White House Gaggle Notes

White House Gaggle with Press Sectary Jay Carney

Week Ahead:

On Monday, President Obama will travel to Memphis, TN, where he will deliver the commencement address to the graduating seniors from Booker T. Washington High School, the winner of the 2011 Race to the Top High School Commencement Challenge.  He will also visit with families impacted by the flooding, state and local officials, first responders and volunteers.  In the afternoon, he will return to Washington and welcome the University of Connecticut’s mens basketball team in honor of winning this year’s NCCA championship.   In the evening he will attend two DNC events in Washington D.C.
On Tuesday, the President will meet with His Majesty, King Abdullah II of Jordan at the White House. Later that day, he will host a White House reception in honor of Jewish-American heritage month.
On Wednesday, President Obama will travel to New London, CT and the U.S. Coast Guard Academy, where will deliver a commencement address. He will alsogo to Boston to attend DNC events.
On Thursday, President Obama will travel to the Department of State to deliver a speech on the Middle East.
Friday, May 20th, President Obama meets with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at the White House.

Osama Bin Laden

When asked about interrogation of Osama bin Laden’s wives, Carney said that the we have had access to them, but he has no more information about it. Carey also said that the U.S. appreciates the cooperation we have received the Pakistani government in this matter.
In terms of retaliation since the successful mission against bin Laden, Carney said we are at a state of high vigilance. “We take very seriously the fact that Al Qaeda is weakened but not dead.” It is entirely possible that terrorists might try to respond with revenge attacks in some way. “You can be sure that our intelligence community is focusing very hard on that, “Carney continued.  

George Mitchell

Carney was asked why President Obama’s special Middle East peace envoy George Mitchell was leaving, and he responded that he does not have any information about that, but the President will have a paper statement regarding this later today.
This President’s commitment to the region remains as firm as the day that he took office.

Middle East Speech  

Carney does not want to take this away from the President by saying too much, but he did say that we have gone through a remarkable period in the last few months in the Middle East and North Africa. “But we’ve gone through a remarkable period in the first several months of this year in that region, in the Middle East and North Africa, and the President obviously has I think some important things to say about how he views the upheaval and how he has approached the U.S. response to the events in the region. I am sure it will be a fairly sweeping and comprehensive speech about what we have all been privileged enough to witness since January,” Carney said.
Carney also went back to the President’s speech in Cairo, and how Obama views the future of the region through the prism of democratization and the urning of the people in the region for greater political freedom and desire for responsive government that addresses their grievances.
I am sure he will call on the government in the region to respond to those demands as he has done in the past, through peaceful political dialogue not just because it’s the right thing to do for the people in the region, but for the interest of stability.    

Libya

Carney was asked about today’s meeting with representative of the Libyan Transitional National Council, TNC, with senior administration officials, including National Security Adviser Tom Donilo. Carney also said that there are no plans for President Obama to stop by that meeting.
“ We believe that the TNC is a credible and legitimate interlocutor for the Libyan people and the questions on recognition is one of many policy issues still under review. And we are continuing to assess the capabilities as we deepen our engagement with the opposition. Ultimately, of course, it will be the people of Libyans and not the international community that will chose their leadership. But we do applaud the TNC for their leadership,” Carney said.
When asked about the whereabouts of Col. Ghaddafi, Carney said that there is nothing he can share with us.
The administration believes that if we could access and use the blocked government funds from  Libya it could be a great humanitarian help to the Libyan people.  Secretary Clinton is working with Congress on legislation to allow us to access those assets.

Syria

Each of the countries in the Middle East and Northern Africa are different and the circumstances of the unrest and the governments response has been different as well, Carney said.  The U.S. continues to condemn the violence against the Syrian people.  “It has been made abundantly clear that the Syrian government’s security crackdown will not restore stability and will not stop the demands for change in Syria. The Syrian government continues to follow the lead Iranian ally and resorting to brute force and fragrant violations of human rights  and  suppressing peaceful protests.”  

Mitt Romney

When asked about Mitt Romney’s speech yesterday and comments on that; Carney said that the administration is focused on implementing the Affordable Health Care Act.  
We have said before that then Gov. Romney signed into law in Massachusetts is in many way similar to legislation that resulted in the Affordable Health Care Act. “We obviously feel that Massachusetts took a smart approach to health care reform”, Carney said.

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



UN Condemns Bahrain Crackdown On Protests, Calls For Reform

Secretary General Ban Ki Moon says reports of a violent crackdown against demonstrators in Bahrain are “deeply troubling”, and urged Bahraini officials to bring those responsible for the attacks to justice. 

“The United Nations has been urging the leaders in the region, as elsewhere around the world, to listen attentively to the people and to respond to their legitimate aspirations” said the Secretary General “I will be reaching out again in the days ahead to leaders in the region to reiterate that message. I will say it once again: The situation calls for bold reforms, not repression.” 

According media reports from Bahrain’s capital Manama, several people were killed and hundreds more injured early this morning when security forces tried to clear out Pearl Square, where several thousand people had been gathering since the start of the week to demand political reforms from King Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa. 

Ban said governments in the Middle East and North Africa have obligations to respect the human rights of peaceful protesters.  

“Across the region, people are standing up to voice their legitimate aspirations” said Ban “Each country is unique, each situation is different but there are common challenges in the region and important principles to  uphold.”

Ban said he believed the protests in Bahrain and through out the Arab world  had been fueled by a lack of economic opportunities and basic freedoms.

“Freedom of expression, freedom of assembly and freedom of communication should be fully guaranteed. Those have been largely neglected in the region. That is the lesson which leaders should learn and try to change as soon as possible, reflecting such strong voices from their own people”

Sec. of State Clinton Previews U.S. Agenda For U.N. General Assembly

By Ravi Bhatia, Talk Radio News Service

Secretary of State Hillary Clinton discussed Friday the U.S agenda for the upcoming United Nations General Assembly (UNGA), touching on issues such as the Obama administration’s missile defense strategy, the conflict in the Middle East, nuclear proliferation and the threat posed by Iran.

While she read her speech at the Brookings Institute in Washington, D.C., she discussed the “ambitious” intentions of the Obama administration at next week’s UNGA in New York, and alluded to a long term goal of a world “with no nuclear weapons.” While fielding questions, she reflected on the state of American foreign policy today.

“For many years, [the U.S] outsourced our policy and concerns about the nuclear program to others to try to intervene with and persuade Iran to change course,” she said. “So we were on the sidelines...we were just trying to figure out how to get other people to go on the field and deal with this problem and look where we are today. We’re really nowhere.”

Clinton also discussed the Obama administration’s missile defense strategy, which was retooled to focus on defending the United States and its allies in Europe from short and mid-range missile attacks. The strategy rejects the Bush administration's plan to station interceptors in the Czech Republic and Poland that were intended to stop long-range missiles that the current administration believes Iran does not have. Since Poland and the Czech Republic will no longer have land-based interceptors, the new plan eases pressure on Russia, displeasing some Republican members of Congress upon Obama’s announcement of the strategy on Thursday.

“This decision was not about Russia,” she said. “It was about Iran and the threat its ballistic missile program poses. Because of this position, we believe we will be in a far stronger position to deal with that threat and to do so with technology that works and a higher degree of confidence that what we pledge to do we can actually deliver.”

She later discussed Iran and the repercussions the country must face for not revealing its intentions to the international community for nuclear technology.

“Our concern is not Iran’s right to develop peaceful nuclear energy, but its responsibility to demonstrate that it’s program is intended exclusively for peaceful purposes,” she said. “This is not hard to do. The Iranian government seeks a sense of justice in the world, but stands in the way of the justice it seeks.”

In response to a question from Brookings Institute President Strobe Talbott, Clinton also discussed the U.S. government’s strategy for restructuring the country’s health care policy.

“It’s interesting that what we are proposing is fundamentally so conservative compared with so many of our friends and allies around the world, who do a much better job then we do in covering everybody and keeping costs down,” Clinton said. “And yet some of the political opposition is so overheated. We have to calm down here, take two aspirin, go to bed, think about it in the morning. But I’m optimistic.”

Senate Weighs Economic Sanctions Against Iran

By Learned Foote- Talk Radio News Service

The Senate Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs is weighing the possibility of levying economic sanctions against Iran. During a hearing on Capitol Hill Thursday, the committee discussed ways to prevent Iran from obtaining a nuclear weapon.

Nicholas Burns, a professor at Harvard University's Kennedy School of Government and former State Department official during the Bush administration, said that Iran’s hotly contested presidential election has compromised the power of its government, and that America “should seek to diminish its strength further.” He said that “Americans should seek to maintain our position as the dominant power in the Middle East, because our influence is positive in that region, and Iran’s is not.”

Burns said that President Obama has generally followed former President’s Bush “basic strategy” by trying to end the nuclear weapons project in Iran through negotiations before applying “draconian” economic sanctions. He said that he did not believe negotiations alone will successfully end Iran’s nuclear program, but said that financial, economic, and energy sanctions would be more effective.

Dr. Suzanne Maloney, a Senior Fellow at the Saban Center for Middle East Policy at the Brookings Institute, discussed the economic outlook in Iran. She said the country faces “serious economic problems: double-digit inflation, power shortages, a tumbling stock market, stubbornly high unemployment rates,...increasing dependence on volatile resource revenues, and perhaps most ominously for the Iranian leadership, a rising tide of popular indignation about economic frustrations.”

The panelists agreed that unilateral sanctions will not be effective unless other countries join in sanctions against Iran. “We alone in the United States don’t have the capacity to cripple the Iranian economy with our sanctions,” said Maloney. She argued that “multilateral steps represent the only real alternative to a negotiated solution.”

Testifying before the committee, Sen. Joe Lieberman (I- Conn.) praised an amendment added to the Defense Authorization bill, which passed last week. The amendment places a time limit on how long Iran would have to respond to U.S. requests for negotiation before sanctions would be imposed.

“This bill will basically say to companies worldwide who are selling gasoline to Iran, who are shipping it to Iran, or who are insuring or financing those shipments, you got a choice to make. You can continue what you are doing with Iran, or you can do business in the United States of America. You cannot do both,” said Sen. Lieberman. He said that the amendment would not force President Obama to act, but would grant him the authority of enacting economic sanctions.

Sen. Lieberman said that the amendment had bipartisan support. “No matter what may divide us on other issues, we are very united in our concern, our anger about the Iranian program of nuclear weapons development,” he said. “The greatest threat to peace is for Iran to get a nuclear weapons capability.”