MS. PERINO: Good afternoon. One announcement before questions. Today at 2:00 p.m., the President will announce, in the Roosevelt Room, his nominee for U.S. Department of Agriculture. Governor Ed Schafer has a record of leadership, business and government, agriculture leadership, a fantastic governor who was reelected by wide bipartisan margins in North Dakota. He has strong bipartisan support in his state. He's well-known throughout the agriculture community. The President believes he has the right experience for the job. And if confirmed, he will work on passing responsible legislation to advance the President's trade agenda, he will work on the farm bill, and also on the President's conservation efforts, including both land use as well as ethanol and biodiesel development.

And we believe the Senate should move quickly on his nomination. He will begin courtesy visits probably tomorrow.

Questions. Read more Comment (0), Email this.

Q Congressman Waxman is calling on the White House to release hundreds of pages of documents regarding

MS. PERINO: This is a letter that came to the press before it came to the White House, which is, unfortunately, the pattern of behavior of Senator -- Representative Waxman's committee. We have a good working relationship with Representative Waxman. We have provided thousands of pages of documents, as you said. If he wanted more information he could pick up the phone and call us. Instead he sends a letter to reporters.

We have provided all this information in regards to the White House activities regarding Jack Abramoff. The letter -- the first sentence of the letter suggests that we are withholding documents in regards to Jack Abramoff, and as I'm told, that is not true. The requests that he has before us now regard internal documents and internal deliberations that we are probably not going to turn over. I will not say that we're issuing -- exerting executive privilege. We've gone down this path before in terms of documents. There is -- internal deliberations are protected under the law. Senator -- Representative Waxman knows that. We have provided all the information -- I think 3,700 pages of communications between any White House official and the firm that Jack Abramoff worked for and Jack Abramoff.

So we'll have -- we'll continue to have communications with the committee as to the request. But as of right now, when they're asking for internal documents, we're probably not going to be turning those over. Read more Comment (0), Email this.

MS. PERINO: Not that I'm -- no, I didn't hear anybody say that we would have to assert executive privilege over them, especially because they don't have to deal with what the request is actually about. Any document -- any request regarding activity between White House officials and Jack Abramoff, former lobbyist, have been turned over. Read more Comment (0), Email this.

MS. PERINO: This is the new Prime Minister? Read more Comment (0), Email this.

MS. PERINO: This is the first I've heard of that, so let me go back and take a look. Of course we appreciate the cooperation we have from a variety of countries. We understand that it is difficult to continue to have a troop presence, but we are -- encourage countries to continue to help us in Iraq because it's important not just for the United States' national security, but all of ours.

Bill. Read more Comment (0), Email this.

MS. PERINO: No. Well, I think the fact that they have scheduled a vote is a good thing, a good sign. Judge Mukasey is an exceptional nominee who deserves to be confirmed. It is, I believe, unprecedented to have a nominee actually be voted down in committee or on the Senate floor. And so we'll continue to work with the committee and then hopefully have a successful vote on Tuesday, the 6th. Read more Comment (0), Email this.

MS. PERINO: Well, we have -- Judge Mukasey actually responded to 495 questions for the record. Just as a comparison, before her nomination, Janet Reno didn't have to answer a single question for the record before she was confirmed. We've gone over and beyond the call of duty here by any reasonable stretch. Judge Mukasey should be able to have a favorable vote on Tuesday. Read more Comment (0), Email this.

MS. PERINO: We haven't done a vote count or had assurances from the Chairman, no. Read more Comment (0), Email this.

MS. PERINO: If confirmed, Judge Mukasey will be briefed on classified programs. He has not been briefed on classified programs because he is a private citizen. Private citizens are not read into private, classified information for a reason. If confirmed, he will be read into those programs. He says in his letter that he will fully review all the legal opinions surrounding this matter. And then once he's confirmed, then Congress has the right and ability to ask him to come up and have more conversations with them, which Judge Mukasey says he is willing to do if confirmed. Read more Comment (0), Email this.

MS. PERINO: We feel confident that he will be confirmed.

Matt. Read more Comment (0), Email this.

MS. PERINO: I think this is in the lead up to the Istanbul neighbors conference that is taking place later this week, starting on Friday. Secretary Rice will be joining that neighbors conference. Until we have more information about the agenda, we'll decline to comment. And perhaps she'll find out more once she is there. We do want all of the neighbors in the region to get along. We have encouraged that. We have encouraged the dialogue.

If Iran is serious about helping in that region, we'd be interested to know that. Actions speak louder than words, and they know what they can start doing immediately, which is stop sending foreign fighters into Iraq and attacking our soldiers and innocent Iraqis. Read more Comment (0), Email this.

MS. PERINO: Well, I'd have to refer to Secretary Rice for that. She has said that she'd be willing to meet him anytime, anywhere. She said that most recently when they were together in Egypt, and the Iranian Foreign Minister decided to leave that engagement because he was offended by the entertainer, who was wearing a red dress -- the piano player. And so, hopefully the entertainment will be something that he can live with. And if he wants to have a meeting with her, she's willing to do that. But I don't know if it would be limited to that subject.

Elaine. Read more Comment (0), Email this.

MS. PERINO: I do, I do. Karen talked to -- Karen Hughes has had 12 years of government experience, government service. She is a very, very close friend of the President. She told him over the summer that she thought that by the end of the year she was going to need to get back home. And while he is sad to see her go, he appreciates all the work that she has done for him over the years. She has done quite a great job of transforming public diplomacy at the State Department and establish new initiatives and programs that will serve us well even after she's gone.

A couple of things that she's done that are of particular importance were the -- she brought over Dina Powell as her deputy, and one of the things that they really put a focus on was bringing foreign exchange students back to the United States. After September 11th, there was a downturn in the number of foreign exchange students we had coming to America. The President strongly believes the best way to expand America's values is for more people to come to America and find out what it's all about, and then to be able to take that home to their country.

Karen Hughes, through her work and through Secretary Spellings and Secretary Rice, were able to turn that around. And now we have a record number of foreign exchange students here in America.

She expanded English language programs all around the world. English is a language that can help people be lifted up out of poverty and participate on a world scale, in terms of business or education. And she also started a rapid response unit, which, as you know, there's a 24-7 news cycle, and she gathers up information on the biggest news stories all around the world and provides that information to the State Department, federal employees, so that they know what is going on around the world, and at the same time, provides for the United States' position -- policy position so that our ambassadors all around the world can respond to questions in their own -- in their countries where they are serving.

There are many other things that she has done. The list goes and on. She is somebody who said that we can always call her if we need to, and I'm sure that she and the President will remain very good friends for the rest of their lives. Read more Comment (0), Email this.

MS. PERINO: He doesn't -- I know it's very tempting for you all to write that story, but he doesn't think of it that way. He has close friends and close advisors that he's had -- there are some who didn't come to Washington with him who he still keeps in contact with. And there were additional new people, like myself, who he's brought on board along the way, and he feels very well served. Read more Comment (0), Email this.

MS. PERINO: Anybody else on Karen Hughes? Read more Comment (0), Email this.

MS. PERINO: Okay. Read more Comment (0), Email this.

Q Since she assumed the position of Under Secretary of State for Public Diplomacy, according to a

MS. PERINO: I think I get your point. Read more Comment (0), Email this.

Q But in Germany, in just the past two years, the favorable view of the U.S. has dropped from 42

MS. PERINO: I'm not going to comment on that poll and I think it's preposterous to think that you could question Karen Hughes's achievements in terms of being responsible for the numbers in a particular poll. That's ridiculous. Read more Comment (0), Email this.

MS. PERINO: I'm not going to -- I'm not discounting the numbers. Certainly the reason that the President wanted Karen Hughes to go to the State Department to help transform public diplomacy with Secretary Rice is because we realize that we need to do more about winning hearts and minds all around the world, and that's exactly what she has started there. And she has said in her statement today, this is not something we're going to change overnight. This is a long-term project, much like -- if you think about how long the Cold War took, she sees this as something that over the next couple of decades we really need to focus on. Read more Comment (0), Email this.

MS. PERINO: Look, I'm not going to comment or respond to a poll that you just read out. I don't know about those numbers, I don't know the questions that were asked; I think it's inappropriate. What I can tell you is that she has done amazing work. Let me give another example. She started a women's outreach effort with the Middle Eastern countries and started a breast cancer initiative. And just last week Mrs. Bush went and highlighted that initiative and went to four different countries in the Middle East, had a very successful trip in explaining that women have tools at their disposal when they find out that they have breast cancer, early detection and treatment. That is precisely what the President was hoping Karen Hughes would achieve, and she has. Read more Comment (0), Email this.

MS. PERINO: We are making progress. I know that we have a long way to go. Read more Comment (0), Email this.

MS. PERINO: Well, I think that any time you have people who leave their home state, they want to go back. Obviously, there's a Texas connection here because the President as governor, when he came over to Washington, D.C., as President, brought a lot of them with him, and they have family there and people want to go home. I think that Texas must be a really great place to live. That's where Dan Bartlett is headed back to. But others are staying here, like Karl Rove will be here for a while. The President feels very well-served by everyone who has supported him since his days as governor and he has a very good team surrounding him now.

Anybody else on this? Okay, I'm going to go up here. Read more Comment (0), Email this.

Q On product safety, Commerce Secretary Gutierrez, earlier today, told us that he will go shopping

MS. PERINO: Well, I think that -- a couple of things. I think that the Consumer Product Safety Commission in being able to identify these problems and get the word out about a recall, that that system is working. However, we realize that we have to do more. And that's why the President established the Import Safety Working Group. It is headed by Secretary Leavitt, who did a -- I think a 60- or 90-day report that came out in September, and that was to followed by an action plan that we expect in mid-November, in just a couple of weeks from now. It is possible that additional resources need to be applied or new and different systems.

We are -- there is no way that we can inspect every single item that is coming to our shores from overseas as we have such a strong trade -- such strong trading numbers around the world. Therefore, it is important that parents be aware, but -- and we understand the concern. Of course when your child wants a toy, it's going to be -- it's sometimes hard to prevent them from having exactly what they want. But by following the Consumer Product Safety Commission regulations that Nancy Nord and her team are following, we can hopefully be able to have those systems in place that the action plan would suggest. And then we'll have maybe additional resources put to that towards next year.

One thing I would mention is that the United States Senate refused to give the President's nominee, Michael Baroody, a chance to have a hearing -- this was the President's nominee to head up the Consumer Product Safety Commission. It is unfortunate that the Senate did that. We would hope that they would stop playing politics with this issue and allow us to get some additional leadership in there, as the President has requested. Read more Comment (0), Email this.

MS. PERINO: We believe she is doing a fine job and we know she is committed to making sure that products that come into this country are safe for people.

Mike. Read more Comment (0), Email this.

MS. PERINO: The President is disappointed in how long it has taken for the Senate to have a vote on his nomination. I believe this it longest ever that a nominee has waited for a vote out of committee. This on top of -- this comes after the United States Senate, from both sides of the aisle, said that this nominee, Judge Mukasey, was an excellent choice, an exceptional nominee, and that the Department of Justice was in desperate need of leadership. And therefore, the President would like to see this move very quickly. We are encouraged that there is a vote scheduled for next Tuesday.

Les. Read more Comment (0), Email this.

Q Yes, thank you, Dana. Two questions. The United Nations, by a vote of 184 to 4, wants the U.S

MS. PERINO: I have to confess I don't know about that vote. Move on to your second question. Read more Comment (0), Email this.

Q Newsweek reports that the William J. Clinton Presidential Library has become widely known as Little

MS. PERINO: I'm sure that that never entered the President's mind. But I'm also equally sure that journalists like you in this room will continue to hold their feet to the fire to try to get the documents you seek.

I'm going to move on. Read more Comment (0), Email this.

MS. PERINO: Let's not yell. Let's not yell. Read more Comment (0), Email this.

MS. PERINO: Mark. Read more Comment (0), Email this.

MS. PERINO: That was based -- well, look, the President is not involved in the campaign. But that is a moment in our history that identified a debate that we needed to have in this country. The debate was decided in 1994, and the President's point today was that the Democrats are trying to incrementally establish government-run health care and a national program. He does not think that's the right thing for the country. Read more Comment (0), Email this.

MS. PERINO: I have to confess I did not see the speech. I read it; I don't know -- I can't remember the line that you're referring to. But I can assure you the President has no intention of getting involved in the primary politics of the season. Read more Comment (0), Email this.

MS. PERINO: We certainly want to see free and fair elections in Russia, and we are concerned and disappointed by the belated timing and the conditional nature of the -- of Russia's invitation to election observers. Any conditions that are placed on them are a concern to us, and we will certainly be bringing this up with the Russians.

Sarah. Read more Comment (0), Email this.

MS. PERINO: What is his language? Read more Comment (0), Email this.

MS. PERINO: Sarah, Sarah, look, those issues are dealt with in court rooms. The President wants to make sure that children are safe, and he appreciates the work that the Department of Justice has been doing on that issue.

Paula. Read more Comment (0), Email this.

MS. PERINO: Well, as I said, Paula, the Import Safety Working Group is looking at the full range of issues in regards to consumer products and the safety of our consumers. And I'm going to let Secretary Leavitt present his action report to the President and not pre-judge it. Read more Comment (0), Email this.

Q And on SCHIP, even Republicans are saying now that one of the main issues of this debate is actually

MS. PERINO: We support expansion. The President does not believe that we need to have any tax increases. It's not regarded just -- it's not limited just to the tobacco tax. The President believes the federal government has plenty of money in order to take care of these programs in a responsible way. And we have identified a whole range of programs that could be cut; that was put out when we did the budget back in February of 2007. And I can't tell you precisely where we would find those funds, but you can rest assured that we would find them without raising taxes. Read more Comment (0), Email this.

Q But you cited $92 billion yesterday which is mandatory spending, your entitlement spending. And

MS. PERINO: I'm not going to comment. We'll work it through. I can just assure you that the President will not be raising taxes. Read more Comment (0), Email this.

Q Senator Specter said today he is disinclined to support retroactive release of liability for the

MS. PERINO: I haven't seen those specific comments. What I can tell you is the President does fully support retroactive liability protection for companies that were alleged to have helped this country after a time of crisis, in 9/11, and that they should not have to go through very expensive and litigious civil lawsuits that could go on and on for years. He thinks that that retroactive liability protection should be included. It is included in the Senate bill, and we are encouraged by that. Read more Comment (0), Email this.

MS. PERINO: I'll just leave it at that.

Goyal. Read more Comment (0), Email this.

Q Dana, two quick questions. One, I just want to bring to your attention, as far as Ms. Karen Hughes

MS. PERINO: Do you have a question? Read more Comment (0), Email this.

MS. PERINO: I am confident that Karen Hughes's systems that she put in place and her dedication that she brought to the job will continue. Read more Comment (0), Email this.

MR. FRATTO: Good morning. Thanks for coming this morning. As you saw, the new GDP numbers for the third quarter were released this morning, and we've asked our Secretary of Commerce, Carlos Gutierrez, and the President's Chairman of the Council of Economic Advisers, Ed Lazear, to give you a briefing, a little bit of context on those numbers and how the U.S. economy is doing right now.

So we're going to ask Secretary Gutierrez to lead off, and then he'll turn it to Chairman Ed Lazear, and then we will be happy to take your questions. Thank you. SECRETARY GUTIERREZ: Thank you. Good morning. Thanks for coming, and I'm here with my colleague, Dr. Ed Lazear, Chairman of the Council of Economic Advisers.

Today, the Department of Commerce announced that third quarter GDP growth was a robust 3.9 percent, making this the 24th consecutive quarter of economic growth. This growth is coupled with a record-breaking 49 consecutive months of job growth and historically low unemployment. The President's policies have helped foster broad-based economic growth.

This third quarter was fueled by consumer spending, business investment, rising net exports and non-residential construction. Housing remains a concern, but its impact is being offset by growth in other sectors of the economy.

Once again, we see just how diverse and how resilient our economy is. Very importantly, exports generated 45 percent of this quarter's GDP growth. Last year we had a record $1.4 trillion in exports, that's up 12.7 percent. If we continue on our current path of opening overseas markets and expanding exports, this year should be even better with another very strong growth rate.

We have four free trade agreements pending before Congress with Peru, Colombia, Panama and Korea. These agreements will help create access by reducing trade barriers and creating new opportunities for America's farmers, workers and businesses. This is not the time to hesitate regarding free trade agreements. This is the time to add momentum to our export growth, and the way to do that is to pass the four free trade agreements as soon as possible.

We're pleased with today's GDP report. As always, we are never satisfied. We will continue to work to create an environment that encourages investment, the creation of new businesses, continued growth of exports and even more jobs for the American people.

Dr. Lazear. CHAIRMAN LAZEAR: Thanks very much. Well, I would start by emphasizing a couple of the points that Carlos emphasized, as well.

I think the main theme that I would want to leave you with is that this is an extremely resilient economy. It is really quite remarkable that during a quarter when we had housing market issues, when we had a credit situation in the beginning of August, despite that, we still ended up with nearly 4 percent growth following another quarter where we had nearly 4 percent growth. So that, really, I think is quite an impressive statistic, and it's certainly encouraging to us.

The second point I would make is that the growth was very balanced. So we see this coming from a variety of sectors -- consumption contributed 2 percent to growth, investment, government and net exports each contributed 1 percent; and we did lose 1 percent from the housing market. So the housing market is clearly the weak sector of the economy right now, and has been for the past year-and-a-half.

Despite that, housing does not seem to be leaking into other parts of the economy. One of the big concerns that we had was that the decline in the housing market might affect other parts of the economy, in particular, consumption. We have not seen any evidence of that. In fact, quite the contrary, consumption was strong during the second quarter, and that's an encouraging sign as we go -- sorry, during the third quarter, and that's an encouraging sign as we go into the fourth quarter.

So why don't I stop there, and we'll take your questions. Read more Comment (0), Email this.

SECRETARY GUTIERREZ: I won't get into comments on the dollar. I will say this, that exports in 2006, full year 2006 grew 12.7 percent over 2005. This year they're up almost 12 percent. So we have been seeing strong growth in exports for over a year-and-a-half now. We think a big part of that is a function of small businesses, medium-size businesses getting behind free trade agreements. We've opened up more markets through free trade agreements. We've opened up more markets around the world. Businesses are getting behind exports, and we are becoming a major, major exporter. We've got to keep that going. CHAIRMAN LAZEAR: The other thing I would just add to that is this is not a zero-sum game. We do well when our trading partners do well. So our exports increase when other economies grow, because when other economies grow, that means that their demand for all goods -- some of which are domestic to them, but some of which come from us -- also grow. And so a significant fraction of the export growth that we have seen has been a result of growing economies around the world, and that's a good sign. Read more Comment (0), Email this.

CHAIRMAN LAZEAR: There are always inflation risks in any economy. The one thing that we do know is that inflation has come down from a year ago. So if we look at the numbers that -- most of the numbers that we look at are the same numbers that the Fed looks at. The one that we tend to favor is the core PCE deflator, and that number is at about 1.9 percent. So 1.9 percent inflation is below the Fed's target range of 2 percent; obviously, it's not a lot below that number, but it is below and that's a good number, I think, in terms of inflationary pressure.

It's quite surprising, to be honest with you, because we have seen a number of factors increasing in this economy. The oil prices that we've seen eventually play out into core prices as well, and despite that we've been able to hold down inflation rates. And I think in large part that's a function of productivity growth increases and a very fluid labor market that has supplied jobs to individuals and supplied labor to the production sector that we need in order to keep prices low. Read more Comment (0), Email this.

Q Do you see a disconnect between the feelings of the typical American who's concerned about the

CHAIRMAN LAZEAR: There is a disconnect. It's somewhat surprising, because if you look at the polls that ask individuals how they feel about their own personal situation, most people will tell you that they're feeling pretty good about their personal financial situation; depending on the poll, anywhere from two-thirds to three-quarters people will tell you their own financial situation is better today than it was a few years ago. Despite that, when you ask them about the general economy, for some reason they don't seem to be looking at the numbers because they seem to think that the general economy is not doing as well, and that is a bit of a frustration.

The one thing I will say, though, is that what we tend to rely on more is behavior, rather than what people are saying. And probably the best indicator of behavior is consumption expenditure and investment expenditure -- consumption obviously on the side of the household, the individuals. Consumption expenditures were up, they looked pretty strong, so it looks like people believe in the economy. And then on the investment side, that was actually quite encouraging this last quarter because investment grew at 6 percent. That's the highest growth we've seen in about a year-and-a-half. So again, it looks like people are acting as if they believe in this economy. Read more Comment (0), Email this.

CHAIRMAN LAZEAR: Well, you know our rule, unfortunately, at the White House, is that we defer to the Treasury Secretary and to the President on issues of the dollar. And so I'll have to pass on that question; I apologize. Read more Comment (0), Email this.

CHAIRMAN LAZEAR: The way I think of it is that we have already felt the pressures of the oil prices. They are reflected in the current numbers. That is, we could always say, but for growing oil prices, what would our growth rate have been? And it probably would have been higher.

The point is that the American economy is resilient and it's able to shrug off higher oil prices primarily through gains in productivity growth and through expansions into other sectors. So for example, the service sector is not quite as sensitive to oil prices as is construction manufacturing. We have a very strong service sector -- service sector continues to grow -- and that's one way that the economy adapts to it. But there are a variety of ways, even within manufacturing and construction; we simply see that high productivity growth offsets the costs of oil prices. If we have lower oil prices, you know, things would probably have grown even faster. Read more Comment (0), Email this.

SECRETARY GUTIERREZ: Let me just remind you -- just to go back to your question because I -- just to remind you, this is the 24th consecutive quarter of economic growth. We've had 49 consecutive months of employment growth. And think about what we have been through: We had a recession in 2000, we went through 9/11, we went through stock market -- the crash, we went through corporate scandals, we went through 2005, which was the worst year of hurricanes in our history. You know, this economy has proven again and again that it is resilient and it can get through this. Read more Comment (0), Email this.

Q As you said in your opening statement, that these numbers have been fueled by consumer spending

SECRETARY GUTIERREZ: Well, again, we didn't -- you know, last year we saw a steep rise in oil prices going into winter, and there were the same predictions. And what we saw is a very active consumer. What you've got to remember is, real wages are up; take-home pay, in real terms, per capita, is up over 12 percent since the President took office. So, yes, there are some impacts, but the consumer has been very active. The fact that our unemployment is low also helps.

So again, we have seen that our economy can get through these bumps in the road. Nobody is saying that these oil prices are acceptable, and we're as concerned as everyone else. But we will get through it. And consumers remain active. And very importantly, businesses will continue to invest, we believe. Read more Comment (0), Email this.

Q There was a -- about this idea of alternative fuels, there was a call for a freeze on using food

CHAIRMAN LAZEAR: Well, the President's policy is that thinking about alternative fuels is extremely important both for our energy security and for the issues that you were just discussing -- the impact on the American consumer. Obviously, if oil prices continue to rise, and oil is our only source or our primary source of energy, that places pressures on the household, and we worry about that. So we have to think about ways to get around that.

Obviously, we are concerned about the effect of ethanol demand on corn prices and so forth. It has effects on other sectors of the economy. And it is for that reason that the President has put forth a number of proposals to think about alternative ways to do this. Cellulosic is the obvious alternative. That's not online yet in a major way, but we expect to get there within the next few years, and we're funding research into that and development into that at a strong level so that we can move in that direction. SECRETARY GUTIERREZ: The market has a way of dealing with that, and we don't need regulations to tell us how we need to produce things. There is investment, venture capital already going into non-foodstuff-based fuels, and that will continue to grow, because that makes sense from a market standpoint. So the important thing is, based on the President's direction, people are investing in new sources of energy. And that's what's going to make the future different and that's what's going to get us away from our dependence on oil. Read more Comment (0), Email this.

SECRETARY GUTIERREZ: Well, as you know, this is something the President addressed a couple months ago. He set up a product safety task force, led by Secretary Leavitt. This is a very important priority. We are working not just internally, and looking thoughtfully and strategically at how best to tackle this, working very closely with our import partners; working very closely with companies, because every company works with a manufacturer overseas that may be manufacturing a product for them. So do we have the right certification standards? Are we communicating those standards effectively? Do we have the right inspection system? Do we have the right number of inspectors? Do we have the right recall system?

So we are all over this. This is very high on our agenda with the government of China, when we have our meetings in December, and it's being discussed as we speak. So, you know, this is something that we have taken extremely, extremely serious, starting from the President on down. And there is an awareness among consumers. And I believe, if anything, that awareness has made us all better consumers and better shoppers and better manufacturers. Read more Comment (0), Email this.

SECRETARY GUTIERREZ: Consumers will make the right choices. And again, there is a tremendous amount of awareness among retailers, among importers, among manufacturers, and consumers should know that we are working actively to ensure that we continue to have the safest supply chain in the world. And that is our goal, that is our objective, and I would say that that's -- every retailer in the nation has that goal, and every importer has that goal. And if anything, the fact that we caught these problems a couple of months ago I think is a testament to the fact that the system is surfacing these problems. And the fact that we caught them I think is important heading into the retail shopping season at Christmastime. The fact that we caught them before then, I think, will be extremely helpful. Read more Comment (0), Email this.

Q Do you feel that given all of the plans and discussions that you just outlined, people will be

SECRETARY GUTIERREZ: Well, I can tell you I'll be shopping. And, look, the bulk -- and you're talking about the great majority of the products in our country are safe, and they have been safe. And what we caught was a slight percentage of that. And we will continue to work with retailers, with manufacturers, with importers to ensure that consumers have the safest product supply in the world. And that is our goal, and that's our focus, and it starts with the President. Read more Comment (0), Email this.

SECRETARY GUTIERREZ: Well, I'm not going to make predictions. The important thing is that this quarter -- the second quarter -- just to go back a little -- the second quarter

consumer spending was on the low side and there was some concern that perhaps the consumer was slowing down; I think it was 1.4 percent growth. We still grew 3.8 percent, which is the amazing thing, because of exports. This third quarter, consumer spending is back up to 3 percent.

So I would say, you know, to Eddie Lazear's point: Watch behavior; watch what consumers do. And what they're doing is shopping and they're out there being active and they're spending and they're showing confidence. And there's no reason why that confidence shouldn't continue as we head into the fourth quarter and the shopping season. Read more Comment (0), Email this.

SECRETARY GUTIERREZ: Sure. Well, again, this is a very broad marketplace. There are a lot of retailers who have a stake in this. There are a lot of manufacturers who have a stake in this. We obviously have a stake in this, and we're working with the Product Safety Commission and the Congress, but there will be a lot of communication, I'm sure, heading into the -- heading into the shopping season. And very importantly, there will be such a focus on this.

So, yes, there will be communication and there will be a focus on it. How much communication -- you know, you'll have to go out and see what the retailers do and manufacturers do and so many others who are out there ensuring that we've got a safe product supply. Read more Comment (0), Email this.

MS. PERINO: Good afternoon. I have three announcements. First of all, President Bush will welcome Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan to Washington on November 5, 2007. The Prime Minister's visit underscores the important relationship and friendship and the alliance between the United States and Turkey. The President looks forward to continuing discussions with the Prime Minister on a range of issues on our common agenda, including the fight against terrorism, in particular our joint efforts to counter the PKK, and the promotion of peace and stability in Afghanistan, Iraq, Lebanon, and the broader Middle East. The President and the Prime Minister will also discuss U.S. support for Turkey's ascension to the European Union and Turkey's efforts towards that goal.

Earlier this morning, the President called U.N. Secretary General Ban Ki-moon to discuss the situation in Burma. The President emphasized the need to maintain a clear message to the military regime that real political change aimed at a restoration of human rights and democracy is required to end the crisis. The President and the Secretary General agreed on the importance of moving rapidly to a serious dialogue between the military regime and the democratic opposition, particularly Aung San Suu Kyi, to negotiate political arrangements for a return of democratic government. The Secretary General said he expected his special envoy, Ibrahim Gambari, to return to Burma for this purpose as early as November 1st, this Thursday.

The President and the Secretary General also discussed Darfur. President Bush reiterated the importance of continuing to put pressure on the respective parties to come up with an agreement that will help end the genocide, and that it is important for the United Nations to get troops into the Darfur region as quickly as possible.

President Bush also called President-elect Kirchner of Argentina this morning. He offered his congratulations on her election victory, and said he looks forward to working with her in the future.

In just about 40 minutes, the President will announce his intention to nominate Lieutenant General James B. Peake to serve as Secretary of Veterans Affairs. Dr. Peake is a highly decorated veteran who has dedicated his life to caring for the wounded, and has over four decades of experience in military medicine. He also grew up in a military household, and so he is very familiar and understands the importance of caring for America's veterans and their families.

When confirmed by the Senate, Dr. Peake will bring unique experience to the job. He has experience on both sides of the hospital bed, both as a patient for sustaining wounds that he -- occurred in Vietnam, and also as a doctor for over four decades. He will be the first physician and the first general to serve as Secretary of Veterans Affairs.

He has a distinguished military career, which you will hear more from the President on that. He currently is the Chief Operating Officer for QTC Management, and former chief operating officer of Project Hope. Project Hope International he helped establish the operation of a mercy ship that helped in the aftermath of the tsunami with relief efforts to that region. So you'll hear from the President with that in about 40 minutes.

I'll go to questions. Read more Comment (0), Email this.

MS. PERINO: This is what I can tell you: Secretary Rice has made it very clear that she takes the situation very seriously. It is under review. She said that anyone who has engaged in criminal behavior will be prosecuted. I don't have additional detail that I can provide for you, and I'll have to refer you to the State Department and Justice Department for more. Read more Comment (0), Email this.

MS. PERINO: I do not know if the President has been briefed on it specifically. I can ask. Read more Comment (0), Email this.

MS. PERINO: Helen, as I said, it's a matter that's under review. Read more Comment (0), Email this.

MS. PERINO: Because it is a matter that's under review, and I'm going to refer you to the State or the Justice Department for more. Read more Comment (0), Email this.

MS. PERINO: The State Department is the one that is looking into this and they are the ones answering questions on it. Read more Comment (0), Email this.

MS. PERINO: I am going to refer you to the State Department on that, who is looking into it. Read more Comment (0), Email this.

MS. PERINO: Again, this is being -- this is under review. It's not something that I can talk about from here. Obviously, anyone who is engaged in criminal activity would be of a great concern and it's very serious and it should be prosecuted. Let me let the State Department and the Justice Department answer further questions on it. Read more Comment (0), Email this.

MS. PERINO: The entire situation is being reviewed, from the incident to the aftermath of it. And I just don't have anything more for you that I can say from the podium today.

John. Read more Comment (0), Email this.

Q Dana, in the past two months, 13 million toys have been recalled. For those of us whose children

MS. PERINO: Let me make something really clear. We, first of all, support modernizing and improving the Consumer Product Safety Commission. And, in fact, it was the President that established the Import Safety Working Group that is headed by Secretary Leavitt of the Department of Health and Human Services. He first reported back in September with a report about the situation and then said he would come back to the President by

mid-November with an action plan.

We want to work with Congress on a collaborative effort in order to help modernize and improve the CPSC. This wasn't about the price tag; this was about a couple of the policies that are within a particular bill that is about to be marked up in the Senate either today or tomorrow. On two of those provisions regarding establishment of 50 different jurisdictions to be able to look into these matters, we think that that would be cumbersome and actually not serve people like yourself who are worried about your children.

So we want to work with Congress, it's just going to be something that we want to first get the report back and the action plan in mid-November, work with Congress on figuring out a way forward. So it's not about the price tag or modernizing or improving, it's about this particular bill and this provision. Read more Comment (0), Email this.

MS. PERINO: Well, we don't know what the price tag is going to be. I think we need to let Secretary Leavitt report back and digest that report and that action plan and then go forward from there. As you know, we don't propose a new budget until February, but it's not about the price tag; it's about the policy, and there's -- just a couple of different policies in there, like the whistle-blower provision, that we think might incentivize people to wait until a problem is too severe so that they could get a financial award rather than stopping something immediately. So it's just those particular provisions and it's something that I think that we can work through. Read more Comment (0), Email this.

MS. PERINO: The -- there's a state Attorney General provision that would allow for 50 different jurisdictions to be able to go after civil penalties, which we think is probably unwieldy and would not serve consumers well. Read more Comment (0), Email this.

Q Dana, a follow that. The whistle-blower provision, according to Al Hubbard's letter, the primary

MS. PERINO: It could be that -- you know, I don't know if there was something duplicative in here or not, but we'll try to get you more into the specific concern. But obviously we have -- we are supportive of the provisions that are currently there. We think that that has helped to identify problems. We'd like to identify problems sooner and faster.

There's never going to be any way that we will have enough people to inspect every single item that comes into this country that's going to be sold on store shelves. But you can have better systems, and that's what we're trying to work towards and I'll see if I can get you more on that provision. Read more Comment (0), Email this.

MS. PERINO: Well, I think that there are some -- there is some concern regarding how do you test for that. We are concerned about any lead levels that would be proven to be dangerous for children under the current scientific method that they have to evaluate how much lead is in a toy. And so I think that while we work with Congress on this, we'll be identifying these -- the two provisions I mentioned. And we'll work with them on a lead provision, too. Read more Comment (0), Email this.

MS. PERINO: Well, that certainly could be included in what Secretary Leavitt comes back with, because we -- as I said, we want to improve and modernize the Consumer Product Safety Commission. I'd like to not prejudice his report and let him come back in mid-November. You can look at the report he did in September, and then it's the action plan that's coming in mid-November. So we're not too far away now, a couple weeks. Read more Comment (0), Email this.

MS. PERINO: Well, I think -- well, obviously, the toy situation was very concerning, especially for all the parents out there, and also for the business community, who has to really buckle down and make sure that the products that they're making -- having manufactured overseas are going to be safe for consumers all over the world -- it's not just consumers here.

But we're increasingly becoming a country that is based on trade. And a lot of our growth right now and our economy is from exports from our country, export growth. But we're also importing a lot, as you know. And so it's not just the toy situation that would cause us to want to look at the Consumer Product Safety Commission; it's a range of issues. And also looking into the future, if you project where we're headed, in terms of a more global economy, then it's prudent to take this action now.

Paula. Read more Comment (0), Email this.

Q Well, one of the other objections in this letter talks about your concern that some of these provisions

MS. PERINO: Look, this is how I understand it. If you're on an assembly line, if you work on an assembly line, if you see a problem, you want that problem reported immediately through the company. Now, if the company is non-responsive, of course the whistle-blower has a responsibility to figure out a way to make that known. Read more Comment (0), Email this.

Q For example, it's slightly different, but BP -- BP has had a lot of oil spills, and out of fear

MS. PERINO: I'm not saying that. I think that the example I gave was quite clear. I'm not going to comment on a specific company.

I'm going to go to April. Read more Comment (0), Email this.

MS. PERINO: Well, I think we need to wait and let the investigations take place, April. I think that the President, Secretary Rice, Secretary Gates, Ambassador Crocker and General Petraeus have all said that they're very concerned, they are saddened when there is innocent loss of life, and that those procedures needed to be reviewed. There was a report that was given to Secretary Rice that she asked for by her main management guy, Patrick Kennedy. She has accepted those recommendations, and is going to start implementing them. But on that specific incident, I'm going to have to wait until I can provide further comment. Read more Comment (0), Email this.

MS. PERINO: That's part of the Secretary of State's review. Read more Comment (0), Email this.

MS. PERINO: Secretary Rice testified at the House Foreign Affairs Committee last Wednesday, and then again on Thursday, in front of, I think, Waxman's committee. Let me refer you to her testimony, where she talks at length about the review. Read more Comment (0), Email this.

MS. PERINO: I think that it is prudent for somebody who is being asked about something that is still under investigation, for them to answer to the best of their ability, and then wait for that investigation to conclude, so that it's not prejudiced.

Matt. Read more Comment (0), Email this.

Q Dana, the Turkish Prime Minister today reaffirmed his readiness to send troops into Northern Iraq

MS. PERINO: I think it goes back to what I said at the beginning, which is, the President looks forward to talking with him. We have a joint desire, a joint need to make sure that the PKK is eradicated, that they are stopped. We understand that the Turks feel that they want to protect their people, and that their soldiers should not be attacked. There are currently eight missing; they have a right to look for them. And the President will talk to them about exercising restraint, limiting the actions against the PKK, and also he will talk to them about making sure that they continue to have that dialogue with the Iraqis, because ultimately the neighbors need to work together to make sure that they solve this problem. Read more Comment (0), Email this.

MS. PERINO: Let's let the meeting take place. Let's let the meeting take place, and I'll let you know. Read more Comment (0), Email this.

MS. PERINO: Can we let the meeting take place and then I'll let you know? It's a little too early to say.

Anybody else on Turkey?

Elaine. Read more Comment (0), Email this.

Q On Lieutenant General Peake -- Senator Patty Murray has already come out with some reaction, by

MS. PERINO: Well, I'm sure that Dr. Peake will answer all the questions that the Senate presents to him in a full way. He's going to put the care of veterans first. That's what he's done his entire career. He was one of the first to work on electronic medical records. I think it will be good to have somebody who has the DOD perspective to be able to work within the Veterans Affairs Committee -- Department. One of the things that the Dole-Shalala recommendations suggested was that there be more integration and be more understanding of how the two systems work, because as you have people coming out of combat duty and into the Veterans Affairs system, there had been a breakdown in communication. He will be able to help bridge that gap.

And so he'll answer all of the questions fully, and I think that he'll -- I think that they'll realize that having this person, who is the first general and the first physician to be in charge of veterans' care, will be a good way to run the department. Read more Comment (0), Email this.

MS. PERINO: Well, that will be up to the senators. I think that he'll go up and he'll meet -- we'll have courtesy visits soon. I'd be surprised if a lot of them don't know him, but to the extent that they don't, he'll go up, meet with leadership and then the committees, and then we expand beyond that. We'd hope that they would want to confirm him quickly. The Dole-Shalala recommendations include many things that the executive branch can do, so he will assume responsibility for implementing those.

And then there's things that Congress needs to do, as well. There's the Veterans Affairs appropriations bill that has been approved by the House -- I think over 150 days ago, approved by the Senate over 50 days ago, and Congress has yet to act. And so there might be a lot of bluster about a big fight, big confirmation fight, but we don't anticipate it, and we don't see any need for it. Read more Comment (0), Email this.

Q Dana, can I ask you about the President's statement this morning, in which he blasted Congress

MS. PERINO: No, I disagree. First of all, what the President said today is that you can't find a bill that they are contemplating up on Capitol Hill where they don't want to include a tax increase. And the President is going to stand firm, and he's not going to increase taxes on the American people, because he doesn't think it's necessary. The President did, I think two years ago, show the American people how we can get to a surplus by 2012. If you pass bills that have $9 billion here, $9 billion there, $11 billion in another place, that all adds up and we won't be able to meet that goal of the country, because the Congress is not suggesting any offsets.

But what I will remind you is that early on the administration, after September 11th, we did have to spend a lot more money on national security, and the President doesn't apologize for that. However, when we had a Republican Congress, the Republican Congress worked within the President's top line in terms of the appropriations bills, and that's one of the reasons the President didn't have to veto a bill. Read more Comment (0), Email this.

MS. PERINO: Let's remember something. The President is the one who is -- who put in place pro-growth economic policies that have worked. The economy is moving forward with -- Read more Comment (0), Email this.

MS. PERINO: Well, what I'm saying is that he -- Read more Comment (0), Email this.

MS. PERINO: -- but part of that economic policy was a tax cut in order to help drive revenue growth in this country, which has happened, and job growth has increased as well. We can -- the President has shown a way that we can do both. The federal government has plenty of money. We don't need to raise taxes on the American people. That's the President's bottom line. Read more Comment (0), Email this.

MS. PERINO: But as I said -- but I would disagree in terms of the record. The Republican Congress stayed within the President's top line. What you're seeing now from this Congress is a $9 billion increase over here, $11 billion here, $9 billion over here, without any offsets in terms of savings. Last February we provided the Congress with, I think, $92 or $94 billion worth of cost-savings that they could identify if they wanted to raise revenue somewhere else, but they continue to turn a blind eye to that as well.

The President has had a good record working with Republicans, but the most important thing right now is to keep us on a track so we can get to a balanced budget -- in fact a surplus by 2012. That's the track we're on and we're only a few years away from it. Read more Comment (0), Email this.

Q On this topic, Dana. The President said -- cited media reports this morning about this policy

MS. PERINO: There's a -- you know, you hear rumors, but we don't have a lot of information that comes to us about the exact tactics of the Democrats, and so you pick up things where you can.

The tactic of putting the Labor-HHS appropriations bill onto the bills that are supposed to fund our military and our veterans, the President thinks is an absolute no -- a non-starter. He said that our troops should not be held hostage to

a $9 billion increase -- or $11 billion increase in the Labor-HHS bill that would be for domestic spending. And the President called it a three car pile-up -- a three bill pile-up. And he is just going to reject it.

And I actually think that the American people think that's pretty unfair, as well. When the House and the Senate have both passed bills in order to fund our veterans, that they can't find it in themselves to appoint conferees to go to conference and to get a bill to the President's desk before Veterans Day, it's a little bit unconscionable. Read more Comment (0), Email this.

MS. PERINO: We think that the troops should be -- we think the troops should be fully funded. We do not have an installment plan for our troops. They are there, they're going to need money from here on out, until we finish our business there in Iraq. As the President has said, we'll have a longer-term presence, but hopefully much reduced from where we are today.

Congress has shown that it can't even get a bill passed from -- let's see, we're in the 10th month -- if we can't get one appropriations bill passed by this month, well, then, it doesn't really make sense to wait another -- to try to do this every four or five months, to fund the troops. It's not a good way to run a business; it's not a way you should run the government. Read more Comment (0), Email this.

MS. PERINO: No, Paula, you've already had two. Read more Comment (0), Email this.

Q Thank you, Dana; two questions. Agency French Press reports that of the 100 bills passed by Congress

MS. PERINO: Well, you've heard the President, himself, say that. Look, there's many of these post offices -- are being named for veterans of wars in Iraq, Afghanistan or other places. And that is appropriate. But certainly Congress should be able to get a lot of other work done. MS. PERINO: Last one for you. Read more Comment (0), Email this.

MS. PERINO: You'll have to -- let me refer to California authorities. I think that there was at least one arson, but I don't believe it was anyone who was an illegal alien.

Mark. Read more Comment (0), Email this.

Q Dana, the lead Palestinian negotiator said this morning that there will just not be any peace talks

MS. PERINO: I think it's -- no, I don't think that it's in trouble. I think that you'll see Secretary Rice head back to the region later this week; within the next several days she's going to go to Istanbul, to the Iraqi Neighbors Conference and then she'll go back to the Middle East.

And I think that what you'll see between now and the time that we have a meeting is a lot of people expressing what they'd like to see. But right now the Israelis and the Palestinians are having conversations about the serious and substantive issues to get to a core set of principles that they can agree on before they have this meeting. And as they have those talks, you might hear conditions that they would like to see. But until there's something final, I think we'll decline to comment specifically on that. But when Secretary Rice goes to the region to try to continue to help pull the people together, we'll have more of an idea about the conference. Read more Comment (0), Email this.

MS. PERINO: Not necessarily, but I haven't heard anything -- I mean, it's only October 30th. Read more Comment (0), Email this.

MS. PERINO: I'm going to go to Olivier, because he's had his hand up the whole time. Read more Comment (0), Email this.

MS. PERINO: Well, as General Petraeus has said, we have been cooperating, but he was not going to detail that out. And so I don't think it would be appropriate for me to do so either. Read more Comment (0), Email this.

MS. PERINO: Look, the President had a good conversation with President Putin the other day. He believes that the U.N. Security Council still unanimously believes that Iran should not be allowed to have a nuclear weapon. Read more Comment (0), Email this.

MS. PERINO: They talked last Monday. Read more Comment (0), Email this.

MS. PERINO: Okay, I'm going to go back here. Go ahead. Read more Comment (0), Email this.

Q Thank you, Dana. Two quick questions. One, Secretary of Treasury Mr. Paulson is in India with

MS. PERINO: Let me just answer that question and then I'll go to Helen. The President feels that we have a very good relationship with India on a variety of levels, and that includes the civil nuclear program. We would like to have cooperation with India. We realize that there are internal politics that need to be worked out, and that's one of the -- one of the things that Secretary Paulson is talking about, but we cooperate with India on a variety of topics, and will hope -- hopefully they'll be able to sort out their internal politics and move on.

I'm going to come up here to Helen. Go ahead. Read more Comment (0), Email this.

MS. PERINO: Well, Helen, there is no intention of bombing Iran. We are on a diplomatic track. We are working with our partners, the U.N. Security Council. We have provided them, the Iranians, a road map to get to a civil nuclear program. They have walked away from that. We are hoping that they'll come back. We are both working with our U.N. Security Council partners as well as pursuing sanctions on our own, and there is not an intention to bomb Iran, as you said. Read more Comment (0), Email this.

MS. PERINO: That is -- it's a hypothetical situation, Helen. I'm not going to answer it. Read more Comment (0), Email this.

MS. PERINO: Go ahead. Sarah. Read more Comment (0), Email this.

MS. PERINO: There has been a lot of conversation about interrogation techniques. I'm not going to talk about any one in particular. The Congress has spoke on it several times, in terms of passing legislation that the President has signed, and we're just going to leave it at that. Read more Comment (0), Email this.

MS. PERINO: Happy Friday. I do not have anything to start with. Read more Comment (0), Email this.

MS. PERINO: Well, I think that the historical comparison is not -- does not exactly work. What I can say is what President Putin went on to say, which is that the President and President Putin have said that we can work together on this. President Putin said that today, that he believes that there's a path where the United States and Russia can work to figure out a way to get the system to work in a way that works for both people -- for both countries.

The purpose of the missile defense system in Europe is to defend against a missile that would attack one of our European allies and Russia; and that's the purpose of it. And as President Putin identified two people to work with, two people the President designated -- Secretaries Rice and Gates -- who were just there last week. And our military leaders are in communication to try to figure out if we can use some of their technology in order to make this system work. Read more Comment (0), Email this.

MS. PERINO: I think if anyone takes a look at his entire comments and looks at them objectively, there's no way you could walk away without thinking that he thinks that we can work together. Read more Comment (0), Email this.

MS. PERINO: Well, we -- yes, and I think we have provided a readout on that. That call happened I think -- maybe Monday, or earlier in the week; it was definitely earlier in the week, I think it was Monday -- might have been Tuesday. But President Putin had a conversation where they talked about a variety of issues, including the issue of Iran. And the President does believe that Iran -- that Russia agrees that Iran should not be allowed to have a nuclear weapon. And he came away feeling that that was a solid answer from President Putin. Read more Comment (0), Email this.

Q Staying with Iran for a second. On the unintended side events, perhaps, you know oil closed at

MS. PERINO: Well, higher oil prices are something that has been building up for over a decade and it's something that the President has been talking since 2001 -- which is a way to try to get our country to move away from traditional fossil fuel oil use and to look at alternatives and also conservation. There's several initiatives the President has put forward; one right now is pending in front of Congress. It's 20 percent reduction in gasoline use in 10 years, by 2017. So there's a lot of different ways that we can do that. The problem here -- Read more Comment (0), Email this.

MS. PERINO: Well, I'm not going to comment on market conditions or market movements; there's a lot of different factors that go into that. Part of what we have in our -- in the world is very high demand and not enough supply, and so providing alternatives to traditional oil use is what the President is focused on.

Look, the problem here isn't the United States, it's not the international community. The problem is Iran, and Iran has not stepped back from trying to pursue a nuclear weapon, and -- or reprocessing and enriching uranium, which would lead to a nuclear weapon. We have provided Iran with a path in order to have a civilian nuclear program. They have not taken that path. And so yesterday what we did is identify additional sanctions that we could put -- that we could use, in addition to the diplomacy, so that we can put pressure on the Iranians so that they will change their behavior. Read more Comment (0), Email this.

MS. PERINO: Look, oil prices are a concern across the board. We have very tight supply, and we have growing demand, and not just from our country. When you have growing countries like China, with an economic growth rate of 11 percent last quarter -- and they need a lot of resources in order to make their economy grow.

So what we have to do in the United States is look to alternatives, not just because of oil prices, but because of the environmental benefits, as well.

Kelly. Read more Comment (0), Email this.

Q Dana, on Tuesday, FEMA's deputy administrator held what was called a news briefing to talk about

MS. PERINO: It is not. It is not a practice that we would employ here at the White House or that we -- we certainly don't condone it. We didn't know about it beforehand. FEMA has issued an apology, saying that they had an error in judgment when they were attempting to try to get out a lot of information to reporters, who were asking for answers to a variety of questions in regards to the wildfires in California. It's not something I would have condoned, and they, I'm sure, will not do it again. Read more Comment (0), Email this.

MS. PERINO: FEMA is responsible, and they have taken that -- they have accepted that responsibility, and they issued an apology today. Read more Comment (0), Email this.

MS. PERINIO: We have a variety of ways that we talk to the -- communicate to the communicators in the agency. FEMA is not on that daily call, no, and I don't know if the DHS -- the head of DHS communications knew about it either. But FEMA has apologized for the error in judgment. Read more Comment (0), Email this.

MS. PERINO: You'll have to ask them. They have admitted that they had an error in judgment. I would agree with that. They've issued an apology. You'll have to ask them about why they decided to do that. Read more Comment (0), Email this.

Q But isn't the President concerned, at a time when he is traveling to the area to talk about a very

MS. PERINO: I just said that the White House did not know about it before hand, and the White House condones* [sic] it. And they have apologized for it. They had an error in judgment, they've admitted that. And I think that what they were -- I don't think that there was any mal-intent. I think that they were trying to provide information to the public through the press, because there were so many questions pouring in. It was just a bad way to handle it, and they know that. Read more Comment (0), Email this.

MS. PERINO: You'll have to ask FEMA. Read more Comment (0), Email this.

Q Dana, back on Iraq for a moment. There was another Putin analogy. Yesterday he compared the U.

MS. PERINO: The sanctions are part of the diplomatic process, and that has been laid out for several years. We are being very patient with Iran. We have laid out a schedule for them to be able to comply with the unanimous consent of the U.N. Security Council, that they need to stop the enrichment and reprocessing activities that they have going on in their country.

Again, this is not -- the United States is not at fault. The international community is not at fault. Iran is at fault for not stopping its activities. And sanctions are part of the diplomatic process, they buttress the diplomatic process. They make it clear that we are very serious about making sure that they do not have a path to get a nuclear weapon. So I reject the notion that it is irresponsible, because I think it is quite responsible and shows that we are, one, serious, but that we also are committed to the diplomatic path, and that we are going to buttress that with sanctions. Read more Comment (0), Email this.

MS. PERINO: I'm not going to comment on them. Read more Comment (0), Email this.

MS. PERINO: I think that -- look, the President has said that we have a good but complicated and complex relationship with Russia. And the President has a relationship with President Putin, one, that he treats him with a lot of respect, and because of that, he's able to have very frank and honest discussions with him. And I think the relationship -- in a variety of ways, we work well together on many different issues.

In any -- when you're dealing with a world leader that has a different point of view, you don't come out and slam them for that, just because they have a different point of view on a particular thing. But the bottom line is Iran does agree that -- I'm sorry, Russia agrees that Iran should not be allowed to have a nuclear weapon. That hasn't changed.

We want to see China and Russia do more in regards to the sanctions that we have followed through on, that are part of the U.N. Security Council resolutions. But just because you have a complicated or complex relationship doesn't mean it can't also be a good one. Read more Comment (0), Email this.

MS. PERINO: Well, I think the President has done a very good job of making sure that this country has good relationships with Russia, and that's across the board. And I think one of the things you can look at is just last week he sent his Secretaries of State and Defense to Russia to have conversations with the leaders of Russia for the -- with their foreign minister and defense minister. But they also met with President Putin, as well. And President Bush meets with President Putin quite often; he just saw him at the beginning of September in Sydney, and I'm sure they'll see each other again at the next international meeting.

So we have a good relationship, but it's complex. None of these things are easy. It's just something that takes time, and we are patient and we work through them all.

Anybody else on Iran or Putin? Read more Comment (0), Email this.

Q Yes. The Russians seem to be concerned that -- especially in light of the latest sanctions the

MS. PERINO: Well, not only are they trying to pursue -- they are not halting their enrichment and reprocessing activities in Iran, but they are also state sponsors of terror and sponsoring terrorist organizations like Hezbollah. It is the height of responsibility to put sanctions on Iran that buttress our diplomatic efforts.

We provided a path. We, along with our -- the P5-plus-1, together, provided a path for Iran to have a civil nuclear program. They have decided to reject that path, and so we continue to push, very patiently, the diplomacy that the President has laid out, along with his allies, and we are going to continue to do so. Iran has a choice to make. The problem is not with us, it is with Iran. Read more Comment (0), Email this.

MS. PERINO: Okay. Read more Comment (0), Email this.

Q The declaration seems to be, if you can do business with Iran, you can't do business with the U

MS. PERINO: Well, I think it's a little bit more complicated than that -- how sanctions work, and I'll have to refer you over to Stuart Levey at the Treasury Department for how all that works. In fact, he and Secretary -- Under Secretary of State Nick Burns did a full briefing yesterday where they lay out a lot of these details, because sanctions work in different ways. Read more Comment (0), Email this.

MS. PERINO: Well, look, we continue to try to talk with them. And in fact, what Secretary Rice said yesterday, she reiterated something she said for months, which is, she would meet with Iran's Foreign Minister anytime, anywhere, if they would want to meet and have these discussions. We are very concerned that Iran is targeting our soldiers in Iraq. The Iraqis are concerned that Iran is meddling in its business. And these sanctions push Iran to understand that we are very serious about making sure that our soldiers are kept safe and that they are not allowed -- to the greatest extent possible that we can -- not allowed to fund state sponsors of terror, like Hezbollah. And that's what the sanctions are meant to do.

Anyone else on this? Okay, we'll move on. Roger. Read more Comment (0), Email this.

MS. PERINO: Okay. Read more Comment (0), Email this.

MS. PERINO: Well, I'm not an economist -- and we could try to get you together with Eddie Lazear -- but we do believe that oil prices are way too high, especially for families who deal -- if you have a family budget, the one item that you don't have flexibility on is on your energy cost: You have to pay to heat your home and pay for gas in your car so that you can get to work and back. We have to look for alternatives. That's what we are trying to do. We are asking the Congress to move forward as well.

What is amazing is that our economy has been so resilient over the past several years, despite high energy prices. We have good job growth, we have good exports. Of course the housing market has taken a beating and we're trying to work through that and see if we can make sure that there are measures in place to allow people to keep their homes, but certainly energy prices are a concern. One of the best ways to help bring them down is to broaden out supply. And I would submit to you that the energy bills that the Congress is now putting -- pushing forward by the Democrats do not include a lot of energy production. There's not in that -- there's not a lot of energy in the energy bill, and we would like them to take a second look at that and get something to the President before Christmas. Read more Comment (0), Email this.

MS. PERINO: Look, I think there could be a lot of reasons that oil prices go high. I'm not going to comment on the market movements; there's plenty of people around this country who would. But I think that the problem comes down -- the basic problem comes down to supply and demand, and that's something that we are trying to address. Read more Comment (0), Email this.

MS. PERINO: Okay. Read more Comment (0), Email this.

MS. PERINO: In 2000? Read more Comment (0), Email this.

MS. PERINO: Okay. Read more Comment (0), Email this.

Q When he was weighing out his energy policy, he talked about the need for expanding refineries in

MS. PERINO: Well, maybe that's my fault. I mean, I can talk about -- we have an entire comprehensive package in our energy proposal, and in fact Al Hubbard, the President's Economic Advisor, sent to Congress just last week a letter outlining what we could and couldn't accept in an energy bill.

Now, of course expanding refining capacity in our country is critically important. It's really tight right now. And as you have -- when you have maintenance that has to happen every year, you have -- that refinery pressure is even more constricted. And so we do want additional refineries. You do run into some problems of citing these permits at different places around the country, because people don't like to have them in their backyards. But it's something we have to deal with. Read more Comment (0), Email this.

Q Republicans and Democrats are trying to kill a refinery expansion in northern Indiana that was

MS. PERINO: Can I look into it? I don't know about that specific refinery. I do know that the President supports expanding refinery capacity in the country. We'll get back to you on it.

Olivier. Read more Comment (0), Email this.

MS. PERINO: No, it was more aimed at you all. (Laughter.) Every time I come in here, and you ask me about President Putin's comments, it's like you want me to say something derogatory or negative about another world leader on behalf of the President. And I'm not going to do it. Read more Comment (0), Email this.

MS. PERINO: No, no, I am not saying that.

Ken. Read more Comment (0), Email this.

MS. PERINO: I didn't. I didn't get a chance to sit in on that, but I'll check.

John. Read more Comment (0), Email this.

Q Thank you, Dana. Two questions. Senate bill 505, the so-called Hawaii apartheid bill, has resurfaced

MS. PERINO: John, I know that we have expressed one in the past; I can't remember exactly what our position is. But if there's not a statement of administration policy out there -- there's a SAP out, so we'll get a copy of that for you right after the briefing. Read more Comment (0), Email this.

Q The other thing, Dana, is, in California recently, campaign has started to place a measure on

MS. PERINO: Well, it's the first I've heard of it, and I don't know what the President's position is on it. Read more Comment (0), Email this.

MS. PERINO: Great advertisement.

Paula. Read more Comment (0), Email this.

Q It's estimated that up to 2 million housing foreclosures could happen if restrictions aren't lifted

MS. PERINO: I'm not well-versed in all of the details. I do know that we have FHA modernization bill that we would like the Congress to pass.

One thing I should point out, last night -- well, within the last 24 hours, since the President has been in California, there have been two additions to the help that we can provide to people in California. One is the Department of Labor issued $50 million worth of grants for people looking for work. And this allows California to hire people who have lost their jobs to help with the recovery and the cleanup. And in addition to that, HUD has put a 90-day moratorium on some types of foreclosures, so that people can get their feet on the ground and make sure that they are taken care of down there in Southern California.

But I'll ask Tony Fratto to get back to you on that. Read more Comment (0), Email this.

Q In the statement this morning, the President talked about SCHIP. One of his concerns was that there

MS. PERINO: You'll recall, Paula, that it was I think maybe a week or maybe two weeks ago that the President designated three people to represent him in negotiations on the State Children's Health Insurance Program, so that we could find common ground with the Democrats. He sent Secretary Leavitt of Health and Human Services, OMB Director Nussle, and Al Hubbard, the National Economic Advisor, to Capitol Hill in order to have discussions. The Democrats wouldn't meet with us, and I think that does not bode well when you're trying to find a -- when you're to negotiate. Read more Comment (0), Email this.

MS. PERINO: The President directed those three individuals to meet with Congress. The Congress -- if Congress wanted to actually meet with us and they wanted to find a different -- a new venue, if that would help them, if they wanted to leave Capitol Hill in order to come together, then we could consider that. But I think the fact of the matter is they didn't want to meet. They want the issue; they don't want a solution. Yesterday they passed a bill that will -- that is not substantially different from what the President vetoed originally. It appears that in the House, they yet again don't have enough votes to override the President's veto.

And incredibly enough, Senator Reid is planning to use -- eat up more precious time debating this issue in the Senate, where they're not willing to have the Republicans have a say in any of the matter. So they're going to waste more time and send another bill to the President that they know he will veto. And they will not be able to override it at this time. So we think that this is a big waste of time. We think that it would be better to sit down with us. We offered some ways that we could find common ground; we offered additional money. But we're not going to compromise on the one principle that we think is key to this debate: Poor children should be taken care of first. Read more Comment (0), Email this.

MS. PERINO: The President believes that there is plenty of money in the federal coffers and that we do not need to raise taxes.

Les. Read more Comment (0), Email this.

Q Thank you, Dana. Two questions. The AP reports that there is considerable opposition from landowners

MS. PERINO: Well, the President, as former governor of Texas, knows that there are many people on the border who disagree with having a fence on their private property, and we -- the President has asked Secretary Chertoff to work with them as we try to secure our border. Read more Comment (0), Email this.

Q Senator McCain said that while he is sure Woodstock was a cultural and pharmaceutical event, no

MS. PERINO: I think the President would disagree with that earmark. It's not a good use of taxpayer dollars. Read more Comment (0), Email this.

MS. PERINO: We always do after-action reports. I don't know if would be called a "lessons learned" report, but they do after-action reports to find out what went right and what went wrong. And it looks -- knock wood -- that everything is going very smoothly in California. Read more Comment (0), Email this.

MS. PERINO: There could be. I think it's too early to say. There could be good lessons to be learned that we could pass on to other states. Obviously it's been a model of good coordination from the federal, state and local governments.

Connie. Read more Comment (0), Email this.

MS. PERINO: I'm not going to comment on those press reports. Read more Comment (0), Email this.

Q One on Kosovo. They are not -- Russia said yesterday (inaudible) recognize two separate regions

MS. PERINO: I'm sorry, I'm not well-versed in it, but we'll try to get you an answer. Read more Comment (0), Email this.

MS. PERINO: The President is on his way to Southern California. I have brought Fran Townsend, who is the Assistant to the President for Homeland Security and Counterterrorism. She will give you a quick update as to where we are, answer some of your questions, and then I'll take any of the other questions at the end. MS. TOWNSEND: I'm going to go through a quick statement, and then I'll take questions. Over the past few days we've seen a disaster response operating exactly the way it should be, with federal, state and local partners working hand-in-hand as partners, to make sure that these fires are put out and that we provide the immediate assistance to those in need.

As in all disasters, disasters are, in essence, a local event. State and local officials have done a great job, and have been coordinating the response effort. The role of the federal government is to support state and local response, which is exactly what we've been doing since these fires started.

When these fires first flared up, the federal government acted quickly, issuing a total of eight fire management assistance grants between Sunday afternoon and Monday evening. These grants provided immediate federal firefighting support to California. FEMA stayed in constant contact with California officials, asking what they could do to help. This really is a good example of what we consider a strengthened, rebuilt, new FEMA, leaning forward, proactive, and ready to respond to what state and local officials need.

Late Monday night, Governor Schwarzenegger sent a request through FEMA to the President for an emergency declaration under the Stafford Act, seeking additional federal assistance. Within an hour, this request was in the West Wing and approved by the President. The emergency declaration gave the President the authority to direct all federal agencies, not just FEMA, to provide additional support to meet California's emergency response needs, and give Californians the peace of mind to know that we'd pay for most of those emergency response costs.

On Tuesday evening the Governor asked FEMA to provide assistance to individuals affected by the fires, and FEMA launched its Individual Assistance program before the sun came up on Wednesday. This includes housing assistance, and helping to pay for personal property losses. People needing help can register by calling FEMA at 1-800-621-FEMA, or by going to FEMA's website, or by visiting one of the mobile disaster recovery centers that FEMA has deployed in California. People can also get small, low-cost loans from the Small Business Administration.

On Wednesday morning, the President issued a major disaster declaration, which provided even more assistance to California, including help in removing debris and providing individuals long-term assistance, such as counseling, food coupons, and unemployment assistance.

This is really -- this is not the end of federal assistance, it's just the beginning. This morning USDA, who already -- as you know, has got about 2,500 firefighters deployed to help fight the fire, approved California's request to initiate the Disaster Food Stamp Program in San Diego, which will operate from October 21st through November 19th.

I've been asked a bunch of questions about a comparison to the 2003 fire. So let me walk you through just a couple of data points. The 2003 fire lasted over 10 days, with a loss of life of 22 people, 730,000 acres burned, and 5,000 structures destroyed. So far -- now understand you're comparing to a fire that's so far only been going a little over four days -- we've had -- there's one confirmed fatality, we've had reports of as many as three fatalities, 38 injured. Approximately 427,000 acres burned, 70 percent of which is in San Diego County. As of this morning, 2,205 structures are lost.

In terms of evacuation, according to California state officials, the evacuation involved 321,000 people, which makes it the largest evacuation in state history. FBI and ATF are currently assisting Orange County officials in the arson investigation. State and local officials advise that one-stop centers have been set up that allow burned-out residents to meet with city, county, state and federal program assistance providers, along with insurance companies and charities. As you've heard, wind and humidity and temperature conditions have moved in our favor, and so it suggests to us that we'll -- that firefighters will have an opportunity to turn the corner and get it under control.

There are enormous DOD assets that are deployed, and if folks are interested, I can get you some more of the specific details on that. Read more Comment (0), Email this.

MS. TOWNSEND: You want that. Okay. DOD -- approximately 214 active duty personnel deployed; 72 civilian personnel; 2,492 National Guard personnel engaged in ground and airborne firefighting, security and relief operations, which leaves in the state of California, another 17,295 National Guard members available if they should be needed.

In terms of aviation support, out of USTRANSCOM, 18 helicopters, 14 fixed wing. U.S. Navy is supporting firefighting efforts with a total of seven helicopters. U.S. Marine Corps are supporting firefighting efforts, a total of three helicopters, and 11 additional helicopters are prepared to assist. C-130s flew five sorties, dropping 131,996 pounds of retardant on the Poomacha, California fire. And five of the firefighting aircrafts are currently operational. DOD is providing 18 fire engines, 17 personnel, and supporting equipment and incident management team support.

In the San Diego area, three facilities: the Naval Base San Diego; Naval Amphibious Base Coronado; and Naval air station El Centro are billeting 2,670 DOD evacuees who have been affected in the region. Okay, DOD has got a fact sheet that can give you additional details. Let me take -- let me go to questions. Read more Comment (0), Email this.

MS. TOWNSEND: No, I think it's too soon to say that; what I said was weather conditions are turning, which should give us the advantage. Today is going to be a very important day. They've been working very hard, but understand before the weather conditions turned, using air assets isn't effective in the old weather conditions. And so you didn't see as many air sorties flying early on because it's not effective. What we're told is if the winds are blowing the way they were, it either evaporates or doesn't fall in an effective way, and so now that those weather conditions are changing, we have got -- especially the winds coming from west to east now off the water, they bring moisture with it, it's a more effective condition, and you're seeing lots more air assets deployed, beginning yesterday. Read more Comment (0), Email this.

MS. TOWNSEND: I actually think it's hard to compare directly, but let me make a couple of points to you because I think by and large what you're seeing is the benefit of experience at all levels of government. You know, California -- I hesitate to tell you how great we are, how much better we are -- I think we are better, but I think it's important to note the effectiveness of the state and local response. They've got a -- they were very effective at anticipating what they were going to need, setting up evacuation points and evacuation centers.

Did we support that? Yes we did, and we were better and faster at doing it, but fundamentally the state and locals have had a phenomenal response. Their reverse 9-1-1 system, where they were able to get word out, all of this results in less property damage, more lives saved, and so it's not just -- the federal government has done better and faster, absolutely, but this all rides on the effectiveness and preparedness of the state and locals, who have done a phenomenal job. Read more Comment (0), Email this.

MS. TOWNSEND: Yes. I mean, I'm running through my mind, Sheryl. I'll wind up forgetting one; you know I think about the tornado in Greensburg, Kansas. These are all devastating to the people who are affected and so when I hesitate, I hesitate because if you were in Greensburg, Kansas, that seemed a lot worse to you. This is over a wider swath of area and certainly there's a larger body of people affected and -- but it's hard to compare natural disasters. Floods are very different in terms of the scale of damage than tornados. Tornados are different from fires. And so it's hard to compare. All natural disasters are not equal. Read more Comment (0), Email this.

MS. TOWNSEND: Too early to say. We're going to need more time. Read more Comment (0), Email this.

MS. TOWNSEND: They're -- I get -- we get updates every 12 hours. This is as of very early this morning East Coast time, and I'm sure that they'll change during the course of the day. Read more Comment (0), Email this.

MS. TOWNSEND: Right, and that's why I used it. But as I said to you, that's the number that we had confirmed by California state officials. But even if that's -- even if that number, which is on the low end of what you've heard is accurate, it still makes it the largest single evacuation effort in the history of the state. Read more Comment (0), Email this.

MS. TOWNSEND: You know, in all of these natural disasters, when we go -- whether it's Greensburg, Kansas or it's Southern California -- part of it is to ensure that the federal response is working the way it should, that we're supporting state and local efforts adequately. It's also to talk to the firefighters and those first responders who are on the ground, and to thank them, to listen to them, to make sure they've got what they need, and then, you know, probably most important is he provides an awful lot of comfort. People are going through a very difficult time. This is chaotic, it's anxiety-producing, and just having him there where he walks the neighborhoods that have been devastated and listens to the people who have been affected is very important. Read more Comment (0), Email this.

MS. TOWNSEND: Yes, I got -- wait a sec, I had the number for you; this number, by the way, changes hourly. I think it's 22 -- Read more Comment (0), Email this.

MS. TOWNSEND: -- 2,205 structures destroyed. That's not affected though; just remember, the number affected will be much larger. Read more Comment (0), Email this.

MS. TOWNSEND: That's right. I'm glad you mentioned that. Some of the evacuation orders have already begun to be lifted, so people can begin returning home and start to recover their lives, that's right. Read more Comment (0), Email this.

MS. TOWNSEND: No, we don't. Read more Comment (0), Email this.

MS. TOWNSEND: It's a combination -- Read more Comment (0), Email this.

MS. TOWNSEND: It could be. I mean, we do this in concert with the state officials. You know, we have a joint field office at which we gather data, but some of the data, as you can imagine, is also federal data. But we also work with state and local officials to get stuff that they're going to be uniquely positioned to have that we don't. Read more Comment (0), Email this.

MS. TOWNSEND: I wish I could tell you there was a final authority. I'm giving you the best numbers we have, based on our people on the ground, who are working with the state officials. And they -- to be fair now, I could have not given you any statistics and played it safe, because they'll change. Literally, by the time I got them and the time we land, these numbers will begin to change. Read more Comment (0), Email this.

MS. TOWNSEND: I'm not going to talk about it. Yes, I was in there. Anything else? Read more Comment (0), Email this.

Q The decision to put FEMA under Homeland Security -- I mean, this -- since doing that, this is the

MS. TOWNSEND: Well, let me go back for a minute. It is not the first disaster since FEMA was put under DHS. Read more Comment (0), Email this.

MS. TOWNSEND: Well, no, no. Katrina is -- was the first major one, but there were many hurricanes and those types of natural disasters in '04 and going back that were handled just fine. I don't know that this informs us any differently. That was a good decision, because what it does is, under the Department of Homeland Security, FEMA has got the ability to coordinate across the federal government and pull on the all resources, not only of DHS but across the federal government.

We believed it was the right decision when we did it. We believed that they're working effectively and that their response in this particular disaster is good evidence that those critics, who suggested in the wake of Katrina that it should be pulled out, were wrong. It doesn't need to be pulled out to be effective. You can see how effective they're being in the context of this disaster. Read more Comment (0), Email this.

MS. TOWNSEND: No, I think what you're seeing is an effective management structure, effective funding of FEMA, and effective relationships with state and locals are the critical enablers, and they're doing that just fine in -- under the Department. Read more Comment (0), Email this.

MS. TOWNSEND: Well, I mean, we work through USDA, who's got the firefighting capability. We work through the Department of Interior. There's a number of different ways we work on fire prevention. I didn't bring the -- I haven't brought the statistics back on that, but we can get it for you. MS. PERINO: Let me just add couple points on that. We'll try to get the numbers. First and foremost, it was only after years of Democratic opposition that we finally had the fires in 2003, which led to the passage of the President's Healthy Forest Initiative, which is precisely for this problem.

These problems of wildfires don't occur overnight. They build up over time, and it takes time to take out those fuels. It takes time to -- fuels, meaning, dry timber; when a bug infests a whole area of wood and kills those trees, the most important thing you can do is go in there and clean that out. And over the years, we have -- we, as a federal government, either suppressed wildfires or forest fires, or we weren't allowed to go in and clean out that basically, kindling, that fuels all of these fires.

The other thing that you have to keep in mind is that you have a lot more -- there are many more people today living near fire-prone areas, and they're -- within the Healthy Forest Initiative, part of that was providing people the information that they needed and how to protect themselves, and creating those barriers so that the fuels don't come all the way up to the home. That's different in a situation where you have these high winds and everything is different.

We can try to get you the numbers, but as of last year, last spring, USDA, I believe, had over $800 million roughly that they hadn't spent yet. So I think that the effort has been well funded. But keep in mind, you can't spend all that money at once. It takes a little bit of time to do this work, so extra money isn't necessarily going to help. You have to have the time and the resources to be able to actually get the work done.

Anything else for Fran? Read more Comment (0), Email this.

Q Real quickly, I know that different parts of Southern California have been hit with different levels

MS. PERINO: We're not commenting on the locations. We'll get them -- we'll be able to talk more about them when we get closer. Read more Comment (0), Email this.

MS. TOWNSEND: He'll get -- without going into the specifics of it, he will speak with firefighters, he'll walk -- he'll get an opportunity to be in a damaged area, so he'll -- he should get a pretty representative feel of what the -- what the conditions on the ground are. MS. PERINO: In addition to the aerial tour. Read more Comment (0), Email this.

MS. PERINO: Do you have a list of who else is flying with him today? Can you get that for me? MR. CARROLL: Yes, I'll get it to you. MS. PERINO: Yes, we'll bring it back. We have several members of Congress. I saw Senator Feinstein and Congressman Filner. I know there are others, so let us get you the list. Read more Comment (0), Email this.

MS. PERINO: I think there's a lot. Read more Comment (0), Email this.

MS. PERINO: The President spent a significant amount of time with them for the first while on the plane, and so I didn't go back and bug them. Okay? Read more Comment (0), Email this.

MS. PERINO: Hello. I have two announcements and then a scheduling update, and then we'll go to questions. First of all, this is a statement by the President that we will release, so this is in his words: The confirmation of Judge Leslie Southwick to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 5th Circuit is a victory for America's judicial system and for the citizens of Louisiana, Mississippi, and Texas. Today's bipartisan vote resolves a longstanding judicial emergency and will help the people of the 5th Circuit operate more effectively. Judge Southwick is a man of character and intelligence who will apply the law fairly. And I appreciate the Senate's approval of his nomination.

While today's vote resolves one judicial emergency, many of America's federal courts continue to have unnecessary vacancies. I have now nominated highly qualified men and women to serve on these courts. Now the Senate must act. In the final two years of the past three administrations the Senate has confirmed an average of 17 circuit court judges, but since January of this year, the Senate has confirmed only five circuit court nominees. The Senate has more work to do. I once again call upon the Senate to fulfill its constitutional responsibilities and promptly provide these nominees fair up or down votes.

An update on Burma. The United States applauds Australia's actions today for placing sanctions on 418 individuals associated with the Burmese junta, including members of the State Peace and Development Council, cabinet ministers and senior military figures. As President Bush said on Friday, business as usual with the Burmese junta is unacceptable. And we welcome the strong actions of the Howard government. Australia is helping to reenforce the international community's message that Than Shwe and his fellow junta members cannot continue to oppress the Burmese people, and that progress toward democracy is necessary. We call on others to follow the example set by Australia and other like-minded countries to make sure that it is not business as usual for those who deny the Burmese people their liberties.

An update for the trip on Thursday -- we don't have specific details so bear with us. This gives -- giving you a little bit more information about what will happen tomorrow. The President will depart the White House early tomorrow morning for southern California. He will participate in an aerial tour of the damage via helicopter upon arrival. The pool will participate in the same tour. The President will receive a briefing by local, state and administration officials on the wildfires, and the President will return to the White House late tomorrow evening. And we are working on a more detailed schedule for you and as soon as we have that, we will provide it. I would anticipate it a little bit later this afternoon.

Let's go to questions. Read more Comment (0), Email this.

MS. PERINO: Well, I think it's a coordinated effort there on the ground with -- Secretary Chertoff and Administrator Paulison are there, as well as DOD officials, USDA officials, Department of Interior officials, everyone working together. And I think that if there are requests we'll certainly provide them, but if we can see an area where we can provide more help then we can suggest that. I think that it's more of a team effort than people operating in silos. Read more Comment (0), Email this.

MS. PERINO: President Bush has asked the Governor on several occasions as they've spoken over the past two -- well, Monday and Tuesday; they haven't spoken today -- if he was getting everything that he needed. He said that he was and the response from California so far has been good. I understand Dianne Feinstein on Capitol Hill just said the same. So the effort for tomorrow is that the President will go -- he wants to see firsthand the devastation. He wants to make sure that he talks with the federal, state and local officials that are working on the effort there on the ground to make sure that we are doing everything we can to help those who are fighting the blazes. And he also wants to comfort the victims who have lost their homes or their businesses, or are worried that they've lost their homes and businesses. And so right now the coordinated efforts seem to be working very well, and the President wants to make sure that that continues. It's one of the reasons he's going tomorrow. Read more Comment (0), Email this.

MS. PERINO: I don't know if that has happened yet. Obviously, that is something that people, as they start talking to their insurance company, will have to deal with. But having gone through this many times before, like with the tornado in Kansas and Katrina and the tornados I think down in Alabama, it is an issue that we'll take care of when we get to that point. I think it's a little bit premature, and I haven't heard anyone talking about it yet. Read more Comment (0), Email this.

MS. PERINO: I'm sorry, just to finish up. A lot of people who are there in the shelters don't know if their homes have been destroyed or not, or if their businesses have been destroyed. So they haven't even been able to call their insurance company because they don't know. So it's just a little premature. Read more Comment (0), Email this.

Q Dana, the fact that the President will be on the ground tomorrow in southern California, how much

MS. PERINO: Remember -- we've gone -- these fires are not the same disaster that we had in Katrina. There's so many differences. Katrina wiped out 90,000 square miles of the United States, and there was no electricity, there was no sewer system. And they knew for days that the storm was coming. This is just a very different situation. The President visits disasters -- any President visits disasters regularly. And I think that -- I would not see the President's visit tomorrow as part of lessons learned. I actually would look to more of -- look at the coordination efforts amongst the state, federal and local governments that are working to make sure that everybody has what they need.

For example, evacuation planning is one of the things that people learned about after Katrina, that local jurisdictions need to have a plan. And according to the Homeland Security Council, the local jurisdictions have done a tremendous job of managing the evacuation there in southern California. There are rapid changes to respond to when you have shifting winds in a fire like that, and so they've done a very good job because of their advanced preparation and their efforts.

Another thing that we've worked on with state and federal -- state and local governments is prescripted mission assignments, so that there is a lot of pre-planning, pre-positioning of assets when they know something is going to happen. As I mentioned earlier today, Secretary Kempthorne who runs the Fire Center that is based in Boise, they knew that this was coming and so they started to pre-position assets that they had to be able to provide.

And then the most critical point I think is the close collaboration between the state, federal and local partners. And you have everyone working together for the same goal, lots of early and often communication, and that's one of the reasons I think you've seen a difference. Read more Comment (0), Email this.

MS. PERINO: Okay. Read more Comment (0), Email this.

Q You're talking about the evacuation planning and the communication, but doesn't it help that income

MS. PERINO: Vehicles are very important, but I don't think any natural disaster discriminates or chooses who they're -- where it's going to hit. When it does hit an area that is poor or needs additional public assistance, that's provided. As you know, we've given $110 billion federal taxpayer dollars to Louisiana and the Gulf Coast region in order to help them rebuild.

I don't know what the price tag is going to be in California, and right now the price tag is not a consideration. Making sure that people are taken care of is what we're most concerned about. Read more Comment (0), Email this.

MS. PERINO: I think that's logical. Absolutely that happens. And I think that when we see hurricanes that hit -- for example, when the hurricane hit Haiti, it affects people differently, and a lot of people lost shelter completely and didn't have anywhere else to go. We are fortunate in the United States that we have generous people that are willing to provide shelter. We have a system in place, a system of government that allows people to get a hotel voucher if they need it. And then because of the President's signing the disaster declaration today, that provides for additional assistance for individuals such as if they are looking for crisis counseling, if they need food coupons, whatever they need to get back on their feet. We're very fortunate in America to have the means to take care of our citizens. Read more Comment (0), Email this.

MS. PERINO: In San Diego? It's a little -- Read more Comment (0), Email this.

MS. PERINO: In California? It's premature to say, but Secretary Jackson was here today and -- he was there at the Cabinet meeting, and one of the things that the President talked about at the very top of the meeting was that all the agencies are going to have to take a look at what they could do, and the HUD part of it comes in just a little bit later.

Any more on this? Read more Comment (0), Email this.

MS. PERINO: I think it's inevitable. I am not one to think that a massive hurricane, the largest hurricane to ever hit the United States, is comparable to the fires. But I understand that the comparison is going to be there. So I'm not going to call it unfair, no.

Anybody else on fires? Read more Comment (0), Email this.

MS. PERINO: I haven't heard conversation about that. Obviously the most important thing right now is keeping people safe and getting them back into their homes, or at least getting them the information that their home and their business is -- has survived. We've had several deaths and many injuries, so first and foremost you have to worry about that.

The economic impacts are something that we're going to have to deal with. California is a very resilient state. They have many natural disasters that have come to -- come into its borders over the years. Fires is one of them, but they have earthquakes, as you'll remember, and California has a tremendous ability to bounce back. And there will be federal assistance if it's needed in that regard, too. But it's a wonderful place to live and people like to do business there, so I think they'll be just fine.

Any more on fires? Okay, Jim. Read more Comment (0), Email this.

MS. PERINO: Well, part of it is that when you start having all -- just a ton of speculation. It's a hypothetical that was created based on questions that Democrats in Congress who don't want us to be in the war asked the Congressional Budget Office to provide. Our force structure in Iraq and Afghanistan has fluctuated. Already this year, the President said that 5,700 troops would come home by December. We don't know what the costs are going to be over the years, and so because that fluctuates, it's just wildly premature to put out a number like that. Read more Comment (0), Email this.

MS. PERINO: Look, spending to fight the global war on terror is an investment in our security and it is something that the President is committed to prioritizing in the budget. We hope that Congress would agree. We don't know how much the war is going to cost in the future. We do our best to try to provide those projections, as we did last February when we sent up the budget and we said we think this is how much we're going to need, $146 billion -- $149 billion. We added $46 billion to that in the supplemental that we asked for last week.

You can't project that far into the future. We are starting to see good signs of success -- I'm sorry -- signs of progress in Iraq. We want those trend lines to continue. We want our troops to have the force protection they need, the equipment that they need, and the care for our wounded warriors and their families need to be factored into this, as well. But $2.4 trillion is pure speculation. Read more Comment (0), Email this.

MS. PERINO: I think what they looked at 10 years ago -- the answer is we just don't operate that way in terms of providing a federal budget. We provide as much information as we can, but there are changing conditions on the ground and it's just -- it would not serve the public well to put out numbers that we don't have any confidence in. Read more Comment (0), Email this.

MS. PERINO: You're asking me another hypothetical question; if that were to be true. I'm not going to answer that. Read more Comment (0), Email this.

MS. PERINO: Look, what I can tell you is that I'm not going to worry about the number. What I'm worried about is making sure that the President gets what he needs in order to provide the safety and security for the country. And we have spent a lot of money on the global war on terror. I think we're spending it smartly and we are going to continue to do that. And whoever comes in as President is January of 2009, I'm sure when they sit down and have their first briefing is that they're going to feel the same way.

Roger. Read more Comment (0), Email this.

MS. PERINO: Sure. Read more Comment (0), Email this.

MS. PERINO: $50 million? Read more Comment (0), Email this.

MS. PERINO: Go again. Read more Comment (0), Email this.

MS. PERINO: Again, what we try to do is, as we said back in February, we're going to try to provide Congress with as much information as we possible can, but it's -- and I believe Rob Portman, who was the OMB Director at the time, said it's too difficult to project that far into the future because we don't know what the commanders on the ground are going to need. One of the reasons that we've asked for an additional $46 billion is because General Petraeus and Ambassador Crocker came back, gave their congressionally-mandated testimony, reported to the President, and the President said, carry on, fulfill this plan, and come back in March and tell us how it's going, provide a progress update. So it's just -- it's difficult to try to project this too far into the future.

Any more on that? Okay, I'm going to go to John. Read more Comment (0), Email this.

Q Back on the CDC testimony. You said this morning that Dr. Gerberding's testimony was not watered

MS. PERINO: Look, I haven't seen the specific edits. What I can tell you is that she's giving a speech today at the Atlanta Press Club and she plans to address this issue. Little bit about -- take a step back. This administration's policy on climate change is an open book. There is robust information about where we stand on policy, on the science, on the initiatives, and on the international cooperation that we have initiated under this President.

One of the things that happens under our administration and previous administrations is that testimony comes to a process where everyone gets a chance to have a look at it. In this case, the testimony I believe came a little bit less than 24 hours before it was going to be given. The CDC, they are the experts when it comes to disease vectors. There are experts that deal specifically with climate science. For example, at USDA, people who work on crop rotation issues and the health of crops know how climate change is going to affect -- they can study how climate change might affect crops. At EPA they consider how climate change will relate to public health and air benefits -- I'm sorry, air quality. And somebody like NOAA would look at the weather-related events.

CDC's specific responsibility is on public health, and she testified about that yesterday. And one of the things that she told us this morning, late morning, is that she, at the Atlanta Press Club, is going to reiterate that she in no way felt inhibited or hindered by what she was going to say. But when you take a very complicated issue, like climate change science, and you have the International Panel on Climate Change, which reported last spring -- this is a study that the United States largely funded, and that we embraced in its conclusions -- as I understand it, in the draft there was broad characterizations about climate change science that didn't align with the IPCC.

And we have experts and scientists across this administration that can take a look at that testimony and say, this is an error, or this doesn't make sense. And so the decision on behalf of CDC was to focus that testimony on public health benefits -- there are public health benefits to climate change, as well, but both benefits and concerns that somebody like a Dr. Gerberding, who is the expert in the field, could address. And so that's the testimony that she provided yesterday, and I would refer you to her comments in Atlanta today, as well. Read more Comment (0), Email this.

MS. PERINO: No, I think what it is, is when you take -- when you try to summarize what is a very complicated issue and you have many different experts who have a lot of opinions, and you get testimony less than 24 hours before it's going to be given, you -- scientists across the administration were taking a look at it, and there were a decision that she would focus where she is an expert, which is on CDC.

Anybody who wants to look at what the President thinks about climate change looks -- needs to only look back three weeks ago to when he gave a major address on climate change when he invited all 15 of the major economies of this world to come together to work on a solution -- work on a path to get to a solution to help the growth of greenhouse gas emissions. And we have an open book on the subject. Read more Comment (0), Email this.

MS. PERINO: No, I think that -- she has said that before. And in fact, she just -- she was telling us that she has co-authored a -- one of the folks there at CDC has just co-authored a major paper that ran in a publication about that very issue. So CDC is on record saying that climate change is a public health concern, and we agree. Read more Comment (0), Email this.