MR. McCLELLAN: No, that's been our view, and -- that the dialogue ought to be occurring between India and Pakistan. There's been some improvement in that dialogue, and we want a solution that represents the interests of all sides, is what the President emphasized in his interviews the other day. Read more Comment (0), Email this.

MR. McCLELLAN: I'm sorry? Read more Comment (0), Email this.

MR. McCLELLAN: I think it's the way he expressed it last week, both in the speech, and then later in interviews. Go ahead, Carl. Read more Comment (0), Email this.

Q Back to NSA for just a minute. What is the administration's view of Senator Specter's remark that would bring the NSA surveillance program under the auspices of FISA and the court, and require the FISA court to essentially take part in a 45-day review of the ongoing program? ... Read more Comment (0), Email this.

MR. McCLELLAN: Well, I think that you've heard from a number of congressional leaders already. Senator Frist has said that he will ask the Senate to hold off on legislation relating to this transaction until this review and investigation is complete. I think they -- I think there are a number of leaders that recognize that this was a reasonable middle ground that has been reached. And we want to make sure that that review and investigation has the opportunity to proceed forward. Read more Comment (0), Email this.

MR. McCLELLAN: Well, are you talking about future ideas -- Read more Comment (0), Email this.

MR. McCLELLAN: -- for looking at the Committee on Foreign Investment? We'll continue to talk with Congress in the future and look at these issues. Congress is the one who created this process and mandated it into law. Go ahead. Read more Comment (0), Email this.

Q Thank you. Scott, Venezuela is again threatening to cut off oil shipments to the United States. The Venezuelan Petroleum Minister accuses the U.S. of meddling in Venezuela's internal affairs. And he also threatens to close Venezuelan oil refineries in this country. What would that loss -- about 10 percent of our total oil imports -- do to the President's energy program? ... Read more Comment (0), Email this.

Q Scott, the President is heading off on his trip with some record low approval ratings. And I'm wondering, given the events of the last couple of weeks -- the ports deal, and the outbreak of violence in Iraq, and the handling of the Vice President's shooting -- is there any thought to changing the way the administration is doing business? ... Read more Comment (0), Email this.

MR. McCLELLAN: I'm sorry? Read more Comment (0), Email this.

MR. McCLELLAN: We don't get caught up in the weekly snapshots in time that you're referring to. We are focused on getting things done for the American people, and we have a record of results. We're focused on moving forward and winning the war on terrorism. We're focused on doing everything we can within our authority to prevent attacks from happening and saving lives. We're focused on keeping the economy growing, and we're going to continue to talk about what the facts are, because if you look at the facts, this is a President that has achieved meaningful results for the American people: an economy that is humming along, having created nearly 4.8 million jobs since the summer of 2003; and an unemployment rate that is at 4.9 percent, below the averages of the '70s, '80s, and '90s. And we're going to continue focusing on ways we can work together as Republicans and Democrats in Congress to achieve important priorities that build upon that economic security. The President has called for an Advanced Energy Initiative to help reduce our dependence on foreign sources of energy and build upon the comprehensive plan we passed last summer. So look at the record and look at the results, and look at the facts. Go ahead. Read more Comment (0), Email this.

MR. McCLELLAN: No, I don't have any additional update to provide you. Obviously, as I have said before, any time you have an American hostage, he or she is a priority for this administration. So all Americans who are held hostage at this time are a priority for this administration, including Ms. Carroll. And their safe return is something that we remain focused on and it remains a top priority. And that's what we are working to do for all hostages. Read more Comment (0), Email this.

MR. McCLELLAN: Didn't you already have a question? (Laughter.) Read more Comment (0), Email this.

MR. McCLELLAN: You're jumping in on some of the others. Let me come back to you. Read more Comment (0), Email this.

MR. McCLELLAN: No, that's okay. I forgot. Nice try. (Laughter.) Go ahead, Connie. Read more Comment (0), Email this.

MR. McCLELLAN: This is a private transaction. And you had this company, Dubai Ports World, enter into a transaction with the British P&O company that currently manages these terminals at the ports. This has nothing to do with control of the ports, because that's under the port authorities or others, or the security of the ports. It doesn't change security one iota. The Customs and border protection, as well as the Coast Guard continue to be in charge of security, whether this transaction moves forward, or not. One thing we will never do is outsource control of our ports, or security at our ports, to any entity. That will remain under the charge of our Customs and border protection and the Coast Guard. Read more Comment (0), Email this.

MR. McCLELLAN: Well, there are already some foreign companies that manage terminals in different parts of the United States, and Dubai Ports World is a company that manages terminals all across the world, in several countries. I read out some of what those countries are. But certainly American companies are welcome to enter into these transactions, and there are terminals that -- the Port of Baltimore, I think, is an example -- at least one of those terminals is managed by an American company. But some of the other terminals are managed by foreign companies. Yet, the Port of Baltimore remains in control -- the Port Authority of Baltimore remains in control of that port. Read more Comment (0), Email this.

MR. McCLELLAN: Well, we haven't seen the report. I know that the International Atomic Energy Agency was scheduled to be meeting next week, and they will be receiving a report from Director General ElBaradei. And so we look forward to seeing what the International Atomic Energy Agency says. But the international community remains concerned about the regime's behavior, and about their intentions when it comes to their nuclear program. That's why the matter has been reported to the United Nations Security Council. We've said that during this time the regime in Iran has an opportunity to change their ways and change their behavior when it comes to the nuclear program. The International Atomic Energy Agency board spelled out what the regime needs to do, that the regime needs to abide by the Paris Agreement, suspend all enrichment and enrichment-related activities, they need to cooperate fully with the International Atomic Energy Agency, and they need to negotiate in good faith with the Europeans. And that's what it spells out in that resolution that was passed at the last -- the special emergency meeting of the International Atomic Energy Agency. Read more Comment (0), Email this.

Q Just jumping back and forth once again. Senator Clinton and Representative Menendez are planning legislation that would essentially prohibit any foreign-owned company from taking over port operations in the United States. What message does that send, and what do you think of the -- ... Read more Comment (0), Email this.

MR. McCLELLAN: Go ahead, which one. Read more Comment (0), Email this.

MR. McCLELLAN: Well, I think the President has expressed his view on this transaction. And as you well know, there are ports around the United States that are managed -- terminals that are managed by foreign companies. Read more Comment (0), Email this.

MR. McCLELLAN: That's right. Read more Comment (0), Email this.

MR. McCLELLAN: Well, I told you where our focus is. There are others that are discussing other issues relating to this. And going forward from this transaction, we'll continue to work with Congress, but I think the President has made his views very clear and they remain unchanged. Read more Comment (0), Email this.

MR. McCLELLAN: We're trying to work with Congress to make sure they have a clear understanding of the transaction. And that's where our focus will remain. Read more Comment (0), Email this.

Q Well, in that regard, before finding what you call the "middle ground," there was a veto threat out there and threats of legislation the administration and the President obviously found objectionable. Now you have a 45-day hiatus in effect. What occurs at the end of the 45 days if congressional anxieties are not resolved? ... Read more Comment (0), Email this.

MR. McCLELLAN: The President's position remains the same, Bob. But we're -- again, we're focused on what we're for. And what we're for is the compromise that was reached between the company and congressional leaders and letting that process work, and letting Congress come to a greater understanding about the transaction. Go ahead, Les. Read more Comment (0), Email this.

MR. McCLELLAN: Let's go quickly. Read more Comment (0), Email this.

MR. McCLELLAN: People have to go home and pack. Read more Comment (0), Email this.

Q I understand. The state legislature of South Dakota has just passed a new law which allows abortion in case of threat to the mother's life, but denies it to all ages in cases of rape and incest. My first question: Does the President believe that rape and incest victims should be denied the right to an abortion? ... Read more Comment (0), Email this.

Q All right. The New York Times this morning has a photograph of you above a five-column headline, "Another White House Briefing, Another Day of Mutual Mistrust," while on the bulletin board behind us, posted by one of those on the front row, is the cover of National Review Magazine with the headline, "The Gang That Won't Shoot Straight and the Madness of the White House Press Corps." And my question: As the Bush administration's person who most frequently deals with the White House press corps, will you be fair enough to admit that some in this press corps were not involved in such madness? (Laughter.) ... Read more Comment (0), Email this.

MR. McCLELLAN: We've been talking about how we can work together, remember -- (laughter.) Read more Comment (0), Email this.

Q The Washington Times notes this morning that as recently as last year, Hamas couriers were dispatched to the West Bank or Gaza with United Arab Emirate cash, while the Department of State's country reports and human rights practices reports that the UAE does not allow any elections and restricts freedom of speech and the press. And my question: Why should any control of our ports be given to a company owned by such a dictatorship that refuses to recognize Israel? ... Read more Comment (0), Email this.

Q Scott, a follow-up on Dave Sanger's question earlier on the ports. How can the new second study or investigation be considered objective when the President has already reached a conclusion and Cabinet Secretaries have already said that it poses no risk? How do you -- ... Read more Comment (0), Email this.

MR. McCLELLAN: Well, you asked me to speculate about a review and investigation that has not been done with the new notification. Read more Comment (0), Email this.

MR. McCLELLAN: No, I would reject that wholeheartedly. Read more Comment (0), Email this.

MR. McCLELLAN: Well, I expect that the there will be more information that Congress will have at the end of this review and investigation. I can't try to prejudge the new review and new investigation that will take place, and I'm not going to do that. Some of you, I know, in this room want me to do that. I'm just not going to do that. It will -- these are people whose responsibilities are looking at these national security issues, and it involves experts in these areas for addressing national security concerns, just like it did the first time. Read more Comment (0), Email this.

Q Scott, are you saying if this port deal goes south we are going to lose the United Arab Emirates as an ally in the war against terrorism? And if so, so what? We've got aircraft carriers in other nations, Saudi Arabia -- is it that important to us? ... Read more Comment (0), Email this.

MR. McCLELLAN: No, no. I'm just pointing out that you also have to look at it in the broader foreign policy context. The President believes it's the right principle and the right policy, and that's what he's expressed previously. But we also understand that Congress would like more information about this and like to have a better understanding. And that's why we supported the agreement that was reached, or the compromise that was reached here with congressional leaders. And we were very involved in those discussions. Now, let's keep in mind, this is not about port security. The Coast Guard and the Customs and border protection will continue to be in charge of port security. That does not change. They will continue to do their job when it comes to -- and port security is international in nature. I mean, we are checking containers overseas. We are looking at what's in -- we are getting lists before the ships come into harbor and unload. And as this company pointed out, the management and personnel structure won't be changing while it is going through this review and investigation period. So let's look at the broader issues here. I mean, some have tried to leave an impression that this would impact our port security. It won't change port security one iota, whether or not this transaction goes forward. Read more Comment (0), Email this.

MR. McCLELLAN: I'm sorry, Taiwan what? Read more Comment (0), Email this.

Q Taiwan authority has officially scrapped the National Unification Council, which is a signal to (inaudible) unite with mainland China. I wonder whether you conceded this move by Chen Shui-bian to be a violation of his previous promise to the United States. ... Read more Comment (0), Email this.

MR. McCLELLAN: That's why I talked about the reaffirmation that he has made. It did not abolish the National Unification Council. Today he reaffirmed commitments made during the 2000 and 2004 inaugural addresses. And the United States attaches great importance to those commitments. Read more Comment (0), Email this.

Q My question is that Taiwan leader Chen Shui-bian has been trying to push the envelope and trying to change the status quo as defined by the United States government over past few years. So causing a lot -- by doing so, causing a lot of concerns and attention in Taipei, in Beijing, and in Washington, D.C. So my question is, should the U.S. national security and the foreign policy and also the important U.S.-China relations should be dictated and challenged by Chen Shui-bian's inconsistency and by his personal, selfish political agenda? ... Read more Comment (0), Email this.

MR. HADLEY: Good afternoon. Next week the President and Mrs. Bush will depart for South Asia. They will travel to India and Pakistan. This is the first trip of the President and Mrs. Bush to either country. They are very much looking forward to it. In India, the President will participate in an arrival ceremony, and then a wreath-laying ceremony in honor of Mahatma Gandhi. The trip will basically celebrate a U.S.-Indian strategic partnership that is rooted in shared values and is broad in both its nature and scope. The two countries are working together on a range of global issues, including counterterrorism, nonproliferation, energy and the environment, and the expansion of economic and political freedom. The President will meet with Prime Minister Singh and the two will discuss the strong relationship between India and the United States and their cooperation on these global issues, and a variety of bilateral issues, as well. Additionally, President Bush will meet with members of the U.S.-India Chief Executive Officer Forum, or CEO Forum. This was launched during the Prime Minister's visit to Washington last July. This will give the President an opportunity to hear from these business leaders in India, and they will provide to the two leaders and to their governments ideas on how to further expand trade and investment between the United States and India. U.S.-Indian economic ties have been growing rapidly and they benefit the people of both countries, as the President described in his address here on Wednesday. U.S. exports to India were up over 30 percent last year, making India one of our fastest growing major export markets. The President will then participate in a joint press availability with the Prime Minister. They will have lunch, and later the President and Mrs. Bush will attend a state dinner hosted by President Kalam. The President will participate in an embassy greeting. He'll thank the employees of our embassy in New Delhi who are working so hard on behalf of the American interests. The President will also meet with a diverse group of religious leaders to discuss religious freedom. The President will meet with the leader of the opposition party and with the Indian National Congress party chairman, Sonia Gandhi. Before traveling to Pakistan, the President will participate in an agricultural event, an area where India and the United States have cooperated off and on for some 40 years. And he will meet with young India entrepreneurs. He will then deliver remarks in which he will discuss the importance of our relationship with India and the role our two nations can play together in dealing with global issues. In Pakistan, the President will meet with President Musharraf. The two leaders will discuss both countries' commitments to the strong relationship between the United States and Pakistan. Since 9/11, Pakistan has become an ally in the war on terror. It has made very tough choices, but has made those choices because they were right for the people of Pakistan. The U.S. relationship with Pakistan goes beyond security interests and issues. The President will discuss Pakistan's progress toward democracy, as well as how we can expand our mutually beneficial economic ties to support freedom and prosperity in Pakistan. The leaders will also be discussing how we can cooperate to support Pakistan's important role in encouraging greater economic integration in South and Central Asia. In addition to meeting with President Musharraf, President Bush will participate in a meeting on the earthquake reconstruction efforts in which the United States and its military participated. And the two leaders will participate in a joint media availability. Later, the President and Mrs. Bush will attend a state dinner hosted by President Musharraf. Additionally, the President will participate in a roundtable discussion with leaders in Pakistan's public and private sectors. While in Pakistan, the President looks forward to meeting with embassy employees in Islamabad and thanking them for their hard work and the sacrifice they and their families are making. Many of them are there without their families. He will also participate in a cricket event, a very popular sporting activity in South Asia. And with that, I'll be glad to take your questions. Read more Comment (0), Email this.

MR. HADLEY: As you know, the United States and India have been trying to negotiate a document pursuant to the joint statement reached last July of expanding civil nuclear cooperation between the United States and India. Pursuant to that, we have been trying for several weeks to negotiate an agreement whereby India would separate its nuclear facilities between those that are for civil programs and those which are for military programs. These negotiations have been ongoing for a while. Indians have come here, we have come there. There have been exchange of papers, exchanges of phone calls. In this latest round, the Indians provided a document about a week ago; we provided some additional ideas and response. Nick Burns went to India. There have been good consultations. He is now coming back to Washington to report on where we are on those discussions. We're making progress, but we're not yet there. The Indians, hopefully, will have an opportunity from there end to see where we are. And we would expect those negotiations will continue by phone, document and the like, probably up through the President's -- up to the President's visit. We would, obviously, like, and the Indians would like to use the occasion of this visit to reach agreement on this separation agreement, so-called. We think that would be a good thing. But it's important to have a good agreement that works for the Indians, works for the United States, will be acceptable to our Congress and to the nuclear suppliers group. And that's our objective. We'd like to get it before the trip. If we can, great. If we can't, we'll continue to negotiate it after the trip. There's, as you could tell, and as you could tell from the President's address on Wednesday, this is a very broad and rich relationship between the United States and India right now, and the two leaders will have a lot to talk about, whether there's this agreement or not. Read more Comment (0), Email this.

MR. HADLEY: Certainly not. As you could -- listened from the President's speech, there is a long list of things that we are doing together with India, a long list of areas where we hope to have some things to announce during the trip that will demonstrate the breadth and intensity. So, look, it would be nice to have the separation agreement before the trip; if not, if we don't get it before the trip, we think we'll get it after the trip. Read more Comment (0), Email this.

MR. HADLEY: It's just getting some clarification from the Indian side about what's in the civil side and what's on the military side, not only in terms of what exists now, at this time, but what are going to be the ground rules going forward. There's a lot of technical aspects to it. And the challenge, from the Indian side, of course, is this came up as an integrated program, and now they're having to make the kind of separation that we've made and other countries have made. And it's hard. It's an issue about facilities, about people, about organization. And it's just -- it's taken time to work through. Again, we're trying to see if we can use the visit as a forcing function. If we can, great. If not, we'll continue to work on it after the visit is over. Read more Comment (0), Email this.

MR. HADLEY: Well, one of the things about this kind of relationship between India and the United States is that it's at the point where, in some sense, it's been institutionalized. When relations between two countries are in an early stage, everybody focuses on what's the deliverable for the trip, because in some sense, trips are the only times you get agreements and you move forward in the relationship. A lot of the relationship is now institutionalized. There's a business dialogue, there's economic dialogue, there's energy dialogues, and a lot of those things have produced statements and agreements and joint programs that the President and the Prime Minister will be able to ratify and bless. So I think there's going to be a lot of things. But, again, it's not three or four major initiatives. It's the kind of relationship whereby you'll see, I think, a range of agreements, understandings, next steps, across a broad range of issues that will show that the relationship is moving forward, and really is pretty institutionalized at this point. Read more Comment (0), Email this.

Q May I have another one on the terrorism? President has been fighting this terrorism ever since he took over the presidency, and he has done a wonderful job. Now, as far as the issue of terrorism is concern, India suffered terrorism, you have suffered terrorism, and also Pakistan, they have suffered terrorism. And as far as General -- President General Musharraf is concerned, he was trying his best to tackle down the extremists and militants in his own country, and also to have good relations between India and Pakistan as far as tracking down the terrorism on the war of terrorism. So what are we expecting here from this trip, what the President has to offer the triangle fighting against terrorism, and where do we stand today as far as terrorism is concerned? ... Read more Comment (0), Email this.

MR. HADLEY: I think India has, of course, been a participant in the IAEA Board of Governors. It has, in the two recent votes that were taken there, it has been in the side of those who really believe that Iran needs to be held to account for the non-compliance with the safeguards agreement, and that the issue needs to be referred to the U.N. Security Council. So I think it will be a reinforcement of that commitment. I think what both leaders will do is step back and talk about more broadly the challenge that Iran poses for stability in the region. It is certainly an issue of Iran's effort to achieve nuclear weapons. It is also Iran's role as a state sponsor of terror; the support it is providing to countries like Syria, which are also involved in supporting terror; the attitude its government has towards Israel; the unconstructive role it's playing in terms of the Middle East; and the way it treats its own people. The President, of course, on Wednesday and then again today, talked about the initiative that was announced by the Secretary of State to try and enhance our support for those voices within Iran that are calling for greater freedom and openness in that society. That's a very important thing in looking forward to the day when we have a democratic Iran that can be a partner on these issues, rather than to be a part of the problem on these issues. So I think you'll find a kind of -- a strategic level discussion between the two leaders on the challenge Iran poses and what we need to do about it together. Read more Comment (0), Email this.

MR. HADLEY: I don't think it does. I think what the nuclear agreement does is it brings India into, and has India accepting the kinds of proliferation restrictions that the rest of the international community has accepted. Because the U.S-India civil nuclear is premised on India and the United States getting on the same page with respect to proliferation. The first step was the so-called NSSP -- the next steps in strategic partnership -- which we entered into over two years ago and which was completed in July. And as part of that, as the United States and India enhance their cooperation in the areas of space, high technology, civil nuclear, India was taking steps to bring its nonproliferation policies and practices in accord with ours and the international community, generally. So I think, in fact, it is our view, and is the President's view, that the civil nuclear cooperation we contemplate with India will not only be good for India to help it deal with the enormous challenges it faces in its own development to find a clean, environmentally sound, and secure energy, but it also has the effect of bringing India on the same page as the rest of us in terms of the fight against nuclear proliferation. Read more Comment (0), Email this.

MR. HADLEY: I have not asked. (Laughter.) But it is planned as an opportunity for him to watch and learn a little bit about it. But who knows what he'll do. Read more Comment (0), Email this.

MR. HADLEY: My understanding is that the company is proposing an arrangement whereby some additional time occurs before they take control of the ports, the U.S. ports that are at issue. We have said privately, publicly, in a variety of different ways that we think that's a good thing, that the CFIUS process that we're all now familiar with looked at the deal, felt there were no national security problems that, in the end of the day, remained unaddressed, and that, therefore, the deal as contemplated did not jeopardize national security interests. The President supports that deal and believes that it should go forward. But, obviously, questions have been raised in the public and in the Congress, and the President believes that additional time, which would allow the company and the administration to explain this and provide more information to the Congress, is a good thing and that in the end of the day, Congress and the public, when all is said and done, will come to the same conclusion he has, that this is something that can go forward and not jeopardize the national security of the United States. So we think it's -- and the President thinks it's a good thing. Read more Comment (0), Email this.

MR. HADLEY: Well, in terms of the administration and executive branch process, that process has been completed. There was a lot of work that was done before the company filed its notice through -- it was then a review conducted in the 30-day period. And at the end of the day, no agency indicated that they had a national security problem, and therefore, the company was informed that the administration's process would go no further. So that process is over. But, of course, there are questions raised in the Congress, and what this delay allows is for those questions to be addressed on the Hill. Read more Comment (0), Email this.

MR. HADLEY: There's nothing to reopen. In terms of the CFIUS process, it's been completed. Read more Comment (0), Email this.

MR. HADLEY: They will go out -- the U.S. business -- this is a meeting that is ongoing, that is meeting at the time, of course, of the visit. This is a forum that was set up, again, last summer. And they will travel separately. But the President, while he's there, will meet with them. Read more Comment (0), Email this.

MR. HADLEY: And he's not this time. Read more Comment (0), Email this.

MR. HADLEY: Well, it's -- Read more Comment (0), Email this.

MR. HADLEY: It hasn't really come up as something that has been recommended to him as advancing the objectives of the visit. And, of course, in a way, this is a group that is meeting, is ongoing. And what we've -- the course we have taken is for the President to meet with these groups on this trip, so he can meet with both Americans and Indians, and hear the results of their discussions, and the recommendations they would make to the two governments to enhance trade and economic cooperation. It just seems to be a -- it has been a more effective way to deal with this problem. Read more Comment (0), Email this.

Q Just ask you a quick question about Iraq. The President has been very clear in expressing his respect for Ayatollah Sistani, among other clerics, as being prime movers on keeping things calm. Could you characterize, and deepen my understanding, the degree of confidence that the administration has that the clerics will stay on this page, especially the Ayatollah, for instance, and why that is? Why do you have any confidence in that? What should we understand? ... Read more Comment (0), Email this.

MR. HADLEY: Sure. Read more Comment (0), Email this.

Q We hear an awful lot on television and the newspapers about Iraq being on the bring of "civil war." You've described it as a challenge; the President said it was the time of choosing; the Secretary of State said it's extremely hard. Is rhetoric in discussion of a potential civil war appropriate? Is that exaggerated? Characterize where things are in the context of that description. ... Read more Comment (0), Email this.

MR. HADLEY: Correct. Read more Comment (0), Email this.

Q And can you talk a little bit about any concerns, perhaps, of inflaming tensions? I mean, he's going in the midst of this cartoon controversy, and there's been violence in Pakistan. What are the concerns about it may be inflaming passions there with the visit of a U.S. President, and what he's going to -- maybe this cricket thing is a chance to show a different side of him or -- is that the idea? ... Read more Comment (0), Email this.

MR. HADLEY: The schedule that is -- the one I described is a trip to India and Pakistan, and obviously if there are changes in that schedule, we will announce them in the ordinary course. Read more Comment (0), Email this.

Q Sir, you mentioned that in both schedules, the President will be meeting the U.S. embassy personnel, which reminded me that the United States is shifting the diplomatic resources around the world, as was announced. Frankly, I don't remember how India fares under this new schedule. But I remember that my native country, which is Russia, is a big loser. Should we take this as an indication of the relative importance the U.S. attaches to different countries and regions of the world? And if not, then why not? ... Read more Comment (0), Email this.

Q Could you we just go back to the port situation for a minute? It seems that one of the key pieces here is a difference of opinion in the understanding of what rises to a national security concern between the legislators and the executive branch who didn't feel that this did, and many legislators who do, and who are not accepting the administration saying, trust us. What can you say to them, and perhaps to the American people beyond "trust us" to allay their concerns about this national security concern as they see it? ... Read more Comment (0), Email this.

MR. HADLEY: The relationship with India is because it is the relationship with India. If you look at the President's comments even during the campaign, he recognized that this nation had an enormous affinity with India, the world's largest democracy. We share common values. We increasingly share common interests. And he recognized that India was going to be a big player, not just on the regional scene, but on the global scene. So back in '99, he was saying one of his priorities was to develop and intensify and broaden the relationship with India. And he's trying to do that. He's tried to do the same thing with his relationship with Pakistan, and really establish the principle -- as he said on Wednesday, we think we've established the principle that good relations with Pakistan by the United States don't harm the relationships with India, and good relationships with India don't harm that with Pakistan. They are, in fact, mutually reinforcing. We seek good relations with India, with Pakistan, with Russia, with Japan, with the EU. We seek those good relationships because they are in our interest. We don't seek them because it's a balance to China or anything else. Last one. Sir. Read more Comment (0), Email this.

MS. TOWNSEND: The President's most solemn obligation is to protect the American people. Every day and night millions of men and women in the federal government, both military and civilian, work to achieve that objective. Given the dangerous world we live in, they do an outstanding job. Despite all we do, however, Hurricane Katrina was a deadly reminder that we can, and will, do better. This is the first and foremost lesson we learned from the death and destruction caused by the country's most destructive natural disaster. No matter how prepared we think we are, we must work to improve our performance every day. When you look at prior natural disasters -- and I direct you to pages 6 and 7 of the report, which are graphs that really make the comparison -- the scope of the devastation, the size of the disaster area was extraordinary. The second lesson we learned, and we hope everyone listening today will learn, is that it will take all of us working together to put out country in the best position to be prepared for, to defend against, to respond to, and to recover from future natural disasters or terrorist attacks. And I really do mean all of us. It will require not only federal, state and local governments, it will require schools and churches, individual citizens, communities, workplaces all across our nation. Those of us in government must take the lead, and President Bush made clear he is doing just that. Like all Americans, he was not satisfied with the federal response to Hurricane Katrina and he accepted responsibility for the shortcomings in the federal response. He demanded that we find out the lessons, that we learn them and that we fix the problems, that we take every action to make sure America is safer, stronger and better prepared. That, ladies and gentlemen, is what this Hurricane Katrina Lessons Learned Review has been all about. Before moving on to the lessons -- the 17 lessons learned, before talking in greater detail about what went wrong -- and as you know, much did -- I must say for a moment, I'd like to speak about what went right. In Appendix B of the report, we go through in some detail, particularly state and local efforts. There were thousands of lives saved by the United States Coast Guard and the United States military, and they put their own lives at great risk to save others stranded on rooftops, to rescue them in boats, and otherwise to bring them to safety. The Coast Guard alone rescued or evacuated over 33,000 people, which is over six times the number that they do in an average year. Volunteers, charities and other non-governmental organizations were outstanding partners, and we need to treat them as the valued partners that they are. In addition to ground operations, a joint Homeland Security, Transportation, and Department of Defense airlift successfully evacuated over 24,000 people, constituting the largest domestic civilian airlift on U.S. soil in our history. So the much that did go right, the President has made clear we will build on and we will duplicate it in the future. But now let us turn to the lessons learned. In any emergency there is a before, a during, and an after, and we've got a lot of work to do in all three areas. In total, we've identified 125 specific recommendations in 17 general categories that -- and these 17 categories, by and large, fall into each of the three phases of a response. First, preparation and planning before. Our National Response Plan is a 600-page government document, complete with organization charts, procedures, rules of engagement, annexes, and enough government acronyms and jargon to make your head spin. The answer is, I know a lot of work went into the NRP -- the National Response Plan -- and I know that it was well-intentioned. The fact is it didn't measure up. In the response to Hurricane Katrina, the National Response Plan came up short. Unfortunately, the one thing that the government tends to be best at is red tape, but what we know is when we're fighting a deadly hurricane or a terrorist threat, red tape can no longer be tolerated or accepted. So we need to rewrite the National Response Plan so it is workable and it is clear. We will require officials at all levels to become familiar with it. We will draw from the expertise at the state and local levels to ensure that we get it right. And we must exercise it before the next event. We will train personnel like we do in the military, through the creation of a new national Homeland Security university, based on the successful model of the National Defense University. And part of this planning must involve better lessons learned, both internally to the federal government in all of our operating agencies and departments, as well as from the private sector. We heard time and again from the private sector that plans to protect and restart power plants and other critical infrastructure was woefully inadequate. We also learned from the private sector that they have state-of-the-art systems in supply chain management, inventory tracking, and real-time delivery of commodities. We will work with them on all of these. FedEx can track a package anywhere in the world, real-time. FEMA should be able to do the same thing for ice, water and food. Evacuation. President Bush publicly urged evacuation of the region, and many people who heard and could evacuate did follow that urging. But not enough people heard the call, or had the means to evacuate. Evacuation is primarily a responsibility of state and local governments, but in events like Katrina, and those where resources at the state and local level are overwhelmed, the federal government must be in a position to ensure people are moved to safety. We must work with state and local governments to ensure that evacuation plans work. And DHS has already begun that process. Those plans must especially include accommodating the ill, the elderly, and the disabled, those who may require additional assistance on the part of state, local, or federal government. Ultimately, evacuations will only work if people are aware of them and they follow the evacuation orders, which leads me to public communications. One stunning fact that we learned during the course of the lessons learned review was that the emergency alert system -- the old system that most of us are familiar with is the Emergency Broadcast System, that sound on your television when the screen goes black -- was not activated in a fulsome way, as fully as it could have been, prior to landfall. The National Hurricane Center did a magnificent job in trying to communicate the urgency of the threat, but we didn't use the public communications that we had available in the emergency alert system to the extent that we could have, and should have. We need to look at 21st century technology and utilizing that to better communicate with the American people, whether that means using cell phones, pagers, and satellite TV and radio. The second category during a crisis is response to the actual event. One of the most important lessons that was learned was the departments and agencies with the response mission had real problems obtaining situational awareness -- military-speak for knowing exactly what is going on, where it is going on, and when it is going on. Every decision made in an emergency can only be as good as the information you have at the time. In the fog of war and confusion in the early hours of this event was an issue. To address this we will develop a more comprehensive national emergency communications system that ensures survivability, operability, and interoperability. We will be ready to employ all federal communications capabilities for major events, and have more redundancy in our communications systems. We will have more equipment -- more satellite phones, more radios, and more ways to get the information we need to make critically important decisions. We found during the course of the lessons learned that we had not utilized all the federal assets that we had available to us. We need to understand what's available; we need to be able to deploy it effectively so that we can make the best possible decisions for the American people. There were two missions that worked well that would benefit from more and a better integrated and more comprehensive system of deployment. One was search and rescue; the other were public health and the national disaster medical teams. In both instances, these first responders were real heroes of Hurricane Katrina. But in both instances, we owe them a more integrated system that deploys them effectively with the supplies they need, and so that when you drop off a rescued victim you do something better for them than merely taking them to high, dry ground, but you're taking them to a place where they can get the attention that they need from officials. A mission which needs improvement was ensuring law enforcement and security, both during and immediately after the event. Local law enforcement officials were overwhelmed by the storm and many, in fact, were victimized by it. While the National Response Plan called for federal law enforcement capabilities to be available to backfill that vacuum, the response was slow and disjointed. One key recommendation is that the Attorney General take the lead in fixing this problem, and put in place a deputization process so federal officials can immediately be deployed, so that we know what federal law enforcement assets are available, and that we have the capacity to surge them. This isn't the first place that state and local officials will go when they need law enforcement backup; this is, again, primarily a state and local responsibility. But when they're overwhelmed, they have neighbors and National Guard to look to for state and local law enforcement assistance, and then the federal government needs to have a plan, to understand what surge capability we have, and efficiently and effectively surge it to the disaster area. Finally, we need a better structure at the White House to ensure that all aspects of the response are moving forward, a process to cut through the red tape and to referee any needless disputes that arise in the heat of an emergency. Under the auspices of the Homeland Security Council, we will form the Disaster Response Group, which I will personally oversee. The Disaster Response Group will be very much modeled along the same type of a group that we have that deals with terrorism threats and responses in the Counter-Terrorism Security Group. In the end, we must do a much better job at preparation, at planning, and improve our response. But even if these all go flawlessly, people will still need help in the wake of a crisis, so recovery is critical. First and foremost is human services. This includes creating a truly integrated one-stop assistance process that is disaster-victim oriented. The federal government needs to organize and deploy itself to meet the needs of our citizens in their hour of crisis, not to have several locations where individual victims must go to seek the assistance that the government can provide. It includes setting up voluntary registry for people so that they can access -- they have a place to store personal information that they can access, should important documents be unavailable to them. Key to this is public health and medical support. And while I said that this was an example of success, many people were treated by emergency public health officials, we need a system of vast deployment with supplies. And Secretary Leavitt already has a process underway to address this need. People who evacuate must have someplace to go that is safe for themselves and for their families, which is why housing and sheltering are so important. You have heard in recent days Secretary Chertoff talk about working with the American Red Cross to have a system of registration at shelters so we can track people when they move between shelters or out of shelters, so we can facilitate their receiving of benefits that they require, or assistance, and that we can use it to reunite separated family members. On housing, we did not maximize and leverage the expertise of the Housing and Urban Development Department to the extent we might have. HUD has got great expertise in public housing, but we did not have an inventory of federal housing assets that were available and that the federal government owns. That's not good enough. Katrina was rare because it was the biggest dislocation of Americans since the Dust Bowl. But we have to be better prepared. A dirty bomb, a pandemic, or other unfortunate, but potential threat would bring similar challenges in housing, and we have to be ready. We have to know what federal housing assets and stock are available; we have to make those options available to the victims. Fortunately, we were blessed by the true spirit of America through volunteer and charitable organizations, which will continue to play an enormous role in this area. But even then, their efforts were burdened by confusion and no clear direction from the government on where they could be most effective. We have already begun discussions with charitable organizations, faith-based groups, and will ensure that they get the best information in the most direct fashion, hopefully from one person. We look to state and local partners and their best practices in this area. In the states of Florida and North Carolina, they have volunteer coordinators in their state emergency operations center, and this has proven to be a very effective tool in coordinating volunteer efforts. Finally, there is debris cleanup. We can, and will, do more contracting before the disaster to do a better job and facilitate the quick removal of debris immediately following disaster. Too often we heard the frustrations of governors and mayors that the slowness in debris removal inhibits the sense and the speed of recovery. Let me close with two important and overriding challenges that we face going forward. One which you've heard is the proper role of the military, and the second is the overall transformation of our national preparedness capability. In truly catastrophic events, state and locals may be incapacitated or overwhelmed, or even worse. The fact is that the United States military may be the only entity available to the federal government to protect the American people. Both the state and National Guardsmen -- and there were over 50,000 at the height of the response -- and America's active duty military forces performed magnificently on behalf of the victims. But we need a greater integrated use of the military. There are very good reasons why the United States military does not, in the first instance, do homeland security. But we -- and we fully respect and want to preserve those bright lines. But we also recognize we have the United States Northern Command, who works as a partner with the Department of Homeland Security on homeland defense issues, and when state and local first responders are overwhelmed or incapacitated, it may be that our military is the last and only resort. We need to plan and prepare for the Department of Defense to play a significant supporting role during future catastrophic events. And finally, transformation. In the transformation section of the report, you will find a discussion of developing the concept of jointness in the homeland security community. We take the time to go through in that section the military's experience, tracking from the National Security Act of 1947 and the Goldwater-Nichols Act, and the benefits of developing a joint community, of requiring joint assignments, that is between and among federal agencies with homeland security missions, and also inter-governmental with our state and local partners. That will be part of the objective of establishing a national homeland security university. And we believe that we need to have that sense of jointness so we understand within the federal government and with our state and local partners what the capacity and capabilities are that are available and how most effectively to deploy them. The second part to transformation is creating a culture of preparedness. This is preying on fear. This is talking about what the current threats are that we face as a nation, and how best individuals, communities and governments can prepare for them. What the threat is to Biloxi will be different than what the greatest threat is to Manhattan or Los Angeles. We need to understand that. We need to respect that, and we need to work with our state and local partners about preparing America's communities. I think it's fair to say to you that it's not only because I am the mother of two small children, but our kids will lead us in this effort. I venture to say that any of you who have small kids know you can't get in your car without putting on your seatbelt without being corrected by your children, and that's a result of the "Click It or Ticket" campaign in our education system. Secretary Spellings has been very supportive. We've talked to the governors, and we will talk to them when they're here in town next week about state and local efforts in the education system to make preparedness a part of sort of our national approach so that we're not discussing it, you're not hearing about it for the first time amidst a crisis, but it's something that we have thought about, planned for, and all have participated in. With that -- that's a brief overview, and you'll notice that I have not touched on all the 17 issue areas. I'm happy to take your questions and discuss it in that context. Read more Comment (0), Email this.

Q I had a question. After the storm, Louisiana Governor Blanco and President Bush argued for several days about the control of the military in Louisiana, delaying the arrival of federal troops for I think it was five or six days until after the storm. How does your recommendation for a more aggressive use of federal troops balance the need for state sovereignty? ... Read more Comment (0), Email this.

Q The GAO said the number one problem was a lack of reporting from the principal federal officer to the White House. There was too much bureaucracy within DHS, especially between FEMA Director Brown and Secretary Chertoff. Past FEMA Directors, successful ones who were deployed in other disasters say that's the number one problem right now. Why don't you address that here? ... Read more Comment (0), Email this.

Q In the report there's a lot of assignments of responsibilities to other agencies that have been -- mostly work through Homeland Security. Do you think it was a mistake to have so many of the response functions sort of directed to Homeland Security? Or was it mismanaged by Homeland Security, and therefore, you're now redirecting to HUD, to Justice, to these other agencies, major responsibilities that had been primarily handled through Homeland Security previously? ... Read more Comment (0), Email this.

Q Looking at the recommendations for the Department of Homeland Security itself to implement, they're extensive, and there's a deadline for many of them of the 1st of June. Given that Secretary Chertoff's behavior has been described as disengaged, and his department's performance was described as alarming and non-functional by some of the senators, is a Department of Homeland Security under Secretary Chertoff one in which you can have confidence to get this work done by the 1st of June? ... Read more Comment (0), Email this.

Q Are you going to need a change in the law to have more military involvement in these kinds of disasters in the future? And as you said, how do you go about preserving the bright lines on one hand, and on the other hand, having the military be more integrated? ... Read more Comment (0), Email this.

Q Is there anything that you have -- that you would point to that you think is a really new revelation? Many of these ideas have been talked about in various forums since Katrina hit. Is there one thing, whether it's a small observation or an overarching thing, that you think is a new way of looking at this disaster? ... Read more Comment (0), Email this.

MS. TOWNSEND: The Secretary of Defense has spoken to the National Guard, as has the President when he spoke at the National Guard Bureau. The President has said he will man it to their recruitment capability, to the ceiling. And we will work U.S. Northern Command, Admiral Keating and General Blum to make sure that the training and equipping that they need to do the homeland security mission takes place. Read more Comment (0), Email this.

Q Has the effort to get the military -- the federal military more directly involved and integrated begun already? Or is it still in the talking stage? Is the Pentagon already working on any plan to become better integrated with the National Guard? ... Read more Comment (0), Email this.

Q Can I ask you about a different subject, and that is the port issue? As the President's Homeland Security Advisor, when were you made aware of this? And also, isn't it a requirement because we're talking about a state-owned company, that there should have been an extra 45-day review? ... Read more Comment (0), Email this.

Q If I could just maybe follow up, given the political sensitivities that are now blatantly obvious, do you wish that somebody would have given you a heads up, as the President's Homeland Security Director, so that perhaps you could have said what you just said to us perhaps to members of Congress a little bit earlier? ... Read more Comment (0), Email this.

Q A two-part question on this aspect that she just raised. The top of page one headlines this morning report, "Bush learned of port deal from press." This news also reported that Defense Secretary Rumsfeld and Treasury Secretary John Snow both say they didn't know about it until it was approved. And my question, first of two: What will be done, if anything, to those responsible for this being done without the knowledge of the President or the Secretaries of Defense and Treasury? ... Read more Comment (0), Email this.

Q On page 11 of the 9/11 Commission's report that you're undoubtedly familiar with, it says, "From 1999 through early 2001, the United States pressed the United Arab Emirates, one of the Taliban's only travel and financial outlets to the outside world, to break off ties and enforce sanctions. These efforts achieved little before 9/11." And my question: Why should we now give this nation any control of our ports, which so refused to help in stopping a worse killing of Americans than at Pearl Harbor? ... Read more Comment (0), Email this.

MS. TOWNSEND: That was two. You've got other colleagues. Yes, sir. Read more Comment (0), Email this.

Q You're talking about cutting through red tape. Brown has indicated that he wanted to deal directly with the White House. I'm wondering, why would it make it worse to take FEMA back out of Homeland Security, make it its own entity, directly reportable to the President? Why would that make the response worse, if FEMA were back in that situation? ... Read more Comment (0), Email this.

Q But given also -- if I can follow up -- given that the Homeland Security -- the main thrust was -- it was established to respond to terrorism attacks. Do you think that there was too much focus at the highest levels of Homeland Security on responding to terrorism, and not enough on natural disaster? Was that a problem, and is that being corrected, if it was? ... Read more Comment (0), Email this.

Q Given the scope of the changes you're looking for and the failures that you noted, what do you think the reality is of making some of these very significant changes by the start of the hurricane season? We have a short legislative year, we've got the whole House up for reelection, and it's going to be a tough environment to get a lot done. Can you talk a little bit about the obstacles that you see and what plans, if any, you have to try to work with them to get them accomplished? ... Read more Comment (0), Email this.

Q Just one follow-up. You mentioned the Senate Committee now and the senators a couple of times. You haven't mentioned the House lawmakers who are involved in putting together what was a fairly critical report that came out last week. What kind of contacts do you have with those people over there? Is that a different kind of relationship than you're having with Senators Lieberman and -- ... Read more Comment (0), Email this.

Q On page 40, it says violent crime was less prevalent than originally reported. In New Orleans we had heard there were murders in the Superdome; we had heard of rapes and things of that nature. Is that, indeed, the case in what you're finding through this report? ... Read more Comment (0), Email this.

MS. TOWNSEND: I'd have to go back and look at the specifics. I would encourage you -- what we did, where there was specific details like that -- that's why there's 66 pages of endnotes -- what we tried to do is if we found corroborating information, or we make a reference to a report in the body of the narrative, we have noted it and put it in the endnotes. And I'd have to go back, I can't recall off the top of my head, standing here. I'm sorry. Read more Comment (0), Email this.

Q A lot of this is reassigning a task to other agencies. What's to prevent in the next major disaster to have similar kind of bureaucratic errors now -- instead of it being then Homeland Security's primary fault, it will be Housing and Urban Development, or Transportation and the other agencies? What are you -- is there going to be sufficient funds for these agencies, first of all, and why is it not simply sort of a bureaucratic shuffling instead of actual change? ... Read more Comment (0), Email this.

Q One of the mysteries of the Katrina aftermath was why the buses did not arrive. They were asked to be -- ordered up, we are told. And at the hearing, Michael Brown contends that he has no idea why the buses didn't appear. Do you know why they didn't come? ... Read more Comment (0), Email this.

Q Fran, in sort of trying to mediate disputes, insofar as we already know that Mr. Brown and Mr. Chertoff weren't exactly on the same page at times, why wasn't the White House able to mediate that back then? Why create a new structure now looking forward, as opposed to having settled it at the time? ... Read more Comment (0), Email this.

MS. TOWNSEND: That was one of the most difficult things to get all the facts, and I will tell you, I don't know that we were able to get every single fact related to it. It looked to me, as we were assembling the report, that there were radios that -- radio announcements that did go out, some local television announcements that did go out, but it wasn't the sort of wholesale use of it that -- at least when I was growing up, your TV screen went black, and you heard the noise and you knew you had to listen, and it was going to give you instructions. There was a -- we make a reference in the report to a local official who called Governor Blanco -- and she testified about this -- where he said he had been at a baseball game, and the people didn't really seem to understand the importance of it. And so what we're suggesting is we have to find a communications ability that actually reaches out to public arenas, to your cell phones and pagers, that takes advantage of the many communications -- much in the way of communications technology, that we just didn't use in this sense. And the fact is -- you'll find in the report, one of the graphics shows you that over the many years of disaster response, we've gone from a place where there were many deaths and little destruction, to now we've seen in disasters there is great destruction but, generally speaking, fewer deaths. That's a tribute to the importance and the emphasis we put on evacuation. We've got to use every tool we've got to make sure that we do evacuations right and that we're communicating the importance of them with the American people, because that's the best way to save lives. I've got time for one more. Read more Comment (0), Email this.

MS. TOWNSEND: Both. Both. Yes, ma'am. In the back. Read more Comment (0), Email this.

MS. PERINO: Good morning, everybody. A quick update. The President received his regular briefings this morning. As you know, he met with his Cabinet, where Fran Townsend, the Homeland Security and Counterterrorism advisor to the President presented her lessons learned report on Hurricane Katrina that the President requested on September 6, 2005. She will have a briefing at the White House briefing room at 11:00 a.m. this morning. So I'm sure your colleagues will provide you more information, since you're on the road. We are now on our way to Indiana, where the President will give remarks at the event for Chocola for Congress reception. After that, the President will meet with a wounded soldier, soldier wounded in Baghdad. Then we will go to Cincinnati -- Read more Comment (0), Email this.

MS. PERINO: Soldier. I'm not sure if the family will be there, or not. I can find out. The President will also make remarks in Cincinnati this afternoon, at the Mike DeWine for U.S. Senate reception. I also have a foreign leader call to read out to you. This morning the President spoke with Haitian President-elect Préval to congratulate him on his election victory and to express our continuing interest in the democratic and economic success of Haiti. The two also briefly discussed cooperating in Haiti's economic development and the fight against the illegal drug trade. With that, I'll take any questions you have. Read more Comment (0), Email this.

MS. PERINO: Congressman Chocola is on board. Read more Comment (0), Email this.

MS. PERINO: Well, you heard from the President this morning talk about this transaction. In addition to that, yesterday, we provided briefings for five committees on the Hill. That was at the staff level. There are two additional -- Read more Comment (0), Email this.

MS. PERINO: I don't believe there were any members at these committee hearings on the Hill yesterday. Today there are two additional hearings, including one at 11:00 a.m. in Senator Warner's Armed Services Committee. That is open press. There are more briefings scheduled. We are committed to making sure that Congress has all the information they need about this transaction, so that they can understand all of the thoughtful consideration that went into it by the national security interests that are on the CFIUS committee. Read more Comment (0), Email this.

MS. PERINO: At this point, no legislation has been passed. We have been working with Congress over the past several days. Again, we're doing these briefings yesterday, we have additional briefings today, and we're committed to making sure they have all the information that they need, and we'll continue to work with them as the process moves forward. Read more Comment (0), Email this.

MS. PERINO: Well, I think you heard from the President. He believes that this deal should go forward. And we are committed to giving Congress all the information that they need so that the deal can move forward, and so that it's not blocked. Read more Comment (0), Email this.

Q I want to ask you a quick question about the process of reviewing the deal. Apparently there are restrictions that are common in approving transactions of this type that were not put forward in this deal, such as requiring their documents to stay on American soil. Can you explain why those kinds of restrictions weren't put on this transaction? ... Read more Comment (0), Email this.

MS. PERINO: You heard from the President the other day, and I don't have anything to add. Read more Comment (0), Email this.

MS. PERINO: The President has been clear, and I don't have anything to add, in terms of what he said on Tuesday. Read more Comment (0), Email this.

MS. PERINO: That's correct. Read more Comment (0), Email this.

MS. PERINO: I'll leave his words where they are. Read more Comment (0), Email this.

MS. PERINO: Well, you heard from the President this morning in the Cabinet meeting, and we know that the insurgents have been trying for some time to divide Iraqis. The Iraqis have proven that they want democracy, most recently with 11 million Iraqis going to vote in the last election. And we appreciate the calm -- I'm sorry, the call for calm by the Iraqi leaders, and we reiterate that message. Read more Comment (0), Email this.

MS. PERINO: Stay tuned. It's happening in a few minutes. Read more Comment (0), Email this.

MS. PERINO: I've not seen the remarks, I don't know. Read more Comment (0), Email this.

Q Have you heard of any views from -- not necessarily these candidates, from other candidates, about the ports deal, at this point? A couple of the candidates running for Senate in Tennessee, both said, that's not where we are, we need to block this deal; some of the folks running for Congress -- I saw somebody running for Congress in Georgia saying that. Are you at all hearing that from some folks? ... Read more Comment (0), Email this.

MS. PERINO: I checked on that this morning. In fact, we are getting daily requests for the President to participate in campaign events. In fact, the supply is not keeping up with demand. You also heard from the President in his press conference on January 26th, in which he said that he wants to be out there campaigning, so I can expect you'll see him out on the road supporting Republican candidates. Read more Comment (0), Email this.

MR. McCLELLAN: Good afternoon, everyone. We've got a couple things to begin with, and then I'll go to your questions. Tomorrow, the President is going to be holding a Cabinet meeting at 8:45 a.m. in the morning to discuss the results and recommendations of the Hurricane Katrina lessons-learned review process that has been led by his Homeland Security Advisor, Fran Townsend. There will be press coverage of that at the end in the Cabinet Room. It will be pool coverage. As you all will recall, the President was not satisfied with the response from the federal government. And at the September 6th Cabinet meeting the President ordered this review. The President's most solemn obligation is the safety and security of the American people. And this lessons-learned review has identified 125 recommendations in 17 general categories where we can improve the federal government's capability to respond to a catastrophic event like Hurricane Katrina, or a future terrorist attack. The President has also made a commitment to the citizens of the Gulf Coast that we will be a full partner in the rebuilding and recovery effort, and that process continues to move forward. But tomorrow is going to be focused more on preparing for the next event. And with hurricane season just a little over three months away, it is time for that action to be underway. We have already taken a number of steps, and we need to continue to move forward on these recommendations. And following the Cabinet meeting, the President's Homeland Security Advisor will be conducting a briefing here, at approximately 11:00 a.m. tomorrow morning, in the Briefing Room. And the reports are going to be released about 9:00 a.m. tomorrow. Now, I've one additional update on the President's schedule. The President will host Italian Prime Minister Berlusconi at the White House on February 28th. Italy is one of America's closest allies and is making extraordinary contributions to peace and security. Under Prime Minister Berlusconi's leadership, Italy has provided vital assistance in building secure and prosperous societies in Iraq, Afghanistan, and the Balkans. The President appreciates Prime Minister Berlusconi's deep commitment to spreading freedom and democracy around the world. The President and Prime Minister Berlusconi will discuss a range of issues on the transatlantic agenda, including peace and security in the Middle East region, energy security, and assistance to the people of Iraq and Afghanistan. And then one final statement. Just a short time ago this statement was released by the President: "On behalf of the American people, I extend my deepest condolences to the people of Iraq for the brutal bombing of the Golden Mosque in Samarra, one of the holiest sites in Shia Islam. The terrorists in Iraq have again proven that they are enemies of all faiths and of all humanity. The world must stand united against them, and steadfast behind the people of Iraq. This senseless crime is an affront to people of faith throughout the world. The United States condemns this cowardly act in the strongest possible terms. I ask all Iraqis to exercise restraint in the wake of this tragedy and to pursue justice in accordance with the laws and constitution of Iraq. Violence will only contribute to what the terrorists sought to achieve by this act. The United States stands ready to do all in its power to assist the government of Iraq to identify and bring to justice those responsible for this terrible act. And the American people pledge to work with the people of Iraq to rebuild and restore the Golden Mosque of Samarra to its former glory." And that, again, is a statement by the President. And with that, I'll be glad to go to your questions. Terry, go ahead. Read more Comment (0), Email this.