White House Gaggle

Briefer Scott Stanzel

Schedule
This morning the president had his normal briefings.
He will be meeting with the Secretary of Treasury, Henry Paulson for a regular update on the economy comments. The office on Community and Faith-Based Initiatives are having a roundtable today to talk about the role that faith-based groups may have in disaster preparedness and emergency response.

When asked if the president had any reaction to reports that Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas said that he would resign if there is not any meaningful progress in the peace process, Stanzel said that he wasn’t sure if the president had discussed it in private meeting. He reiterated the president’s view that both Abbas and Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert are two men who are committed to peace ad moving the process forward. Stanzel said that the president remains optimistic but that if it were an easy process it would have been resolved already.

The topic of the strategic oil reserve came up and Stanzel said the Congress did pass a bill to halt the fill of the strategic reserve. He said that the president will sign that legislation. While the White House thinks this measure won’t have a meaningful impact Stanzel said that President Bush is not going to stand in the way of it. Because of the legislation the Department Energy has to regularly enter into contracts to sustain the filling of the reserve. Stanzel said that the DOE took the initiative to not enter into new contracts because the legislation passed with such bipartisan support. Stanzel said that he hopes this legislation won’t distract members of Congress from real priorities, like increasing production in an environmentally sensitive way.

On the economy Stanzel said what is important to the White House is the question of what is being done about an economy that is not growing fast enough. The President is not satisfied with the .6% growth of the first half of the year. Stanzel said that the president has confidence in the business tax incentives, and the tax rebates. They are concerned that the Congress don’t pass new tax increase and is focused on action and results. Stanzel said that the White House wants to make sure we strengthen the legislation that oversees Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae and that the administration hopes that Congress can move forward on FHA modernization and GSE reform.

The battle of the biggest budget begins

The House Armed Services Committee began the long and tedious process of marking up the Defense Authorization bill for fiscal 2009. The markup is expected to go on throughout the day. The Chairman Ike Skelton (D-MO), in his opening statement expressed his position that the war in Afghanistan should be the primary focus of the American military efforts in the Middle East. This runs somewhat contrary to statements made by Secretary of Defense Robert Gates when he spoke at the Heritage Foundation in Colorado Springs yesterday, "The risk of overextending the Army is real. But I believe the risk is far greater — to that institution, as well as to our country — if we were to fail in Iraq. That is the war we are in. That is the war we must win."

Skelton also said that the bill offered a pay increase for the military, a greater commitment to fighting weapons of mass destruction, and reforms for the contracting structure within the U.S. Army. He said that the bill addresses the command and control issues that have arisen in Afghanistan and the combined NATO operations there. Ranking Member Dunking Hunter (R-CA) emphasizes future combat systems funding and the need to increase the size of the Army.

The first subcommittee to present their markup and amendments was the Terrorism and Unconventional Threats and Capabilities. The subcommittee chairman Adam Smith (D-WA) said that they have authorized $185 million beyond the president's budget for special operations capabilities. The ranking member of the subcommittee, Mac Thorberry made the most political statement saying that fighting terrorism goes beyond the Armed Services Committee and that the failure to pass FISA in the House and the limits currently being extracted on intelligence officials' interrogation techniques increase, "Our potential vulnerability to new threats..." He spoke out against Nancy Pelosi saying that "no good deed goes unpunished" as she uses Iraq war funding and the Colombia Free Trade Agreement as leverage against President Bush.

Not one more dime

Rep. Maxine Waters (D-Calif.) expressed opposition today to supplemental funding for the Iraq war. Waters was supported by Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee (D-Texas) as well as the Progressive Democrats of America, who all stressed opposition to the supplemental funding and said they would not support it.

Waters and others stressed the fact that Congress needs to send a strong message to the President and the American people that they are serious about getting our troops out of Iraq and will not approve any legislation which gives one more dime to the Iraq war unless it is for the redeployment of American troops.

Waters said that the mismanagement of the Iraq war has caused too much damage and will not sign or support any bill that extends the war in Iraq or appropriates more money to the Iraq war. Rep. Barbara Lee (D-Calif.) said that she would not support the bill and will add an amendment, similar to the Lee amendment, which would fence off funding to protect troops, contractors and fund a safe and responsible redeployment.

These representatives urged Congress to say no to the supplemental funding bill by Memorial day and not allocate one more dime to the war in Iraq. Former presidential hopeful Dennis Kucinich (D-Ohio), also present at the hearing, is offering an amendment to the bill asking not to use the funds for future conflicts with Iran, Syria and Lebanon.

White House Gaggle

The briefer was White House Press Secretary Dana Perino.

Schedule
The president had his normal briefings. At the time of the gaggle, the president was meeting with the House Republican Conference. At this meeting the topics of the 2008 global war on terror supplemental, the price of gasoline, energy legislation, housing, the Protect America Act and the Colombia Free Trade Agreement were slated to be covered. The president is expected to give a statement on the meeting at 10:10. Today President Bush will sign the Ensuring Access to Student Loans Act. He will be briefed in the afternoon by Secretary of Agriculture Ed Schafer about several USDA programs, specifically those domestic food aid programs such as food stamps, school lunches and WIC. The president will address the Council of the America's at the State Department. His statement is expected to focus on the Merida Initiative, a program that gives aid and supplies to Mexico and other Central American countries to fight the war on drugs. He is expected to push for the Colombia Free Trade Agreement and call on Cuba to begin a process of democratic reforms. There will be a briefing by Steve Hadley on the president's trip to the Middle East this afternoon.

Russia
In response to a question about the transition of power between former Russian president Vladimir Putin and the current president Dimitri Medvedev, Perino said that she expects the president to speak to Medvedev soon, but not today. She said that the two men look forward to beginning their relationship as two heads of state and that the G8 may be the first time they meet in person. Perino said that both leaders recognize that it is important to have a good relationship and that the two nations will continue to speak frankly and cooperate especially as it concerns Iran and it's nuclear program.

Myanmar
Responding to a question about American aid in the wake of deadly cyclones in Myanmar, Perino said that it was her understanding that the U.S. stands ready to help but that no other nation has been allowed access into Myanmar to assist. "There is no substitute for being there on the ground helping directly," Perino said.

Housing
On the topic of the housing bill being put forth by Congressman Barney Frank (D-MA) Perino said that the White House feels it goes too far, too fast. The administration would like to see the modernization of the Federal Housing Administration and other reforms included in the bill with out putting too much risk on tax payers.

President Bush welcomes Republican presidential nominee John McCain to the White House

President Bush had lunch with Senator John McCain, the Republican nominee for president, and his wife Cindy McCain, at the White House. Afterward Bush gave his formal endorsement of McCain.







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