Press Briefing by Ari Fleischer
James S. Brady Press Briefing Room
- President's schedule for the day
- Threat alert/public reaction
- Iraq
- Reference B
- Reference C
- Reference D
President's meeting with Prime Minister of Portugal Vice President/undisclosed location Homeland security/Senate vote Afghan Embassy/remarks of the President Surface-to-air missle testing Drought aid News Conference Cybersecurity 12:10 P.M. EDT MR. FLEISCHER: Good afternoon.
Let me give you a report on thePresident's day. The President began with a National Security Councilmeeting. He had his intelligence briefings, followed by an FBIbriefing. And the President, continuing his series of phone calls toleaders around the world in advance of his Thursday speech, calledPresident Asnar of Spain, and President Uribe of Colombia. He willlater call President Fox of Mexico, to continue the consultationprocess. The President, also this morning, met with the Prime Minister ofPortugal, where they talked about the war against terrorism, and theyalso talked about the upcoming meeting in the Czech Republic dealingwith NATO expansion. Later this afternoon the President will depart the White House andmake remarks at the Embassy of Afghanistan and meet with a group ofArab and Muslim American leaders. The President will talk about theimportance in our free society of tolerance and respect, particularlyas the anniversary of the attack on our country approaches. And finally, I want to draw your attention -- there will be a1:15 p.m. news conference at the Department of Justice involvingHomeland Security Director Ridge and Attorney General Ashcroft, todiscuss the evolving security situation. I'm not at liberty to getinto any details about that in this briefing. They will haveinformation for you at their briefing. Q
Can you confirm for us that the alert is being raised toorange, a high risk of terrorism, specifically threats against U.S.embassies abroad? MR. FLEISCHER: Well, anything more specific than that will begiven out at that news conference. Q Do you have any idea what caused this raised level of threat? MR. FLEISCHER: Again, I'm not going to -- anything morespecific than that will be coming from them. Let me just say that thegovernment continues to monitor the security situation. Our abilitieshave been enhanced since September 11th, and through the efforts of thedepartment of homeland security and other agencies that work very hard,we are in a constant state of monitoring what we can learn about theintentions of any of our enemies to bring harm to the United States.Based on any of the information we receive, that's what determines thevarious levels of the color codes. Q Are you confirming that it was raised? MR. FLEISCHER: I'm not. Q Ari, there's a lot -- I understand that Justice is goingto talk about it -- a lot of people who are watching you now acrossthe country who may be wondering, since this is the first time that thethreat level has been raised, and with the anniversary tomorrow, what'sthe President's view of -- from a safety point of view, people outto mark 9/11? Should they take specific actions or not take specificactions on such a solemn and potentially dangerous day, based on this? MR. FLEISCHER: The President thinks the American people shouldabsolutely take specific actions, and those specific actions are tolive their lives, to honor the memories of those who were lost, to payrespects to the families and the loved ones of those families attackedand killed on September 11th. The American people need to live theirlives. That's the best thing the American people can do to send asignal to anybody who would do us harm. The law enforcement community, the private sector that secures theinfrastructure, they all are part of the developments in the Office ofHomeland Security, to continue to harden America's assets to make usharder to hit. And the law enforcement community is in constant touchwith the federal government at all levels, and so if there are anychanges, that would be where people would expect to see any changes, asthe law enforcement community steps up its protections of the country. Q
Ari, on Iraq. The Prime Minister of Portugal said that it's aglobal problem, requires a global response. Prime Minister Blair inhis speech today said that action will be taken against Iraq if he doesnot comply with U.N. resolution. Is this a clear indication that thePresident will be moving through the United Nations on any furtheraction, or future action against Iraq? MR. FLEISCHER: Well, the President will be giving an importantspeech to the United Nations on Thursday in which he will discuss histhinking about how to deal with the threat that Saddam Hussein poses tothe United States and to others. And the President looks forward togiving that address. It will be before a large number of ambassadorsand leaders who represent the world. Q Can you speak to Prime Minister Blair's comments thismorning? You said that you would at this briefing. MR. FLEISCHER: The President welcomes Prime Minister Blair'sstrong leadership in the war on terror. Prime Minister Blairrepresents the thoughts of many who were concerned about liberty andfreedom, and the President looks forward to giving a speech Thursday atthe United Nations. Q I don't mean to monopolize your time, but what Blair said thismorning about
action will be taken if Iraq continues to ignore U.N.resolutions, is that a clear reflection of the President's thinking? MR. FLEISCHER: Let me leave it where I put it, and the Presidentwill be speaking in his own voice on Thursday. Terry. Q Ari, if I could just link the two subjects in a question thatI don't like asking, but needs to be asked. Can you assure theAmerican people that this elevated threat alert is not part of theadministration's effort to convince people that the danger is such thatmilitary action against Iraq is necessary? MR. FLEISCHER: I think any further questions on that will beaddressed to the Director of Homeland Security and the AttorneyGeneral. Q But you can assure us that the assessment is entirely relatedto -- MR. FLEISCHER: I think any follow-up questions to something thatI, myself, have not announced need to be addressed to the AttorneyGeneral and to the Director of Homeland Security. Q Is there any link to Iraq on this threat? MR. FLEISCHER: Any questions need to be addressed to those twoindividuals. Q Will the President keep his public schedule? MR. FLEISCHER: Yes. Q
Do you have a readout on the Portuguese meeting? Did thePresident hear what he wanted to hear from the Prime Minister? MR. FLEISCHER: Well, the President -- I'm not going tocharacterize the remarks of the Prime Minister. It's always theprerogative of the other nations that visit with the President tocharacterize their own statements. The President welcomed thePresident of Portugal to the Oval Office. They had a very goodmeeting. The President talked about his concerns about the threat thatSaddam Hussein poses. The President said that he is looking forward togiving his speech on Thursday at the United Nations. And I think thatPortugal and the people of Portugal and people around the world willhave a very full and clear sense of what the President thinks after thespeech is given. Q Ari, two questions? MR. FLEISCHER: Kelly. Q
First, on the Vice President, can you tell us why he's beenspending the night at a secure, undisclosed location? And is itprecautionary, or is it due to some specific threat? MR. FLEISCHER: I will confirm that the Vice President last nightspent the night at a secure, undisclosed location. And, as was thecase last year, based on an ongoing review of information that isreceived, as well as out of precaution, the combinations of the two arewhat makes these determinations necessary. And so, I do confirm that. Q Is he there now? Q Let me just follow up -- is he going to continue to workout of an undisclosed location -- keep his public schedule? MR. FLEISCHER: Any further -- any further announcements abouthis schedule, I'm not going to make certainly in advance. And thoseannouncements would come from the Vice President's office in any case. Q Was he here this morning? MR. FLEISCHER: I'm sorry? He was here this morning, as I wasspeaking this morning. But the question was about where he will belater today. If you're asking me where he is at this very moment, Idon't know. Q Just confirming, though, one night only, or has it been a fewnights? MR. FLEISCHER: Any further information, you need to ask the VicePresident's office. Q Should we view that the President will be issuing an ultimatumon Thursday to Saddam Hussein, either comply with resolutions or faceconsequences? MR. FLEISCHER: It's getting close enough to the time of the speechthat you'll have all these answerers very shortly, you'll be able tohear from the President himself. And I don't think it would be myposition to give his speech for him. Q But the message in general -- Tony Blair sort of put itout there -- is that a fair assessment, that Saddam either --this diplomacy one last time works, or there will be military action? MR. FLEISCHER: You can reflect on what Prime Minister Blair saidtoday, and you'll be able to reflect on what the President says onThursday. Goyle. Q Ari, two quick questions. One, former President Bill Clintonthe other day, he said that Osama bin Laden is not dead, and terroristsare -- al Qaeda terrorists are still in Afghanistan and Pakistan.And why we are not getting them and why don't we get them? But VicePresident Cheney said that I'd like to see him to be handcuffed, but Idon't know where he is, maybe he has moved out of the -- to anothercountry. So what do you think, both of them? MR. FLEISCHER: We continue to not have anything definitive. ThePresident does not know if Osama bin Laden is dead or alive. Nothinghas changed in that regard. It's a frequently asked question, but thatdoesn't change whether the President has any updated information. Hedoes not. We do not know. Jacobo. Q Ari,
now that the Office of Homeland Security is once again inthe spotlight, how does the President or the White House view thenegotiations that are taking place in the Senate? Does he thinkthere's any progress in the Senate toward the President's decision, oris it still in the air? MR. FLEISCHER: I think the progress of the legislation can besummed up in one word, and that is, slow. It is important that Americaknow that it will have a new Cabinet-level department of homelandsecurity to protect the country. And this issue has been passed by theHouse of Representatives, it's moving slowly in the Senate. And thePresident has been calling on the Senate to pass this for quite alengthy period of time. And the President remains hopeful and willcontinue to help the Senate so they can get this passed. But thePresident would like the Senate to pass it -- it still has to go toa conference committee, and there's not much time left in thisCongress. So we'll continue to work diligently with the Senate to helpthem so they can get this done, but it's been slow. Q And a second question, Ari,
the President been on the phonespeaking to world leaders about the situation in Iraq. Is he receivingmessages -- I don't necessarily mean phone calls -- is hereceiving messages from leaders around the world on the occasion of thefirst anniversary of the 11th of September? MR. FLEISCHER: He is. In many of the calls that the Presidentmakes, as he talks about his speech on Thursday, foreign leaders offeron their own their thoughts and their sympathies for the Americanpeople as the one-year anniversary approaches. These messages are inmany ways heartening, to hear these leaders express their solidaritywith the United States. Q -- the diplomatic messages for the State Departmentarriving from other countries? MR. FLEISCHER: I think anything arriving at the State Departmentyou need to ask the State Department about. Q I mean, addressed to the President. MR. FLEISCHER: You know, correspondence is correspondence. I canjust report to you on the President's phone calls and what he'sthinking about these issues. Q
Can you talk a little more about what the point of the speechto the Afghan Embassy is, or what the message -- MR. FLEISCHER: The speech at the Afghan Embassy is really going tobe about tolerance, tolerance and respect in the United States. If youremember, the attack on the United States took place on September 11th,and then on September the 17th, six days later, the President traveledto the Islamic Center in Washington to make certain that all Americansheard the message that Arab Americans and Muslim Americans love ourcountry just as much as anybody else. And that's an important message,and the President wanted to sound it again here on the day before theanniversary. Q
Ari, can you comment on the reports that surface-to-airmissiles have been deployed in various locations in and aroundWashington? MR. FLEISCHER: Well, sure, there's a news release that went out.This is very public; it's part of the training exercises for ClearSkies II. If you recall, there was similar Clear Skies I trainingexercises that took place earlier this year, and I'd refer you foranything beyond that to the Pentagon. But this is all very public,well-announced, and it's exactly as I indicated it would be. Q
Ari, the Senate overwhelmingly passed nearly $6 billion indrought aid today. I'm wondering, is the White House going to acceptthat, or what's the deal on that? MR. FLEISCHER: The President very much would like to help thosepeople who have been affected by this drought. The drought has beensevere and many people need help, and the President is dedicated togiving them the help they deserve. And so the President will work withthe Congress to pass help for these farmers. He believes we can do itand should do it in a way that is within budget limitations and thatdoes not bust the budget. Q Is that $6 billion within -- would that bust the budget,or not? I mean, do you support what the Senate did today? MR. FLEISCHER: Well, the President will continue to work withCongress. This is one body's action on it, on this matter.Ultimately, it will get settled in a conference committee. But thePresident wants to make sure that we can do two things. One is helpthose who need help; and two, do so in a manner that's fiscallyresponsible. Q Ari, what are the President and the White House doing rightnow to bring along members of Congress, particularly Democrats, on Iraqpolicy? MR. FLEISCHER: Well, Dr. Rice and Director Tenet of the CIA wentup and briefed Hill leaders today. As you know, the Vice Presidentwent up and briefed Hill leaders earlier. And so there constantly willcontinually be a flow of information to the leaders on the Hill. And Ithink Thursday's speech will be informative for many members ofCongress. Even though they won't be at the U.N., they certainly willhear what the President has on his mind. And the administration willcontinue to listen carefully to the voices in the Congress, and wewelcome the hearings that the Congress will shortly begin on the topicof Iraq. Of course, Senator Biden's committee -- these will be acontinuation of the hearings he's already begun. Q
What are the chances of a news conference with the Presidentto build on Thursday's remarks? Will we be seeing him Friday? MR. FLEISCHER: No, I would not anticipate one this week. Q And also, when will we get a chance to ask him some questionsabout -- MR. FLEISCHER: You will have a chance this afternoon. ThePresident's going to be -- have a press pool this afternoon. Q -- his speech this afternoon? MR. FLEISCHER: I'm not how you can judge that's a preemption. Butthe President -- the President frequently takes questions from thepool, as you know. And he'll continue to do that. Q But what about a news conference to build on Thursday'sremarks? MR. FLEISCHER: As always, any time there's a news conference,we'll let you know. Q Is it under consideration? MR. FLEISCHER: News conferences are always under consideration.(Laughter.) Q Following on Richard's question, the President has now talkedwith congressional leaders and also made phone calls to a number ofworld leaders. Is the President encountering any difficulties inmaking the initial case here against -- on his policy with Iraq,when as you've said repeatedly, he has yet to decide how he's going toact? MR. FLEISCHER: Well, the purpose of the calls is to touch basewith these foreign leaders. He stresses to each of them that heintends to consult along the way and will constantly be in reach and intouch at all levels of government. And then he invites them to listencarefully to his remarks on Thursday. There are a variety of ways that the President reaches out toforeign leaders. One is, of course, direct, on the phone; others arethrough the President's public statements, particularly in the morenotable settings, the more important speeches such as Thursday'sspeech; and there will be other ways, through other administrationofficials. For example, the President has already said that he'll besending teams of people out to various capitals around the world tocontinue the consultations. So it's going to be ongoing at multiplelevels. And I think the reaction has been from these leaders that theywelcome this type of consultation. Connie. Q Thank you. The streets around the White House seeminordinately quiet.
Do you sense fear and concern on the part of thepeople? And how do you reconcile the two advices, to live a normallife, but to be vigilant at the same time? MR. FLEISCHER: Well, no, I don't think the President detects thatat all in the American people. I think in the American people, thePresident detects what has always been found in our people, and that isa fantastic, wonderful strength, that has made us the strongest and thefreest nation. And we've had attacks on our country, and every timeafter an attack the United States responded in a fashion thatrepresented justice, and we brought more freedom to the world. Becauseas the President has said, particularly vis-a-vis Afghanistan, we didnot go into Afghanistan to conquer, we went in to liberate, which isexactly how the people of Afghanistan reacted when they had theircities and their towns returned to them. And so the President sees in the American people -- and he'lltalk a little bit about this in his remarks -- a fantastic eternalstrength. And the American people, when they hear information aboutthreats to our country, particularly going back in the aftermath ofSeptember 11th, they've shown a resiliency, an ability to understandthat two things go on at once -- that the American people can andwill live their normal lives, and that security people and police arepaid to take care of the security situation, and they've done amasterful job at it and will continue to work hard to do so. Q
Ari, on drought relief, I thought the administration'sposition was that the new farm bill, that mammoth farm bill had moneyin it to deal with drought relief, and that you did not want to pursuedrought relief through emergency spending. Is the administration nowtalking about -- MR. FLEISCHER: Well, there are a number of ways to do this in amanner that both helps the farmers, which is important, and also doesit in a fiscally responsible manner. The farm bill does have plenty offunding in it to handle many different issues. And the President willcontinue to work with Congress to see what the most appropriate way isto bring this help to the people who need it. Q Are you contemplating supporting emergency spending measuresfor drought relief, or would you prefer to see it all come out of thefarm bill? MR. FLEISCHER: Well, there are various different ways, as Iindicated, of working to get something that's final result is fiscallyresponsible, in the President's judgment. And he'll continue to take alook at what the Congress is working on. I don't think we've heard thelast word from the Congress on this issue. Q So you're open to emergency spending for drought relief? MR. FLEISCHER: Well, the President has said it needs to be done ina fiscally responsible way. Q Was there -- what was the White House reaction to PrimeMinister Blair's speech, and was there any coordination with itstiming? MR. FLEISCHER: I've already given a reaction to the speech. Onthe coordination of it, I think it's fair to say when the President metwith the Prime Minister, they had a good exchange of ideas. Theystrongly understand each other's positions, and there were nosurprises. But it's really at that level. It's not as if Tony Blairhands a copy of his speech to President Bush, or that President Bushhands a copy of his speech to Tony Blair prior to giving it. But youcan assume that the two have a very clear understanding of each other'spositions. Q When the President, as he put it, started a process last week,he was explicit about gaining congressional approval. Now you'retalking about members of Congress hearing Mr. -- hearing thePresident's ideas at his speech on Thursday. Has the importance of theU.N. in this process grown, and
can you characterize the importance thePresident attaches to the U.N. as he pursues his objectives in Iraq? MR. FLEISCHER: Well, I think that the -- that people aroundthe world will reach their own conclusions about the importance of theUnited Nations, given the fact that the United Nations has passed manyresolutions that call on Saddam Hussein to disarm, to get rid of theweapons that he has, to abandon the pursuit of the weapons of massdestruction, especially the chemical, the biological and the ballisticmissiles. And that judgment is still out about whether the U.N. hasdone a good job in enforcing its resolutions. Q That's not what he asked. He asked you what the President andthe White House think. MR. FLEISCHER: What does the White House think? You'll get thatThursday when the President gives his speech. Sarah. Q Thank you. I know part of my question was already asked, butI have another part. The Pentagon is now conducting an air defenseexercise in and around Washington, using a Avenger surface-to-airmissile launchers that are not equipped with missiles. On the eve of9/11, is this very smart? (Laughter.) MR. FLEISCHER: Well, again, the answer is that this is an exerciseand this is a drill that is being carried out. There are numerous waysthat the Homeland Security Office, the Department of Defense have toprotect the American people -- CAPs are one of those ways. And sothere are various ways, but this is in a different context. This is,as the Pentagon indicated, a drill. Q Yesterday, the Prime Minister of Canada said, after discussingthe Iraqi situation with the President, that the President hadn'toffered him any new evidence or proof that Hussein is currently ordoing anything new in terms of pursuit of these weapons. And somemembers have had briefings, closed-door briefings from administrationofficials, like the Defense Secretary, CIA Director, and have emergedfrom those meetings and say the same thing. Does the President havenew information, new evidence gathered within the last six months, oris he simply content to press the case based on what the world hasalready known about Saddam Hussein? MR. FLEISCHER: The President has said, and you heard thisrepeatedly on the Sunday shows from the Secretary of State, from theNational Security Advisor, from the Vice President, from the Secretaryof Defense -- that there already is, based on what we know, amountain of evidence about the threat that Saddam Hussein poses to theUnited States, to our interests abroad and to our friends and alliesaround the world. And based on that, as well as other information, thePresident is going to discuss at the United Nations the threat that hesees in Saddam Hussein. Q By "other information," what do you mean? MR. FLEISCHER: Again, it's the beginning of a process, and as thePresident reflects on various issues, the President will continue todiscuss his case. But, make no mistake, based on what President Bushand the national security team know already, and has been known, SaddamHussein presents a threat to the United States. Q Even if there's nothing new? MR. FLEISCHER: I'll leave you with that conclusion. Q Ari, has the U.N. failed the world in not addressing Saddammore aggressively and quicker? MR. FLEISCHER: The President would hope that that would never bethe case, that the U.N. would fail the world. Q He doesn't feel that the U.N. has failed the world -- MR. FLEISCHER: I think, again -- I understand the questions,but I am going to say that the President will give this speech onThursday, and it's just not the staff's role or job to give it for himon his behalf. He'll be doing it Thursday, and you'll have the answersto many of these questions then. Paula. Q
On the issue of cybersecurity, the Office of Cybersecurityreportedly will be presenting recommendations next week to thePresident on how to secure computers, whether at universities, even athome. And according to The Washington Post, some of theserecommendations are just going to be for voluntary compliance, ratherthan requirement by the federal government. How does theadministration weigh in on this? And is the administration in favor ofa privacy czar? MR. FLEISCHER: The issue of cybersecurity is an important part ofthe overall defensive efforts, and it's a focus that has been broughtto the security team. And I think it's too soon to predict when anyreport that the cyber people have been working on will be ready. Thereis ongoing -- work that is ongoing about that project, and so I wouldnot leap to any conclusions about when they will have something.They're continuing to work hard on a review of cyber policy. Q And what is the position of having a privacy czar to make surethat individual and businesses' privacy is not -- MR. FLEISCHER: Paula, let me see if I've got anything on that, andI'll post it if I do. Q Ari, as a follow-up to this morning, do you have anything moreon terrorism insurance? Are you guys close to a deal? MR. FLEISCHER: I did not get an update on that. I think we'll beable to get you something today, but I did not get it yet. Q Thank you. MR. FLEISCHER: Thank you. END 12:33 P.M. EDT Printer-Friendly Version Email this page to a friend Issues
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