Return to Transcripts main page
CNN Newsroom
President George W. Bush Makes Statement on the Economy
Aired April 29, 2008 - 10:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ED FANCHER, TORNADO SURVIVOR: The wind was tearing up the flooring and everything, the metal structures. And we just stayed down squat. Asked God to let us live. I wanted my son not to be hurt. That's all I cared about. And he must have heard me because my son is home and he walked away from it, both of us did. And then when we came outside I couldn't believe what I saw. Couldn't believe we had survived it.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
TONY HARRIS, CNN ANCHOR: Virginia's governor has declared a state of emergency and plans to see the hardest hit areas today. That could take some time. CNN meteorologist Rob Marciano is on the scene there in Suffolk this morning. Rob, we normally say boy, it looked bad on television but that's nothing compared to what it looked like when you are on the ground and you see it with your own two eyes. Can I tell you something? This looks horrible on television.
ROB MARCIANO, CNN, METEOROLOGIST: It is horrible, Tony. I just got off the phone with one of the officials here with the city of Suffolk. They are about to have a news conference. We will get some updated information for you. But they are downsizing the number of people that actually hit the hospitals. It's probably about half of what we had been reporting. Three of which with this particular tornado have been admitted. And that's staggering to me. Because we have been talking all morning nobody -- there as of yet no fatalities reported. But when you look at what has happened behind me - I mean, this is just - there were people here. This was happening at 4:30, 5:00 in the afternoon. Shopping mall, strip mall. Women, people getting their nails done. Army, marine and navy recruiting offices there talking to prospective soldiers and sailors.
All sorts of other businesses. Just a few injuries. Nobody killed in this particular area. And then other spots that seemingly had no damage at all. But the scene that we continue to see are these cars that are pulverized, with their windshields pulverized or just flipped upside down or piled on top of each other. One of three tornadoes that ripped across this area yesterday afternoon, this one is certainly being the strongest. National Weather Service is going to be out here shortly if they are not already. Checking out the damage and doing a survey to see how strong this was.
Likely had winds of over 120 miles an hour. This is going to be rated at least an EF-2, if not an EF-3, possibly stronger in spots. Tough to say because we haven't seen the whole path. It ziged and zaged its way 25 miles across the southeastern corner of this state, just over 12 hours ago. This is hurricane country. Tony and Betty. They are used to getting two and three days' notice to take cover. And they are not used to certainly seeing something like this. The mayor this morning saying the fact that they have -- with all these destruction, the fact they had limited injuries and as of this point no fatalities they are absolutely blessed. And if there is anything to be happy about is that fact right there. More information throughout the morning as we get.
HARRIS: Yes. I certainly understand and share your amazement that there are no fatalities that we are talking about today when you consider the time of day, remind everyone of the time of day these tornadoes struck.
MARCIANO: 4:30, 5:00. There were three. One came at 1:00 about 60 miles northwest of here. Another one came at 3:00 or so, 60 miles northwest of here. And then this one came, dropped down shortly after 4:00 and then ripped across this area. Moving at 45 miles an hour, I should say. Right around 4:30, 5:00. So, you can imagine the activity in this area.
HARRIS: Sure.
MARCIANO: People have been coming back and checking things out. I talked to one gentleman who came back to see -- his mother was checked into the hospital briefly. She was getting her nails done. He came back. He was climbing underneath the car that flipped over, just getting some of her belongings to take home with him. So, a real site considering the limited loss of life.
HARRIS: Well, for sure.
MARCIANO: Mind-boggling. When you see something like this, it is humbling to see the power of mother nature and then it's also, it's mind-boggling to see the limited loss of life. I tell you.
HARRIS: can't wait for that update at the news conference. I suppose it is about to begin here shortly. We will of course, I believe we have signals and we can bring it in. We will, of course, do that. Rob, vivid, vivid - I think I sent you a note. Vivid reporting this morning. Appreciate it. Thank you.
NGUYEN: Well, soaring gas prices, food costs, Americans losing their homes. This hour, President Bush addresses those economic worries at a news conference. So, let's take you live now to CNN's Kathleen Koch at the White House. Kathleen, do set the stage for us as we wait for the President to speak.
KATHLEEN KOCH, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Betty, I think you set the stage pretty well there yourself but with those sorts of things going on, against so many Americans losing their homes. The gas prices, as far as the President really does believe, now is the time to come forward and address Americans, economic anxieties. We are told that the remarks will last about eight minutes.
Press Secretary Dana Perino says the President, among other things, will be calling on Congress to send him what she calls sensible and effective bills that will not only help struggling Americans but also keep the country moving forward. Now, some of the specifics that Perino laid out, he will ask for a legislation to help more families stay in their homes. Mr. Bush will also ask for energy, new energy bill to help clear obstacles to affordable, reliable energy supply. The President will also be calling on Congress to reform farm programs and he will also be asking Congress to give the federal government the power to buy federal student loans.
Now, we will certainly be hearing therefore a lot of questions on the economy. The administration continues to insist this economy is not in a recession. They prefer to refer to it as a slowdown. You will hear questions along those lines. Also, the first payment in the President's economic stimulus package began going out yesterday. There's concern will Americans spend them or will they save them, using to pay for high gas bills that they are getting at the pump. So, lots of interesting questions today, Betty.
NGUYEN: We will be watching. Kathleen Koch at the White House. Thank you, Kathleen. And again, President Bush's news conference now less than 30 minutes away. CNN will have live coverage at 10:30 Eastern.
HARRIS: Another interest rate cut in the works. The Federal Reserve is meeting today and tomorrow. Analysts expect a quarter point cut in the key interest rate, dropping it to 2%. It would be the latest in the long string of cuts aimed at pumping up the economy. Expect a decision tomorrow.
Gas prices are up yet again. Another all-time high. The national average for regular is up about a half cent today. More than $3.60 a gallon according to AAA. Diesel will cost you $4.24 a gallon off the charts there. Paying for that gas, according to a new survey, it's the biggest economic worry facing most families. That answer was cited the across income levels, 44 percent of people surveyed by the Kaiser Family Foundation says paying for gas was a serious problem. 29 percent or more are worried about getting a good paying job or a raise. 28 percent listed health care and health insurance costs as their top concern.
NGUYEN: Well, Hillary Clinton gets an endorsement. John McCain outlining a major health care plan any minute now. It's another busy day on the campaign trail. CNN's Dan Lothian is following the democrats from the "Election Express" in Indianapolis. And CNN's Dana Bash is with the McCain campaign in Tampa, Florida. I'm going to ask you two to hold on for just a minute because I'm being told that we want to take you straight to Suffolk, Virginia, where a news conference is underway into those tornadoes that ripped through that area yesterday.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: And then vice president of patient care services for Sentara Obici, Phyllis Stoneburner. Let's start with Mayor Johnston.
MAYOR LINDA JOHNSTON, SUFFOLK: Thank you. Good morning again. It has been a long morning. But things do continue and they continue to improve. So, that is our good news.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Can you speak up a little bit.
JOHNSTON: Sure. I want to start, first of all, by giving a list of thank yous. Because I'm going to tell you, the support that we have received has just been phenomenal. First of all, to our own Suffolk police and fire, we just couldn't do anything without them. We are eternally grateful. We also have with us here the Virginia State Police, the Virginia Department of Transportation, the Chesapeake Public Safety, Norfolk Public Safety, Virginia Beach Public Safety, Hampton Public Safety, James City County Public Safety, Portsmouth sheriffs. (Olivewhite)ph Sheriff's Department, FBI agent, the National Guard. We have navy, marines, Portsmouth Fire Department has just extended tremendously. Virginia Game and Conservation Board is here as well as the ABC board and commissioners are here with us as well.
We have continued every hour to get more and more people and offers coming in. Our businesses have done so much to continue. I want to mention the specific Wal-mart, (Chick fillet)ph, Deere Park who last night showed with a truck full of water. It just continues to flow in. But the feeling of support here is unbelievable. We have with us Congressman Forbes this morning. Thank you so much for coming out with us. Delegate Jones, I believe, is here. He spent most of the evening over at the shelter with me and he was just unbelievable.
So the public schools, can't say enough for them. In just a matter of a little time, they were able to produced 150 dinners and continue to do that. Whatever is called upon them. So, I just want to say that this community is pulling together with all of the other communities support. We couldn't do it alone and we know that. So, we just thank everyone. We are going to give you some updates now on where we are and we will continue to do that throughout the day. And as you know the governor will be with us at 3:00 this afternoon. So thank you so much. And I will move forward to the next speaker.
CHIEF WILLIAM FREEMAN, SUFFOLK, VIRGINIA POLICE: Good morning. Some positive things have happened. Obviously, we have had our search teams and dogs in the immediate area behind us. The Burnett Mill subdivision. Burnett's Way. We have been very successful in there. And thus far have been very positive outcomes. So that's great news. Currently, we have our inspectors following the search teams that are looking at damage and trying to calculate the amount of damage and how many structures are involved. Those reports have not come in yet. SO I don't have that information for you yet at this time. But we will provide it just as soon as we can get it. As soon we hope -- very soon that the team -- the teams will finish in this area and they will move over to Hill point and start search and rescue activities over there.
We have Sadler Heights subdivision which was also affected. We have crews in there currently. And that are going through that neighborhood as well. And the driver community as well. So some very positive outcomes this morning have occurred and we were very helpful of that and hopefully it will continue throughout the day and by the end of the day, all of our search efforts hopefully will, again, provide us a positive outcome. We are still coordinating with Virginia Dominion Power, with the natural gas company, Virginia Natural Gas. We do still have some gas leaks in the area affected right now, Bernice Way. It would have to get those under control before our search teams can continue in some of that area. But for the most part, again, they have successfully been through that area. Any questions?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: What do you mean by positive?
FREEMAN: That they are not finding anything that -- any other injuries. Most importantly, no fatalities so far.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: (Inaudible)
FREEMAN: We had a very successful search last night. We went through the area at least three times. Back to back. So, that has proved to work been very successful. The team today, again, with the dogs has not located anything that -- just torn up lumber and torn up houses. That's what we are hoping for.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: There's nobody -- you don't think anybody is trapped at this point.
FREEMAN: Nothing has been reported. So, in can't. We are still hopeful but nothing has been reported from the teams.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We are going to bring up out city manager now. Save our questions to the end.
SELENA CUFFEE-GLENN, SUFFOLK CITY MANAGER: Thank you. Good morning. Once again, thank you for taking the time to be with us today. Once again, just to reiterate what the mayor said, we're so thankful for our partners throughout the region, throughout the state. Our federal partners. Just to reemphasize the importance of our assessment teams getting into the community. We are certainly asking the public to be patient with us. But it is necessary that we go house by house, parcel by parcel, and inspect every site to make certain that the properties that are unsafe are treated appropriately. And those properties that are still safe and secure, that we could certainly convey to the property owners when it will be fit or appropriate for them to re-enter into the community. So, we are still asking the public be patient with us. Our deployment of the assessment teams are in the communities as we speak. And we look forward to certainly bringing you more updates. But it is so important that we get into these neighborhoods and we do our assessment from what you have seen on television and what you have heard certainly you understand the decimation that has occurred. So, it is important that we secure those properties that we can. So the teams are in place for those of you who may want to call out in the public emergency operation center, let me give you that number once again, 514-7587. For those individuals who would like to make donations to our Red Cross, financial donations, 537-5549. Once again --
NGUYEN: We have been listening to a number of officials there in Suffolk, Virginia. And just looking at the damage, it is truly staggering. After three tornadoes ripped through the area yesterday, injuring some 200 people. And now the search is on for any survivors who may be trapped underneath some of that rubble. But the good news, as we heard, so far no reports of fatalities. But if you want to continue to listen to this news conference, all you have to do is go to cnn.com/live. And you can watch it in its entirety.
And as we were saying before that, though, Hillary Clinton does get an endorsement. John McCain, he is outlining a major health care plan any minute now. And CNN's Dana Bash is with the McCain campaign in Tampa, Florida. Dana, how does McCain's healthcare plan compare to that of the democrats?
DANA BASH, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Now, that's a great way to ask it Betty because for voters, for viewers out there, wondering how do these candidates, John McCain and either of the democrats, really differ on issues that matter both to me. They need to listen to this speech from John McCain because the answer is on the issue of health care.
We know that the democrats have proposed some form of mandated coverage. Hillary Clinton's mandated coverage across the board. And Barack Obama primarily for children. What John McCain is doing here is presenting very much some ideas based on the republican credo of free market, the free market approach. In fact, not only that, he in the speech, he is going to very much say that he believes that the democrats' approach of what he calls mandated universal health care is wrong. He will say that he believes that it will make what is now irrational and inefficient cost of health care. Just go to an irrational, inefficient government monopoly. So, that's his approach.
Again, very, very different from the democrats when it comes to health care. Now, specifically what would John McCain do? McCain - the crux of his plan is to do away with tax credits that employers now get from the government when those employers actually give health care to their employees. He would do away with that and instead he says he would give individuals $2,500 and families $5,000 and give people, he says, his approach is to put more of an emphasis and more of responsibility for health care in the hands of people and families as opposed to government. He says that that will help with so-called affordability with health care.
The other question, of course, is what about those people with pre-existing conditions? Now, this is something that democrats really are on John McCain for saying that this idea, that this approach he has doesn't really address the bottom line for many people out there. Even somebody like John McCain who had skin cancer perhaps. Somebody who can't get health insurance. What he says he will work with the state to try to figure out a way to come up with something that will allow people at least to get health care who currently can't get it or can't afford it because they have pre-existing conditions. As you can imagine democrats say this is absolutely not enough and his approach would be millions and millions of people still without health care.
NGUYEN: All right. CNN's Dana Bash. Joining us live. Thank you, Dana.
HARRIS: And one week from today, North Carolina and Indiana hold their democratic contests. CNN's Dan Lothian is with the CNN "Election Express" in Indianapolis. Dan, good morning to you. Hillary Clinton picking up a key endorsement from the governor of North Carolina. Just about one hour ago.
DAN LOTHIAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: That's right. Governor Mike Easley giving his endorsement this morning in North Carolina. And saying the reason that he's endorsing Senator Clinton is he believes that she best understands the challenges that are facing this country and that he believes that she can really turn things around immediately. Then, he goes on to describe her this way. "Senator Clinton makes Rocky Balboa look for a pansy." Now, North Carolina is a state where Senator Barack Obama is expected to do quite well, so for the Clinton campaign this is an important endorsement.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SEN. HILLARY CLINTON (D), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: North Carolina has made all the right bets and all the right investments. You are looking towards the future with confidence and optimism. And, as you know, as Mary said, we know we've got challenges. But there isn't anything we can't do if we start acting like Americans again. And we roll up our sleeves and we get to work.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
LOTHIAN: Senator Clinton will be coming here to Indiana later this afternoon holding three events beginning at 1:00 this afternoon. As for Barack Obama, he was on the basketball court in North Carolina, the University of North Carolina, playing the game with some members of the University of North Carolina men's basketball team. He played for about five to six minutes and sat down and took break and hit the court again. Barack Obama obviously trying to put the whole Wright controversy behind him. One way that he is doing that is really focusing on his message, on the issue such as health care and environment and, of course, the economy.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SEN. BARACK OBAMA (D), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: People want a job. That's what they want. They want a job. But, you know, when you see an economy where the CEO of the company makes more in a day than what an ordinary worker makes in an entire year. And it is the CEO who gets the tax break and the ordinary worker gets nothing. And then if the company goes belly up, the CEO walks away with a million dollar bonus and the worker loses his or her pension, something is wrong and something has to change.
LOTHIAN: Of course, Senator Barack Obama is trying to appeal to all voters, but in particular those white working class voters, not only in North Carolina but certainly here in Indiana. This is a group that Senator Clinton has really been successful in winning over. It helped her win in Pennsylvania and also Ohio. There have been questions raised about whether or not Barack Obama can really appeal to this group. His campaign saying that he can because they point to earlier contests such as Iowa where he was able to win the white working class voters and they believe that his message will resonate with that group here. Tony.
HARRIS: And Dan, I have to ask you this. Is Barack Obama talking about the Reverend Wright beyond the comment yesterday at the airport or is he simply hoping that we media folks don't ask him about Reverend Wright?
LOTHIAN: The campaign is hoping that the questions stop coming and what they point out at the event last night, a town hall meeting about an hour and a half or so no questions were asked by anyone in the audience on the Wright controversy. So, they are really hoping that this thing goes away and he really hasn't commented beyond just a few remarks that he made yesterday about it.
HARRIS: All right. Let's leave it there. Dan Lothian with the CNN "Election Express" in Indianapolis. Good to see you, Dan. Thanks.
NGUYEN: And just ahead, President Bush talking about the sinking economy. There is a news conference that happening in the Rose Garden. Less than ten minutes from now and we will have live coverage right here on CNN.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HARRIS: What do you say we get over to Jacqui Jeras now in the severe weather center. You know what Jacqui, I just can't imagine a destructive force --
JACQUI JERAS, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Yes.
NGUYEN: Three tornadoes.
HARRIS: For the people in Virginia, in Suffolk, the force of those storms, those tornadoes. We're talking about winds of over 100 miles per hour to bring the kind of damage that we have seen in these pictures.
JERAS: Yes. Some of the pictures that we have seen, we are definitely talking about well over that. Maybe even 150-plus miles per hour. We are still waiting to hear word from the National Weather Service on the Suffolk tornado as to how strong it was. Of course, when we find that information we will bring it along to you. Here on Google Earth we put on all the different tornadoes. It wasn't just Suffolk. There you can see down in North Carolina we had a couple of tornado reports and also some weaker tornadoes off to the west of the Suffolk area.
Now, I want to show what you Doppler radar looks like. You know, these aren't your classic super cell type of tornadoes that you would see in Oklahoma or Kansas for example. The ones that went through Suffolk a little bit easier to see. There you can see the storm as it moves on through. And then this is the one towards driver that touched down and caused quite a bit of damage here. So, we have at least three tornadoes and they were definitely strong ones. And we think the Suffolk one is what we categorize likely as a severe or extreme tornado that was probably seeing damage in there somewhere along the scale of an EF-3 or so.
All right. What's going on today? Well, most of the rain, showers and thundershowers are up to the north of there. You still could see an isolated rain shower here. But for the most part whether it -- weather will be cooperative for the cleanup efforts. Most of the rain is up to north here. and across the megalopolis, we got some overcast conditions. So, we do have delays at La Guardia and Newark both.
Cold air gripping the Midwest. I know. We are almost in May and look at these temperatures. Below freezing. 18 degrees in Bismarck, North Dakota this morning. Chicago 31 degrees. Let's take a look at a live picture in Chicago. Take a look at that cold. Look at Lake Michigan in there, Lakeshore Drive. A chilly one, 40 degrees right now and partly cloudy skies. 50 will be your high this afternoon. That's almost 15 degrees below average. But this cold snap will be coming to an end and we will watch for those temperatures to warm on up.
Look at this five-day forecast here for you for Chicago. Pushing 70 degrees by the end of the week. So, you can't complain about that too much. Beautiful city there in Chicago. We got a lot of hot weather to talk right about across parts of the south and into the Southwest. Look at this. Phoenix getting close to that century mark, 97 degrees today. 92 in Las Vegas. And with all that heat, strong winds coming in. An extremely low relative humidity, critical fire areas here across parts of the southwest and western high plains states. And tomorrow we are looking at extreme fire danger in parts of Arizona and New Mexico. And of course, we are still keeping our eye on the Sierra Madre fire, burning outside of Los Angeles there. Weather conditions have become much more favorable across parts of southern California. Tony, Betty.
HARRIS: I guess about 20 percent containment at this time. Better than that today. Jacqui, great to see you. Thank you.
NGUYEN: Well, job cuts are in the works at GM. Yes, the automaker says it will lay off 3,550 people this summer. Those cuts brought on by weak sales of pickup trucks and SUVs. GM is blaming high gas prices and the economic down turn. And the cuts will happen at factories in Flint and Pontiac, Michigan, Jamesville, Wisconsin and Oshawa, Ontario.
Take a look at the big boards today and see where the markets are. Looking at the Dow, not so great. Negative territory, down 38 points at this hour. Nasdaq also in the red at negative ten. And we will continue to watch the market to see how they do today.
HARRIS: Well, President Bush is talking about the economy today. A news conference just a couple of minutes away from right now. Scheduled for 10:30 a.m. Eastern time. It is coming up live here in the NEWSROOM.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
NGUYEN: Take you live now to Washington, and specifically the Rose Garden, as you see there on the right-hand side of your screen. President Bush is going to be speaking at any minute now. In fact, he's going to be talking specifically about the economy. As you know, it is issue #1. And he is going to also be calling upon Congress to send him bills that will help Americans deal with this difficult period. Let's listen to the president.
GEORGE W. BUSH, PRES. OF THE UNITED STATES: Thank you. Good morning.
It's a tough time for our economy. Across our country, many Americans are understandably anxious about issues affecting their pocketbook, from gas and food prices to mortgage and tuition bills. They're looking to their elected leaders in Congress for action. Unfortunately, on many of these issues, all they're getting is delay.
Americans are concerned about energy prices, and I can understand why. I think the last time I visited with you, I said it was like a tax increase on the working people.
The past 18 months, gas prices have gone up by $1.40 per gallon. Electricity prices for small business and families are rising as well.
I've repeatedly submitted proposals to help address these problems. Yet time after time Congress chose to block them.
One of the main reasons for high gas prices is that global oil production is not keeping up with growing demand. Members of Congress have been vocal about foreign governments increasing their oil production, yet Congress has been just as vocal in opposition to efforts to expand our production here at home.
They've repeatedly blocked environmentally safe exploration in ANWR. The Department of Energy estimates that ANWR could allow America to produce about a million additional barrels of oil every day, which translates to about 27 millions of gallons -- gallons of gasoline and diesel every day.
That would be about a 20 percent increase of oil -- crude oil production over U.S. levels, and it would likely mean lower gas prices.
And yet such efforts to explore in ANWR have been consistently blocked.
Another reason for high gas prices is the lack of refining capacity. It's been more than 30 years since America built its last new refinery. Yet in this area, too, Congress has repeatedly blocked efforts to expand capacity and build more refineries.
As electricity prices rise, Congress continues to block provisions needed to increase domestic electricity production by expanding the use of clean, safe nuclear power. Instead, many of the same people in Congress who complain about high energy costs support legislation that would make energy even more expensive for our consumers and small businesses.
Congress is considering bills to raise taxes on domestic energy production, impose new and costly mandates on producers, and demand dramatic emissions cuts that would shut down coal plants and increase reliance on expensive natural gas. That would drive up prices even further.
The cost of these actions will be passed on to consumers in the form of even higher prices at the pump and even bigger electric bills.
Instead of increasing costs and imposing new road blocks to domestic energy production, Congress needs to clear away obstacles to more affordable, more reliable energy here at home.
Americans are concerned about rising food prices. Unfortunately, Congress is considering a massive, bloated farm bill that would do little to solve the problem.
The bill Congress is now considering would fail to eliminate subsidy payments to multimillionaire farmers. America's farm economy is thriving. The value of farmland is skyrocketing. And this is the right time to reform our nation's farm policies by reducing unnecessary subsidies.
It's not the time to ask American families who are already paying more in the checkout line to pay more in subsidies for wealthy farmers.
Congress can reform our farm programs, and should, by passing a fiscally responsible bill that treats our farmers fairly and does not impose new burdens on American taxpayers.
Americans are concerned about making their mortgage payments and keeping their homes. And I don't blame them.
Last year, I called on Congress to pass legislation that would help address problems in the housing market. This includes critical legislation that would modernize the Federal Housing Administration, reform Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, and allow state housing agencies to issue tax-free bonds to refinance subprime loans.
Yet they failed to send a single one of these proposals to my desk.
Americans should not have to wait any longer for their elected officials to pass legislation to help more families stay in their homes.
Americans are concerned about the availability of student loans. The recent credit crunch makes it uncertain that some students will be able to get the loans they need.
My administration has taken action through the Department of Education's Lender of Last Resort Program, which works to arrange loans for students who are unable to secure one from a lender on their own.
In other words, we're helping.
Congress needs to do more by passing a bill that would temporarily give the federal government greater authority to buy federal student loans.
This authority will safeguard student loans without permanently expanding the government's role in their financing.
On all these issues, the American people are looking to their leaders to come together and act responsibly. I don't think it's just too much to ask even in an election year.
My administration will reach out to Congress. We will work to find areas of agreement so that we can deal with the economic pressures that our American taxpayers and American families are feeling.
I ask Congress to do its part by sending me sensible and effective bills that I can sign instead of issuing or sending, you know, bills typically look like political statements.
We can work together. We can help Americans weather this difficult period. We can keep our country moving forward.
Now I'll be glad to take some of your questions.
QUESTION: Thank you, sir.
You have said that we need to wait until the first stimulus has taken effect to act again.
But since it was passed, gas prices have gone up, foreclosures have gone up, there have been layoffs, news just this morning that consumer confidence is down yet again.
Isn't it time to think about doing more?
And, on another issue, would you support a summer moratorium on the federal gas tax?
BUSH: First of all, the money is just now making it into people's bank accounts.
And I applaud the speaker and the leader of the Senate and minority leaders there for working together to get this done. And now, you know, after a period of time, the money is beginning to arrive. We'll see what the effects are.
And we'll look at any idea in terms of energy. Except, I will tell you this: that if Congress is truly interested in solving the problem, they can send the right signal by saying we're going to explore for oil and gas in the U.S. territories, starting with ANWR. We can do so in an environmentally friendly way.
They ought to say, you know, why don't we -- I proposed, and you might remember, taking some abandoned military bases and providing regulatory relief so we can build new refineries.
I mean, if we're genuinely interested in moving forward with an energy policy that sends a signal to the world that we're not -- we're going to try to become less reliant upon foreign oil, we can explore at home as well as continue on with an alternative fuels program.
Yes, sir?
QUESTION: (OFF-MIKE)
BUSH: No, I'm going to look at everything they propose. We'll take a look.
QUESTION: Thank you, Mr. President.
Were you premature in saying that the U.S. economy is not in a recession when food and energy prices are soaring so high?
And what more can you do to persuade Saudi Arabia during your upcoming visit to reconsider output levels and cut prices?
BUSH: You know, the words on how to define the economy don't reflect the anxiety the American people feel.
You know, the average person doesn't really care what we call it. The average person wants to know whether or not we know that they're paying higher gasoline prices and they're worried about staying in their homes.
And I do understand that. That's why we've been aggressively helping people refinance their homes. That's why I continue to call upon Congress to pass legislation that will enable people to stay in their homes.
These are tough times. People -- economists can argue over the terminology. And these are difficult times. And the American people know it and they want to know whether or not Congress knows it.
I think an important signal to send on energy, just like I said, is to say, "OK, we're going to go find oil here at home."
You know, we're transitioning to a new era, by the way, a new era where we're going to have batteries in our cars that will power -- you know, enable people to drive 40 miles on electricity. There's going to be more ethanol in the market, more alternative fuels. Our driving habits will change.
But in the meantime, we need to be sending a signal to the world markets that we intend to explore here in America.
We can also send a clear signal that we understand supply and demand and that when you don't build a refinery for 30 years, it's going to be a part of restricting supply. And therefore, we ought to expand our refining capacity by permitting new refineries and getting after it quickly.
On the electricity front, as you know, I'm a big believer in nuclear power, except we keep getting mixed signals out of Congress. And the regulatory system sends mixed signals.
And so -- and to your question on the Saudis, look, I have made the case that, you know, the high price of oil injures economies. But I think we better understand that there's not a lot of excess capacity in this world right now.
You know, hopefully, high prices will spur more exploration to bring excess capacity on. But demand is rising faster than supply. And that's why you're seeing global energy prices rise.
And that's why it's important for us to try to take the pressure off by saying, "We're going to start exploring here at home."
QUESTION: Thank you, Mr. President.
I'd like to ask you about...
BUSH: You're welcome.
(LAUGHTER)
QUESTION: ... where food prices and energy policy come together: That's biofuels.
BUSH: Yes.
QUESTION: The World Bank says about 85 percent of the increase in corn price since 2002 is due to biofuel -- increased demand for biofuels. And your secretary of state said that -- indicated yesterday that she thought that that might be part of the problem.
Do you agree with that? And what can the United States do -- what more can the United States do to help make food more affordable around the world?
BUSH: Actually, I have a little different take.
I thought it was 85 percent of the world's food prices are caused by weather, increased demand and energy prices -- just the cost of growing product -- and that 15 percent has been caused by, you know, ethanol -- the arrival of ethanol.
By the way, the high price of gasoline is going to spur more investment in ethanol as an alternative to gasoline. And the truth of the matter is, it's in our national interest that we -- our farmers, grow energy, as opposed to us purchasing energy from parts of the world that are unstable or may not like us.
In terms of the international situation, we are deeply concerned about food prices here at home, and we're deeply concerned about people who don't have food abroad. In other words, scarcity is of concern to us.
Last year we were very generous in our food donations, and this year we'll be generous as well. As a matter of fact, we just released about $200 million out of the Emerson Trust, as part of an ongoing effort to address scarcity.
One thing I think that would be -- I know would be a very creative policy is if we -- is if we would buy food from local farmers as a way to help deal with scarcity, but also as a way to put in place a -- you know, an infrastructure so that nations can be self- sustaining and self-supporting.
It's a proposal I put forth that Congress hasn't responded to yet, and I sincerely hope they do.
QUESTION: Good morning, Mr. President. Thank you.
I just want to follow up on the idea of the gas tax moratorium, if I may, because you're indicating that, perhaps, you'd be open to it.
You mentioned in your opening remarks that...
BUSH: I'm open to any ideas and we'll analyze everything that comes our way, but go ahead.
QUESTION: Well, we're talking about, perhaps, the most immediate relief to people who are buying gasoline every day because it would be an 18.4-cents a gallon tax cut.
Senator Clinton and Senator McCain are in favor of it, Senator Obama is not.
BUSH: Yes.
QUESTION: But Americans are hearing about this every day.
So, could you flesh out, perhaps, some of your thinking about why this would be a good idea or not, why you would agree with Senator McCain or Senator Obama?
BUSH: I appreciate you trying to drag me in the '08 race. And this is the first attempt to do so, and I can understand why you would want to do that.
I will tell you that, first of all, the American people, they got to understand that here in the White House, we are concerned about high gasoline prices, we're concerned about high food prices, we're concerned about people staying in their homes and we're concerned about student loans, just like I described.
And Congress can, you know, be helpful. Congress -- they can show leadership by dealing with these issues. And we'll consider interesting ideas.
But what I'm not going to do is jump right in the middle of a presidential campaign. We'll let the candidates argue out their ideas. I just told you I'll consider the ideas. If it's a good idea, we embrace it. If not, we're analyzing the different ideas coming forward.
QUESTION: Mr. President, you just said there's not a lot of excess supply out there. Some energy experts think we may have already passed or be within a couple of years of passing the maximum oil-pumping capability. In other words, we may be close to tapping all we've got.
Do you think that's the case? And if you do, why haven't you put more resources into renewable energy research, sir?
BUSH: We've put a lot into, you know, ethanol. And matter of fact, the solution to the issue of corn-fed ethanol is cellulosic ethanol, which is a fancy word for saying we're going to make ethanol out of switchgrasses or wood chips. And we're spending a lot of money along those lines.
But energy policy needs to be comprehensive. And we got to understand we're in a transition period.
The problem is there's been a lot of focus by the Congress in the intermediate steps and in the long-term steps, the long-term steps being hydrogen, the intermediate steps being, you know, biofuels, for example, and research into biofuels, and battery technology, but not enough emphasis on the here and now.
And so you ask -- you say that people think we can't -- there's not any more reserves to be found. Well, there are reserves to be found in ANWR. That's a given.
You know, I just told you that there's about 27 million gallons of diesel and gasoline that could be from domestically produced crude oil that's not being utilized.
And not only that, we can explore in environmentally friendly ways. New technologies enables for -- to be able to drill like we've never been able to do so before; slant-hole technologies and the capacity to use a drill site -- a single drill site to be able to explore a field in a way that doesn't damage the environment.
And, yet, this is a litmus-test issue for many in Congress. Somehow if you mention ANWR it means you don't care about the environment.
Well, I'm hoping now people, when they say ANWR, it means you don't care about the gasoline prices that people are paying.
Yes, sir?
QUESTION: Thank you, Mr. President, and good morning.
BUSH: Good morning.
(LAUGHTER) I like a friendly guy here in the Rose Garden.
QUESTION: Sir...
BUSH: (OFF-MIKE) that'd be you, Rog, a friendly guy here in the Rose Garden?
(LAUGHTER)
QUESTION: Thank you. Yes.
(LAUGHTER)
BUSH: Mr. Sunshine, they call you.
(LAUGHTER)
QUESTION: Fourteen senators, including your own senator, Kay Bailey Hutchison from Texas, calling on you to stop filling the Strategic Petroleum Reserve.
You've been asked that several times over the past few years, and I know what your answer has been. But do you think now, with the rising prices, the record-high oil prices, it's time to change course?
BUSH: In this case, I have analyzed the issue. And I don't think it would affect price, for this reason: We're buying, at the moment, about 67,000 to 68,000 barrels of oil per day for filling statutory obligations to fill up the SPRO.
World demand is 85 million barrels a day. So the purchases for SPRO account for 0.1 percent of global demand, and I don't think that's going to affect price when you affect 0.1 percent. And I do believe it is in our national interest to get the SPRO filled, in case there is a major disruption of crude oil around the world.
For example, one of the things Al Qaeda would like to do is blow up oil facilities. Understand, we're in a global market. An attack on our oil facility in a major oil-exporting country would affect the economies of their enemy -- that would be us and other people who can't stand what Al Qaeda stands for.
And, therefore, the SPRO is necessary, if that's the case, to be able to deal with that kind of contingency.
And if I thought it would affect the price of oil positively, I would seriously consider it. But when you're talking about 0.1 percent of global demand, I think the -- you know, I think, if you kind of (inaudible) a cost-benefit analysis, I don't think you'd get any benefits from making the decision. I do think it costs you, you know, oil, in the case of a national security risk.
QUESTION: Thank you, Mr. President.
And I'd like to switch to Afghanistan. There was another attempt on president Karzai's life. There are operations going on there right now. Is the strategy succeeding? Are we winning in Afghanistan?
BUSH: Yes, I think we're making progress in Afghanistan. But there's a very resilient enemy that obviously wants to kill people that stand in the way of their reimposition of a state that is -- which vision is incredibly dark.
I mean, it's very important for the American people to remember what life was like in Afghanistan prior to the liberation of the country. We had a government in place that abused people's human rights, they didn't believe in women's rights, they didn't let little girls go to school and they provided safe haven to Al Qaeda.
In the liberation of this country, we've achieved some very important strategic objectives: denying Al Qaeda safe haven for which to plot and plan attacks and replacing this repressive group with a -- you know, a young democracy.
And it's difficult in Afghanistan.
I mean, if you know the history of the country, you understand it's hard to go from the kind of society in which they had been living to one in which people are now responsible for their own behavior.
But I'm pleased with a lot of things. One, I'm pleased with the number of roads that have been built. I'm pleased with the number of schools that have opened up. I'm pleased that a lot of girls -- young girls are going to school. I'm pleased health clinics are now being distributed around the country.
I'm pleased with the Afghan army that when they're in the fight they're good.
You know, I wish we completely eliminated the radicals who kill innocent people to achieve objectives, but that hasn't happened yet. And so I think it's very much in our interest to continue helping the young democracy, and we will.
Yes? Obviously, you've got a follow-up.
QUESTION: Do you think we're winning? Do you think we're winning?
BUSH: I do. I think we're making good progress. I do, yes.
QUESTION: Can I just add to that, a couple weeks ago...
BUSH: No, you can't. This is the second follow-up. You usually get one follow-up. I was nice enough to give you one. I didn't give anybody on this side a follow-up, and now you are trying to take a second follow-up.
QUESTION: They didn't try.
BUSH: I know you tried.
Yes?
(CROSSTALK)
BUSH: ... just cut off your mike. You can't. No.
QUESTION: A couple of weeks ago you said...
BUSH: Now she's going to go without the mike. This is awesome (ph).
(LAUGHTER)
QUESTION: A couple of weeks ago you said that in Iraq, in 2006, you said we were winning and the strategy was working...
BUSH: Yes.
QUESTION: ... to keep up troop morale. How can we believe that you're not doing the same thing here?
BUSH: You tried to ask me that question before as a repeat.
Look, I said...
(CROSSTALK)
BUSH: Can I finish please?
The question you asked me before, at the exclusive I gave you on the ranch, was, "You said that we were winning in the past."
I also said that there was tough fighting. Make sure you put the comments in place.
So what I'm going to tell you now is we're making progress in Afghanistan, but there's tough fighting. I'm under no illusions that this isn't tough. I know full well we're dealing with a determined enemy.
I believe it's in our interests that we defeat that enemy.
And so, yeah, we're making progress. But it's also a tough battle.
We're facing people who are willing to strap bombs on themselves and walk into places where the innocent dwell or the innocent shop and kill them.
Is there an interest to confront these people now, whether it be in Afghanistan or Iraq or Europe or anywhere else? And the answer is absolutely it's in our interests.
And the notion that somehow we can let these people just. kind of. have their way or, you know, just don't stir them up, is naive or disingenuous, and it's not in our nation's interest.
We are in a global struggle against thugs and killers. And the United States of America has got to continue to take the lead.
And so in Afghanistan, yes, we're making progress.
Does that mean, you know, that it's over? No, it doesn't mean it's over. We're in a long struggle, as I've told you many a time, against these jihadists.
You defeat them ultimately by the advance of democracy.
See, this is an ideological struggle. These aren't isolated law enforcement moments.
We're dealing with a group of ideologues who use asymmetrical warfare -- that means killing innocent people -- to try to achieve their objectives. And one objective is to drive us out of Afghanistan, Iraq, the Middle East or anywhere else where we try to confront them.
And so, yes, I mean, look, is it tough? Yes, it's tough. Is it difficult? Absolutely. Is it worth the fight? In my judgment, yes, it is.
Yes, ma'am?
QUESTION: (OFF-MIKE)
BUSH: I can't hear you too well. Sorry, got a flawed mike.
Martha, what did you do to the mike?
(LAUGHTER)
She wanted an exclusive again. Anyway.
(LAUGHTER)
QUESTION: Mr. President, thank you, sir.
And previously, when asked about Israel's September bombing of a Syrian facility, you refused aggressively to discuss it. Then suddenly last week, your administration released classified photos and details of that bombing, intelligence officials claiming that it showed that this facility was a North Korean-designed nuclear facility being actually built with the help of Pyongyang.
Why the turnaround, sir? What did you hope that that would accomplish?
And what do you say to lawmakers of both parties on Capitol Hill who are quite concerned that, indeed, if this was what this facility was, that it took some eight months for you to inform them, sir?
BUSH: Thank you. Let me correct the record. We briefed 22 members of Congress of what I'm about to tell you.
First, we were concerned that an early disclosure would increase the risk of a confrontation in the Middle East or retaliation in the Middle East.
As I mentioned to you, early on we did notify 22 members of Congress, key committee chairmen.
And, you know I was -- I'm mindful that there was going to be this kind of reaction. And, of course, we wanted to include more members of Congress at a time when, you know, we felt the risk of retaliation or, you know, confrontation in the Middle East was reduced.
So that moment came upon us, and then extended the briefings.
We also wanted to advance certain policy objectives through the disclosures. And one would be to the North Koreans to make it abundantly clear that, "We may know more about you than you think, and, therefore, it's essential that you have a -- you know, a complete disclosure on not only your plutonium activities but proliferation as well as enrichment activities."
And then we have an interest in sending a message to -- to Iran and the world, for that matter, about just how destabilizing a nuclear proliferation would be in the Middle East; and that it's essential that we work together to enforce U.N. Security Council resolutions aimed at getting Iran to stop their enrichment programs.
In other words, one of the things that this example shows is that, you know, these programs can exist and people don't know about them and -- as the Syrians simply didn't declare the program. They had a hidden program.
And, finally, we wanted to make it clear to Syria and the world that their intransigence in dealing with, you know, helping us in Iraq or destabilizing Lebanon or dealing with Hamas, which is a destabilizing force in our efforts to have a Palestinian state coexist peacefully with Israel -- those efforts are -- you know, gives us a chance to remind the world that we need to work together to deal with those issues.
So that's why we made the decision we made.
Yes, sir?
QUESTION: Mr. President, you've expressed frustration with Congress, obviously, over the economic -- wanting them to do more on the economy. They've blocked you on Colombia. They've blocked you on the FISA issue.
Are you frustrated, are you angry, and do you have any real hope of being able to work with this Congress this year?
BUSH: I am -- I believe that they're letting the American people down, is what I believe.
On the FISA issue, it is hard to believe that it's OK to pass the Protect America Act in August of 2007 and that act -- people in Congress don't believe that act is relevant in 2008.
I mean, the act was set to expire, it did, and yet this threat hasn't gone away.
And I can only -- you know, it's either a lack of leadership or a lack of understanding of the issue. And either way, it's not good for the country.
We need to make sure our professionals have the tools to protect the American people from attack.
And on the Colombia Free Trade Agreement, you know, this economy is, as I mentioned to you, it's a sour time. It's tough for the American people. And yet the Colombia Free Trade Agreement would benefit our economy.
And the reason why is is that many goods from Colombia come into our country duty-free. And yet our goods going to Colombia are taxed through tariff.
And American people expect the president and the Congress to at least insist that a foreign country treat us the way we treat them.
And, in this case, the benefits will be more exports, more mid- size and small businesses exporting into Colombia.
About 9,000 exporters in the Colombia today; 8,000 are mid-size and small businesses. And when you can export more, it helps the economy. And one of the bright lights of the economy has been the amount of exports going overseas.
So, rather than playing politics or whatever rationale that they have made for Colombia, they ought to be saying, "This is good for our economy. It's good for workers. It's good for small businesses."
And so I'm perplexed, I guess is the best way to describe it, about why there's no action -- inactivity on big issues.
And because the two issues you mentioned -- FISA, protecting America, and Colombia, protecting America's economy by encouraging growth -- are important to people whether they be Republicans, Democrats or independents.
QUESTION: Thank you, Mr. President.
BUSH: You're welcome.
QUESTION: I'm still waiting for my exclusive at the ranch.
BUSH: Yes.
(LAUGHTER) QUESTION: Mr. President, today...
(LAUGHTER)
BUSH: I'm at loss for words.
(LAUGHTER)
If only you'd have been at the White House Correspondents Dinner, I would have invited you.
(LAUGHTER)
Anyway, please, go ahead.
It's an inside joke for everybody listening.
QUESTION: Mr. President, you have spoken today about opening ANWR for drilling and also refineries. But these are clearly long- term solutions to the problem of rising gas prices. What can you tell Americans about what your administration is going in the short term?
And, secondly, have you been briefed on tomorrow's GDP numbers...
BUSH: No, I haven't.
QUESTION: ... and are you concerned -- OK. OK, and are you concerned that they will show us to officially be in a recession?
BUSH: I think they'll show that it's a very slow economy. I can't guess what the number will be.
And I haven't been shown truly.
And, by the way, opening up ANWR is not long term. It's intermediate term. But it sends a clear signal, is what it does. It sends a signal to the markets that the United States is not going to restrict exploration; the United States is going to encourage exploration.
And in the meantime, we have done -- increasing CAFTA, for example. But the market's going to, you know, do as much for encouraging conservation as anything else is now.
And so I firmly believe that, you know, if there was a magic wand to wave, I'd be waving it, of course. It's -- you know, I strongly believe it's in our interest that we reduce gas prices -- gasoline price.
It'd be like a major tax cut for people.
QUESTION: (OFF-MIKE)
BUSH: Let me finish, please, Cheryl (ph). Strike one on the exclusive.
(LAUGHTER)
Excuse me, strike two.
(LAUGHTER)
That -- made me lose my train of thought. Of course, maybe that's what you're attempting to do.
No, I think that if there was a magic wand to say, "OK, drop price," I'd do that.
And so part of this is to set the psychology right that says to the world, "We're not going to become more beholden on your oil, we're going to open up and be aggressive and have an aggressive energy policy."
Secondly, we're going to be sending a signal we're going to be building new refineries.
But there is no magic wand to wave right now. It took us a while to get to this fix. That's why I told you that if Congress had responded -- matter of fact, Congress did pass ANWR in the late 1900s -- 1990s -- end of the 1900s -- 1990s, but it didn't go forward.
And, you know, it's my considered judgment, given the technological advances, to say, "This is" -- you know, "will destroy the environment," is just -- I don't think it's an accurate statement.
And so I think it's very important, Cheryl (ph), for Congress.
The other thing Congress can do, if you want to send a good signal during these uncertain times, is make the tax cuts permanent, is to let people -- send the signal that people are going to be able to keep their money. And I think that'll help the psychology of the country.
QUESTION: Mr. President, do you feel...
BUSH: Yes, you can use the mike.
QUESTION: Do you feel your foreign policy in the Middle East has been undermined by Jimmy Carter's meeting with Hamas leaders? What harm does it do for him to have met with Hamas leaders?
BUSH: Foreign policy and peace is undermined by Hamas in the Middle East.
They're the ones who are undermining peace. They're the ones whose foreign policy objective is the destruction of Israel. They're the ones who are, you know, trying to create enough violence to stop the advance of the two-party state solution. They are a significant problem to world peace -- or Middle Eastern peace.
And that's the reason I'm not talking to them. And that's the reason why -- you know, it's just important for people to understand that this is a -- we're witnessing a struggle between those who understand liberty and believe in the advance of liberty and those who want to stop the advance of liberty. And Hamas has made their position very clear.
Unfortunately, they're getting help. In Syria they get help. There's rumors about Iranian help. And these countries that I just named are -- you know, take, for example, Lebanon. I talked to Prime Minister Siniora today.
Here's a struggling democracy in the heart of the Middle East that is -- whose internal politics are being influenced by Syria, Hezbollah, as a result of Iranian influence with Hezbollah, all aiming to destabilize the country, which should be a clear signal about the intents of -- the intentions of groups like Hezbollah and Hamas.
So, if you want to talk about peace being difficult in the Middle East, it's going to be difficult, but it's even made more difficult by entities like Hamas who insist upon lobbing rockets into Israel, trying to provoke response and trying to destabilize -- even destabilize the region more.
And, you know, anybody can talk to who they want. But I just want the people to understand that the problem is Hamas. And until Hamas changes or until there's a competing vision in the Middle East for President Abbas, Prime Minister Fayyad to offer to the Palestinian people, that's all the more reason to try to define a state.
And that's why I'm going to the Middle East, besides going to the 60th anniversary of Israel.
QUESTION: Thank you, sir.
Did any good come out of President Carter's talks with Hamas? And did anyone in your administration ask him not to do it? And will it have any impact on your trip to the Middle East?
BUSH: I didn't talk to him. And I don't know -- I don't know what the conversations were.
And I don't see Hamas changing. It's up to Hamas to change. And, you know, you get these meetings with these people, and they say one thing and do another.
And this is the way it's been now for seven and a half years in this administration, watching Hamas be a destabilizing influence.
And, you know, I supported the elections, by the way. And curiously enough, they won the elections against Fatah because they ran on a non-corruption campaign. The sad situation is now they've been given power, they haven't delivered for the people in Gaza.
And my mission is to -- when I go to the Middle East, is to continue to work with both Israelis and President Abbas and his government on a variety of fronts: one, coming up with a vision, helping them find a common ground on the vision; but also working with the Israelis and to empower the Palestinians in the West Bank to be more in charge of security, less obstacles with which to deal with, to help the Palestinians with economic vitality and growth. There are some very interesting initiatives that are being developed there.
Still hopeful we'll get an agreement by the end of my presidency.
Condi's heading back out there. I've been in touch with President Abbas here in the Oval Office. And I talked to Prime Minister Olmert.
And the attitude's good. People do understand the importance of getting a state defined. But Hamas is -- when you're Israel and you've got people lobbing rockets into your country, you're going to take care of business.
But you've got to ask, why is Hamas lobbing rockets? And one reason why is because they're trying to destabilize and create chaos and confusion.
And to answer whether or not people's conversations with them are effective, all we've got to do is watch to see how Hamas behaves.
QUESTION: Thank you, Mr. President.
Congress is preparing to add a couple of things to your supplemental spending request for Iraq. And I'm wondering, some of these seem like things you could support: extending unemployment benefits and, particularly, additional help for Iraq and Afghanistan war veterans in terms of educational benefits.
Are these things you might agree to, even though you have set a $108-billion ceiling on the package?
BUSH: Richard, $108 billion is $108 billion. And I made my position very clear to Congress, and I will not accept a supplemental over $108 billion or a supplemental that micro-manages the war, ties the hands of our commanders.
We will work with Congress and -- on these veterans benefits. I'm a firm believer that we ought to treat our veterans with respect. The State of the Union, I talked about the idea of transferring -- you know, a soldier being able to transfer educational benefits to spouse or children. We've sent legislation to that effect up to Congress. We would like for them to move on it quickly.
But the $108 billion's $108 billion.
QUESTION: Thank you, Mr. President.
I wonder if there's a big, urgent problem facing the country coming down the road that you worry your successor will neglect or postpone. That is, when the politics are done after the war on terror, what do you think should be at the top of the list of the person who moves into that office?
BUSH: I don't think John McCain is going to neglect the war on terror, and I do think he'll be the president.
Here I am interjecting myself in the '08 campaign, just like I told you I wouldn't. That's unfair, isn't it?
He -- it's very important for the president to understand that America's still in danger of attack and that we're dealing with an ideological struggle that can only be solved with the spread of liberty.
And a concern of mine, as you've heard me say, is that the nation has had the tendency in the past to become isolationist and correspondingly protectionist. And I would hope whoever the president is -- and I do believe it'll be John -- will be willing to resist the impulse, the temptation to say, "Well, it's not worth it anymore to confront an enemy. You know, it's not worth it to try to do the hard work of helping democracies thrive and succeed."
Because not only is it worth it, we will succeed in, you know, laying the foundation for peace if we have faith in the capacity of liberty to be transformative.
I'm also concerned about protectionism. This lad right here asked me about Congress' intransigence on Colombia. I think it reflects the fact that there is a strong protectionist sentiment in the United States. People -- good people believe it is not in our interest to be opening up markets.
You might remember the CAFTA trade vote, we won by one vote, and it was a tough vote to get.
And now the speaker pulled, you know, a unique maneuver to stop the Colombia from moving forward.
And it -- it's a sign of -- that the country is losing its confidence to a certain extent -- a protectionist policy is better than, you know, confidently trading and treating on fairness in the marketplace.
And so, my worry -- not worry, my hope is that whoever the president is understands that America is a force for good in the world, that we're -- that in the spread of liberty we're adhering to a universal value. It's not an American value, it's a universal value the notion of liberty.
You've heard me say it a lot. I do believe it's a gift from the Almighty to every man, woman and child. If you believe in that and act on that, you're really acting on a platform of peace, because ultimately liberty yields the peace you want. It's transformative and powerful.
And I believe that people will be making a mistake if they say, you know, "We can't compete economically and therefore let's throw up walls." And yet the tendencies here in America are pretty strong right now.
There's a lot of concern around the world, by the way, about America's retreat. They're wondering whether or not America's going to remain a leader. They're wondering whether or not -- you know, for example, will capital be welcome back into our country. And so, it's the isms that bother me: isolationism and protectionism.
QUESTION: Thank you, Mr. President.
BUSH: Yeah, looking good in yellow.
QUESTION: Thank you.
(LAUGHTER)
BUSH: How's the baby?
QUESTION: She's good.
BUSH: Good, yes.
QUESTION: Thank you.
You're trying to get me off, but it's OK.
BUSH: No. Is it true you named her Georgia?
QUESTION: No. Is that OK with you?
BUSH: It's your baby.
(LAUGHTER)
QUESTION: Anyway, moving on to the subject of the day, I talked to James Clyburn before this press conference. He said, "As a man thinketh, so are we. And Americans believe we are in a recession."
What will it take for you to say those words, that we are in a recession?
And also on Zimbabwe, what's the next step, and does South Africa play a part in that?
BUSH: Yes, thank you.
I've answered the question on the words and terminologies.
I will tell you that these are very difficult economic times. Very difficult. And we'll let the economists define it for what it is.
I would hope that those who worry about recession, slowdown, whatever you want to call it, make the tax cuts permanent as a way of helping to address this issue. Because if you're somebody out there trying to plan your future and you're worried about the future and you think your taxes are going to go up, it's going to cause different behavioral patterns.
Secondly, I do want to thank the members of Congress. And the man you talked to is a leader and did a very good job of helping shepherd through this, you know, billions of dollar package that is now beginning to hit America's pocketbooks, and we'll see how that goes.
I hope it's as stimulative as we think it will be.
But you can tell the good man you talked to -- he's a good guy -- that I fully understand that people are concerned, and they're concerned about high gasoline prices, they're worried about high food prices, they're worried about staying in their homes.
The new issue, of course, is student loans. The House of Representatives passed a bill that -- sponsored by Mr. Miller -- George Miller -- that is -- we think can do the job. I hope the Senate moves a version of it very quickly so that we can help address this issue.
I mean, one of the things that government can do is either create more anxiety or less. And if you think your taxes are going to go up, that's going to make you anxious.
If you think the government's going to step in with a good policy that'll help your child get a student loan, that'll make you less anxious.
One of the things we've done on homeownership is the Hope Now alliance, which, hopefully, makes people less anxious. Hopefully, it helps -- kind of brought some -- a sense of not only concern but action into the marketplace.
And I was told this morning that Hope Now has affected about 1.4 million homeowners and helped a lot of them refinance, get refinancing, or helped a lot of them get, you know, different interest payment schedules, all aiming to credit-worthy people to be able to stay in their homes during this difficult period.
Zimbabwe. First of all, the will of the people need to be respected in Zimbabwe. And it is clear that they voted for change, as they should have, because the -- Mr. Mugabe has failed the country. This country that used to be an exporter of food is now -- got terrible human conditions there.
Secondly, the violence and the intimidation is simply unacceptable. The government is intent upon and is intimidating the people there.
We support the U.N. Security Council discussions that are going on. But the truth of the matter is, April, and you mentioned this, it's really incumbent upon the nations in the neighborhood to step up and lead and recognize that the will of the people must be respected and recognize that that will came about because they're tired of failed leadership.
I thank you all for your interest. Enjoyed it.
