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Bush Addresses Economy
Aired April 15, 2003 - 15:20 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: Today, millions of people will make the last-day dash to the post office to mail off those tax returns. And President Bush today returned to talk of the economy, pushing a plan the administration is hopeful will make tax day less taxing.
For more on the president's message, we're joined by White House correspondent Dana Bash -- hi, Dana.
DANA BASH, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Hi, Kyra.
Well, just as you said, it was really the first time we have heard since the war began the president turn publicly to the home front and specifically on the No. 1 issue on the home front for this White House. And that is the ailing economy. The president came out to the Rose Garden on this tax day and talked about the fact that he is certainly focused on the economy, and talked about, for the first time acknowledging that he is not going to get the full $726 billion tax cut that he had proposed, but said that he expects Congress to give him the highest amount of tax cut that's possible.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: The nation needs quick action by our Congress on a pro-growth economic package. We need tax relief totalling at least $550 billion to make sure our economy grows.
(APPLAUSE)
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BASH: Now, the issue, of course, is the fact that Congress, before leaving for a recess, slashed the president's tax cut; in the House, $550 billion, in the Senate, $350 billion, the president clearly wanting to get as much as possible, but the White House today acknowledging that the president does have a tough fight on his hands to try to get what he wants through Congress.
Now, when the president was in the Rose Garden, he also talked about the situation in Iraq. The president said that the regime in Iraq, Saddam Hussein's regime, is gone. And he said that it's really been a month, acknowledged that it's only been a month since what he said, what he called the people of Iraq, prisoners, have been released, so to speak. And he talked about the fact that certainly the U.S. has made progress, but stopped short of declaring victory.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BUSH: Our victory in Iraq is certain, but it is not complete. The centralized power of the dictator has ended. Yet, in parts of Iraq, desperate and dangerous elements remain. Forces of our coalition will engage these enemies until they surrender or until they are destroyed.
(APPLAUSE)
BUSH: We have waged this war with determination and with clarity of purpose. And we will see it through until the job is done.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BASH: Now, the president acknowledged that what needs to be done still is finding the weapons of mass destruction. That was part of the stated goal of this campaign, this military campaign in Iraq.
Now, one person the president did talk to who he hadn't spoken to in quite some time is President Jacques Chirac of France. There you see the two men from a long time ago. The president has not -- President Bush has not spoken to the French leader since before the war began, since early February. President Chirac phoned President Bush earlier today.
They spoke for about 20 minutes about the situation in Iraq. We are told by the White House that the president said to President Chirac that he believes that the Iraqi people are better off now that Saddam Hussein is gone. They also talked about the situation in Syria and also talked about the fact that they are going to meet face to face next month in France.
One quick thing that the White House did mention, when asked -- Ari Fleischer, the White House spokesman, when asked if they had a positive discussion, he said, well, if was businesslike -- Kyra.
PHILLIPS: Dana Bash, live at the White House, thank you.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
Aired April 15, 2003 - 15:20 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
KYRA PHILLIPS, CNN ANCHOR: Today, millions of people will make the last-day dash to the post office to mail off those tax returns. And President Bush today returned to talk of the economy, pushing a plan the administration is hopeful will make tax day less taxing.
For more on the president's message, we're joined by White House correspondent Dana Bash -- hi, Dana.
DANA BASH, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Hi, Kyra.
Well, just as you said, it was really the first time we have heard since the war began the president turn publicly to the home front and specifically on the No. 1 issue on the home front for this White House. And that is the ailing economy. The president came out to the Rose Garden on this tax day and talked about the fact that he is certainly focused on the economy, and talked about, for the first time acknowledging that he is not going to get the full $726 billion tax cut that he had proposed, but said that he expects Congress to give him the highest amount of tax cut that's possible.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: The nation needs quick action by our Congress on a pro-growth economic package. We need tax relief totalling at least $550 billion to make sure our economy grows.
(APPLAUSE)
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BASH: Now, the issue, of course, is the fact that Congress, before leaving for a recess, slashed the president's tax cut; in the House, $550 billion, in the Senate, $350 billion, the president clearly wanting to get as much as possible, but the White House today acknowledging that the president does have a tough fight on his hands to try to get what he wants through Congress.
Now, when the president was in the Rose Garden, he also talked about the situation in Iraq. The president said that the regime in Iraq, Saddam Hussein's regime, is gone. And he said that it's really been a month, acknowledged that it's only been a month since what he said, what he called the people of Iraq, prisoners, have been released, so to speak. And he talked about the fact that certainly the U.S. has made progress, but stopped short of declaring victory.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BUSH: Our victory in Iraq is certain, but it is not complete. The centralized power of the dictator has ended. Yet, in parts of Iraq, desperate and dangerous elements remain. Forces of our coalition will engage these enemies until they surrender or until they are destroyed.
(APPLAUSE)
BUSH: We have waged this war with determination and with clarity of purpose. And we will see it through until the job is done.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BASH: Now, the president acknowledged that what needs to be done still is finding the weapons of mass destruction. That was part of the stated goal of this campaign, this military campaign in Iraq.
Now, one person the president did talk to who he hadn't spoken to in quite some time is President Jacques Chirac of France. There you see the two men from a long time ago. The president has not -- President Bush has not spoken to the French leader since before the war began, since early February. President Chirac phoned President Bush earlier today.
They spoke for about 20 minutes about the situation in Iraq. We are told by the White House that the president said to President Chirac that he believes that the Iraqi people are better off now that Saddam Hussein is gone. They also talked about the situation in Syria and also talked about the fact that they are going to meet face to face next month in France.
One quick thing that the White House did mention, when asked -- Ari Fleischer, the White House spokesman, when asked if they had a positive discussion, he said, well, if was businesslike -- Kyra.
PHILLIPS: Dana Bash, live at the White House, thank you.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
