Part 2 of 3...Q Ari, yesterday the Fed warned about the risk of deflation. Is that a concern of the administration? Is there any evidence of deflation in the economy?
MR. FLEISCHER: I leave those issues up to expert economists. You can hear what the Fed said -- they issued a news release about that topic yesterday. They were not as precise as you were in your question. That's a question that economists will debate.
Q Is it something that you're studying within the administration?
MR. FLEISCHER: Well, the administration always takes a very careful look at any statements that the Federal Reserve issues. Those statements are sometimes cryptic and they require considerable study.
Q Ari, was it the Vice President's idea to have the President land in the plane on the Abraham Lincoln?
MR. FLEISCHER: The Vice President pointed out to the President that he, himself, had done it. So it was a variety of different people --
Q He choppered.
MR. FLEISCHER: Pardon me?
Q He choppered.
MR. FLEISCHER: No, he has also landed on an aircraft that was caught by a tailhook. I don't know if it was a Viking specifically, but he flew on an aircraft onto the aircraft carrier in the past.
Q So it was his idea?
MR. FLEISCHER: Well I think various staff had the idea. I really couldn't tell you. Ultimately, of course, it's always the President's decision, and it was the President's decision to fly out on the Viking; proudly so. So I couldn't tell you with precision.
Q Can I ask you about the Vice President's interview yesterday where he said he would be running again? Has -- again, just saw it this morning -- has the President formally asked him to run again? Have they had that conversation?
MR. FLEISCHER: Yes, I looked into that, and what you have here is basically a reiteration of what you were told last fall. Last fall on November 7th, the President said publicly that he -- that Vice President Cheney will be on the ticket if the President decides to run again. And the President did have a discussion with him about that right around that time last fall.
Q And is he at all concerned about his health, his heart problems?
MR. FLEISCHER: Obviously not.
Q And why does he think he's the right running mate?
MR. FLEISCHER: For the exact same reasons that he thought in 2000. And I don't have anything additional to add beyond that. I think that at the time that the President makes an announcement about his own plans, you may hear more thinking about that.
Q Ari, going back to Elizabeth's first question, could you give a little bit more color as to when and how this was determined for this, what some of your staunchest critics are calling a wonderful photo op that was used for exploitation?
MR. FLEISCHER: In terms of picking the Vice President to be on the ticket?
Q No, her first question.
MR. FLEISCHER: And that was?
Q About the Lincoln. About how -- when was this decided? When hostilities started diminishing, or what? When was this whole decision decided for him to fly in on the Lincoln aircraft carrier?
MR. FLEISCHER: Yes, I think I answered all that in the gaggle on the way out to the Lincoln, so you've got a record of all of that. This was as the President decided he wanted to address the nation and to give a speech to sum up to the country where we were as the conflict wound down. There were discussions of the best venues, the various venues for the President to talk to the American people. And the President thought the very best venue would be in a place where he could thank the men and women who helped make it possible in person.
Q Last week you said the speech was significant because, one, we found out that he started rehearsing in the theater for this, and you said it was significant. But tell me this, because of the significance of this, did he need drama to emphasize the significance of this speech?
MR. FLEISCHER: I think that the suggestion -- the President wanted to go out somewhere to thank the men and women who made this possible in person. They deserve nothing less. These are the men and women who fought a war to keep us free, to protect us and to save us. They deserve no less.
Q Ari, back on Waxman -- Congressman Waxman sent a letter to Lt. Flowers, saying, "There appears to be a conflict between the administration statements of intent that the oil belongs to Iraqis and its actions issuing contracts to U.S. companies like Halliburton to produce and distribute the oil. This conflict should be addressed by the administration in a forthright manner." Is there any concern that at the very least, the administration has a perception problem here, that this could become something where if Waxman continues to call for investigations, continues to ask for information about the contracts, that it could become --
MR. FLEISCHER: No, this is exactly what I said at the beginning. Congressman Waxman has never met a Republican he didn't want to investigate. You can ask -- address all questions to the contracting agencies. And, of course, the oil of Iraq belongs to the Iraqi people. All resources of Iraq belong to the Iraqi people. And the United States, through the Agency for International Development and through other entities, is going to be there to help the Iraqi people. And that is exactly what we're doing.
Q Do you believe that the contract should become public?
MR. FLEISCHER: You need to address those questions to the contracting agencies, not to the White House.
Q The administration has no position?
MR. FLEISCHER: These are contracting matters, not White House matters.
Q Ari, just one more question on the carrier business. If footage of the President's appearance were to appear in his reelection campaign, would it be appropriate then for the -- to have the campaign pay for it?
MR. FLEISCHER: I'm just not going to speculate about what would or would not happen. The campaign is a long way away. That was a wonderful, proud day for our military, for the nation and for the President. And that is forever how he will remember it. He was deeply moved to be there, to arrive the way he did. The men and women of the military were deeply moved to be able to host him. And that's the spirit that this President is going to remember that day, and nothing else will diminish that.
Q Could you clarify for us, I didn't quite understand what you were saying about where we stand with the U.N. Obviously, the Secretary of State is going up there today. Where are we in the process of putting forth the new resolution aiming at the June 3rd deadline?
MR. FLEISCHER: We're in the consultative process. Discussions are underway among diplomats to talk about what comes next after the June 3rd deadline expires. And the position the President has taken is that the sanctions should be removed. There are conversations among diplomats now about how best to accomplish that.
Q Would you hope to have a new resolution passed by the time the oil-for-food expires, so that you don't have any period during which no food can be delivered to the Iraqi people?
MR. FLEISCHER: Well, certainly, you want to have this action done prior to June 3rd.
Q Now, the Russians are proposing that Kofi Annan be given the authority to sell -- to have continued authority to sell Iraqi oil and essentially to control the oil industry, to develop fields and all that sort of thing. Does the U.S. have position on that?
MR. FLEISCHER: Again, the position is sanctions should be removed. Then the decisions about who will be part of the reconstruction will be made by the various parties. And the coalition is leading that effort.
Q One other thing. This afternoon, we'll get the President and President Aznar. Do you have some sense of whether or not there will be an opening statement from them, what we can expect from that, and how long it --
MR. FLEISCHER: There will be an opening statement. Then you'll have a chance to ask some questions.
Q Is that opening statement on the fact that they're both coalition members --
MR. FLEISCHER: I think it will be about the friendship of Spain, the strong support of Spain, and our strong relations with the people of Spain.
Q Is there a broader point, though, to the visit? Is something going to emerge from the state visit, I mean, in terms of new agreements growing forth from the relationship that's developed over the last few months?
MR. FLEISCHER: I think the State Department may have something to say today in regard to designation of terrorist organizations in Spain. The United States and Spain have a very strong relationship, and the President is very grateful to Spain for the leadership they took in helping to free the world from the threat of the Iraqi regime.
Q When you say designation of terrorist organizations, what do you mean? What are you referring to?
MR. FLEISCHER: There is always a review underway of various organizations. The State Department has a list of organizations that are classified as terrorist, and they'll have information today about the completion of their review. |
