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For Immediate Release
Office of the Press Secretary
April 26, 2005
Press Gaggle by Scott McClellan
Aboard Air Force One
En route Galveston, Texas
10:23 A.M. CDT
MR. McCLELLAN: Good morning everybody. A couple of things to
begin with. The President had his usual briefing out at the ranch this
morning. We will be going to Galveston, where the President will be
participating in a roundtable with a Social Security expert and some
Galveston County officials to highlight their alternate plan that they
have for employees in the county. There are a couple of neighboring
counties -- I believe Matagorda and Brazoria Counties -- as well that
offer alternate plans for -- retirement plans for their employees. And
this is a way to highlight the benefit of personal accounts, as well as
finding a permanent solution to make Social Security sound for our
children and grandchildren, and these are models that can guide us as
we move forward on the legislative efforts to make Social Security
permanently sound and make it a better deal for younger workers. And
we appreciate that Senator Grassley is moving forward in his committee
today on efforts to strengthen Social Security.
Let's see, we return to D.C. after this event. I think that's
really all I have to begin with, so I'm here for whatever questions you
all might have.
Q Scott, why -- Tom DeLay is not from Galveston, why is he
riding back with the President today? And what's the signal that the
President is trying to send by inviting him on Air Force One?
MR. McCLELLAN: Well, he is from the area. Galveston is near his
district and we typically invite members of Congress to events in their
area, and we're glad to have Leader DeLay flying back to D.C. with us.
I know the President looks forward to seeing him and visiting with him
on the way back.
Q Is this a way to, you know, express further commitment to
their relationship, you know, further backing DeLay?
MR. McCLELLAN: I think we've already made that pretty clear. I'm
sure it will be an opportunity for them to continue to visit about how
we can move forward in Congress on the important priorities facing the
American people. He is someone that the President has worked closely
with, along with other congressional leaders, to get things done for
the American people.
That's the way I would describe it.
Q Does DeLay's district touch on Galveston at all?
MR. McCLELLAN: No
Q Okay.
Q Does this have something to do with his ethics problems?
MR. McCLELLAN: What's that?
Q Is it helping him with his ethics problem?
MR. McCLELLAN: This has to do with an event that is occurring in
his area and the fact that the President appreciates his leadership in
the House and that we work very closely with him, as well as other
congressional leaders, on the agenda for the American people.
Q But how strongly is the President supporting him at this time
in which he's embattled in this ethics dispute?
MR. McCLELLAN: As strongly as he ever has, which is strongly.
Q He wasn't deterred by the latest revelations about the
lobbyists paying for his plane tickets? That didn't give pause to the
President?
MR. McCLELLAN: No. Look, those will be issues that Leader DeLay
has said he's more than happy to address before the Ethics Committee
and those matters will be addressed by congressional leaders and by
Congressman DeLay.
Q Scott, what does the President think of polls that show
two-thirds of people disapprove of his handling of Social Security?
MR. McCLELLAN: Well, I think you have to keep in mind what we're
in. One, we are still in the early phase of our efforts to strengthen
Social Security and get something done this week [sic]. And the goal
of the initial phase has been to educate the American people about the
problems facing Social Security. And the American people now recognize
that there are serious problems facing Social Security. Survey after
survey shows that a majority of Americans believe there are serious
problems facing Social Security. And that, in turn, is helpful to get
the American people to urge Congress to act. In the Gallop poll just
the other day, more than 60 percent said they believe Congress is
moving too slowly. And Congress is now beginning to move forward in
committee on legislative efforts, and we appreciate that effort.
But the goal has been to make sure that the American people
understand the problems facing Social Security. There are significant
problems and the American people want to see Congress act to make
Social Security -- to make sure that Social Security is around for our
children and grandchildren. There is a big hole in that safety net
right now: it's fine for today's generation, but we've got to fix it
for our children and grandchildren and the American people recognize
that. So I think that that has been important progress and that is
exactly what we set out to do in this initial phase. This is not an
issue that we have ever viewed was going to easy to get done right
away. If that was the case, it would have been done long ago.
Q But, Scott, just the mere fact that Tom DeLay will be at
today's event is distracting from what the President is trying to
accomplish. Does --
MR. McCLELLAN: Oh, I disagree. Like I said, Leader DeLay, along
with other leaders in the House and the Senate, is someone who is
committed to getting things done on our shared priorities. And I think
that's evident by the way he worked to move energy -- comprehensive
energy legislation through the House last week. And he's someone who
has participated in meetings with the President, along with other
members of Congress, to talk about ways to strengthen Social Security
and get it done this year.
Q What does the President think of this offer by Harry Reid and
by Senator Biden for a deal on judges, that if the President were to
maybe relent on some of the most, in their minds, most conservative
judges, that they'd be willing to work out a compromise and approve
some of the President's nominees that have been either deadlocked or
filibustered?
MR. McCLELLAN: Well, I think our view is that Senate Democrats
need to stop playing politics and give all judicial nominees an up or
down vote. It is unprecedented the steps they have gone to, to prevent
highly qualified judges from receiving simply an up or down vote on the
floor of the United States Senate. In terms of senatorial procedures,
those are matters for the Senate to address. You know, I'm sure that
the leaders in the Senate will discuss those matters, but our view has
been and continues to be that all judicial nominees should receive an
up or down vote. The President has a responsibility to appoint
individuals to the bench, and the Senate should move forward in a
timely way to make sure that each and every nominee has an up or down
vote. These are nominees that we believe have a majority of the
support of the United States Senate and it is the constitutional
responsibility of the Senate to fulfill their responsibility to vote on
those nominees.
Q Should the Republicans entertain the compromise?
MR. McCLELLAN: Like I said, those are discussions that will be
held between the leaders in the Senate. Our belief is that all
nominees deserve an up or down vote and it's time to stop playing
politics with the judiciary. Some of these are judicial emergencies
and these are individuals that have received high marks for their
qualifications and their judicial temperament.
Q Did you think the Republicans were playing politics when
nominees when the Clinton folks had problems getting their nominees
through?
MR. McCLELLAN: What has happened in this Senate is unprecedented.
There has not been a situation like this, where members of one party
have blocked nominees from even receiving an up or down vote on the
floor.
Q What did the President do this morning, anything fun?
MR. McCLELLAN: I think he was going on a bike ride. I'll double
check that when he gets on. That was before his briefing this morning
Q As the 60 days winds down, what's his role going to be? Is he
going to continue to travel the country like he is, like he has been?
MR. McCLELLAN: Yes, like I said, the 60-day push was our effort to
go out and really define the problems facing Social Security for the
American people. And we've accomplished that goal. But this is still
an early phase in our efforts to strengthen Social Security and the
President is going to continue reaching out to the American people as
we move forward to get something done this year. The American people
want to see Congress act and solve this problem.
Q How many states has he visited now?
MR. McCLELLAN: This is 23.
Q And you said we've accomplished that goal, what was laid out
to do in the first 60 days and now that this 60 days is coming to a
close, do we see the President laying out a new goal for the next 60
days?
MR. McCLELLAN: We've continued to consult with members of Congress
about how we move forward to advance a solution. The President
believes it's important that we have a bipartisan solution. Our door
is open. We would hope the Democrat leaders would start coming to the
table with ideas for solving the problem, instead of simply standing in
the way of solutions.
Q Does the President pivot, or do we -- I mean, does the
President stop traveling after these 60 days? I mean, what does he do
now?
MR. McCLELLAN: No, as I said, he will continue reaching out to the
American people and continue going across the country talking about
this important priority. This is a high priority for the American
people that affects everyone and the President is going to continue
talking about the importance of acting this year. Congress is -- you
know, we're also entering a new phase in Congress, where they're
starting to move forward on legislative efforts and we appreciate the
leadership of Senator Grassley and leaders in the House, like
Congressman Thomas. And we'll continue to work closely with them as we
move forward to advance a solution. And the President will continue to
work in a way and make his views known in a way that helps advance a
solution.
Q Is he open to a final solution that doesn't include private
accounts?
MR. McCLELLAN: I appreciate the opportunity to sit here and
negotiate with the pool this morning. (Laughter.) I think the
President has made his views very clear, that all ideas are n the table
as far as he's concerned, with the exception of increasing the payroll
tax rate. This is a time when we should be welcoming ideas, not
getting into ruling things out. And the President believes that we
must address the hole in the safety net, we must make Social Security
permanently sound. And he believes we also need to strengthen it for
our children and grandchildren by giving them the opportunity to
realize a greater rate of return on their retirement savings -- that's
why personal accounts are so important and that's one of the things
that he'll be highlighting today. I think there are examples in
Galveston County, some where people have realized a rate of return
that's almost twice as much as what they would have realized under the
current Social Security system.
Q But, Scott, at some point all these ideas have got to come
together and the President has to make it known which ones he's in
favor of. He brought this idea to the American public. If he's taking
this forward, why don't we see a plan from the administration?
MR. McCLELLAN: The President will be focusing more on solutions as
we move forward. But the President I think made it clear that this is
an issue that we should work together on to advance a bipartisan
solution. And that's why he's been reaching out members of Congress,
both Democrats and Republicans, alike, and he will continue to do so.
He wants to continue to consult with leaders about how to move forward
to advance that bipartisan solution.
But he has I think made it very clear that he will -- I mean, one,
he is leading on this issue and going out across the country and
talking about the need for action. And he's been very open to
welcoming ideas from others. Unfortunately, Senate Democratic leaders
-- I mean, some Democratic leaders continue to simply stand in the way
of a solution, instead of coming to the table with ideas. We would
hope that that would change.
But another aspect of this debate, keep in mind, just a couple of
months ago there was discussion about whether or not there were serious
problems facing Social Security. Today, people are now focused on
solutions and talking about solutions. But this is not a time for
people to be trying to block ways to advance a solution. This is a
time for people to come to the table with ideas to advance a solution.
And that's the way the President has been approaching it.
Q Any reaction to Putin's speech yesterday on democracy in
Russia?
MR. McCLELLAN: Let me see if there is any more to add. I mean, I
saw where he talked about the importance of democratic reforms and
those are issues we continue to talk about with Russia. We have good
relations and we'll continue to have discussions on those issues, but
let me see if there is any more from the President's standpoint to add
to it.
Okay, thanks.
END 10:37 A.M.
CDT
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