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 Home > News & Policies > September 2003

For Immediate Release
Office of the Press Secretary
September 2, 2003

Press Gaggle with Claire Buchan
Aboard Air Force One
En Route Richfield, Ohio

10:00 A.M. EDT

MS. BUCHAN: When the President arrives in Cleveland, he will be

met by Shirley Moore, Freedom Corps volunteer. She is 67, and she is

a volunteer with the RSVP -- Retired and Senior Volunteer program,

which is part of the Senior Corps. And she volunteers at a local

elementary school helping kindergartners and first-graders improve

their reading skills.

From the Cleveland airport the President will go to Richfield,

Ohio, where he will meet with -- or have a Labor Day event with the

International Union of Operating Engineers. That union was founded in

1896. It has 400,000 members and it's the 12th largest union in the

AFL-CIO. It represents operating engineers and stationary engineers,

as well as nurses and other health industry workers. In Ohio, the

Local 18 is a statewide construction local union with 16,000 members,

and Local 20 is a statewide engineer local union with 2,000 members.

And the President will be making remarks on the economy and the

importance of American workers to our economy; in particular, the

manufacturing sector will be a focus.

With that I will take your questions.

Q Claire, we've lost 2.7 million jobs in the last three

years. There's a lot of anxiety, a lot of pain. What words of

encouragement is the President going to offer today to those people,

to Americans feeling anxious?

MS. BUCHAN: Well, a couple points on that, Scott. As you know,

the President is always concerned when any American who wants to find

a job can't find one, and who is looking for a job can't find a job,

which is why he has worked so hard to create an environment where we

create jobs, where our economy is growing stronger so that it is

growing fast enough to create the number of jobs we need.

The economy began to slow in 2000, and the President took

aggressive and bold action to put forward two major tax relief

packages and growth packages, which has helped get the economy

growing. And there are signs that the economy is improving. But the

President still isn't satisfied, and he'll touch on all of those

elements in his remarks today.

Q Is there anything specific that the President will offer

to help speed things along?

MS. BUCHAN: Well, the President will talk about those

initiatives that we have already enacted to help American workers, as

well as items that remain on the table like liability reform, like

energy legislation, the initiative to help people who are having a

difficult time finding work -- he'll highlight that. And he'll also

have at least one new item that he will mention in his remarks today.

Q What's that? Is it a good one?

MS. BUCHAN: It will be at least one new thing for you to report

on.

Q Of those 2.7 million jobs, almost all were in the

manufacturing sector. Is that why we're going to Ohio? Because

that's one of the states that's been so hard-hit, and of course, was a

close state in 2000?

MS. BUCHAN: Well, the President has, as I said, always been

concerned about American workers looking for jobs, and this is the

third Labor Day that he has traveled to meet with American workers and

to talk about their important contributions to the economy. And this

continues his ongoing effort to help American workers --

Q -- what about Ohio?

MS. BUCHAN: This is an opportunity for the President to meet

with the International Operating Engineers Union.

Q What about the fact that this is sort of the unofficial

kickoff of the political season and Ohio is certainly a critical state

when it comes to the next election?

MS. BUCHAN: Well, the President is focused on the business at

hand. He's focused on governing. As you've heard him say, there will

come a time for politics, but right now the President is focusing on

his job, leading Americans, and he's focused on helping create jobs

for American workers.

Q You may not have this, but do you have any reason why

he's addressing this union specifically? Last year he talked to steel

workers and talked about some of the issues they were facing. Is

there anything about these specific workers and this union that he --

is the reason why he's visiting them? There may not be, it may just

be an audience that was there, but --

MS. BUCHAN: They're American workers and they represent much of

what is going on in the economy, where workers who are looking for

jobs are having a difficult time, or workers who are working are

contributing to the vitality of the American economy that the

President talks about. You often hear him talk about the resilience

of the American economy. Much of that is thanks to our workers, who

have increased productivity and who have risen to the challenge. So

he'll highlight that, as well.

Q Did they invite him to speak today?

MS, BUCHAN: I don't know quite how the logistics of this worked

out.

Q Did the White House invite Congressman Kucinich?

MS. BUCHAN: I don't know who all was invited. We typically

invite the member in the district that the event is being held in.

Q I think that's a Democrat. Do you happen to know

whether that person was invited?

MS. BUCHAN: I already said I don't know if that person was

invited.

Q There's a new tape broadcast on al Jazeera. As I

understand it, it reports to have Saddam denying involvement in last

week's bombing. Do you know anything about the veracity of that tape

or the claim?

MS. BUCHAN: I don't have anything on it.

Q Is there anything new to day about Friday's bombing, and

the three-day funeral procession that's going on over there?

MS. BUCHAN: Well, we continue to work with the Iraqi people,

with the Iraqi governing council and with our international coalition

to help bring about a more stable, more secure Iraq, and to help the

Iraqi people build a better and more peaceful future for themselves.

Q Do you have any idea who was behind that bombing,

Claire?

MS. BUCHAN: I don't have anything on that, Steve. You might

touch base with the coalition provisional authority who is working

with the Iraqi governing council -- they may have updates for you.

Q Have tactics changed on the ground in combatting this

kind of activity, which is much different than what you saw with the

original attacks on troops in the beginning?

MS. BUCHAN: For the specifics on tactics you should be talking

to the commanders on the ground or the coalition provisional

authority. We continue to be very committed to working with the

Iraqis and with the Iraqi governing council and with our international

coalition to help secure Iraq, to bring about a more peaceful and

better future for the Iraqi people.

Q Is the President growing any more concerned, though,

given that this is the third car bomb that's gone off? I mean, things

are really getting seemingly increasingly worse over there.

MS. BUCHAN: The President is resolved to work to bring a better

future for the Iraqi people. He has always said that this would be a

-- that it would take considerable effort, and I think if you look

back at his speech on Thursday, the President talked about this being

a long-term effort and a major undertaking, and that continues.

Q There have been bitter complaints from within Iraq that

the Americans haven't allowed Iraqis to provide enough security for

themselves, Americans haven't provided that security either. Do you

know, has that complaint risen to the President's attention? What do

you make of it?

MS. BUCHAN: I'm sorry, I don't understand what you're --

Q The Iraqis complain that Americans aren't letting Iraqis

protect themselves, nor are Americans providing the kind of security

that might have prevented this bombing. Is there anything to that?

MS. BUCHAN: One, we are working very closely with the Iraqi

people to help them bring about a more stable future for themselves.

Already 38,000 Iraqis have been hired as police officers; 12,000

Iraqis will be trained for the Iraqi army in the next year. There are

1,400 Iraqis who have stepped forward as volunteers in the Iraqi civil

defense, We're stepping up raids, we're working with some 30

coalition partners on the ground in Iraq. So we're working very hard

with both the Iraqi people and with the international coalition.

Okay?

Q Thank you.

END 10:09 A.M. EDT