[Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States: GEORGE W. BUSH (2001, Book I)]
[January 30, 2001]
[Pages 34-35]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office www.gpo.gov]



[[Page 34]]


Remarks Prior to a Meeting With Republican Congressional Leaders and an 
Exchange With Reporters
January 30, 2001

    The President. It's an honor for the Vice President and the Secretary of Treasury 
and myself and OMB Director to 
welcome the leadership in the House and the Senate on the Republican 
side.
    We've had a wide-ranging discussion, discussed tax relief and how we 
can pay down national debt and have tax relief, which all of us around 
this table firmly believe we can do. We also discussed the fact that 
there's a lot of Americans who have got a lot of consumer debt, and we 
must be mindful of those hard-working Americans. And part of the tax 
relief package is to allow people to better manage their own finances 
with their own money. We had a discussion about education.
    We discussed, particularly the leader and I and Members of the 
Senate, discussed the need to get our nominees through the Senate. And I 
hope, in the spirit of bipartisanship, there will be no further delays 
on the confirmation process for John Ashcroft 
and other nominees of ours. I certainly appreciate how fast the Senate 
worked initially, but it's time for the delays to end. It's time for a 
vote on all our Cabinet officials.
    This is--will be a series of conversations we'll have throughout my 
tenure, and I really enjoy this. It's been a good, frank discussion.

Interest Rates/Tax Relief Legislation

    Q. Do you think the Fed should cut rates now, sort of stimulate the 
economy? And in the discussion of tax policy, there has been some 
disagreement between the White House and the Speaker and others over 
whether you should have one big package of tax cuts or to do it in 
pieces.
    The President. First, Mr. Greenspan needs 
to make his decisions, independent of what I think. I learned a pretty 
good lesson during the transition, and that was I had commented out loud 
about one of the actions he took. That's the last time I'm going to 
comment about the actions that Mr. Greenspan takes. He's an independent 
voice and needs to be an independent voice.
    Secondly, we did discuss the timing of the tax relief package and 
how best to move it through the House, where to originate. And as I told 
the Speaker and the chairman and the 
leadership, that we are interested in success, that the most important--
most important--criterion for how the tax package is handled is whether 
or not it will succeed. And these are the Members who are going to have 
to work to get it out of the House, so we're listening to their 
strategy.
    Q. What is the best timing for presenting the tax proposal, sir?
    The President. Again, that's going to be up to the leadership. 
Obviously, it depends upon--it's the middle of our budget. As you 
noticed, the head of the budget committees are here; we're talking 
budget. Taxes must fit into a budget, which they will.
    The answer to any of our initiatives, of course, is, as soon as 
possible. [Laughter]
    Q. Mr. President?
    The President. Yes, sir?
    Q. Good morning, sir.
    The President. How are you doing?
    Q. Good. Thank you.
    The President. I thought you had abandoned us for a while. 
[Laughter]

Diplomacy/Earthquake in India

    Q. Are you happy with the progress you're making in reaching out to 
world leaders, or do you plan to change the pace of that at all?

[[Page 35]]

    The President. I've got a steady pace. I'm calling as I can. I 
talked to the Prime Minister of India 
today. It was a phone call that I was going to make, regardless of the 
natural disaster that took place there. Obviously, a lot of the 
conversation today was about the aid that our country is sending. A 747 
from AID has landed this morning; another one is on its way. We're 
sending some military planes over, as well. I assured him that our 
Nation was deeply concerned for the citizenry that had lost their lives. 
It was not the appropriate time to discuss policy beyond that.
    And I will be making other calls, touching base with world leaders. 
I'll do a lot of that, of course. Good diplomacy really depends upon 
good personal relations, whether or not we agree with each other on a 
lot of issues or not. And I'm going to continue the diplomacy that 
reaches out to people on a regular basis.

Attorney-General-Designate John Ashcroft

    Q. On Senator Ashcroft, are you worried that there are going to be 
more--do you feel he's going to be confirmed, still?
    The President. I do believe he's going to be confirmed. But one of 
my charges is to run the executive branch of Government. And it's 
important for our Cabinet officers to be confirmed so they can start 
doing their job of organizing their departments. Once we get our Cabinet 
officials through, I'm sure I'll be speaking to the Senate about moving 
the number twos and threes through, as well, so that we can take hold of 
this Government. And one of the things I'll be doing when our Cabinet 
meets is talking about the need for each Cabinet member to be fiscally 
sound with the taxpayers' money. It's hard to deliver that message when 
somebody hasn't been confirmed.
    So I would just hope there are no further delays. There's been a lot 
of discussion, a lot of debate. There's been a lot of questionnaires 
presented and answers filled out. And it's now time for the vote, it 
seems like to me.
    Q. Did you get the Vice President a birthday present?
    The Vice President. Not yet. 
[Laughter]
    The President. As a matter of fact--[laughter]--some used 
coffeecake, perhaps, Mr. Vice President? 
[Laughter]

Note: The President spoke at 10:35 a.m. in the Cabinet Room at the White 
House. In his remarks, he referred to Prime Minister Atal Behari 
Vajpayee of India. A tape was not available for verification of the 
content of these remarks.