MS. PERINO: Good morning. A couple of announcements for you. This morning the President and Mrs. Bush celebrated the reopening of the National American History Museum and viewed a naturalization ceremony as part of the occasion. I know I'm glad that it's back in business because I have a lot of out of town guests that love to see it and I'm sure you do, too.

I want to point out to you today that at 12:30 p.m. this afternoon at the National Press Club, HUD Secretary Steve Preston will give an important speech on the latest steps the administration is taking to help keep families in their homes. There are a number of programs that we already have underway to help Americans avoid foreclosure. There's the FHASecure program, the HOPE NOW program. And then out of HUD we have also Hope for Homeowners, which was the new program created by Congress last summer.

In his speech today Secretary Preston will announce reforms to the Hope for Homeowners program. The reforms will help more distressed borrowers refinance into affordable government-backed mortgages. Specifically -- I'll give you just three of the changes, and then I'll refer you to his speech. One is to reduce program costs for lenders and borrowers. Two, help lenders qualify more borrowers for the program. And three, put more borrowers into sustainable mortgages with permanently lower monthly payments.

And then one fun announcement. Today we kick off the contest to name the 2008 National Thanksgiving Turkey. We have a couple of ideas, as I look out into the room. (Laughter.) The President will pardon the turkey during the annual ceremony, which will take place at the White House on November 26th. And we encourage everyone to log on to our website, whitehouse.gov, to vote for your favorite name for the National Thanksgiving Turkey. This year marks the 61st anniversary of that presentation.

And with that, I can take your questions. Deb. Read more Comment (0), Email this.

MS. PERINO: Well, our focus is on Plan A, and trying to get Plan A to work, which is to get this agreement done. I think that all we need to do is to have them -- have the reading, let the parliament debate, as you would in a democratic society, and then have a vote. We think they'll be able to do it later this week, or early next week. Read more Comment (0), Email this.

MS. PERINO: We think we're on a good trajectory right now. Read more Comment (0), Email this.

MS. PERINO: Members of Congress on the committees and those that have expressed an interest have been given briefings all along the way. We've had a concerted effort to make sure that they knew the pace of the negotiations, the status of the negotiations; and the content of the document. And we do have people up on the Hill today working to brief Congress more, and they'll also hear from the Secretary of State and Secretary of Defense as well. So I don't know exactly who else is getting the briefings and at what levels of classification they're getting them, but they have been briefed, and I'll just have to get back to you on specifics if I can. Read more Comment (0), Email this.

MS. PERINO: Well, Senator Reid appeared to foreshadow this morning that the Congress will fail to address this issue before they leave. And I'd like to just make a few points clear on that. One, there is legislation that's being introduced by Senators Bond and Voinovich that the administration supports. That proposal would redirect existing funds already appropriated for the auto industry, rather than spending an additional $25 billion on top of the $25 billion we already support using, as we've said over the last few days.

That proposal of theirs would not rob the Treasury program of much needed funds to help save and strengthen the financial system. The purpose of the $700 billion was clearly intended for financial institutions, and we wanted to keep that whole.

The Bond-Voinovich amendment would require that the auto manufacturers make the hard choices necessary to become financially viable. The Reid proposal does not. And we think that is a key difference. There's a difference between restructuring a loan for viability and just an out and out bailout. And we think that that is something that the American people would not want. We think that the American taxpayer dollars should go to firms that can prove long-term viability. And there's some hard decisions that they're going to have to make in order to get there.

We believe that the Bond-Voinovich amendment would have bipartisan support if Senator Reid would allow it to come to a vote. And we are extremely concerned that he may not even be willing to allow a vote on such a proposal. It's hard to imagine that the U.S. industry -- auto industry, in it's current condition, that Senator Reid would just go home and unilaterally decide that they don't need to have a vote on something that actually could be supported for manufacturers that have a plan to become financially viable.

Senator Reid said this morning that if the Senate fails to act, he would hope that Secretary Paulson would just go ahead and use the TARP money. There's no appetite for that, and Secretary Paulson discussed that yesterday with members of Congress.

If the Congress fails to act, the most logical interpretation would be that they don't agree than an additional $25 billion needs to be given to the auto industry. And therefore we would hope that they would look at this bipartisan solution of using the $25 billion that's already been agreed to, authorized, and appropriated, and is there for the taking.

We support the Bond-Voinovich amendment. What we are concerned about is that Congress could leave without acting on it. And if Congress leaves for a two month vacation without having addressed this important issue, and especially if the Senate leaves without Senator Reid even allowing a vote on this amendment, then the Congress will bear responsibility for anything that happens in the next couple of months during their long vacation. Read more Comment (0), Email this.

Q So you take issue then with what Reid said -- you were obviously quoting in there, but he says,

MS. PERINO: Look, I think if they don't act, what is clear is that they don't agree that there needs to be an additional $25 billion for the auto industry. And if he doesn't even allow a vote on it, it hardly seems that it would be our fault. Read more Comment (0), Email this.

MS. PERINO: I think you'd have to ask them. I don't think that they have indicated that they would come back. Now if Congress doesn't act on the proposal that the President can sign and a firm faces imminent failure, then we would expect that the Congress would want to come back. But they've certainly not said that they would. And I don't think that that would be necessary. We have a bipartisan solution that could be voted on if they would just allow a vote. And let's see how that goes. And if it doesn't pass, well, then we'd have even more clarity as to where everybody stands. Read more Comment (0), Email this.

MS. PERINO: I'll disagree and say that there is. The firms that we have invested in are ones that we think will hopefully make the taxpayers whole, or even make the taxpayers money in the long run. And there are executive compensation limits on the firms, and a whole list of things that they have to agree to. And part of it is that they have to pay back the taxpayers, and they have to pay them back first. And so that is one of the limits we've put on them.

I'm going to go to April and I'll come back to you. Read more Comment (0), Email this.

Q Dana, on the tape, what is the White House saying about the tape from al Qaeda's number two? And

MS. PERINO: I'd have to refer you to the intelligence community for that. I don't believe that we have any intelligence that suggests that he is not living. But let me address the tape. What we have here is more despicable and pathetic comments by al Qaeda terrorists. And in America, we are going to have a smooth transition from one administration to the next, and that will be a period of change in our country. What won't change is our commitment as a country to fighting terrorism. And I think that these comments just remind everybody of the kind of people that we're dealing with. Read more Comment (0), Email this.

MR. JOHNDROE: Good afternoon. We'll do a briefing on the President's trip to APEC and the meetings he has on the margins there. I'll start, and then Dan Price, Assistant to the President for International Economic Affairs, and sherpa for the APEC summit, as well as the summit last weekend here in Washington, will then run through the agenda for the summit itself.

So let me start with the President's schedule. Early Friday morning, the President will leave Washington and travel to Lima, Peru, for the APEC summit. He arrives mid-afternoon. Later on Friday, he will meet with the President of the People's Republic of China. The President's meeting with President Hu Jintao offers an opportunity to review U.S.-China relations on the eve of the 30th anniversary of diplomatic relations, which will be in January.

President Bush has built a relationship with the Chinese leader that is cooperative, candid, and constructive, as evidenced by the positive role China played at the G20 meeting last weekend here in Washington. They will discuss, of course, the international financial situation, as well as our desire to have a successful conclusion of the Doha Round this year.

The President appreciates China's leadership on the North Korea denuclearization issue, and they will discuss the importance of an early six-party talks heads of delegation meeting to reach final agreement on North Korean verification. They will also likely discuss a number of global issues, including Iran, Burma, Zimbabwe, Sudan.

And as the President has always done in all of his meetings with Chinese leaders, the President will discuss issues of human rights and religious freedom, including the ongoing dialogue between Beijing and the Dalai Lama.

On Saturday morning, the President will go to the Ministry of Defense Convention Center, where he will deliver remarks to the APEC CEO Summit. Following those remarks, the President will return to his hotel. He will have bilateral meetings with both the President of the Republic of Korea, as well as with the Prime Minister of Japan.

These meetings are an opportunity to underscore the strength of our alliances in Northeast Asia that are fundamental to our Asian security posture, and to peace and stability in the region. The President will express appreciation for the highly constructive roles both nations continue to play in the six-party talks, and will discuss with them ways to move that process forward.

The President will also use both of these meetings as an opportunity to thank these two leaders for the positive role that both Japan and South Korea have played in Iraq and Afghanistan, and to discuss the way ahead on global counterterrorism efforts, as well. He'll have a chance to review the progress made at the recent G20 meeting here in Washington, and those discussions will also include the importance of trade. And they will discuss regional security and talk about regional architecture for Northeast Asia and for the Asia Pacific region as a whole.

Then in between the two bilaterals, all three leaders will meet together in a trilateral. I expect the focus of that meeting will be North Korea.

Moving on to Saturday afternoon, the President will then attend the APEC Leaders Retreat I at the Convention Center. After that, he will attend the Leaders Dialogue with the APEC Business Advisory Council -- ABAC -- something he's done I believe at all of the APECs he's attended. Later that evening, the President and Mrs. Bush will attend the gala dinner, also at the Convention Center.

On Sunday morning, the President will meet with the President of Peru. It will be an opportunity for the two Presidents to reaffirm the U.S.-Peru relationship, which is the strongest it has been in years. Both leaders share a vision of governing based on the importance of democracy, economic openness, the fight against extremism and intolerance, and they are both committed to extending the benefits of democracy to all segments of society.

The two can be expected to discuss efforts to meet the goal of bringing the U.S.-Peru FTA into force by the end of the year. The President will likely share with President Garcia his views on the recent summit that took place here in Washington. And I expect the two leaders to discuss Latin American regional issues, including ways to extend the commitment of democratic government and open markets throughout the hemisphere.

Following that -- we're now into mid-Sunday morning -- the President will attend APEC Leaders Retreat II, and then participate in the much anticipated APEC official photograph at the Ministry of Defense Convention Center, then participate in the APEC Final Declaration Ceremony, also at the Convention Center.

Let me just say that although there's not a firm time yet, it's very likely that President Bush will meet with the President of the Russian Federation, Dmitry Medvedev. I expect they will discuss the ongoing situation in Georgia, the global financial situation, as a follow-up to the Washington summit that President Medvedev attended, as well as missile defense and other strategic issues.

The President and Mrs. Bush will return to Washington on Sunday evening somewhat late.

Let me note something on Mrs. Bush's travel. Tomorrow, Thursday, Mrs. Bush will travel to Panama City, Panama. The primary purpose of her visit is to announce the U.S.-Panama Partnership for Breast Cancer Awareness and Research. She will note -- let me see -- I note that Mrs. Bush has previously traveled to the Middle East and Mexico to announce similar partnerships.

On Friday, she travels to Pisco, Peru. Pisco is one of the towns hardest hit in the August 2007 earthquake that struck Peru's central coast. There she will tour the San Clemente Health Center and participate in a tour of a adobe housing reconstruction project. She will meet up with the President in Lima on Friday afternoon.

With that, let me turn it over to Dan and then we will both be available to answer questions. MR. PRICE: Thank you, Gordon. Good afternoon, everyone. I wanted to go over the principal priorities of the United States heading into APEC, and how we see the discussions likely to evolve.

Essentially we have six priorities, which I will enumerate and then go back and explain each one. The first is advancing the work begun here in Washington at the G20 leaders meeting on financial markets reform and the global economy. The second is deepening regional economic integration. The third is enhancing competitiveness of the APEC region. The fourth is addressing a range of human security needs that cover the ground from food and commodity issues to counterterrorism, to disaster response. And the last is energy security and climate change. Read more Comment (0), Email this.

Q A follow-up. Does this make it clear that it's not necessarily about race, it's about the presidency

MS. PERINO: I think that the comments that al Qaeda makes are totally irrational. They attack everything and anything that is American. And so they just look for targets of opportunity, both verbally and physically, and that's why we have to stop them.

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

MR. PRICE: You're right, that is five. (Laughter.) I miscounted in my head. Thank you. Let's start at the top with financial markets reform and the global economy.

As you may know, nine of the 21 APEC members were at the G20 leaders meeting here in Washington. We will, together with our colleagues, be working to expand support among APEC members for the declaration adopted here in Washington. So we will be seeking to broaden out the support among the APEC membership for continued efforts to stabilize the financial system and restore economic growth; for the common principles for reform identified in the Washington declaration; for the commitment to free market principles, including the rule of law, open trade, and investment, and competitive economies that will be vital to ensuring the successful implementation of the reforms being pursued; and finally, a rejection of protectionism and a commitment to refrain for a 12-month period from raising new barriers to trade and investment.

Finally in this area we will be seeking to broaden support among APEC's membership for concluding this year an agreement on modalities -- that is the fundamental framework relating to industrial and agricultural goods -- so that we can lay the groundwork for the eventual completion of a Doha Round that actually increases trade flows in agriculture, industrial goods, and services.

On the second priority, that is deepening regional economic integration, it is important that we bear in mind that the APEC economies together account for 55 percent of world GDP, nearly half of all world trade, and 41 percent of the world's population. The Asia Pacific is a vital and growing economic partner for the United States. U.S. goods trade with APEC economies grew from $1.2 trillion in 2001 to nearly $2 trillion in 2007. So trade with APEC economies today constitutes nearly two-thirds of all U.S. goods trade.

The United States would like to build on this growing relationship by taking concrete steps that help move us to the long-term goal of a free trade area of the Asia Pacific. APEC has completed 14 sets of so-called model measures corresponding to chapters in a free trade agreement, and these model measures would, if implemented in regional FTAs, promote high-quality agreements. And we have made significant progress on some of the remaining chapters.

This year also, APEC concluded a study of the commonalities and differences among the 30 FTAs, the 30 free trade agreements between and among APEC economies that will hopefully provide a road map going forward, and APEC agreed to launch an investment facilitation action plan to improve investment climates in APEC member countries, and increase investment flows within the region.

For our part, the United States will be explaining to our APEC partners the U.S. decision to join the negotiations of what is called the Trans-Pacific Strategic Economic Partnership -- or TPP. This is with Singapore, Chile, New Zealand, and Brunei. The TPP is a very high standard free trade agreement and it could provide a foundation for achieving this long-term goal of a free trade area of the Pacific.*

From the U.S. perspective, TPP will help ensure that U.S. exporters are able to benefit from a broader regional agreement that allows them to compete against exporters that are presently able to take advantage of this array of preferential trade agreements in the region that do not include the United States.

It's important to note that in 1980, there were 22 agreements involving Asia Pacific countries or economies. In 2008, there are 152 agreements in force; 21 are completed and awaiting implementation, and 72 are being negotiated. I realize that's a lot of numbers. The important takeaway is that it is critical for the United States to help lead the development of an inclusive regional economic architecture in the Asia Pacific because some of those efforts, indeed many of the efforts that I've just described within those vast numbers, are focused on Asia-first, or Asia-only agreements.

Since the United States announced its decision to participate in TPP in September of this year, a number of additional countries have expressed interest in potentially participating. These include Australia, Peru, and Vietnam. We will be consulting with stakeholders and with Congress as these countries move along their decision-making path as to whether they wish to participate.

The third element was enhancing competitiveness of the APEC region. There are a number of initiatives underway there. I just want to highlight two here. Those of you who will be going on the trip, you'll hear about more at the briefings at the end of each day. The two that I wish to highlight now are the actions taken by APEC members to reduce trade-related transaction costs -- that is the cost of moving goods across borders and clearing them through customs. Between 2001 and 2006, APEC reduced those transaction costs in the region by 5 percent. We collectively have pledged to reduce those costs by an additional 5 percent by 2010.

The second issue under competitiveness, the U.S. and APEC are working very closely together to bridge the digital divide. This year, APEC telecom ministers pledged to achieve universal broadband access in the region by 2015. In addition, APEC will focus on the development of regulatory frameworks to promote telecom market competition and liberalization.

The next priority -- this is addressing human security needs. And here we will expand participation in APEC's food defense pilot program, which helps to prevent and prepare for and respond to threats to the food supply. And Peru has announced that it will be the first participant. We will also be, and have endorsed the launch -- that is, "we," APEC, have endorsed the launch of something called the Partnership Training Institute Network, to strengthen food safety training. It will include experts from industry, government, and academia. Our FDA and the University of Maryland will serve on the steering group to develop a pilot program for 2009.

Finally, in the area of energy security and climate change, we hope that APEC will continue its important work in supporting the negotiations under the U.N. Framework Convention and continue supporting the work of the major economies process. We expect a discussion by the APEC members on the need to meet energy needs through enhancing the functioning of energy markets that promote trade in energy goods and services, as well as foster an improved investment climate for the development of energy resources. And, as last year, we can expect continued discussion and work on the area of efficiency.

Finally, I would note that the U.S. will be hosting APEC in 2011. Singapore is hosting APEC next year, 2009; Japan in 2010; and the United States in 2011.

Why don't I stop there and open it up for questions. Read more Comment (0), Email this.

MS. PERINO: Well, the decision of whether or not to use the additional funds -- he asked for the first $350 billion of the total $700 billion; I want to make sure people don't think we're asking -- we're not asking for an additional $350 billion. He used the first -- not quite, hasn't used all of the $350 billion to start with.

And the decision whether to use the additional funds will be made by Secretary Paulson and we would have to ask Congress to be able to use that. And he's continuing to work and design and develop programs to be able to help strengthen and make safe the financial system. We're starting to make some headway in that, but if he doesn't think that he needs the additional $350 billion right now, then I think the prudent thing to do is not to ask for it. Read more Comment (0), Email this.

(Telephone rings.)
seen at 09:00, 19 November in Whitehouse Press Briefings.

MR. JOHNDROE: They're calling to sign on now. (Laughter.) Read more Comment (0), Email this.

Q Any reaction to Senator Inhofe's piece of legislation basically suggesting freezing what is left

MS. PERINO: Well, I think that there is already a process in place that was passed into law when we first got the rescue package that required a notification and a request of Congress for the second $350 billion. And when I say he hasn't used all of the first $350 billion, I think it's close, I think there's only, like, $50 billion or $60 billion more.

So I haven't seen Senator Inhofe's specific proposal -- and we understand that we are accountable to the Congress and that's why Secretary Paulson and Fed Chairman Bernanke spent hours up on Capitol Hill yesterday, and they'll continue to work with Congress as we go through this.

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

MR. PRICE: I don't want to prejudge what it is they will do. I will say that certainly one of our priorities, and I believe this would be a priority of the other eight countries who are here who are part of APEC, we would seek to broaden the support for that declaration by having it endorsed by the other members of APEC. Read more Comment (0), Email this.

MS. PERINO: Well, we always want to see more and we want to see -- we want to see more improvement. But that's what Secretary Paulson wants to see, as well, and he gets up every day, hardly sleeps, working to make sure that the investments that we're making will help solve the problem and get credit moving again -- which we're starting to see; help stabilize and strengthen the markets, which we're starting to see. But it's going to take a while for all of this to shake out. The economy suffered a tremendous shock.

And so we know that the Secretary of the Treasury and many other people across the administration are working on this day in and day out and we're satisfied that they're giving it their all. We just know that, unfortunately, we're going to have to ask the American people for a little bit of patience as we put these monies to work on their behalf. It's just going to take a while. Read more Comment (0), Email this.

MR. JOHNDROE: At some point between arrival and departure I expect the two leaders will meet. Read more Comment (0), Email this.

MS. PERINO: The President has been briefed about it, and ensuring the safety and well being of the crew is of paramount importance in preventing or dealing with issues of piracy. We're working with other members of the Security Council right now to see if there are actions that we can do to more effectively fight against piracy and prevent it.

It's a very complicated issue. There's a lot of international laws that factor into these efforts. One of the things that's clear is that piracy is something that is affecting a lot more -- many more waters than any of us would have known about. I mean, if you look at some of the charts that have come out, that piracy is not something that just happened back in the 1500s. This has been going on for a while. The problem is now that it's much more dangerous and they have a lot more weapons that they're using. And the goal would be to try to help get this ship to safety, secure the crew, and then work with our international partners to try to alleviate the piracy problem full stop. Read more Comment (0), Email this.

Q And what -- how would you -- could you take the temperature of U.S.-Russia relations right now?

MR. JOHNDROE: Well, you know, I think we had a good declaration coming out of Sochi earlier this year, and -- but we clearly disagree with Russian behavior when it comes to what took place in Georgia. And we also have, obviously, a different position when it comes to missile defense. And I think any discussions that President Bush has, or that any American officials have with Russian officials, makes it clear that missile defense is designed to protect all of us -- Russia, the United States, Europe -- from missile launches from rogue states.

And so there's a few areas where we have some disagreements. Overall, I think everyone agrees that a strong and good U.S.-Russia relationship is in everyone's interest. But we have some issues that we're going to need to work through. Read more Comment (0), Email this.

MS. PERINO: I'm going to go to Ann. Read more Comment (0), Email this.

MR. JOHNDROE: No, scheduling issue at this point. Read more Comment (0), Email this.

MS. PERINO: We never discuss pardons and the process. Of course, anybody who is eligible to request a pardon can do so, and they are given due consideration at the Justice Department, at the Office of the Pardon Attorney. I can't tell you when the President would be issuing pardons; I expect that there would be some. I don't expect them in the last day, though.

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

Q The first priority that you -- among the subjects to be discussed that you mentioned was Georgia

MR. JOHNDROE: Andre, I don't necessarily agree with your statement. There are a number of reports out there. It's clearly an issue where both sides had -- took some unnecessary steps on the ground in those days. We need to work through those issues. But right now what we support is getting more EU monitors in there and continue to support the territorial integrity of Georgia.

And so I just disagree. I don't think that people are moving to a different position on it. Read more Comment (0), Email this.

MS. PERINO: I don't. Hopefully, several hundred thousand more. But Secretary Preston will be able to tell you more when he does his speech here in about 20 minutes. Read more Comment (0), Email this.

Q Two questions. What, besides the G20 -- getting more people to sign on, I want to know what is

MR. PRICE: Let me take the first one first. As you look through that Washington declaration, I think it becomes pretty clear why it's important to have that broadly shared. One, there is a commitment to reform of financial markets -- not just our own, but the reform of financial markets of all those who have subscribed to that declaration. So I think the -- Read more Comment (0), Email this.

MS. PERINO: I can barely hear you, Paula. Read more Comment (0), Email this.

MR. PRICE: Yes. You say that in kind of a way that kind of trivializes it. It's actually -- I don't know if that -- Read more Comment (0), Email this.

MS. PERINO: We take -- I think that circumstances are different for lots of different homeowners, and that's one of the reasons that this problem is hard to solve. There's not a one-size-fits-all solution when it comes to helping homeowners keep their homes. And so we're taking all of that into consideration.

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

MR. PRICE: It's actually a pretty big deal to have -- Read more Comment (0), Email this.

Q Yes, sorry, Dana, back to the Iraq agreement again that the Hill is being briefed on. Can you

MS. PERINO: You remember back in the debate when we were talking about arbitrary dates for withdrawal, that was when there were some members of Congress just suggesting that we get our troops out of Iraq, win or lose, without any sort of planning or thinking about the conditions on the ground. What we've seen since then is that as a result of the surge, we've been able to have tremendous successes on the security front, both because of the bravery of our soldiers and the work that they've done, and also the provincial reconstruction teams that are peopled by people from the State Department and USDA and other places to try to help on the political and diplomatic side of the equation, as well.

This is a mutually agreed to agreement. And that is one of the things that is different about an arbitrary date for withdrawal, when you want -- when you say you're going to leave, win or lose. We believe that the conditions are such now that we are able to celebrate the victory that we've had so far, and establish both a strategic framework agreement, which is a much broader document and talks about all sorts of cooperation that we'll have with Iraq from here on out -- from trade and health care and exchanges on science, and a real strong bilateral agreement that you would hope we would have with any of our allies.

These documents usually take years to negotiate. We've been able to compress that and do it within the year so that we can look at the conditions on the ground, work with the joint command and with the Iraqis at the plans that they have. And some of the dates that are identified in the document follow the joint command plan. So we are able to consider now having a date that we could have our troops come home. And the details of all of this will be finalized hopefully soon, and then hopefully you'll hear from the President, as well. Read more Comment (0), Email this.

MR. PRICE: -- the 20, and then the remaining 12 APEC members subscribe to those principles that, one, recognize that it is only through adherence to core free market principles that we will be able to bring about the needed reform to the financial system, as well as restore global economic growth; to have these additional countries also, themselves, rejecting protectionism, rejecting any impulse to turn inwards, agreeing not to erect trade barriers and, as well, committing themselves to the completion of a modalities agreement; and finally, to participating in the reform of international financial institutions.

I would say that is very significant because the G20 represents a certain global consensus. As that consensus broadens out, as other members of the global community -- significant members represented by the non-G20 members of APEC -- subscribe to those same principles, it gives them more power and I think underscores the likelihood and enhances the likelihood that we will all succeed in accomplishing those shared goals.

And your second question? Read more Comment (0), Email this.

MS. PERINO: Well, look, this is a mutually agreed to agreement. This is two sovereign countries, having worked for over a year on negotiations, coming together, recognizing what the conditions on the ground are, what their capabilities are, their competence, their confidence has increased tremendously. And so that's why we're able to work on a date. Now, remember, this is also a negotiation and in a -- you don't start at the final point. We asked for some things that we didn't get, they asked for some things that they didn't get. And we met them somewhere right in the middle. Read more Comment (0), Email this.

MR. PRICE: That is one of the top priorities. I would say the other top priority is enhancing regional economic integration. Read more Comment (0), Email this.

MS. PERINO: Absolutely not. And both the next President and the Iraqis can consider the conditions on the ground and think about making changes to this either way. Hopefully we'll be in a situation where we can actually speed up even more than we already are bringing our troops home. Remember, we had 20 brigades in Iraq; we're going to get down to 14. That's sooner than we thought we would be able to bring all of those troops home, and hopefully we'll be able to bring more home sooner based on the conditions.

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

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

Q Thank you, Dana. Two questions. The new Capitol Visitors Center was supposed to have cost $265

MS. PERINO: Well, obviously it wouldn't be -- we would have preferred for all projects to come in on time and under budget. That's not always possible. And I think that the American people will benefit from having a visitors center. And we'll all get to take our guests not only to the American History Museum but to the Capitol, as well. Read more Comment (0), Email this.

Q Can you talk a little more broadly about the concerns that you expect to hear from particularly

MR. PRICE: I don't know that I would call it concern about "unraveling" the relationship. Rather I think the concerns fall into a couple of different categories.

The first is, as I've said, there is a concern that we've heard expressed about nations turning inward, of focusing solely on themselves and taking steps that are disintegrative, if I can use that -- putting up trade barriers. So I think it's going to be important to these countries to reinforce the message of free trade, of global integration. I think that would be a principal concern that we can expect to hear.

The second is the potential drying up of trade finance. And here, as you'll recall in the declaration signed at the summit over the weekend, there was an acknowledgment of the importance of ensuring adequate resources for trade finance. I think there will also be a more generalized concern about resources for developing countries, which really has two parts: One, ensuring that the IMF, the World Bank, and other multilateral development banks are adequately resourced to assist developing countries get through this crisis, number one. And the second is a concern that nations that have made commitments on bilateral aid will fall down on those commitments, and as you heard our President at both the development summit and the recent summit, underscoring the importance of countries meeting their promises.

And if I could point out one other thing, John. In the declaration that was just adopted this past weekend, there was a very interesting development because that declaration not only called on countries who have made commitments to honor those commitments, it called upon both developed and developing countries to make aid commitments consistent with their capacities and role in the global economy. And I think that was an important acknowledgment that development assistance is no longer the purview of a handful of developed nations alone, but a shared responsibility of the major economies, as well. Read more Comment (0), Email this.

Q Does the President believe or reject the contention that the First Amendment grants the 33-year

MS. PERINO: Les, I really don't understand why you ask me these questions at the briefing. It's kind of a waste of your time, and it's a waste of everybody else's time. And it's really a waste of my time. Read more Comment (0), Email this.

Q How much of this is a farewell for President Bush on the world stage? Do we expect any kind of

MR. PRICE: Let me take that in pieces. This is a serious meeting; it is not a farewell. I'm often asked the question -- I was asked this before the G8, I was asked this question before this most recent summit: Is this going to be a real meeting -- lame duck, low approval ratings. I think that completely misses the point.

This President has long advocated a core number of principles and policies that have now attracted broad support in the global community. And these principles and policies have their own gravitational pull. They include the power of free trade and free markets to better the lives of people and create economic opportunity. They include the obligation of those countries who are blessed with the means to do so to help the poor and the vulnerable and the sick, and stressing as well the importance of countries honoring their commitments. And finally, they include helping promote transparent, accountable, stable democracies based on the rule of law and responsive to the needs of their people.

And the President's fidelity to these principles and their power to command international support doesn't depend on poll numbers and doesn't vary with the election cycle. This President has advocated these concerns -- open markets, accountability, addressing poverty and disease -- at G8 meetings, at APEC meetings, and at the recent Washington summit. And in each setting, the President has garnered the support of other leaders.

So I don't think this is a farewell in the sense as I understood the question, but rather an opportunity for the President to continue to carry forward an affirmative agenda.

Do I expect other leaders to take note of the fact that this is his last APEC? Yes. Indeed, a number of leaders at the meeting over the weekend who aren't going to APEC noted that and, indeed, thanked the President for his leadership. And at one point there was, in fact, sustained applause for the President's leadership, following remarks by Prime Minister Brown. Read more Comment (0), Email this.

MS. PERINO: I missed it. Read more Comment (0), Email this.

Q My next question of the general financial economic crisis -- not only in the U.S., around the world

MR. PRICE: I understand the question. I'm not aware of any such talks, or talks on any other specific sector. Rather the talks have focused on ensuring continued economic growth and restoring global prosperity. Read more Comment (0), Email this.

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

Q Thank you, sir. Two questions, one for you and one for Gordon. Sir, could you tell us your sense

MR. PRICE: You know, I'm not going to assign percentages to your question. I will say this, however -- if the leaders of APEC and the leaders of the non-APEC members of the G20 follow through on their avowed declaration, then we can do it. And this has a couple of parts. It's not just the expression of political will to do it; it is the recognition that the very countries with the most at stake in the trading system are around the APEC table and were around the table at the Washington summit. If those countries together say they want to do it and are willing, as the declaration says, to make the positive contributions necessary, then we can get it done.

Concluding a modalities agreement is not the work or the responsibility of any single nation. It will require those with the greatest stake in the global trading system to make some hard choices and to take it over the finish line. MR. JOHNDROE: I think the President will repeat what he has often said to the Chinese leadership with regarding the Dalai Lama. One, the Dalai Lama is a man of peace. He is not seeking independence for Tibet. And the President will continue to encourage Beijing to reach out to the Dalai Lama, to the Dalai Lama's team, and to continue the dialogue that they have been engaged in.

I'm sorry, back behind you, Andre. Read more Comment (0), Email this.

Q Ms. Perino, FYROM, before yesterday, addressed the main issue to -- (inaudible) -- against Greece

MS. PERINO: We've been disappointed with the pace of progress on getting Macedonia into NATO. We think that they deserve it, and we're going to continue to work on it. Read more Comment (0), Email this.