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MS. PERINO: Hello. One announcement for you. Tomorrow President Bush will deliver remarks at the Office of Faith-Based and Community Initiatives National Conference. During his speech he will highlight the Initiative's record of helping millions in need across the country and around the world. We are working on getting you excerpts that will be released later this afternoon. I have two, though, that I can give you now.

One, he will specifically say on the philosophy behind the Faith-Based and Community Initiative the following: We followed a principle rooted both in our Constitution and the best traditions of our nation. Government should never fund the teaching of faith, but it should support the good works of the faithful.

And then on government support for faith-based and community groups, the President will say: Putting hope in people's hearts is the mission of our nation's faith-based and community groups. Groups like yours know that you are only as good as your results. It does not matter if there is a crescent on your group's wall, a rabbi on your group's board, or Christ in your group's name. If your organization puts medicine in people's hands, food in people's mouths, or a roof over people's heads, then you are succeeding, and the government should support your work.

And as I said, those excerpts will be released later this afternoon. Read more Comment (0), Email this.

MS. PERINO: I didn't -- I haven't seen the President to be able to talk to him, and the federal government did not have a brief in this case. And so I'm not able to really give you a specific reaction. Read more Comment (0), Email this.

MS. PERINO: We can try, but I think it's important to note that the federal government has not weighed in or briefed on this case. Read more Comment (0), Email this.

Q Has the President ever considered an executive order that would ban torture specifically? There

MS. PERINO: Well, we certainly respect the views of George Shultz. And one thing I would point to is that we have a set of laws that have been passed during this administration, and an executive order, in fact. There was the Detainee Treatment Act, there was the Military Commissions Act, and then there was the President's executive order interpreting Common Article 3.

So we feel like we have taken steps to address that issue. And I would also point out that we face a very different enemy today than America has ever faced before. We face an enemy that respects no borders, respects no uniforms, and certainly has no regard for civilians, especially innocent women and children and the elderly. So we take his position seriously, but we do think that we have the mechanisms in place to address the issue. Read more Comment (0), Email this.

Q Dana, the Queen of England has stripped Robert Mugabe of his knighthood and I think people in this

MS. PERINO: I think what you will see, and what the President will talk about today with the U.N. Security Council permanent representatives -- who he's going to meet with in just a couple of hours -- that this is an issue where the whole world needs to be speaking in a unified way and which they can work together to bring pressure to bear. And it's really important -- the President has pointed out how important it is that, increasingly, the African leaders have banded together to put pressure on the Mugabe regime.

So it's not just across a continent or across an ocean -- that the Queen of England or the President of the United States are speaking individually; that there is a chorus of voices who are unified saying that the blame for the situation that we have in Zimbabwe, which is deplorable, can be squarely laid at the feet of the Mugabe regime. And we have called for an end to the violence, and the U.N. Security Council will continue to talk about this. We are working to make sure that it remains firmly on the agenda so that people just don't forget about what's happened down there. Read more Comment (0), Email this.

MS. PERINO: If you're asking me about military action, I don't know of any plans of that sort. But what I can tell you is that increasingly African leaders are pushing. And in fact, this weekend, President Kikwete of Tanzania, who chairs the African Union this year, is going to be having a conference this weekend in order to talk about several of the issues facing sub-Saharan Africa, and one of them, the priority agenda item, is what's happening in Zimbabwe. Read more Comment (0), Email this.

MS. PERINO: I just said, if you're asking me in terms of military plans right now -- I didn't say it's not an option, but I'm not saying it is an option. I don't want you to read anything into my comments, Jim. You're leading me down a path that -- you're trying to get me to say something that is not something I know is being contemplated right now by the United States or anyone else. So I think what I would leave it at is that the President is working with the U.N. Security Council to speak with one voice, to bring pressure to bear on the Mugabe regime.

And I think that because you have African leaders increasingly pushing, that sounds a little bit different than just countries like the United States or the United Kingdom making comments. But if your neighbors are also making such demands, then you might have a different reaction, and we hope that that's true. Read more Comment (0), Email this.

MS. PERINO: Well, they continue to work on it, and I couldn't put odds on it either way. But we continue to work on it. We think that it's critically important that we have some sort of mechanism to -- legal mechanism to make sure that our forces can operate legally there. So they had a good conversation about it, and obviously the negotiators continue to work on the issue. Read more Comment (0), Email this.

MS. PERINO: No, I don't think -- no, I don't -- the negotiators are getting into the details.

Go ahead, David. Read more Comment (0), Email this.

Q Thanks, Dana. I heard reports today that say that there is pressure coming from Israeli officials

MS. PERINO: This is a rumor that I hear quite a lot from reporters being brought to us. And what I can tell you is that President Bush believes that we can solve this issue diplomatically, and that everyone's preference is to solve it diplomatically, not just here in the United States, but with our allies and certainly with Israel. Read more Comment (0), Email this.

MS. PERINO: I'm not in Israeli intelligence, so I couldn't tell you. Read more Comment (0), Email this.

Q Dana, back in January, when Mexican authorities arrested a suspect in connection with the death

MS. PERINO: I will look into it. Your note to me a little bit earlier was just something I had not known about, so I need to check into it. I wasn't able to check it with anybody in the time just now. But we'll check on it, and we'll see.

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

Q Thank you, Dana. Two questions. The Washington Times this morning published Senator John Kerry

MS. PERINO: They're calling for the lifting of the ban? Let me check what our official position is on it. Obviously, the President has wanted to do nothing but help people that have HIV/AIDS, and has done so across the world. So let me just check into it for you.* Read more Comment (0), Email this.

Q The New York Times reported this morning from San Francisco that the Presidential Memorial Commission

MS. PERINO: I just don't think it dignifies a response. Read more Comment (0), Email this.

MS. PERINO: I think your question doesn't deserve an answer. (Laughter.) Read more Comment (0), Email this.

MS. PERINO: I don't think they were the first to report it. Read more Comment (0), Email this.

MS. PERINO: No. Since she's not here to defend herself, I'll pass. Read more Comment (0), Email this.

MS. PERINO: Sorry, who has said? Read more Comment (0), Email this.

Q European officials, one would be the EU ambassador to the U.S. Anyway, Senator Coburn has a hold

MS. PERINO: I think that we've made tremendous progress towards getting this bill passed in the Senate. I think that while we would like to have it passed tomorrow, I don't think that we're putting a deadline on it in terms of the G8. We really want to make sure Congress does this before they leave for their recess in August. And we think that they could be -- they're in a position where they could actually get something done. And I think that I would go back and look at some of the progress we've made, and maybe check back with Senator Coburn's office, because we've been actively engaged with them, and I think we're making good progress. Read more Comment (0), Email this.

MS. PERINO: Well, obviously we have our Leg Affairs team, and then of course Ambassador Mark Dybul from the State Department is actively engaged, as well. And President Bush himself talks to members of Congress about it to make sure that they know how important he thinks it is that they pass this bill because of all the good work that it's doing. And I think that members of Congress recognize that, as well. I think we're just working on these details. There have been some concerns, but I think that we're able to address them. Read more Comment (0), Email this.

MS. PERINO: I don't know in particular, but -- I'll check for you, but I think that I would check back with those offices because I do think that we've made some progress.

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

Q Dana, on Monday you said -- back to Zimbabwe -- the Mugabe regime was never going to allow a free

MS. PERINO: Well, a couple of things. I think that we do believe that the people of Zimbabwe spoke very clearly on March 29th and that -- but consistent with their constitution, there was going to be a run-off, and it's that run-off that was not going to be free and fair. And therefore, we think that the government of Zimbabwe currently is an illegitimate government because they didn't allow for their free and fair election.

So I think that you have to go back and look. I do think that MDC won that election on March 29th, but consistent with their constitution was headed to a run-off. Read more Comment (0), Email this.

MS. PERINO: Well, I think that -- they just finished -- I think Tuesday, they finished a U.N. Security Council president's statement -- I'm sorry, it was Monday -- U.N. Security Council statement, which, remember, that has to be agreed to by all parties. It's a 15-member organization that everybody has to speak with one voice. And so they had a tough negotiation, but I think at the end of the day, everyone agreed on what we thought was a very strong statement. But if you look at what the African leaders are saying and what other world leaders are continuing to say, as Jim mentioned, then the pressure on the Mugabe regime is getting tighter.

What's so tragic is that Mugabe doesn't appear to care and he doesn't care about the safety of the individuals there who -- regardless of whether they even voted or not, they just absolutely sent out terror -- terror squads and killed people. And then, I think also, tragically, whereas Zimbabwe used to be a net exporter of food, it's now an importer of food, and many people, millions of people are reliant on non-governmental organizations to help feed them, and they were banned from the country. So we have starvation on top of the other deplorable actions of the Mugabe regime. And that's why the neighbors of the region are also crying foul on the Mugabe regime, because it doesn't just -- it's a humanitarian issue and it's also quite destabilizing for that African -- that part of Africa.

Go ahead, Victoria. Read more Comment (0), Email this.

MS. PERINO: I said today that the President appreciated the fact that Attorney General Mukasey had already implemented all the recommendations that the Inspector General had put forth, and he expects that those should be implemented fully across the board, and that no politicization in terms of hiring practices should be allowed. Read more Comment (0), Email this.

MS. PERINO: Was he not surprised? Read more Comment (0), Email this.

MS. PERINO: Well, I didn't ask if he was surprised or not. But we do know that he was thankful that General Mukasey had taken this on and had implemented the recommendations of the Inspector General.

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

MS. PERINO: I'm sorry, I can't hear you. Read more Comment (0), Email this.

MS. PERINO: Well, I think that there's a long way to go, because the House passed a bill and the Senate passed a bill. The House, remember, has -- had a very strong vote, and in regards to the President's position, we have a veto-proof margin in the House. So I think that congressional leaders have every reason in the world to try to work this out in conference in a way that they could get a bill to the President that he could sign.

So we are going to continue to work with them. We think that they have a lot of good provisions in the bill, including GSE reform, which we have said for a long time is essential. What we disagree with is the bailout for the lenders that was included in the $4 billion block grant proposal. Read more Comment (0), Email this.

MS. PERINO: I don't. I just know that it's taking place and that one of their main agenda items and the first order of business will be about Zimbabwe. But we can check and see if we can get more. Ambassador McGee spoke about this yesterday a little in a conference call with reporters, and his transcript is available on the State Department website.

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

MS. PERINO: I'd refer you to my answer to Jim. But, no, I don't think -- I have no reason -- I have no reason to suggest that. I think that the pressure is starting to build. And it's because of the leadership of the U.N. Security Council through the President's statement. But all of us are impatient and anxious and concerned for the well-being of the people who are there suffering in Zimbabwe. And it's hard to imagine what they're going through; I'm sure they feel like there's no end in sight. But I hope that they can take heart knowing that the international community is speaking with one voice and condemning the Mugabe regime and expressly working to make sure that the NGOs are able to get there in order to help people who are starving and in need of food. Read more Comment (0), Email this.

Q And on the -- on North Korea. Chris Hill says that whenever this first declaration comes, it's

MS. PERINO: I didn't see Chris Hill's comments. Obviously he's a little bit closer to this issue than I am. What I can tell you is that we will rigorously verify any declaration that the North Koreans put forward. Remember that part of this is that -- part of the deal is that if North Korea submits its declaration, they also have to dismantle and disable the Yongbyon plant. And that gets us closer to where we want to be, which is a denuclearized Peninsula. And also, it gives us further progress on our steps to cooperate on other goals such as a peace regime on a Korean Peninsula; a normalization of relations; a new mechanism to cooperate on peace and security in Northeast Asia, which is something that the neighborhood has talked about wanting to do; and, of course, an opportunity to improve the lives of the North Korean people, many of whom also suffer from the effects of starvation.

So in short, the six-party framework has given us an opportunity to get to this point where we are looking forward to getting a declaration, but also dismantling and disabling one of the places where they were developing weapons. Now, when that declaration comes, as Secretary Rice and the President have said, that we will rigorously verify that document. Read more Comment (0), Email this.

MS. PERINO: I wouldn't necessarily say that. We've had people on the ground there, we have technical experts there, and I think that we have learned a lot. In fact, Secretary Rice said the other day that we learn more on a regular basis, and the more we learned, the more we believe that we were right to have a concern, but also that we now have a mechanism and a framework for conversations to take place amongst the six parties -- China, Japan, Russia, South Korea, the United States and North Korea. Read more Comment (0), Email this.

MS. PERINO: Well, I think that they'll do a little socializing, but they'll also do a little business, as well. President Bush met with the Crown Prince back in January -- January of 2008, and really enjoyed the hospitality, and learning more about the United Arab Emirates and all that they're working to do to modernize their country. And President Bush wanted to return the favor and the hospitality and to have them here to have a conversation about cooperation in terms of trade and investment, but also talk about issues such as working together to cooperate in tracking down terrorists that aim to harm them and us. Read more Comment (0), Email this.

MS. PERINO: He's coming in tomorrow. I think you guys have that on the schedule. That will be something that -- the press covers the arrival and then he's staying the night. And so there will be meetings the next day and then I think they take off Friday. Read more Comment (0), Email this.

MS. PERINO: I don't think so, now that -- we're going to have a Camp David day. So maybe everybody can -- of course, subject to change, but I don't think so.

Go ahead. Read more Comment (0), Email this.

MS. PERINO: Who? You? Read more Comment (0), Email this.

MS. PERINO: I don't know. I think there's a lot of people sharpening their knives for a vacation day.

Go ahead in the back. Read more Comment (0), Email this.

MS. PERINO: You're talking about the State Department -- I'm sorry, state sponsor of terrorism list? Read more Comment (0), Email this.

MR. HEIN: Good afternoon. This is Jay Hein. Thank you for joining this call and for your interest in the conference. Tomorrow, Thursday, the 26th, and Friday, the 27th, the White House is convening over 1,000 policymakers and faith-based and community leaders, researchers and others who are interested in the initiative. The purpose of this national conference is to survey the landscape of the changes that have been made and the progress that's been achieved since the President launched the Faith-Based and Community Initiative during the second week of his first administration.

So it's a longstanding initiative. The initiative has evolved and expanded throughout the federal government -- the White House and in federal agencies, in policy reform and innovation. Thirty-five governors have implemented similar initiatives following the contours of the President's leadership. The initiative also has an international dimension.

The conference attendees will hear from the President of the United States and Cabinet officials on Thursday -- the federal government perspective. And on Friday, we'll hear from many of the leaders from the field themselves, as we focus on social entrepreneurship -- a concept that's very important to the President. And as we seek to help the helpers, these are the leaders in communities that we have served by changing policy to be more accommodating of new partnerships, and by training these leaders who provide community services with direct training, such as this conference will provide, because -- in addition to the plenary speakers, we will have workshops on all the areas of great human need that they're engaged in and serving and our federal programs administer. And we'll also hear from Senator Lieberman, who has been a great champion of this initiative on the Hill.

So what I'd like to do is just close there, by making brief comments on the front end so I can answer your questions. Read more Comment (0), Email this.

MS. PERINO: Look, I think that we are confident that we will rigorously verify this document. And just remember, we've been on the ground there for quite a while, and Chris Hill has been there. We have a lot of information to go on already. So I think that we have given ourselves the right amount of time to be able to tackle this problem in the best way possible. Read more Comment (0), Email this.

Q Hello. I wanted to see if you feel that there's any fair and comprehensive way of measuring the

MR. HEIN: Right. There's a couple of different ways to measure it and, if I understand the question correctly, are you talking about funds to faith-based and community groups, broadly speaking? Read more Comment (0), Email this.

MS. PERINO: Well, it wasn't quite full funding that the President had asked for, so in that regards, the President is not satisfied. And I think that everyone can look at the situation -- and bringing up obviously the one that Kathleen just mentioned, in terms of violence on the border -- this initiative, this Merida Initiative is specifically aimed at trying to deal with that problem, from the drug trade and the other violence that is happening along the border. So we're going to continue to work with Congress, and we would hope that in the emergency supplemental that we expect for them to be able to pass this week that they would include full funding and everything else. Read more Comment (0), Email this.

MR. HEIN: That's what I'm asking. Read more Comment (0), Email this.

MS. PERINO: I don't know. But what -- I don't know. Read more Comment (0), Email this.

MR. HEIN: Right, right, I understand. Well, that's why I wanted to clarify because there's distinctions between faith-based and secular, for example, and I can address that. But I think that the appropriate starting point is that this initiative is one of the most intentional efforts by any administration to understand what these partnerships look like in their current form, in addition to all the new strategies we're seeking to grow them.

So when we took office, there wasn't good data -- to your question -- about who was receiving the fund, and what the profile of these organizations was like, you know. As you're familiar, federal agencies operate programs in their own domain; within a federal department like HHS, there are multiple programs and those program officials run their operation.

Well, we took a look all across government to begin to collect data on which organizations were winning these grant competitions, and what type of organizations they were. And we were able to draw distinctive between faith-based and secular. We were able to see geographically where these organizations are located. And that, as a first attempt, has been useful just because it's created now a statistical landscape, with which we can better understand the state of play, and then to begin to ask important governing questions about how we might be able to improve. Read more Comment (0), Email this.

MS. PERINO: I think it would probably have been a good idea if they had. It would have been a good meeting. Read more Comment (0), Email this.

MR. HEIN: The data collection was first issued for the fiscal year 2003. And we have made that -- those reports publicly available, and we'd be pleased to send the latest report to you following this call, if you'd like. But I would say that at tomorrow's conference, we have the 2007 data that we'll be releasing. So that will be presented at the conference. But we do have the past several years' data available. As a matter of fact, the shortcut version is, we keep that information on our website: fbci.gov.

And we can help you, following this call, if you'd like, to navigate the site to find it. But all of the detail is present in those reports, and, as I said, we'll be releasing new results for fiscal year 2007 at the conference tomorrow. Read more Comment (0), Email this.

MS. PERINO: I'm not going to speculate on a meeting that I don't remember, that I don't know it happened. I just will say I don't know, but I think it would have been a good idea had there been a meeting. Read more Comment (0), Email this.

MR. HEIN: Yes, hello. Read more Comment (0), Email this.

MS. PERINO: We'll see. Read more Comment (0), Email this.

MR. HEIN: Well, this initiative was indeed an invention of the President. He created the White House Office and the centers at federal agencies, the executive order. And there has been a strong embrace and wide replication since he's launched this initiative. I did mention in my introductory comments that are 35 governors who have implemented their own initiatives -- that's 19 Democrat, 16 Republican governors. Matter of fact, 12 states have experienced gubernatorial transition since the Faith-Based and Community Initiative has been started in the states. And in every case, even when the parties changed hands in those states, the initiative has been maintained, which is, I think, a strong statement that this is not a political initiative; this is a programmatic governing initiative. And considering that the question about how governments can form stronger and more effective partnerships with their nonprofit sector, you're seeing that type of consensus forming that we need intentional strategies such as we'll be discussing over the next couple of days.

And I think that's led to both presidential candidates now speaking to the initiative at least at a high level -- Barack Obama at a CNN forum. Senator Obama made a specific statement about his interest in keeping the Faith-Based and Community Initiative, and as I understand it, Senator McCain has also made reference to the initiative. I think he's on record saying something in the order of this initiative being one of the more successful initiatives of the Bush administration, suggesting that he, too, might be interested in keeping it.

But I think the more fundamental point is that the Faith-Based and Community Initiative now is policy and practice. It's deeply embedded all across federal government, as we changed policy to create equal treatment for faith-based organizations. And as we've launched innovation, as will be profiled at the conference, that has created new strategies on addiction recovery and prisoner reentry, and addressing other human needs. You'll hear about the President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief, and how indigenous nonprofit partnerships are central to that strategy; that the Faith-Based and Community Initiative is now manifest and a new way of doing business across the federal government. And that will be a lasting achievement. It will also be an achievement that pays dividends regardless of the political calculus in 2009. Read more Comment (0), Email this.

MS. PERINO: I think that -- remember that there are phases. There's a phase one, two and three. This is just the, hopefully, becoming -- we're coming to the second phase here. And hopefully we will be able to move forward on something that we've been waiting for quite a while. So there's experts on the ground, weapons experts on the ground, nuclear experts on the ground, and everybody who has been there is a high-caliber, high-quality person who knows a lot about what they're doing. It's not like you and I going over to look at it. They actually know a little bit more about the substance of it. So I think that we have to have faith in not just our experts, but remember other experts from the countries of China, Japan, Russia and South Korea have been there, as well. So I think there's a lot of knowledge, and let's just wait and see what the North Koreans do, if they do it, and then we'll take it from there and hopefully provide you more information. Read more Comment (0), Email this.

MR. HEIN: Sure. It's actually an open invitation; it was broadly publicized. And this conference is actually part of a series. We hold approximately a half-dozen of these type conferences each year. We've held them all across the country over the past five years. A few of the conferences have been billed as national conferences, where we take a little higher profile. But other conferences held in states oftentimes are held in partnership with governors, and consider regional strategies and approaches.

But we advertise on our website and through our listserv and other contacts. And so it was an open invitation. And I think an interesting data point -- we have space in the ballroom for a little over a thousand people, we have a wait-list. I think we've had somewhere in the order of 1,600 or so that have registered, which I think is a remarkable statement about the continued and, indeed, growing interest in the initiative. Here we are, seven years later, we'll talk about a lot of the accomplishments of the initiative, the results, but there's a great appetite for, you know, for thinking new strategies through and forming new partnerships. And the attendance figures I think speak to that. Read more Comment (0), Email this.

MS. PERINO: That there will be some sort of communication. I'm working on it. Read more Comment (0), Email this.

MR. HEIN: Right, it's several-fold. The President's remarks will feature the progress that's been made. I just made reference to the fundamental way that the federal government does business differently now, and he'll describe that, the philosophy behind it. He'll chart the progress that's been made, the achievements and the results. And the members of his Cabinet that will be present and others who will speak will unpack those achievements, each in their own domain. For example, Secretary Chao will speak to prisoner reentry, and Ambassador Dybul will speak to the PEPFAR program.

So at once, the conference -- that looks back and gives meaning to the changes that have been made over the past seven years, but it's also a training conference, so a thousand or so social entrepreneurs will be in attendance. They'll be receiving direct training from all the federal agencies that administer this initiative on how to better provide after-school services, or housing -- affordable housing solutions for the poor, or employment services for the dislocated worker -- all the great human needs that the faith-based and community groups are engaged in in their communities. They'll receive direct training on it.

It will also be a platform for us to talk about some of the research that is forming to look at the Faith-Based and Community Initiative, and in particular, the programs that are administered by it. Read more Comment (0), Email this.

MS. PERINO: I'm working on it. I'm not exactly sure yet. But it could be that it's just a statement from me at first, and then we'll get you some more soon after that. But I don't want anyone to think that we're going to get up at 3:00 a.m. and do a statement in the Rose Garden. Read more Comment (0), Email this.