Press briefings

April 3, 2008 -- Bucharest, Romania -- SENIOR ADMINISTRATION OFFICIAL: Ladies and gentlemen, first to say that the first session of the NAC is still going on. So this is a preliminary readout. And the issue of Georgia-Ukraine MAP has not yet been discussed. It will be discussed in a smaller session at the beginning -- at the end of this session. So we're not going to talk about that right now. We'll talk about everything else.

It has been a very good and frank session. Almost all heads have had one round. The President, as dean of the corps, the longest-serving head of state, went first. I want to give you a sense of what he said, because he led off very strongly. First of all, he said on behalf of everybody, happy birthday to Jaap de Hoop Scheffer. It's his 60th birthday today.    » read more »

April 2, 2008 -- Bucharest, Romania -- MR. JOHNDROE: Good evening. Thank you all for waiting. Obviously the leaders' dinner ran long. We have a senior administration official to do a briefing on background.

SENIOR ADMINISTRATION OFFICIAL: There were a couple things going on tonight, actually. There was a leaders' meeting over dinner, and then a subsequent discussion. There was a meeting over dinner of foreign ministers. There was also a separate meeting of defense ministers. And in some sense, they were talking about the same core subjects, taking a little bit of different take on them in some ways. Also the formats of the meeting I think were different and it's important to get a sense of it.    » read more »

April 1, 2008 -- MS. PERINO: Let me start off by saying that we're going to Bucharest, Romania, which is always helpful to tell you where we're going.

Q The President got his daily intelligence briefing. That's always good.

MS. PERINO: We don't have to say who actually said that for the transcript, although people might be able to guess.

Okay, we would characterize today as -- I talked to the President, that he felt it was a very good visit with a friend and ally in Kiyv, Ukraine. They had wide-ranging discussions on areas such as the Membership Action Plan and NATO. You heard the President's position on that; it's been very clear, in his support.    » read more »

March 31, 2008 -- MS. PERINO: Before I introduce Steve Hadley, who is right behind me, the National Security Advisor, who is going to give you a little bit of a gaggle here, two announcements. Obviously we're on our way to Ukraine. I know you always want me to tell you where we're going. (Laughter.)

Next week there will be a Medal of Honor ceremony, posthumous ceremony -- posthumous award, excuse me, for Petty Officer Michael Monsoor. The ceremony is scheduled for Tuesday, April 8th. Petty Officer Monsoor distinguished himself by extraordinary heroism on September 29, 2006, while serving as Task Unit Ramadi Automatic Weapons Gunner for Naval Special Warfare Task Group Arabian Peninsula, in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom.    » read more »

March 27, 2008 -- MR. JOHNDROE: Good morning. Morning, morning, morning. Okay, let's see. We're on our way to Ohio. The President had his normal briefings this morning. At 10:15 a.m., the President will make remarks on the global war on terror, focusing on Iraq. He's going to talk about security, political and economic progress that has been made as a result of the surge; that the reduction in violence brought on by the surge has allowed for the purpose of the surge to succeed, and that is to allow there to be political and economic progress in Iraq.    » read more »

March 26, 2008 -- MR. HADLEY: Good afternoon. On Monday, the President and Mrs. Bush will travel to Europe to participate in the President's sixth and final NATO summit.

The President will first visit Ukraine to celebrate the democratic transition that has taken hold in that country since the 2004 Orange Revolution. He will express his support for the aspirations of the people of Ukraine to see their country take its rightful place within Europe, including within it's transatlantic institutions, as Ukraine continues its process of reform.    » read more »

March 19, 2008 -- MS. PERINO: Okay, a couple of announcements. As you may have seen, there is severe weather hampering the middle part of the country -- hammering the middle part of the country, I should say. The administration continues to monitor the severe weather in Missouri, Kansas, Illinois, and Texas. And FEMA has activated regional response coordination centers and it has liaisons working with the affected states.

Administrator Paulison spoke earlier today with the Governor of Missouri, and he said that FEMA is ready and able to assist its state partners as needed and requested. And FEMA is available if you have additional questions.    » read more »

March 18, 2008 -- MR. FRATTO: Good morning, everyone. As you know, we're on our way to Jacksonville, Florida. The President has a number of events. I'll just run through those real quickly. First of all, the President did have his normal briefings this morning. At 12:30 p.m., the President attends a Republican National Committee luncheon. At 2:10 p.m., the President participates in a tour of Blount Island Marine Terminal. This is the Jacksonville Port Authority.    » read more »

March 17, 2008 -- MS. PERINO: I don't have anything to start with, so I can go straight to questions.

Q For people who are losing their homes, or losing their jobs, and then they see the government helping engineer this $30 billion line of credit for Bear Stearns, and help for other financial investment firms on Wall Street, how do you reconcile the two?    » read more »

March 15, 2008 -- SENIOR ADMINISTRATION OFFICIAL: I think it's going to be a really interesting trip.    » read more »

March 14, 2008 -- MR. FRATTO: Good morning, everyone.

Q Good morning.

MR. FRATTO: Let's see -- we're making our way to New York City. The President this morning taped the radio address. The topic is the economy. He'll continue his focus on the economy, as he is today. He had his normal briefings. At 11:20 a.m. this morning the President, as you know, makes remarks to the Economic Club of New York. At 12:55 p.m. this afternoon the President will make remarks at the Republican National Committee Luncheon.    » read more »

March 13, 2008 -- MR. FRATTO: Good afternoon, everyone. I have just a couple of quick announcements, and then we can get to questions. The Senate Foreign Relations Committee this morning voted out legislation to reauthorize the President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief. That's the PEPFAR program. The President, on his trip to Africa a few weeks ago, talked extensively of this program.    » read more »

March 12, 2008 -- MS. PERINO: Hi. A couple of announcements. President Bush has asked Secretary Rice and Secretary Gates to travel to Moscow on March 17th and 18th for two-plus-two consultations with their Russian counterparts. The Secretaries held similar consultations with those individuals back in October -- October 12, 2007. And as in October, the agenda will cover a broad range of bilateral, strategic issues, including missile defense, post START arrangements, cooperation on nonproliferation, as well as counterterrorism.    » read more »

March 11, 2008 -- MS. PERINO: Good morning. We're on our way to Tennessee. The President had his normal briefings this morning. At 10:55 a.m. he will make remarks to the National Religious Broadcasters 2008 convention. It is at the Gaylord Opryland Resort and Convention Center there in Nashville. He did speak to them before -- I got this question yesterday and I didn't know it off the top of my head -- February 10, 2003. This is the 65th annual NAB convention.    » read more »

March 10, 2008 -- MS. PERINO: A quick readout. The President and Prime Minister Tusk discussed defense issues this morning, including missile defense, air defenses there in Poland, Iraq and Afghanistan. And the President reiterated the United States' commitment to Polish security as a friend and NATO ally, and they discussed concrete cooperation in this regard.    » read more »