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Bush: Economy Fundamentally Strong
Aired July 15, 2002 - 14:04 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
KYRA PHILLIPS, CNN ANCHOR: In Birmingham, Alabama, today, the president called the stock plunge "a hangover" after the boom times of the 1990s. The economy itself, Mr. Bush maintained, is "fundamentally strong." CNN's Kelly Wallace is live from the White House. Fundamentally strong. All right, Kelly, how do we define that?
KELLY WALLACE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Kyra, you know, just what Myron was saying, the goal of President Bush's speech to deal was really to deal with that crisis of confidence. This administration very aware that how people feel about the economy impacts what they spend, what they do, impacts the entire economy and, also, impacts how Republicans could fare in the November election. And so that is why we saw the president in Birmingham, Alabama, listing a number of what he calls facts.
He said inflation is down. Interest rates are low. Productivity is up. He talked about first quarter economic growth being a little more than six percent. He did say, obviously, things have been in a slump. And he really took on the role, Kyra, of cheerleader-in-chief, the president saying, "things are looking up."
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GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: In spite of the fact that weve been in a slump for awhile, and in spite of the fact that the terrorists attacked us and affected our economic outlook, American business and workers are resilient and resolved, and this economy is coming back. That's a fact.
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WALLACE: Now the president also calling for higher ethical standards for corporate leaders, and he called on Congress to get him a corporate responsibility bill to his desk before the August recess. At the same time, though, questions linger about the president's own past as a corporate leader. And over the weekend we saw Democrats and at least one Republican call on the president to ask the Securities and Exchange Commission to release its entire file surrounding the presidents controversial stock sell that is related to when he sat on the board of Harken Energy and when he sold shares of Harken stock. Now Democrats and Republicans say the best way, Kyra, to put to rest any questions about this is to release the file. The message from the White House, senior aides say all relevant documents are already out there. Theres no need to call on the SEC to release the files. Anyone asking questions about this, Kyra, White House aides say, are simply playing politics. Kyra?
PHILLIPS: Kelly Wallace live from the White House. Kelly, thank you.
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