part of — one of the CEOs in December at the Blair House, then he was at the state dinner last month.  What has changed for him that he’s going to now partner up with the President when he was so critical just six months ago?

     MR. CARNEY:  I think that’s a good question.  The Intel CEO has also been very supportive of the President’s agenda on infrastructure, on research and development.  But more broadly, I think the point of the Jobs and Competiveness Council is to foster ideas for job growth and competitiveness.

     And he wants to hear from — the President wants to hear from a lot of different voices, and private business is clearly essential to the agenda the President has for creating jobs and enhancing our competiveness around the globe.  So the point is not to collect people who agree with him on every issue and every policy decision he’s made, but to create an environment — a council that — where ideas, good ideas can be generated for going forward on job-creation.

     Q    Was the President’s statement released on the ground?  I’m just wondering.

     MR. CARNEY:  It is — this is happening now, as we say.

     Q    Jay, other countries have frozen the assets of Hosni Mubarak and his lieutenants that are — assets in their countries.  Are we doing the same thing?

     MR. CARNEY:  I don’t have anything for you on that.  I don’t know.  I would refer you — I would refer you to State.  I don’t have anything.

     Q    Jay, is there going to be any news in the President’s speech today — any more news?

     MR. CARNEY:  As you know, the purpose of the event is to highlight the innovation agenda the President is pushing, and also education.  Intel has been very strong on — in its own programs.  I think — I hope we have paper for you on the investments they’ve made in enhancing the teaching of science, technology, engineering and math because it’s so vital to the future economic growth in these key industries for our country.

     I think he will speak a lot about that, and I don’t want to steal his thunder.  All right?  Okay, thanks, guys.

     Q    Are you going to do a week ahead?  Are you still going to do that?

     MR. CARNEY:  You guys want a week ahead?  I have that.  Here we go. 

     On Monday, the President has no public events scheduled. 

     On Tuesday, the President and members of his Cabinet will travel to Cleveland, Ohio, where the White House will convene a “Winning the Future” forum on small business, in association with Cleveland State University and Northeast Ohio economic development organizations JumpStart and NorTech. 

     In his State of the Union address, President Obama spoke of the need to out-innovate — sorry, out-innovate, out-educate and out-build our competitors in order to sustain our leadership and secure prosperity for all Americans.  The forum will be an opportunity for the President and his economic team to hear directly from small business owners and leaders about their ideas for how America can continue to grow the economy, put Americans back to work, and win the future.

     On Wednesday the President will attend meetings at the White House.

     On Thursday the President will hold a meeting with the President’s Council on Jobs and Competitiveness at the White House, the aforementioned council.  In the evening the President and the Vice — and the First Lady — sorry — will invite music legends and contemporary major artists to the White House on Thursday — well, as I said — for the Motown Sound in performance at the White House, a concert celebrating Black History Month and the legacy of Motown records.

     On Friday the President will attend meetings at the White House. 

     That is your week ahead.

     Q    Thank you.

     MR. CARNEY:  All right.  Thanks, guys.

END               9:45 A.M. PST