For Immediate Release
Office of the Press Secretary
May 6, 2003
President Names Envoy to Iraq
Remarks by the President in Photo Opportunity After Meeting with the Secretary of Defense
The Oval Office
Statement
1:19 P.M. EDT
THE PRESIDENT: Today it's my honor to announce that Jerry Bremer
has agreed to become the presidential envoy to Iraq. In selecting Jerry
Bremer, our country will be sending one of our best citizens. He's a
man of enormous experience; a person who knows how to get things done;
he's a can-do type person; he shares the same values as the American
-- most Americans share, and that is our deep desire to have an
orderly country in Iraq that is free and at peace, where the average
citizen has a chance to achieve his or her dreams.
The Ambassador goes with the full blessings of this administration,
and the full confidence of all of us in this administration that he can
get the job done.
So, Mr. Ambassador, thanks for taking this on and I'm proud of you
and I appreciate so very much you're willing to sacrifice not only on
behalf of our country, but on behalf of the people of Iraq who deserve
a free and democratic society. Good luck to you.
MR. BREMER: Thank you, Mr. President.
THE PRESIDENT: I'll answer some questions.
Q Mr. President, how did Mitch Daniels explain his resignation
today? And does that departure affect your prospects for a tax package
on the Hill?
THE PRESIDENT: Mitch told me that he wants to go back home to the
state of Indiana and perhaps pursue a run for political office. I told
him, I said, Mitch, we're going to miss you a lot in this
administration. He has served us well. He has been a really good
watchdog of the taxpayers' money. And, you know, I'm going to miss
him. On the other hand, this administration's loss is the gain of the
people of Indiana.
And we're going to get a tax package through because it's the right
thing to do. And I hope Congress acts decisively and boldly. I put up
a package that will increase the number of new jobs by a million folks
at the end of 2004. And I expect them to understand, there's a lot of
people looking for work and the burden is on them right now. And we're
going to send a lot of people up there from around the country, and
we'll be sending our own folks here in the administration to work with
members of the Congress to remind them that the size of the tax package
will depend on them and the bigger the package, the more likely it is
that people are going to find a job here.
Randy.
Q Mr. President, following up briefly on Scott's question, will
fiscal discipline be as high on the qualification list for Mitch
Daniels' successor as it was when he entered office?
THE PRESIDENT: First of all, fiscal discipline was high on my
agenda. And, therefore, anybody that works for me will place a premium
on fiscal discipline. It turns out that the -- that appropriators
love to appropriate here in Washington. Given a pot of money, they
will appropriate it, unless there's an administration willing to fight
on behalf of the taxpayers. This administration is willing to fight on
behalf of the taxpayers. We will insist upon fiscal discipline here in
Washington, D.C.
Angle.
Q Mr. President, Defense officials are now saying they are
confident they have found a mobile biological lab, exactly what
Secretary Powell described before the United Nations. Are you aware of
the details? What can you tell us about that? And has Secretary
Rumsfeld given you any details?
THE PRESIDENT: I'm not surprised if we begin to uncover the
weapons program of Saddam Hussein -- because he had a weapons
program. I will leave the details of your question to the experts, but
one thing we know is that he had a weapons program. We also know he
spent years trying to hide the weapons program. And over time the
truth will come out and the American people will see that when we rid
Saddam Hussein from -- got him out of power, we made America more
secure.
Q Would you mind if we ask Secretary Rumsfeld if he could share
--
SECRETARY RUMSFELD: I like the President's answer.
END 1:23 P.M. EDT
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