    [Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States: George W. Bush (2007, Book II)]
    [August 31, 2007]
    [Pages 1153-1154]
    [From the U.S. Government Publishing Office www.gpo.gov]

    Remarks on the Resignation of Tony Snow as Press
    Secretary and the Appointment of Dana Perino as
    Press Secretary and an Exchange With Reporters
    August 31, 2007

        The President. Thank you. Good afternoon to you.
        Tony Snow informed me he's leaving. And I sadly accept his desire to
    leave the White House, and he'll do so on September the 14th. He is--
    it's been a joy to watch him spar with you. He's smart; he's capable;
    he's witty. He's capable of--he's able to talk about issues in a way
    that the American people can understand.
        And I don't know what he's going to do; I'm not sure he does yet
    either. But whatever it is, it's going to be--two things: One, he'll
    battle cancer and win, and secondly, he'll be a solid contributor to
    society.
        I do want to thank Jill and Kendall, Robbie, and Kristi. They have watched a man they love take on a big job
    and, at the same time, fight disease with a lot of courage. And so I
    accept; I love you; and I wish you all the best.
        And so I had to make a choice, who to replace Tony, and I've chosen
    Dana Perino. I did so because Dana is a smart, capable person who is
    able to spell out the issues of the day in a way that people listening
    on TV can understand. She can handle you all. [Laughter] She's capable
    of handling your questions.
        Q. She has done--[inaudible].
        The President. She has? Good. Okay. I'm glad to get a little--I'm
    glad to get that choir singing. [Laughter] So I'm not worried about her
    standing here at the podium. What I look for in somebody like Dana is
    somebody who can walk in that Oval Office and give me sound judgment and
    good advice. And I have found that over the course of the time I've
    known her, she's

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    capable of doing that. And she's also capable of running the shop that
    she'll be in charge of.
        And so we say to the man we admire a lot, good luck, Godspeed. And
    to Dana Perino, I'm looking forward to working with you, and I'm looking
    forward to the American people to get to know you like I've gotten to
    know you.
        Tony.

    President's Staff

        Q. You've lost a lot of members in your administration----
        The President. Hold up there. We're not quite through yet.
    [Laughter]

    [At this point, Press Secretary Snow and Press Secretary-designate
    Perino made remarks.]

        The President. Thank you.

    President's Staff

        Q. How do you feel about losing everybody?
        The President. Thank you all.

    Note: The President spoke at 12:45 p.m. in the James S. Brady Press
    Briefing Room at the White House. The transcript released by the Office
    of the Press Secretary also included the remarks of Press Secretary Snow
    and Press Secretary-designate Perino.