Transcript: White House Briefing, October 24, 2001

(President's schedule, HHS/public health grant supplement, purchase of


Cipro/Bayer Corporation, new Postal Service safety measures, alert


status, anthrax/professional involvement, mail/is it safe, Brentwood


mail facility/closing, warning from government of contamination,


purchase of irradiation machines, Office of Homeland Security/further


legislation, Governor Ridge briefings, who gets Cipro, White


House/remote mail facility/testing, source of anthrax, economic


stimulus package, airline security package, surcharge,


Israel/escalation in violence, Vice President/appearances, national ID


card, judicial nominations, new round of rebates, catching anthrax


perpetrators) (6940)





White House spokesman Ari Fleischer briefed.





Following is the transcript:





(begin transcript)








PRESS BRIEFING BY ARI FLEISCHER


THE WHITE HOUSE


Office of the Press Secretary


October 24, 2001


The James S. Brady Briefing Room


3:24 P.M. EDT








INDEX





President's schedule


HHS/public health grant supplement


Purchase of Cipro from Bayer Corporation


New Postal Service safety measures


Alert status


Anthrax/professional involvement


Mail/is it safe


Brentwood mail facility/closing


Warning from government of contamination


Purchase of irradiation machines


Office of Homeland Security/further legislation


Governor Ridge briefings


Who gets Cipro


White House/remote mail facility/testing


Source of anthrax


Economic stimulus package


Airline security package


Surcharge


Israel/escalation in violence


Vice President/appearances


National ID card


Judicial nominations


New round of rebates


Catching anthrax perpetrators








MR. FLEISCHER: Good afternoon. I'd like to give you a report on the


President's day, and then give you a few updates on some of the


activities in fighting the war on terrorism on the domestic front. And


then I'll be happy to take your questions.





The President, this morning, had his usual intelligence briefings, and


then he convened a meeting of the National Security Council. He, also


this morning, met with the Joint Chiefs of Staff, and then he had a


meeting with members of Congress to discuss homeland security with


Governor Ridge, where government presented them with an update on the


status of the office and the activities of the office. That is the


first of two such meetings; the second meeting will take place this


afternoon, with the President, Governor Ridge and other members of


Congress.





The President, also today, traveled to the Dixie Printing Company in


Glen Burnie, Maryland, to make the case for the House of


Representatives today to take action on an economic stimulus package


that will help the American people get back to work, that will help


provide a boost to the economy. Action on that is pending in the


House, and the President is very hopeful that the House of


Representatives today will pass that economic recovery package.





And as I mentioned, the President, later this afternoon, will have the


second of his meetings on homeland security with Governor Ridge and


members of Congress.





Three announcements on the domestic side on fighting the war on


terrorism: One, Secretary of Health and Human Services Tommy Thompson


today announced $300 million is being released immediately through the


Centers for Disease Control to supplement public health grants to the


affected states and cities as a result of the anthrax attacks. Those


communities are New York, New Jersey, the District of Columbia, and


Florida. And these funds will go to surveillance, detection and


confirmation of anthrax cases. That way the public health response


capabilities can be improved.





In addition, the Secretary, along with Helge Wehmeier, the President


and CEO of the Bayer Corporation, today announced agreement for a


significant new federal purchase of the antibiotic Cipro, at a


substantially lower price. The antibiotic is expected to be available


by January 1, 2002.





Under the terms of the agreement, which is valued at $95 million,


Health and Human Services will pay 95 cents per tablet, for a total


initial order of 100 million tablets. Funds for the purchase are


included in the $1.6 billion emergency proposal made by President Bush


and sent up to the Congress on October 17th.





Resources on hand by January as a result of this will be able to treat


12 million people immediately for anthrax exposure. And as Secretary


Thompson said in announcing this, the beneficial price also means that


we can have more funds available to assist state and local health


responders to be ready for all eventualities.





And, finally, Postmaster General Jack Potter today announced a number


of strong safety measures as part of the Postal Service's four-part


effort to better protect employees and workers and the public through


education, investigation, intervention and prevention at the Postal


Service.





The preventative measures announced today by the Postmaster General


are: Adopting and deploying new technology to neutralize anthrax that


might move through the mail. This new technology, which involves


irradiation, is already being used successfully to fight bacteria in


food.





In addition, he announced that the Postal Service will provide


employees who process mail with masks and gloves for their protection.


They will also establish field command centers so employees can notify


the centers if they seek admission to a hospital. That way, the Postal


Service can quickly identify any pattern or medical problems that


might develop.





In addition, he announced a change in the procedures at the Postal


Service, that they will change the way they clean mail-sorting


equipment. The Postal Service will use vacuuming equipment exclusively


to clean the equipment and absorb dust and other particles. Postal


facilities will also use stronger antibacterial cleaning chemicals as


part of routine maintenance.





And, finally, supervisors and postmasters are going to continue giving


mandatory talks to employees to educate them and provide them with


information they can use so they can receive the full protections they


deserve.





With that, I'm happy to take any questions.





Q: Ari, on the irradiation, are we talking about ultraviolet, are we


talking about cobalt radiation? Are these facilities that can be added


on to the postal stations, or do they have to be sent out to


third-party providers?





MR. FLEISCHER: The announcement made by the Postal Service was


irradiation. It is not defined beyond that. And this would be


equipment that the Postal Service purchases for themselves for their


own use.





Q: Ari, on the same subject, on Postal Service, I understand $175


million was assigned to them, but it seems they're going to need more


money than that. Is the President willing to ask for more funds for


the Postal Service, or will they have to go to Congress directly?





MR. FLEISCHER: That figure was developed in concert with officials at


the Postal Service. The President announced that yesterday, the $175


million. And we will continue to work with the Postal Service and


others to meet their needs.





Q: Before it's needed, will money be available?





MR. FLEISCHER: Well, that's the announcement the President made


yesterday, and that's based on the immediate assessment of the Postal


Service's needs.





Q: Ari, I've got a couple questions. First, is the FBI alert that was


issued about two weeks ago, is that still in effect and at the same


level?





MR. FLEISCHER: Law enforcement agencies and the FBI remain at a


heightened state of alert.





Q: So the same state of alert as it was a couple weeks ago?





MR. FLEISCHER: I think it's fair to say it's a high state of alert, it


remains a high state of alert.





Q: And Senator Frist today said that the grade of the anthrax suggests


more than a casual scientist was involved. Does the White House agree


with that?





MR. FLEISCHER: Involving the mailing to Senator Daschle's Office?





Q: Yes.





MR. FLEISCHER: I'm not sure how to respond to  -- 





Q: Or that killed the two postal workers.





MR. FLEISCHER: Suffice it to say that the mail that was received in


Florida was lethal enough to kill one person. The mail that was


received in Senator Daschle's office also took the lives of two postal


workers. And so however it's defined -- and I think the best place for


those definitions to come are from the scientists involved -- it had a


lethal affect.





Q: Do you know  -- 





Q: Mr. Potter this morning said that there are no guarantees that the


mail is safe. Does the President agree with that?





MR. FLEISCHER: Terry, the President is satisfied that every step is


being taken to protect postal workers and everybody who receives mail.


Those steps have been very visible, very public; I just announced


several of them. That's the reason that the President has, himself,


said that it's important for people to be on alert, to look for


suspicious packages. You see the Attorney General reading off of an


FBI notice about what a suspicious package might look like. The


President is satisfied that every precaution is being taken.





Obviously, in a country in which more than 200 billion pieces of mail


are sent every year, now we have what is a handful of cases in which


anthrax has been sent through the mail. Just by virtue of the fact


that more than 200 billion pieces of mail are sent every year and only


a handful have, unfortunately, had anthrax, it is safe to conclude


that the mail is overwhelmingly safe.





Q: So people should feel safe opening their mail?





MR. FLEISCHER: People should feel safe opening their mail. People


should also be alert as they proceed as they open their mail. And


obviously, the cases that have been anthrax sent through the mail all


have involved high-profile, high-visible people.





Q: So, Ari, to follow on that  -- 





MR. FLEISCHER: Or organizations.  I should add that.





Q: Because the Brentwood facility has been contaminated, and mail that


goes through the Brentwood facility has been stopped to certain


places, are there discussions underway, has there been a decision to


stop mail delivery to certain parts of the city where that mail would


pass through the Brentwood facility?





MR. FLEISCHER: I'm not aware of any such conversations, David, but


that's a question that could better and fuller be answered by Postal


Service officials here in the Washington area.





Q: Wouldn't that be a prudent step?





MR. FLEISCHER: Again, I have not been involved in any such


conversations, so I don't think I'm qualified to answer that.





Q: Ari, you say the Postal Service is going to buy these machines now


to irradiate mail. But some are in existence -- it is done for mail


that goes into the State Department, and shall we just say other


government facilities already. Have those been provided to the


District, because this is a high-profile area and many targets -- is


the District already using existing machines to do that now?





MR. FLEISCHER: The Postmaster General said this morning that he


believes that the first purchase will be in place in approximately


November, and the Postal Service will be the group that makes the


determination about exactly where they are going to position these


based on their analysis.





Q: The government owns some now. Any loaners? The federal government,


in conjunction with the Postal Service, uses these at certain


facilities. Any effort to expand that to David's question about the


civilian population in the District of Columbia? Its mail goes to the


same facilities, at least at the processing point.





MR. FLEISCHER: The determinations about where these machines are going


to be put is going to be done by the Postal Service based on an


analysis of where the needs are. And that's how they're going to


respond.





Q: Ari, you said yesterday that since September 11th, you were taking


extra precautions at the remote mail facility here for the White


House. Since we've learned since that all mail to that facility comes


from Brentwood, had there been any effort since September 11th to also


change security measures at Brentwood, on the assumption that they


also were receiving the same mail?





MR. FLEISCHER: The security procedures that are made here are made


because of the unique threat levels that exist at the White House. And


so I can only speak to the changes that are made here that affect the


remote facility that the White House uses.





Q: But every bit of mail that comes to the White House facility goes


through Brentwood first, right?





MR. FLEISCHER: I'm the spokesman for the White House; I can only


answer the question about what's happened for the White House


procedures. I can't speak to all the mail at any postal facility


across the country.





Q: Where I'm heading is, did the Secret Service make any effort to


back upstream a little bit from their own facility, your own remote


facility, to the next step, which would have been Brentwood?





MR. FLEISCHER: To the best of my knowledge, those procedures were


initiated at the remote facility here for the White House.





Q: And ended there?





MR. FLEISCHER: To the best of my knowledge, that's right.





And since Keith is in David's seat, we'll go right to Keith.





Q: Sounds like a good idea. (Laughter.) Ari, these meetings with Ridge


and members of Congress, are these sort of going to be regular


meetings with members, or are they a one-time attempt to sell some


team members on this office and the idea that you don't need any


further legislation?





MR. FLEISCHER: Well, at the meeting this morning, I think many of the


members found it very constructive to have these conversations. And


Governor Ridge has also spent considerable time up on the Hill meeting


individually and with different groups of members of Congress to talk


about homeland security and to listen to members of Congress and to


gather their ideas.





One of the purposes of the meeting also, in addition to


information-sharing and update the members on homeland security, was


it's no secret that there are a number of members of Congress -- some


of whom came down to the White House today -- who believe that


legislation is necessary to give Governor Ridge more power, the power


that they think he may need. And they received a very strong message


from the President today that no legislation is necessary; that


Governor Ridge has all the power that he needs; that Governor Ridge,


by virtue of the fact that he is in such proximity to the President,


has the ear of the President, has the respect of the President,


Governor Ridge has everything he needs to be able to get his job done.


And that was the message that the President and the Governor gave to


members of Congress earlier today.





Q: Can I follow up on this point that has to do with homeland


security? The White House is still in a stage where both the President


and Governor Ridge are trying to define to lawmakers and to the


American people what this office is all about. Where is Governor


Ridge? We're in the middle of a major anthrax scare. Why aren't we


seeing -- why aren't the American people hearing from him every day?





MR. FLEISCHER: The Governor has been spending much of his time with


members of Congress. Today, for example. I think everybody saw the


Governor was out here on Monday in a news conference, side by side


with many of the officials who are working on the anthrax issue that


developed here in Washington, D.C.





People will continue to see the Governor. And, in fact, you raised the


question -- many people will see him on one of America's premiere


networks tonight. So he's going to be continuing to be visible. People


will continue to see the Governor and he's going to be out briefing


and informing people on a regular basis.





Q: Which network?





MR. FLEISCHER: That would be the Central Broadcasting System.


(Laughter.) Of course, ABC and NBC asked about CBS. Columbia, excuse


me. (Laughter.) You're Columbia and not Central? You need to give up


that seat, that's a Central seat. (Laughter.)





Q: Is there a lesson learned in David's question about the mail? The


remote facility goes on a higher alert and does not contact Brentwood.


If the Secret Service sees a suspicious person outside the gates, they


call the D.C. Police and the Park Police immediately. If you go on a


higher sense of alert at your mail facility and you know all your mail


comes from the Brentwood facility, how could you not call the


Brentwood facility, at least as a courtesy, to say, we think something


could be up, we're going on a higher state of alert, you should, too?





MR. FLEISCHER: Again, in answer to the question, I said that to my


knowledge. And so I can't speak authoritatively for every phone call


that the Secret Service ever makes. I don't know every phone call the


Secret Service makes. But suffice it to say, the Brentwood facility is


already on an alert status as a result of the Daschle letter; the mail


at that facility had stopped. And so, I think in this case, it's --





Q: But there's a -- the dates. You say the remote facility implemented


additional -- it's already a place where mail is taken for a reason,


for security.





MR. FLEISCHER: I think the question here was relevant, after the


discovery of the small level of anthrax that was found on the cutting


machine at the remote facility.





Q: I think the question was that you said yesterday that facility has


gone on a higher state of alert, even since September 11th, prior to


the discovery of any letters.





MR. FLEISCHER: But, again, to use your analogy, if somebody were to


see something here at the gate, it would be seeing something here at


the gate that would trigger an involvement with the other authorities


of the area, the Park Service Police or the D.C. Police. Seeing


something at the gate is the equivalent of what was discovered last


night on the cutting machine.





Q: On this Cipro, since there's still a lot of confusion among doctors


and officials, why is the government giving Cipro to those who are not


positive? How are you going to know if they were exposed if they're


taking the antibiotic, and what's the directive on how long they


should be taking it?





MR. FLEISCHER: Well, the action that has been recommended by local


health officials, as well as the Centers for Disease Control, is that


Cipro should not be given to anybody unless there is some type of


reasonable evidence that they have been in the proximity of something


that could have contained anthrax. And that's why, in the case of


where you've seen Cipro being given to someone, it's where an


assessment is made that there could be a risk involved to the person


from possible anthrax exposure.





And that's why, take for example the case up in New York City of the


news outlets that received anthrax in the mail, local workers at those


outlets were given Cipro. At Senator Daschle's office, those who were


in the environment in which that envelope were opened were given


Cipro. In the case here at the remote facility, those who worked at


the remote facility or visited the remote facility, Cipro has been


made available to them.





So I think there is a pretty logical thing you can see. The


determination of the health community is, wherever somebody may have


been exposed to anthrax, they will prescribe Cipro as a prophylactic


treatment. It is not recommended by the health professionals for


anybody -- they have not possibly been exposed.





Q: Some people have stopped testing in some places now, too. They've


giving the Cipro, but not testing. So there's no way to know who has


been exposed.





MR. FLEISCHER: I'm not sure I follow your question. That they've


stopped testing? In each and every one of the cases I just cited,


tests were done.





Q: In the District, though, they were given Cipro  -- 





Q: Ari, can I ask about penicillin? Talking about Cipro and


arrangements being made, is there enough varieties of penicillin in


the system, and is the government negotiating with the manufacturers


of penicillin --





MR. FLEISCHER: I would refer you to the statements that Secretary


Thompson has made on numerous occasions about the push packs that are


available throughout the country to respond to a series of emergencies


on short notice. And the Secretary has addressed -- and I do not know,


medicine by medicine, everything that is in those push packs, but


that's a question that the Health and Human Services Department has


under its purview and they've given assurances about the availability


of those push packs.





Q: Ari, is the President meeting with the Governor of New York here


today?





MR. FLEISCHER: Not that I'm aware of.  Not on my schedule.





Q: -- update on the testing of the folks out at the remote facility


and here at the White House?





MR. FLEISCHER: This morning I indicated that as a result of all the


preliminary tests that had been done, that there have been no positive


anthrax cultures found. That statement holds. There have been no


positive anthrax cultures found as a result of any of the preliminary


tests that have been done. I believe those tests will be final


approximately Thursday -- tomorrow -- or Friday, and so we'll have


additional dates as events warrant.





Q: -- that you gave us earlier?





Q: I'm sorry -- the numbers you gave us earlier still stand, 120 out


of 200?





MR. FLEISCHER: The numbers I gave earlier still stand. We are in the


middle of a business day. Tests are underway today of people who work


at the remote facility, as well as those who may have visited that


facility. And that's why I don't have a numbers update for you from


what I gave this morning. The numbers that I gave this morning were 50


individuals who work in the EEOB mailroom here at the White House


grounds, and approximately some 150 or so individuals who work or


visited the remote facility. That number is subject to change as a


result of when you say number of people who visit -- that number is


obviously going to show some fluctuation as visitors are identified.





Q: Any source of the anthrax yet? Is it still believed that it's


cross-contamination from Brentwood?





MR. FLEISCHER: I don't believe anybody had identified what the source


is. There are suspicions about what it could be. That is clearly one


suspicion. But there's no information yet that is conclusive about


what the source may be.





Q: That was the first thing I wanted to ask you. There was a fairly


small amount, relatively --





MR. FLEISCHER: That's correct.





Q: -- that was found on that machine. Does that lead investigators to


believe that it was cross-contamination rather than a letter addressed


specifically to the White House?





MR. FLEISCHER: As I indicated, there's no conclusive finding on that


point. It is, from everything that I have heard from the people


involved in this, it's been described as trace amounts.





Q: Could I ask you about the economic stimulus package? The President


today is calling for passage of a bill that he does not support.


(Laughter.)





MR. FLEISCHER: Yes, he does.  The President  -- 





Q: He supports the House bill, including the costs  -- 





MR. FLEISCHER: Of course, the President supports the House bill. I've


said that on numerous occasions from here. The President is very


pleased with the House action, and the President is calling on the


House to pass it today. He's very pleased with the Ways and Means


Committee action, and he's calling on the House to pass it today.





Obviously, when a President sends legislation, particularly something


as important as an economic stimulus, up to the Hill, the Hill is not


a rubber stamp. The Hill does not give the President a carbon copy of


what he asks for. In the case of the economic stimulus pending in the


House as we speak, it is much of what the President asked for. It is


very similar to what the President asked for. And the President


believes that this is a very strong way to begin the process. He would


like the House of Representatives to pass it. He hopes that the Senate


will take action on a similar package.





There's been some legislation offered in the Senate that in the


President's opinion has much too much spending in it, that it's not a


stimulus package, it's a spending proposal. And so the President looks


forward at the end of the day to House passage, the Senate passage and


an agreement, and a bipartisan one, in the Conference Committee.





Q: But the fact that he called for passage of it does not mean that he


embraces a $100 billion short-term stimulus?





MR. FLEISCHER: I think as everybody who follows the congressional


process knows, there are several steps to it. And today is the


beginning step in the House. There will be a final step in the House


which is called final passage, and that will be a reflection of


changes that are likely to be made in a Conference Committee. And the


President is very pleased with the way this process is beginning.





Q: -- commitment from Senator Daschle about when that bill will be


brought up on the Senate side?





MR. FLEISCHER: I think you'd have to talk to Senator Daschle about the


schedule of the Senate floor.





Q: On the airline security package, or aviation security package,


there is a surcharge -- some would call it a tax. Is the President


prepared to sign something that includes this individual surcharge or


tax on each trip somebody takes?





MR. FLEISCHER: Yes, the President is favorably inclined toward that


provision.





Q: What I was wondering is, would he sign the House bill if that got


to him? Or is this sort of a tactical move to --





MR. FLEISCHER: That's a hypothetical. And now you're suggesting that


the Senate may be a rubber stamp for the House.





Q: Right. But what does it mean to say that he supports the bill,


then, if you can't tell us that he would sign it?





MR. FLEISCHER: It means that the President supports the bill. He's


very pleased with the fact that the House is going to pass an economic


stimulus package that lowers individual income tax rates for working


Americans; accelerates the existing tax cuts; that provides tax relief


for low-income Americans who do not pay income taxes by giving them


rebates; that provides faster expensing, that way businesses can have


more of an incentive to invest in plant and equipment, which creates


jobs. And, finally, the fourth major component of that is the


elimination of the corporate alternative minimum tax, which has served


as a real disincentive for businesses the invest in plant and


equipment.





Finally, it also includes a proposal that's similar to what the


President announced, which are national emergency grants to help


workers in states where there is high unemployment -- principally, New


York and other areas that have been impacted as a result of the


attacks -- so workers can receive health care and other help as they


go through unemployment.





Q: Does it mean that he's putting the Democrats -- putting the onus on


the Democrats the change the bill to the way that he wants it?





MR. FLEISCHER: No, it means the Congress is going to do what Congress


does, and that's the House pass, the Senate pass, and then meet in


conference.





Q: On the surcharge, earlier this year you defined any measure that


would raise revenues as a tax increase.





MR. FLEISCHER: -- I ever defined it that way.





Q: Yes, you did.





MR. FLEISCHER: No.  This is  -- 





Q: You said, if it raises revenues, it's a tax increase.





MR. FLEISCHER: No, actually, there's already on airline tickets a fee,


that's a standard part of airline ticketing. And this clearly is a fee


to provide additional security. And that's the purpose of it. This is


to provide funding for air marshals, this is to provide funding for


cockpit doors. The President can already fund those through the


emergency appropriation. This can also help provide more stringent


oversight, and a federal role in the screening and in the standards


that are set for security personnel.





But I don't even think you're going to see any disagreement on that


among some of the staunchest Republicans on the Hill. And I defy you


to find that statement because it has not been made.





Q: Secondly, on the Homeland Security Office, has the House -- Graham


came out and said he was holding off on his legislation. Have you


gotten similar signals from the House? Are they going to also hold off


on legislation to establish congressional authority for the Homeland


Security Office?





MR. FLEISCHER: I can't say the House has entered into any agreement on


that; I said that the President made his case. The issue came up and


the President made his case.





Q: Graham endorsed his case out here after the meeting.





MR. FLEISCHER: I would just have to refer you -- members of Congress


will speak for themselves about what their intentions are on that.





Q: Can I follow up on homeland security? There are so many voices, so


many people within the government who are addressing the anthrax


situation, and yet, it is Governor Ridge who is head of homeland


security. So, despite his appearance, which we'll eagerly consume


tonight on television, what is he doing?





MR. FLEISCHER: The Governor is involved in -- (laughter) -- I guess we


know which network did not get the interview tonight. (Laughter.)





Q: I think we had it last week.





Q: It wasn't the Northern Broadcast Corporation.  (Laughter.)





MR. FLEISCHER: Aside from recovering from the interview he had with


your network --





Q: But, seriously, there are so many disparate voices on this, what is


he doing?





MR. FLEISCHER: Sure. He's talking to many of those voices. The


Governor's job is a very busy coordination job. And one of the issues


that came up at the meeting today was that one of the reasons the


President has suggested to members of Congress that they do not need


to make this a statutory post, that he does not need Cabinet rank, for


example, that it does not need to be a Cabinet-level Office of


Homeland Security is because there is such overlap among the various


agencies, because every agency of the government has security


concerns. They have different divisions across various agencies,


whether it's the Department of Defense, whether it's the CIA, whether


it's the Department of Interior, whether it's Department of Treasury.





Many of these agencies have law enforcement roles within what they do.


Interior, for example, with the dams and some of the reservoirs,


things of that nature. Defense is fairly obvious. Treasury has Secret


Service, which has tremendous resources across the country. CIA, with


their ability to gather intelligence, et cetera.





All of those entities still need to be coordinated here at the White


House. Just as the National Security Council has very successfully


coordinated various defense-related entities across different agencies


here at the White House.





The nation is at war. The war has two home fronts: one is abroad, in


Afghanistan; the second is here, defending the homeland. To defend the


homeland is going to require a coordination of all those various


agencies. So to directly answer your question, he spends a lot of his


time working with those agencies, coordinating what they're doing,


bringing people together so that there can be a joint response to


various issues -- just as you saw he did on this podium on Monday,


when he stood shoulder-to-shoulder with officials from the District of


Columbia, from the Centers for Disease Control, from all the various


agencies that were affected. That's how he spends his time.





Q: And since he has arrived here at the White House, is t President


more confident that the government is able to prevent the spreading of


this anthrax scare further?





MR. FLEISCHER: Well, the President is very confident that he has the


right man for the job and that Governor Ridge is leading an effort


here in the government to do everything possible to protect Americans


from further attacks.





I can't go so far as to say, David, that the nation is no longer at


risk or at threat because there has been a hiring of a good man for an


important job. But the President has every confidence in Governor


Ridge. And that, too, by the way, was something that members of


Congress in both parties emphasized today at the meeting, that they


thought the Governor was the right man for the job.





Q: Is there anything the administration can do, or plans to do, to get


Israel to back off a bit? And how much is this latest escalation of


violence threatening the coalition on terror?





MR. FLEISCHER: Well, as you know, the President met with Foreign


Minister Peres yesterday, and he expressed his condolences about the


assassination of Minister Zeevi. And he also did urge Israel to


withdraw from Area A in the West Bank, an area in the West Bank. He


has made his point and he hopes that it will be listened to. He's also


called on Chairman Arafat to make a 100 percent effort to do


everything possible to reduce the violence and to arrest those


responsible for the assassination.





Q: It didn't work out too well, though, there's more violence there


today. And is it threatening the coalition, is the second part.





MR. FLEISCHER: You know, I think that it's always in the interests of


anybody -- whether they are in the coalition or not in the coalition


-- for there to be peace in the Middle East. And that's why the


President has been working so hard to convince both parties to reduce


the violence, to withdraw from the West Bank, to make 100 percent


effort, and to then follow through on the Mitchell Accords.





Q: And is the President meeting with Sharon on the 11th?





MR. FLEISCHER: You mean at the meeting up in New York?





Q: I'm not sure, I just know he's in town  -- 





MR. FLEISCHER: I don't have anything on that right now.





Q: Is there a time when we can expect the Vice President to no longer


work out of his secure location? And could that send a message of calm


to the public?





MR. FLEISCHER: Well, the Vice President is in the White House today.


He's been here on a regular basis recently.





Q: To stay?





MR. FLEISCHER: Is he staying at the White House? If the President


invites him to spend the night, I'm sure he could. (Laughter.)





Q: Seriously,  -- 





MR. FLEISCHER: He's been here on a regular basis. Since last week -- I


don't remember the exact date he came back to the White House, but


he's been working at the White House on a regular basis.





Q: What's happening to all the mail that's sent to the White House


now? And would you recommend to American people that they send e-mails


instead, to lessen the work load, or not send letters to the White


House?





MR. FLEISCHER: Well, as a result of what has happened, and also as a


result of existing security precautions that have been in place,


particularly since September 11th, I can just say that precautions


have been in place dealing with the mail. And I'm going to just leave


it at that.





Q: Ari, there are some in Congress and elsewhere who support the idea


of national ID card to be issued to all U.S. citizens. What's the


President's thinking on that idea?





MR. FLEISCHER: That's not a topic that I've heard discussed with the


President, so I'm not aware of how he would think about that. But I'm


not aware of any discussions involving that.





Q: Ari, in an era of bipartisanship after the war, when it comes to


judicial nominations, Senator Daschle basically told the President


yesterday that it was his way or the highway. When is there some sort


of compromise going to come? Does the President expect in the next


couple of months, maybe after the appropriations bills are passed,


that there will be some meeting of the minds here about going forward?


And what sort of message does this send in case there, for example,


was a Supreme Court vacancy at this time?





MR. FLEISCHER: Well, the Senate did, yesterday, pass four judges and I


believe they also passed -- I believe it was 14, perhaps 18 U.S.


Attorneys.





Having said that, the traditions of the Senate, going back many a


year, are that in particularly a President's first year in office,


almost everybody that the President has nominated up to the August


recess has been confirmed. And that is a long-standing tradition. And


given the fact that there are -- numerous judicial emergencies have


been declared, that there is a shortage of judges on the benches,


given the importance of winning the war on terrorism and avoiding


bottlenecks in the courts as federal cases are brought, the President


does think it is terribly important for the Senate to take action on


the judges before they adjourn.





Q: And how about the nomination of John Walters to be drug czar? That


was made a long time ago and he's still waiting.





MR. FLEISCHER: That, too, is a priority for the President. He is


hopeful that the Senate will take action on John Walters as the drug


czar. Afghanistan happens to be one of the largest producers of drugs


in the world, and the President thinks it would be very productive to


have the drug czar put in place.





Q: The President said earlier in Baltimore that he'd like to


accelerate another round of rebates. The IRS Commissioner said


yesterday that logistically that would be very difficult to accomplish


before the end of the calendar year, in time for the holiday season,


as the President says he wants to have extra money in people's


pockets. How do you get this done?





MR. FLEISCHER: Well, the faster Congress gets it done, the easier it


will be. So the answer to that really lies in the hands of Congress.


If Congress wants to join the President in getting more money into the


hands of low-income people, of all Americans, so they can have that


rebate to help stimulate the economy quicker, and also in time for the


holidays, then Congress needs to act and act soon.





Q: The President keeps talking about he's going to get the evildoers,


we're going to get the evildoers. Realistically, what is the


timetable, do you think, for the federal government to be able to


bring someone in custody or have a suspect for these anthrax letters?


And also, I mean, the reality is that, compared to the Unibomber


situation when the Unibomber was found by accident, because of a


mess-up on his part. And also, has the President called any family of


those victims from the Brentwood Post Office?





MR. FLEISCHER: April, I'm not going to engage in guesswork about when


an investigation is going to find the people who did it. Obviously,


that's a crystal ball that nobody has. But it's fair to say that the


FBI and local law enforcement are dedicating every resource to that


task. That is obviously, when the United States is under anthrax


attack, people mailing anthrax to various people, it is -- nothing


could concern the law enforcement community more than that. And they


are dedicated to that. And hopefully -- everybody hopes that they will


have a breakthrough and they will be able to find whoever is behind


this and arrest whoever it is, and do so quickly. But I can't engage


in any guesses on that.





Q: Is hope the operative word -- hope? You said hope. Is that the


operative word?





MR. FLEISCHER: I think, from my point of view, somebody who's not a


professional investigator, I hope that they're going to be able to


find whoever did it immediately, as fast as possible. The


investigators are working this as thoroughly, methodically. They're


good at what they do. And the President does have confidence that


whatever time it takes, they're going to be successful.





Q: Has he called the Brentwood victims yet? Has the President called


the families?





MR. FLEISCHER: I don't have the information on who the President's


called.





Q: Ari, I've had several calls, some from people in aviation, who ask


why, when you check in your suitcase at airports, such checked-in bags


are not run through any machine or searched, like carry-on luggage?


And I'm wondering, is the President aware of this, and concerned?





MR. FLEISCHER: I'm not sure the President is aware of who's calling


you. (Laughter.) Les, I don't know about the individual cases, of


anybody who's calling you, what happened to their baggage. I can tell


you that I've flown commercial numerous times, prior to and after


September 11th, and all my carry-on baggage has been searched -- has


gone through the machines.





Q: Did the U.N.'s General Secretary at any time after September the


11th tell President Bush, we have told the Taliban that they must


immediately arrest those responsible for World Trade Center and


Pentagon murders so that there is no need for you to make war?





MR. FLEISCHER: I don't speak for the Secretary General, so I can't


tell you what he has said.





Thank you.





(end transcript)