By Trent Duffy
THE WHITE HOUSE



Office of the Press Secretary

(Montgomery, Illinois)



For Immediate Release August 10, 2005



PRESS GAGGLE

BY

TRENT DUFFY





Aboard Air Force One

En route Chicago, Illinois



9:10 A.M. CDT



MR. DUFFY: Good morning. The President's official schedule: he
had his daily intelligence briefing. We're traveling now to Chicago,
Illinois, where he will sign H.R. 3, the Transportation Equity Act. You
have all the details about the transportation infrastructure bill. The
President will be talking about why it's good for our economy and how it
will reduce congestion, how it will increase productivity and how it
will increase safety.



And then he flies back to the ranch, and that's all he has for his
official activities. We have Senator Inhofe on board, the Chairman of
the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee. That's what I have.



Q North Korea is blaming the U.S., alone, for the stall in the
talks, and says that they must be able to have a peaceful nuclear
program. Is there any scenario where the United States can support a
peaceful nuclear program, perhaps with some oversight, as in the case of
Iran?



MR. DUFFY: I think the President addressed that yesterday, and I
don't have anything to add. As far as the North Korean talks,
Christopher Hill, our representative there, has said repeatedly that the
United States, as well as the entire five nations, are trying very hard
to reach a conclusion and agreement there, and we continue to hold out
hope that the North Koreans will join us in that agreement.



Q He also expressed some concern that perhaps these talks
weren't going to result in any progress. Does the White House still
think that they will?



MR. DUFFY: We're obviously backing Mr. Hill and we're hopeful that
they can find some agreement. But North Korea needs to make a strategic
decision to set aside its ambition for nuclear weapons, that the five
nations are in consensus that there must be a nuclear free Korean
peninsula.



Q How can the President claim that he's happy with this highway
bill if it's much more expensive than he said was originally tenable?



MR. DUFFY: Well, it's not much more expensive than he originally
intended. In fact, it's close to $100 billion less than where it
originally started. If you recall, in the House it was close to $380,
$390, almost $400 billion -- it's now $286 billion. This is a balanced
transportation bill that funds our infrastructure needs while not
breaking the bank.



We need good roads. We need good highways. Americans spend more
time sitting in traffic and burning up gasoline because of congestion.
That harms our economy, that harms our quality of life. And this bill
does a lot more than build highways. There's money in this bill for
bus, there's money in this bill for transit. A lot of low income people
rely on public transportation to get to and from work.



So this is a broad, important infrastructure bill that keeps
America moving forward.



Q So is he happy with the pork that's in it, as well?



MR. DUFFY: The President believes this is a balanced bill that
funds our transportation needs without breaking the bank.



Q Trent, did the IAEA end its meeting on Iran, do you know?



MR. DUFFY: I don't know.



Q I have a question. The ruling yesterday with regard -- by the
judge with regard to Walt Disney and Michael Eisner and Ovitz -- you
know, the President has said that board rooms need to be held
accountable for malfeasance and being good corporate, as well as --
being good corporate citizens. The judge said that board members can't
be held liable for decisions that they make. Does the President agree
with that?



MR. DUFFY: We typically don't comment on individual cases like
that.



Q But in general, would the President be happy with corporate
boards being held accountable for the decisions they make?



MR. DUFFY: You're asking in the context of an individual case, I'm
just going to decline comment on that. You know what the President has
said about corporate responsibility.



Q Trent, the mayor of Baghdad says he's been deposed by armed
gunmen and replaced by a member of a Shiite militia. Is the President
aware of that? Is it a point of concern for the administration, in
terms of how Baghdad is being run?



MR. DUFFY: I don't have anything for you on that, Bill. I can
check into it.



Q Could you set up tomorrow's meeting a little bit? What's he
and Rumsfeld going to talk about?



MR. DUFFY: Sure. The President tomorrow will have his entire
foreign policy team down, as he does every year. You know the foreign
policy team, but this is a chance for the President to hear from his top
advisors about not only foreign policy, but about the Defense
Department. And some of the top priorities for the Defense Department
include transformation, it includes the quadrennial defense review, it
includes probably an update on the base realignment and closure process,
as well as other items as a way to make sure that our troops and our
military continues to be the best fighting force in the world.



Q Are they going to talk about -- what foreign policy subjects
are they going to get into?



MR. DUFFY: I think they'll get into all of the ones that we know
about. Obviously, Iraq, Afghanistan, the Middle East, of course --
we're making progress on the disengagement plan -- Lebanon. I don't
want to leave any out, but, I mean, all the ones that you'd expect --
Iran, obviously.



Q In discussing the military subjects, is there going to be any
discussion of specific troop levels for Iraq over the coming six months
-- elections, et cetera?



MR. DUFFY: I would expect something like that would come up. But,
again, as you know, the President always relies on his commanders on the
ground to make those kinds of recommendations and those kinds of
conversations are private.



Q Right, but they will be discussing that kind of thing?



MR. DUFFY: I would anticipate it. I don't know for a fact, but I
would anticipate it coming up, sure.



Thank you.



END 9:16 A.M. CDT