THE WHITE HOUSE
Office of the Press Secretary
For
Immediate Release September 1, 2000
PRESS BRIEFING
BY
JOE LOCKHART
The James S. Brady Briefing Room
1:58 P.M. EDT
MR. LOCKHART: Let me do one thing, which is -- there are some people
who have to catch the press plane, so for the purposes that I'm going to go
through a few housekeeping things. Any of you who have additional
questions, I will not be insulted if Steve, who will stay out here, stays
behind and answers some of those questions, so thanks.
Okay, I'm going to try to be quick, because I know some of you have to
be out at Andrews by 2:30 p.m. Let me just tell you a little update on the
federal role on the fires that continue to burn in the West. As I
mentioned yesterday, there was a request from the State of Idaho. I can
tell you today that the President today declared a major disaster exists in
the state of Idaho and ordered federal aid to supplement state and local
recovery efforts in that area struck by wildfires on July 27th, beginning
on July 27th, that are continuing. There are nine counties affected.
We'll have a piece of paper available to you at the conclusion of this
briefing.
The Marine battalion from Camp Lejeune has deployed today. And one other
note. There are, in total now, 61 members of AmeriCorps that have been
specially trained for this kind of effort that are now deployed in the area
-- another example of the important AmeriCorps involvement in things like
this and the achievement of that program.
Secondly, you all know that we're all big in the Clinton
administration on announcing milestones and anniversaries. I just, for the
record, want to note that this is the first time in seven years that the
Atlanta Braves are not in first place in the Eastern Division of the
National League. You will notice that the New York Mets are. (Laughter.)
Sorry, Sonya, eat your heart out. (Laughter.) Oh, and you too, Steve --
you Southerners.
Anyway -- and I have a Week Ahead, but if you have other questions,
we'll try to get through them quickly.
Q Any reaction to Bush's comment on NMD announcement?
MR. LOCKHART: I saw something; I think his comment generally said
that he supported deferment. He made a comment about us not leading on
national security issues. I think those comments reflect his political
position right now, rather than the facts. I think if you look -- if you
go and talk to objective analysts, they'll continue to say that we have the
finest fighting force in the world, and our American leadership is -- has
been continued and sustained throughout the last seven and a half years.
Q Is there an advantage, actually -- you, the President said, you
all made clear -- delay was technological reasons, but is it sort of a
blessing in disguise? Sandy referred to the fact it gives the next
president more time to try to placate the Russians and our allies who have
doubts about it, and also it gives the next president time to try to sell
this to the American people.
MR. LOCKHART: Well, I don't --
Q Was there always some unease at having to go ahead, being pushed
into a decision that really the next president was going to have to live
with?
MR. LOCKHART: Well, I think obviously there's a balance here, and
it's somewhat of a balancing act that balances the threat versus the
technology within the criteria that the President laid out, and I think the
President made quite clear in his speech this morning, that while we're at
this point, this decision made the most sense.
As far as the consequences and opportunities that that leaves the next
president, I don't think that that was central to the decision-making.
There are always consequences to a decision; but I don't think that that
was a central part of trying to come to this decision about providing
further flexibility. I think if we were faced with a different set of
facts that would have warranted another decision, that's the way the
President would have gone.
Q Joe, is the administration issuing a warning this afternoon,
concerning more Firestone tires? There was one report that it might be
coming out about 1.8 million new tires.
MR. LOCKHART: I think there will be some news, if it hasn't already
been released, from the Department of Transportation on that front as far
as an advisory from the National Highway Safety Transportation Authority --
Administration. Not bad. That's called the best kind of guidance. It's
in Jake's hand, and not in my book here.
Q Why is -- is the President shortening his trip?
MR. LOCKHART: Yes, let me do that. I meant to do that. The
President and the First Lady will travel to Skaneateles tonight. They will
spend tomorrow -- they are returning tomorrow evening to Washington. The
reason for that is, Chelsea had originally planned to go to New York with
them.
I think the Africa trip, the day trip to Colombia and a little bit of
a head cold has led her to decide she'd rather just stay around the house
here in Washington this weekend, rather than getting back on the plane and
going up for another trip. Given that, I think the President and the First
Lady wanted to be able to spend some time with her this weekend, will now
kind of split the difference, go up, spend two days in New York and then
come back Saturday night so that they'll have Sunday and Monday here in
Washington.
Q Mr. Berger mentioned that Secretary Cohen saw the President on
Tuesday. Are there any other consultations you can tell us about on the
last couple of days with Secretary Albright or others on the NMD matter,
and can you give us any other tick tock on precisely when the President
made the decision?
MR. LOCKHART: I don't have precise tick-tock. I think P.J. might be
able to help you later this afternoon if you want to check with him. I
know that Mr. Berger has been involved with all of the interested parties
through the week and up and to including yesterday. But as far as the
President, I think Sandy laid out that he did spend some time with
Secretary Cohen on Tuesday.
Q Senator Lott is saying that the Clinton administration is
engineering another train wreck and setting the stage for another
government shutdown in the fall. How would you respond to this?
MR. LOCKHART: I think Senator Lott needs to find some excuse for the
fact that they're behind in their work once again on appropriations. We
have a number of priorities that we want to proceed. I think you'll find
if you look at Congress over this year, the first eight months were devoted
to making sure that the special interests got taken care of. September
will be about the people's interests.
We should be able to get that done in September; we don't need to go
beyond that. We certainly don't need to shut the government down. I think
the Republicans will need to articulate why all of a sudden they're so
worried about this.
Q Is there a planned meeting between the President and Majority?
MR. LOCKHART: I know that the President will meet with the Democratic
leaders next week. As far as a bipartisan meeting, I can't predict, but I
certainly wouldn't want to rule that we would do one early in September.
Q What's the subject of the President's radio address? Can you
tell us?
MR. LOCKHART: Part of his legislative agenda.
Q Joe, is the President coming back to D.C., or is he going to
Chappaqua?
MR. LOCKHART: No, he's going to D.C. He's coming back here to the
White House Saturday evening, and will spend Sunday and Monday here at the
White House.
Q Does he have any events planned, Joe?
MR. LOCKHART: Sunday and Monday, no. They are days off.
Q And do you have any details on the meetings he will have up in
New York?
MR. LOCKHART: I don't. But let me -- I'll tell you what I do know
about the week ahead. And if you don't mind, I'll just go right to that.
Friday, the President, as I indicated, will go to Skaneateles. The
arrival this afternoon will be open. He will make some brief remarks about
how great it is to be back in that area. There will be a reception this
evening in Syracuse, and then they will go to Skaneateles and spend the
evening.
The President has no public schedule during the day tomorrow. In the
evening, he will make remarks at a fundraiser and reception for the First
Lady, then return here; no public schedule for Sunday and Monday.
Tuesday, the President will meet with the Democratic congressional
leaders on our legislative agenda. Following the meeting, the President
and the congressional leaders will make a statement calling on Congress to
make progress on key priorities for America.
The President will then travel New York City and remain overnight.
From Wednesday, September 6th through Friday, September 8th, the President
will participate in the United Nations Millennium Summit, expected to be
the largest gathering of heads of state and government ever held.
The President will address the opening plenary session on September
6th. We will remain overnight obviously Wednesday. Thursday, we will
continue our participation in the summit and remain overnight. Friday, the
President will, in addition to the Millennium Summit, speak at a New York
Senate 2000 reception and dinner in New York City. Where we sleep that
night is to be determined, whether we come back here Friday night or
Saturday. Not known at this point.
Thank you very much. Oh yes, and very important. Please be sure that
everyone is tuned in at 8:00 p.m. this evening to your local public
television station for Washington Week in Review this evening, starring
Sonya Ross. (Laughter.) He did it. That was Jake. You saw it. Thanks.
END 2:10 P.M. EDT
President and First Lady | Vice President and Mrs. Gore
Record of Progress | The Briefing Room
Gateway to Government | Contacting the White House | White House for Kids
White House History | White House Tours | Help
Privacy Statement