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Press Briefing by Press Secretary Dana Perino
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For Immediate Release Office of the Press Secretary October 23, 2008

Press Briefing by Press Secretary Dana Perino James S. Brady Press Briefing
Room

˙ /news/releases/2008/10/20081023-2.wm.v.html ˙˙Press Briefings
˙˙Audio


11:47 A.M. EDT

MS. PERINO: Good afternoon -- morning. Sorry I'm a little bit late, but I
had the opportunity to go with the President to his meeting with the
U.S.-Middle East Partnership Initiative.

(Cell phone rings.)

Total cell phone violation by Jim Axelrod of CBS News. (Laughter.)

Q No, Terry is not here, sorry. (Laughter.)

Q Can we start over again?

MS. PERINO: Terry's ring is much more obnoxious. (Laughter.)

Okay, the reason I'm late is I had an opportunity to go with the President
to the Middle East Partnership Initiative. This is a initiative that he and
Mrs. Bush started. It's a chance -- it's an advocacy organization, run out
of the State Department, to help promote freedom and democracy. It's also
the organization that Mrs. Bush and many others, including Ambassador
Brinker, have worked through to help spread information about breast cancer
awareness. And we've done that all across the Middle East, and Mrs. Bush
has traveled there several times.

Today he met with a group of 43 women from across the Middle East and
northern Africa. They are involved in their elections in their home
countries -- some of them running for office, others working on campaigns
or a part of the election committees there. And they're here in the United
States for the next couple of weeks. They're going to be fanning out across
America to ten different cities, and they'll be monitoring elections here
in our country and then taking that information back. And the President
spent about 45 minutes with them, and it was a very exciting event for us.

Also, I have a couple of announcements for you. Earlier today, in yet
another sign of security improvements in Iraq, primary security was turned
back over to the Iraqis in the province of Babil. The coalition forces
turned that over to provincial Iraqi control. That is a province that is
south of Baghdad and home to the ruins of the ancient city of Babylon. It
becomes the 12th of 18 provinces to take a lead for its security operations
in Iraq. This brings the total to about two-thirds of Iraq that is now
being controlled by Iraqis, and we anticipate an additional province will
be handed over to them soon in the near future.

The President is appreciative of all the work that our forces have done,
but also recognizes that the Iraqis have done a lot of work, too, to get to
this point.

Finally, I have a statement by the President to read to you on the Beirut
bombing anniversary, and then we will release it, as well:

"Twenty-five years ago, a suicide bomb destroyed the Marine barracks in
Beirut, Lebanon. We remember the 241 American Marines, soldiers, and
sailors who lost their lives in that attack, and we pay tribute to their
families and their loved ones. The U.S. forces in Lebanon were serving as
part of the Multinational Force working to bring peace and security to that
country torn by years of civil war. On the anniversary of this
unconscionable attack we honor the memory of those brave servicemen and
women through our commitment to succeeding in the war on terror. We express
our gratitude to those serving abroad to protect America and promote peace
and freedom around the world. And we reiterate our strong support for the
voices of moderation and justice in Lebanon."

With that, I'll take your questions.

Q What can you tell us about the new mortgage loan guarantee program that
the administration is working on?

MS. PERINO: I don't have a lot of detail about new -- any new programs. I
know that the Assistant -- I'm sorry, the Director* of the FDIC, Sheila
Bair, will be testifying today. There's been a lot of conversations about
what more we can do to help homeowners. We have a couple of good programs
right now, one of them being the FHASecure program, the other one being
HOPE NOW.

And then in the TARP program, which is the rescue package, there is
language in that legislation that tasks the Treasury Department with
working to make sure we avoid as many home foreclosures as possible. So
there are a range of tools that they're looking at through the TARP program
to be able to continue to help homeowners stay in their homes.

One of the ways to do that is through loan reworks, so that if you were --
if you have a certain amount of income and you had a certain amount of
debt, if that can be reworked to make it more realistic that you'll be able
to stay in your home, we have an obligation to try to do that and that's
what we've been doing.

Q Do you have any idea how much this would cost or if there is a cost to
taxpayers?

MS. PERINO: I don't, although I would remind you that in the legislation,
in the rescue package legislation, it gives you some tools -- gives us some
tools as the federal government -- to work within that legislation, and I
believe within those dollars, to be able to work on anything that we would
add to this program.

Q And also, Greenspan was up on the Hill today testifying, and said that he
doesn't see any way that the United States can avoid a significant rise in
layoffs and unemployment. Is that the administration's --

MS. PERINO: I think that that is right, and I think that's what we have
been saying, that we're in for a rocky road for -- on the employment front.
And we expect our GDP number next week not to be a good one. And the next
quarter could probably be tough, as well. So I think that he's probably
right, that unfortunately there are a lot of people in America who either
have lost their job or are anxious about losing their job. The best thing
that we can do to try to help them is to implement this rescue package,
unthaw the credit freeze and get money moving again, so we can return this
nation on a path to job growth.

One of the things President Bush has said to all of his team members is
that he wants the next President to be able to take over and have a system
in place that has us on a path to prosperity, and has us on a path to job
growth. So that's what we're going to be working towards.

Q Dana, is that language that you just used, the next GDP number not good,
and then the quarter after that not too -- that's forecasting from the
podium, which I know you don't usually do.

MS. PERINO: I don't usually do. I'm just trying to be realistic, that we do
look at the --

Q Is that preparation for next week, or for the idea of a recession
starting to get out there a little more into people's minds, and you be a
little more comfortable from the podium calling it that?

MS. PERINO: What I'm comfortable with is saying that in the last month, as
we've seen a tremendous slowdown in our economy, and the rescue package,
and the effect that all of this news has had on the markets, as the markets
have tried to digest all of it, is that we're in for what is probably going
to be a tough quarter, and that's just reality. I don't forecast from here,
but I just was looking at reality, and how long it's going to take for
people to return this country to job growth. It could be awhile. I don't
forecast recessions. I don't make those determinations. There's independent
bodies that do that. What I can tell you is that the President knows that
we're in for a rough ride, which is why he has asked us to work every day,
night and day. And that's what they've been doing at the Treasury
Department to try to make sure that we do everything we can to pull us out
of this slowdown so that anything that we experience in this slowdown will
be shallower and shorter than we would have otherwise experienced.

Q That sounded like the closest thing to a forecast that we've heard.

MS. PERINO: I'm not here to forecast. I'm just trying to be realistic as to
what we're going to face.

Q Dana, last week you urged patience on this rescue package -- the
logistics of setting it up. Is it true to say that not a single dollar has
changed hands as of today? And how long is it forecast to take to get this
thing up and running?

MS. PERINO: I think that's accurate. You'd have to check with Treasury to
make sure. Neel Kashkari, the Acting Assistant Secretary who is in charge
of that program, is testifying on Capitol Hill today, so he might have
already said that. One of the things that they're doing is making sure that
the due diligence is done to the greatest extent possible to make sure that
the contracts are signed appropriately, that we have taxpayer dollars
protected to the greatest extent possible, and that we are making good
investments on behalf of the American people. It will be temporary
investments. It will be investments that we believe the American people
will get paid back, and possibly even make money on. But all of that is
going to take a little bit of time.

I think that the banks have seen that we -- they know this money is coming,
and that's one of the reasons you've seen these credit markets start to
unfreeze a little bit.

Q Dana, I was going to ask if -- right now the Treasury said under the law
there's no actual timeline for selling these stocks back. I wanted to see
if -- does the President believe that there should be a -- some sort of
incentive or some sort of timeline to sell these stocks back to the private
holders so that future administrations might not see it as a revenue
source?

MS. PERINO: The President is trusting his team over at the Treasury
Department to design this program, and he believes that they're doing it
the right way. I don't have details for you on it. So we'll let them --
we'll just trust our Treasury Secretary and those that he's tasked with to
implement the program.

Kathleen.

Q New subject?

MS. PERINO: No, does anybody have --

Q No, I have a follow-up.

MS. PERINO: Go ahead, Yunji.

Q Does the President believe now is the time to start directly dealing with
homeowners and buying some of those bad mortgages? John McCain today said
that the administration should start that right away.

MS. PERINO: As part of the program that we have -- remember, in July we had
the legislation that allowed -- I think maybe it was August, in the
continuing resolution that passed, that was monies that were given to FHA
so that they could consider trying to buy up some of those old mortgages,
or, at the same time, use that money to try to rework some of these loans
so that people can stay in their homes. We'll try to move forward as
quickly as possible. In the rescue package, there was language that allowed
that to happen, as well; that was the asset purchase program. And the
Treasury Department is just working through all the details to do it to the
greatest efficiency and effectiveness possible.

Q But it's not happening now. I mean, does he want more speed with that?

MS. PERINO: We're -- the President is confident that the Treasury Secretary
is moving with all due speed, but also with enough care to make sure that
we're not wasting any taxpayer dollars.

Q You and others at the White House have said repeatedly that you're open
to the idea of a second stimulus program. Have dialogue -- has the dialogue
begun with the Hill on putting together some ideas?

MS. PERINO: We're in touch with the Hill on a regular basis, on a daily
basis. But I think just realistically, you should look at the fact that
Congress isn't going to be here until November 17th, so I don't anticipate
you'll see a lot of action from the Hill until after the election.

Q So even staff-to-staff level --

MS. PERINO: We're in communication with them on a regular basis, even
daily, but I don't anticipate a lot of action from the Hill until after the
election.

Q And separate question, is the President doing any sort of recorded
messages to voters for Senate or House candidates? Any sort of robocall
kind of activity?

MS. PERINO: Not that I'm aware of. I know he's been pretty focused on the
issues at hand, but voter participation has been something that the
President and Mrs. Bush have encouraged ever since they've been in public
office. And so we'll keep you updated; I just don't know of any right now.

Kathleen.

Q Dana, John McCain has been increasingly distancing himself from the
President in these closing days of the campaign, and his criticism lately
has gotten quite pointed -- in The Washington Times today, criticizing
President Bush on, among other things, the early conduct of the war in
Iraq, federal spending, growth in the size of government, the $10 trillion
debt, the President's abuse of signing statements, his support of the
Medicare prescription drug bill. Do you want to defend the President on any
of these points or take issue with any of his criticisms?

MS. PERINO: This is all I'll say on it, is that the President stands by his
policies. The President believes that a Republican Congress has got a lot
more done than the current Democrat-led Congress. He supports John McCain
and he still believes that he can and should win, and he'll continue to
support him until election day.

Q Follow on that, McCain said that the President had let things get
completely out of hand. That's a pretty damning statement of a President
who McCain supported and supports him.

MS. PERINO: I'm not going to comment on the words that our candidate
chooses to use. All I'll say is that the President stands by his policies.
He also stands by John McCain.

Q Does Bush take it personally at all?

MS. PERINO: No, he doesn't.

Olivier.

Q Dana, the French President has come out and said that the decision to let
Lehman go under was irresponsible policy. Do you stand by that policy? Any
second thoughts about what happened to Lehman and how it was approached
from here?

MS. PERINO: I'm not going to second-guess it because it is what it is, and
the Treasury Secretary had a lengthy interview with The New York Times,
which I'm sure all of you read, and I'll refer you and the President of
France to that article. And I'm sure if they want to talk about it when
they get here on November 14th and 15th, they'll have an opportunity to do
so. They may have had an opportunity to do so at Camp David. They might
have already had a conversation.

Q And did you have a chance to get an answer on whether the meeting that
Admiral Mullen had at Helsinki with his Russian counterpart was part of a
broader --

MS. PERINO: I have not. I have not. Although looking at his public
comments, it seems it was pretty focused on military actions. But we're
trying to find out if we think there's anything more I can provide you.

Back to you, Bret.

Q Yes, just a different topic.

MS. PERINO: Okay.

Q We obtained a draft of the status of forces agreement that's making its
way through the Iraqi leadership.

MS. PERINO: Which number? (Laughter.)

Q The latest one, the latest one.

MS. PERINO: There's been several.

Q First, a couple of questions specific, and then another broad question.
One is, it says that the U.S. must release all detainees as soon as this
agreement goes into effect. Is there concern that the Iraqis have the
capacity and capability to take all the detainees that the U.S. currently
has in custody?

MS. PERINO: I'm not as aware of that provision as I am with some of the
others. I'll tell you that we believe that the text is a good one. And we
believe it's closed, or if not fully closed, then almost all the way
closed. And we haven't seen the changes that the Iraqis have recommended.
I'll check on that for you, because I'm not as aware of that provision as I
was such as on jurisdiction or other --

Q Okay. The U.S. will cede authority for securing the international zone,
the Green Zone, to the Iraqis; that's where the U.S. embassy is. Concern at
all about that, security for the international zone?

MS. PERINO: If we did not believe that the Iraqis were capable of taking
over these provinces, like I mentioned earlier in the briefing, or taking
over more of the security -- we would not agree to it if we thought that
they weren't able to take care of it.

Q Final question. On the broad timing of this, Secretary Rice said the
window is closing. She seemed to pressure the Iraqis, saying that they're
dragging their feet. Do you expect amendments soon? Do you think that this
is going to come together soon? What's the deal?

MS. PERINO: Our negotiators are in regular contact with the Iraqi
negotiators, so -- our main ones being Ambassador Crocker and General
Odierno. We have not seen the exact language that the Iraqis would propose,
in terms of any amendments. It would be a very high bar to see any changes
to the agreement. And I think Secretary Rice and Secretary Gates put it
plainly that there are consequences for not moving forward. But we are
confident the Iraqis, once they can get through their political process
that they have set up for this agreement, that we think we can get it
signed.

I'm going to go over here to Ken.

Q Has the President voted yet?

MS. PERINO: Not yet, so we'll keep you updated. Roger, did you have one?

Q Mine was on the related -- is he going to be voting in Crawford
physically?

MS. PERINO: It's unlikely. But if that changes -- I'll try to have more
information for you before early next week. Okay.

Go ahead, Goyal.

Q Two quick questions. One, before U.S. and India vote on business, as far
as civil nuclear agreement is concerned, there are some agreements to be
signed by the President, some of those. When he is going to sign so they
can get him to --

MS. PERINO: Let me check for you. I don't know -- I know that there's been
a little bit of just getting through the bureaucracy for him to be able to
sign some documents. But I'll check.

Q And second, on Tuesday, at the Johns Hopkins University, there was a
summit on Afghanistan and terrorism in the region. And some experts were
saying that really is -- NATO is not doing enough, and the detainees
released from the U.S., they are on the -- back on the streets of Pakistan
and Afghanistan, and they are killing people. And now, Pakistan has
announced yesterday that they will bring thousands of arms to the
anti-Taliban people. Don't you think, then, everybody will have arms in
Pakistan's streets?

MS. PERINO: Well, we --

Q It is going to solve any problem?

MS. PERINO: Right. So, on Afghanistan, we have reviews underway both here
and at the State Department, at the Department of Defense, to continue to
work on what is the best strategy so that we can continue to help
Afghanistan. It's a very different place from Iraq, but the NATO forces are
working together. It's tough fighting. It is very dangerous and you have a
very serious situation where the Taliban is trying to assert control over
certain provinces of a country, mainly in the east and in the south. So
we're continuing to work on that.

When it comes to Pakistan and their announcement, we have committed to the
Pakistanis that we want to help them avoid the dangers that the Taliban and
al Qaeda have presented to their innocent civilians. The Taliban has been
chipping away at the opportunities and the lifestyles that the Pakistanis
want to achieve. And so they made an announcement that they're going to try
to work with tribal leaders who have shown a lot of courage to stand up to
these terrorists. Many of them have lost their lives because they did stand
up to them, and we're going to try to help them as best we can.

We'll see how this works out. I don't know if we have a lot of information
yet as to all the details, and we'll be -- keep a close eye on it because
we recognize how important it is.

Q This agreement which General Musharraf did, do you think this will work
this time now?

MS. PERINO: Well, I don't know -- again, I don't have all the details as to
how the Pakistanis have designed their new initiative, but I think that
they've probably learned a lot from the last time around and maybe this one
will be better. We hope so, but we're going to keep an eye on it.

I'm going to go to April.

Q Dana, after the 2001 -- well, 2000 election, in 2001 President Bush was
working on issues of voting problems and the issues of hanging chads,
dimpled chads, what have you. Now there's a concern in this country about
early voting -- some problems at the polls -- and also these voter forms --
registering to vote with ACORN. Has the Justice Department and the
President been talking about this? And what does the White House have to
say to those who are going to the polls? There is already concern about
problems. And many people are doing this early, and for November 4th, long
lines are expected.

MS. PERINO: The Justice Department works with states -- remember, elections
are run by states -- and so if there are problems the Justice Department
can investigate, but they don't announce those in advance and the President
doesn't get involved in those. So I don't know if they have. What I can
tell you is that the President wants to make sure that everyone in America
has a chance to vote, that they take the opportunity to vote, and that it
be a process that is infused with integrity. And so that's what he's
focused on.

Q Dana, the Labor Department --

MS. PERINO: I'm going to go back here. Go ahead.

Q Back to Greenspan for a second. I think this morning he said on the Hill
that he was caught off guard by the suddenness and the severity of the
downturn; in fact, I think he used the word "shock." Is the administration
shocked? Were they also caught off guard by the suddenness and the severity
of what's happened?

MS. PERINO: I think that we had recognized for a long time that we had
problems with Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, going back to 2002, 2003, when we
were trying to highlight those problems. And then we've known for the past
year, if you go back to last August when the stock market started to have
serious declines, we were concerned about activity in the economy at that
point, coming up to January. Then we worked on a stimulus package we were
able to do quickly.

So I would just -- I would say that we knew that there was a downturn
coming for a while. I didn't see Mr. Greenspan's comments. Perhaps what he
was talking about was the precipitous fall in the last couple of weeks that
we saw in sort of the beginning of September. I'm not exactly sure. I know
that we were acting quickly and we had to move very quickly in order to get
the rescue package in place, and that's why the legislation moved so
quickly on the Hill.

Go ahead, Les.

Q Thank you very much. Two questions. This morning a spokesman for the
Secret Service told me that to be an agent you have to have a Bachelor's
degree, three years in law enforcement, and undergo a complete background
check. When I asked if the applicant had any record of association with
terrorists, I was told that would not be tolerated. And my first question
is, is that the White House Press Office's understanding of the
qualifications required to be a Secret Service agent?

MS. PERINO: I have never spent time to go through the qualifications for
Secret Service agents. I just trust that they know what they're doing.

Q Right. And then considering the Obama-Ayers association --

MS. PERINO: Okay, that's it. I'm not going to answer it.

Q -- Senator Obama would not be qualified to be his own bodyguard.

MS. PERINO: I'm not going to answer it. Ann.

Q You're not going to answer that?

Q Where will the President be on election night? Will he be watching the
returns? And is he sentimental at all about not being on the ballot for the
first time in many years?

MS. PERINO: No, he's known for a long time he wasn't going to be on the
ballot -- (laughter) -- he's known since 2004 that he wasn't going to be on
the ballot, because it wasn't going to be possible. So he's not going to --
of course there's probably a little bit of sentimentality about it, but he
doesn't wish for things that weren't ever going to be. He was never going
to run for a third term.

So I will try to get for you by early next week what the plans are for the
election. I just don't have them right now to announce.

Thank you.

END 12:08 P.M. EDT

*Chairman
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