[Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents Volume 41, Number 43 (Monday, October 31, 2005)]
[Pages 1575-1576]
[Online from the Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]

<R04>
Remarks Following a Cabinet Meeting and an Exchange With Reporters

October 24, 2005

    The President. Thank the members of my Cabinet for being here. We've 
just had a discussion about a variety of subjects. These men and women 
are showing extraordinary leadership to the American people, and I want 
to thank you for your continued service.
    Secretary Chertoff briefed me and briefed the Cabinet about 
Hurricane Wilma. I also discussed Wilma with FEMA Director Paulison as 
well as the Governor of Florida, the State of Florida, Jeb Bush.
    I signed a major disaster declaration today. We have prepositioned 
food, medicine, communications equipment, urban search and rescue teams. 
We will work closely with local and State authorities to respond to this 
hurricane.
    I urge local citizens to listen to the local authorities about 
returning back to your homes. Those folks are on the ground. They know 
what they're talking about, and it's important that you pay attention to 
the messages coming out of people there to help you in Florida. We all 
ask for God's blessings on those who are in harm's way.
    Secondly, we discussed responses to Katrina and Rita. We have a duty 
in the Federal Government to work with State and local authorities to 
help the citizens in Mississippi and Louisiana and Alabama and Texas. 
There's more help to be done, and we need to do so in a fiscally sound 
way. We can meet our obligations if we set priorities. We can meet our 
obligations if we in Washington show the courage to not fund programs 
that aren't working. I look forward to working with Congress to make 
sure that the taxpayers understand that we can balance compassion with 
fiscal sanity and fiscal responsibility.
    So I want to thank--again, thank the members of the Cabinet. I'll be 
glad to answer a couple of questions.
    Nedra [Nedra Pickler, Associated Press].

CIA Employee's Identity Disclosure Investigation

    Q. Thank you, Mr. President. You said several weeks ago that Special 
Counsel Peter Fitzgerald was handling the CIA leak investigation in a 
very dignified way. Yet some of your Republican supporters have recently 
suggested he may be an overzealous prosecutor or one obsessing over 
legal technicalities. Have you revised you thinking on this issue?
    The President. Nedra, I also said--this may be the fourth time I've 
been asked about this, which I appreciate, you're doing your job--I'm 
not going to comment about it. This is a very serious investigation, and 
I haven't

[[Page 1576]]

changed my mind about whether or not I'm going to comment on it 
publicly.
    Fine-looking shades you got there.
    Q. Thanks, Mr. President. Bono style. [Laughter]
    The President. Wait a minute. You don't need to be endorsing any 
products here in the Cabinet--[laughter].

Associate Justice-Designate Harriet Miers

    Q. Mr. President, as a newspaper reported on Saturday, is the White 
House working on a contingency plan for the withdrawal of Harriet Miers' 
nomination?
    The President. Harriet Miers is an extraordinary woman. She was a 
legal pioneer in Texas. She was ranked one of the top 50 women lawyers 
in the United States on a consistent basis. She is--look, I understand 
that people want to know more about her, and that's the way the process 
should work.
    Recently, requests, however, have been made by Democrats and 
Republicans about paperwork and--out of this White House that would make 
it impossible for me and other Presidents to be able to make sound 
decisions. In other words, they've asked for paperwork about the 
decisionmaking process, what her recommendations were, and that would 
breach very important confidentiality. And it's a redline I'm not 
willing to cross. People can learn about Harriet Miers through hearings, 
but we are not going to destroy this business about people being able to 
walk into the Oval Office and say, ``Mr. President, here's my advice to 
you. Here's what I think is important.'' And that's not only important 
for this President; it's important for future Presidents.
    Harriet Miers is a fine person, and I expect her to have a good, 
fair hearing on Capitol Hill.
    Thank you all for coming.

Nomination for Federal Reserve Board Chairman

    Q. [Inaudible]--on a Federal Reserve Chairman, Mr. President?
    The President. Be making an announcement soon.

Note: The exchange began at 10:45 a.m. in the Cabinet Room at the White 
House. A reporter referred to Patrick J. Fitzgerald, U.S. Attorney for 
the Northern District of Illinois; and musician and activist Bono. A 
portion of these remarks could not be verified because the tape was 
incomplete.