[Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States: George W. Bush (2005, Book I)]
[March 3, 2005]
[Pages 352-355]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office www.gpo.gov]
Remarks at the Central Intelligence Agency and an Exchange With
Reporters in Langley, Virginia
March 3, 2005
The President. I want to thank Director Goss for his hospitality. It was such a pleasure to come out
and see hundreds of folks who work here at the Central Intelligence
Agency.
I came for a couple of reasons. One, I wanted to assure the people
here that their contribution was incredibly vital to the security of the
United States and that, together, we've achieved a lot in securing this
country. There's a lot of really incredibly bright, capable, hard-
working, dedicated Americans who work in this building. So my first
mission was to thank them.
And the second thing was to explain that the reforms that we'll be
implementing
[[Page 353]]
through the good graces of Ambassador Negroponte, if confirmed by the Senate, will actually help the CIA do
its job better.
And I got a great reception. I want to thank you, again,
Director, for your hospitality. We're making
progress in the war on terror. The world is changing. And this country
of ours will continue to do our duty, which is to find terrorists, bring
them to justice through good intelligence and hard work and some brave
souls, and at the same time, work to spread freedom and liberty around
the world.
I'll answer a couple of questions. Tom [Tom Raum, Associated Press].
Implementing Intelligence Reform
Q. Mr. President, your CIA Director, Mr. Goss, said yesterday that
he has to wear five hats now and that he was concerned there were some
ambiguities in the new arrangement about his relationship with Mr.
Negroponte and Secretary Rumsfeld. Do you feel there are such
ambiguities, and will you move to--if there are, will you move to clear
them up? And will this prevent--will this present a problem for the flow
of intelligence in this time, this transition period?
The President. That's an excellent question. Porter and I have discussed this, of course, because I don't want
there to be any interruption of intelligence coming to the White House,
and there won't be. As a matter of fact, Porter Goss comes every morning
with the CIA briefer to deliver the briefing. And that, of course, will
go on. And it's--secondly, we don't even have Ambassador Negroponte
confirmed yet. In other words, it's hard to implement reforms without
somebody to be the reformer. And so the process is ongoing. Obviously,
when his name gets up to the Senate, we hope there's a speedy
confirmation.
But one of the purposes of the whole process, Tom, is to make sure
that information flows are smooth and that efforts are coordinated. The
CIA is the Central Intelligence Agency; it's the center of the
intelligence community. But there's a lot of other intelligence
gathering operations around Government. And the job of Ambassador
Negroponte is to be--to take the
information and make sure it is coordinated in its distribution to not
only the White House but to key players in my administration. And so I'm
confident that the process will work.
Obviously, one of the reasons I came here is because I know there's
some uncertainty about what this reform means to the people of the CIA,
and I wanted to assure them that the reforms will strengthen their
efforts and make it easier for them to do their job, not harder. I'm
glad I came out.
Terry [Terry Moran, ABC News].
Social Security Reform
Q. Mr. President, on Social Security reform, what's your judgment
about where this process stands right now, with polls showing the public
skeptical; some Republicans, like Senator Grassley, are seeming to back
away from your proposal; and Democrats wanting to declare it dead.
The President. I would say this: I am--know we're at the early
stages of the process. I've only had nine trips around the country so
far--or nine States on my trips. I've got a lot more work to do. Now, I
do believe we're making progress on the first stage of getting anything
complicated and difficult done in Washington, and that is to explain the
problem. And the surveys I have seen, at least, say that the American
people understand we have a problem. And I'm going to continue going out
to explain that to people, the nature of the problem. And the problem
is, in 2018, the system starts losing money. In 2027, it's 200 billion
in the hole, and it gets bigger every year thereafter. In other words,
we can't pay for the promises we've made. That's the problem.
And my second phase of this explanation to the American people is to
say to seniors who have retired or people near retirement, you don't
have anything to worry about;
[[Page 354]]
you're going to get your check. I've got a lot of work to do on that,
and I understand that. But we're making progress. People are beginning
to say, ``We have a problem.'' The next phase, when people say we have a
problem, is going to be, ``What are you going to do about it?'' And I'm
willing to put out some ideas about what to do about it. In my judgment,
ultimately, I think politicians need to be worried about not being a
part of the solution.
And so I'm looking forward to continue to make the case. As you
know, Terry--you have followed me a lot--I like to get out amongst the
people. I get energized--I get energized by being with people, and I get
energized when I think about taking on big problems, because that's why
we got elected. The American people expect people to come together to
solve problems. And I'm looking forward to listening to Republicans and
Democrats. I said, ``Put your ideas out there. There will be no
political third rail when it comes to Social Security.'' Now is the time
for good people of good will to come together and get the problem fixed.
Tax Reform
Q. Fed Chairman Alan Greenspan said today that a consumption tax,
maybe even a national sales tax, might spur greater economic growth.
What do you think about that?
The President. I think that I'm going to wait until the tax
commission I put together, the reform commission headed by former
Senator John Breaux, Democrat of Louisiana,
former Senator Connie Mack, Republican of
Florida, comes forward with some ideas. I told the American people I
want to work to simplify the Tax Code and make it easier to understand,
so people are spending less time filing paper, and I believe a
simplified Tax Code will spur entrepreneurial activity. And so I'm
looking forward to what the commission has to say.
War on Terror
Q. You mentioned Usama bin Laden earlier this morning, and you've
said several times that there's progress being made on the war on
terrorism. But more than 3 years after September 11th, you still don't
know where he is. How would you assess the adequacy of the intelligence
you're getting on bin Laden, and do you expect that he's going to be
found any time soon, even within your second term?
The President. If Al Qaida was structured like corporate America,
you'd have a chairman of the board still in office, but many of the key
operators would no longer be around. In other words, the executive vice
presidents, the operating officers, the people responsible for certain
aspects of the organization have been brought to justice--a lot of them
have been. And we are--spend every day gathering information to locate
Usama bin Laden and Zawahiri, obviously people like Zarqawi. We're not resting on our laurels. We've had great
successes, and--but that doesn't mean that we should stop.
And one of the reasons I came out here was to remind people that
we've had great successes. I appreciate their successes--Khalid Sheikh
Mohammed, Ramzi bin al-Shibh. I can go down the list. But there's more work to
be done. And it's a matter of time. As far as I'm concerned and as far
as the CIA is concerned, it's a matter of time before we bring these
people to justice. And I can't thank the intelligence gatherers, the
analysts, and the operators--I can't thank them enough for the
sacrifices they're making.
Last question.
Iran/Syria
Q. Mr. President, on Iran, you spoke to Condoleezza Rice yesterday,
we were told. What can you tell us about the pros and cons that you're
weighing now as you reach a decision on going forward with the EU?
The President. Yes, let me just tell you how I see the state of
action here. First,
[[Page 355]]
I am most appreciative that our friends in Europe agree with the United
States that Iran should not have a nuclear weapon, period--no ands, ifs,
or buts. And I thought that was a very important statement from the
leaders I met with. And by the way, Mr. Putin
feels the same way. And to me that is a very--a positive start for
achieving our common objective. First, you got to agree to the goal, and
the goal is no weapon.
Secondly, I have told our European friends who are handling the
negotiations on behalf of the rest of the world that we want to help
make sure the process goes forward. And we're looking at ways to help
move the process forward.
The guilty party is Iran. They're the ones who are not living up to
international accords. They're the people that the whole world is
saying, ``Don't develop a weapon.'' And so we are working with our
friends to make sure not only the world hears that but that the
negotiating strategy achieves the objective of pointing out where guilt
needs to be as well as achieving the objective of no nuclear weapon. And
I felt good about our visits.
I did visit with Condi yesterday, and
I'm about to go visit with her again in the Oval Office to discuss not
only this issue but other key issues, including Lebanon, where the
message is loud and clear from the United States and France and many
other nations that Syria must withdraw not only her troops but her
secret service forces out of Lebanon now. And I look forward to talking
to Condi about getting an amplification on her visit with our allies
overseas. I look forward to not only hear their words; I want to hear
about their body language. I want to hear about their enthusiasm for the
project. I think I'm going to find it was quite high because the people
now understand that if you believe in democracy, why not let the
democracy in Lebanon flourish and grow? And the United States of America
strongly supports democracy all around the world, including Lebanon. And
it cannot flourish so long as Syrian troops are there. It's time for
Syria to get out.
Listen, thank you all. I appreciate seeing you.
Note: The President spoke at 3:11 p.m. In his remarks, he referred to
John D. Negroponte, nominee to be Director of National Intelligence;
former Senators Connie Mack, Chairman, and John B. Breaux, Vice
Chairman, President's Advisory Panel on Federal Tax Reform; Usama bin
Laden, leader of the Al Qaida terrorist organization; Ayman Al-Zawahiri,
founder of the Egyptian Islamic Jihad and senior Al Qaida associate;
senior Al Qaida associate Abu Musab Al Zarqawi; Khalid Sheikh Mohammed,
senior Al Qaida leader responsible for planning the September 11, 2001,
terrorist attack, who was captured in Pakistan on March 1, 2003; Ramzi
bin al-Shibh, an Al Qaida operative suspected of helping to plan the
September 11, 2001, terrorist attack, who was captured in Karachi,
Pakistan, on September 11, 2002; and President Vladimir Putin of Russia.