Hi, all. Today's report features:
And that's the report. See you again Monday, Feb. 28.
White House, Feb. 24, 2011:
Welcome to the West Wing Week, your guide to everything that's happening at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue. This week, President Obama held events in Oregon and Ohio focused on promoting growth and winning the future through investments, concentrating on innovation and small business growth. Also, the President convened his Council on Jobs and Competitiveness at the White House.
White House, Feb. 24, 2011:
President Obama participates in the inaugural meeting of the President's Council on Jobs and Competitiveness, a group of leaders from business, academics and labor who provide non-partisan advice on creating jobs, opportunity and prosperity.
Office of the Press Secretary, Feb. 24, 2011:
White House, Feb. 24, 2011:
First Lady Michelle Obama welcomes Smokey Robinson, John Legend, Berry Gordy and others to the White House to lead a youth workshop on the legacy and history of Motown.
White House, Feb. 24, 2011:
White House Press Briefings are conducted most weekdays from the James S. Brady Press Briefing Room in the West Wing.
Office of the Press Secretary, Feb. 24, 2011:
Press Briefing by Press Secretary Jay Carney, 2/24/2011
MR. CARNEY: Good afternoon, everybody. Sorry I’m late. I apologize.
Q: New regime.
Q: This is a new leaf.
MR. CARNEY: What, the apology? Gibbs never apologized. I take it back. (Laughter.) ....
Before we get started, I have a couple of details about recent conversations that President Obama has had with foreign leaders. First, since the readout was sent last night fairly late, I just want to make sure that all of you know that last night around 8:00 p.m. Eastern, the President spoke with Mexico President Calderόn. President Obama expressed appreciation for the strong investigative work of the Mexicans to arrest one of Special Agent Zapata’s alleged killers. And President Calderόn expressed appreciation for the cooperation of American agencies that made the arrest possible.
The President said that neither the United States nor Mexico could tolerate violence against those who serve and protect our citizens, as Special Agent Zapata did so selflessly through his own life.
President Obama also said he was looking forward to welcoming President Calderόn to the White House on Thursday, March 3rd, to discuss our important bilateral relationship and key global issues.
Also, I’d like to mention that this afternoon the President is scheduled to speak with Prime Minister Cameron and President Sarkozy to coordinate our actions in response to the situation in Libya. We expect additional conversations with foreign leaders on this topic in the days ahead.
With that, I am ready for your questions.
Q: Can you talk about the Americans that are in this situation with the ferry that’s not able to leave Tripoli? Are there contingency plans to get them out?
MR. CARNEY: The State Department, the government is working very hard to evacuate the Americans from Libya. The details of those operations are available at the State Department, but we are doing everything we can to safely evacuate them from Libya....
Well, as I think you heard the President say yesterday very clearly what our -- what his position is towards the situation, towards the actions of the Libyan government, very clear condemnation of the violence against the protesters there, violence against Libyan citizens, he also is obviously very concerned about the safety of Americans, and that is a priority. That’s all I can say on that.
Q: Any movement on sanctions, no-fly zone?
MR. CARNEY: Obviously sanctions are something we’re looking at. I don’t want to get into specifics. We’re working very closely with the international community, and we’re hoping and believe that the international community will speak with one voice, as I think is often the case. When the international community comes together and speaks with one voice it has a powerful impact in terms of persuading a government like Libya’s to do the right thing, to stop the kind of violence it’s been perpetrating on its own people.
So we’re examining a lot of options -- sanctions are one of them, but I don’t want to specify that one is going to happen and one’s not going to happen. But we’re working with our partners on that....
Q: What kind of military options are being considered?
MR. CARNEY: I think what we’ve said is that there are no options we’re taking off the table. But what we’re focused on are the options that we can take to affect the situation in the nearer term. And we would like to see the kind of concerted, broad-based international action that can compel the Libyan government to cease and desist from the kind of actions it’s taking against its own people.
Q: As far as keeping U.S. citizens safe in Libya, who is the -- who are you guys talking to within the Libyan government? I mean, while we’re waiting for the ferry to go since the weather is not supposed to change for at least the next few days.
MR. CARNEY: Well, obviously the security of these American citizens is an extremely high priority, and I wouldn’t want to say anything from this podium or publicly that would affect their security. So I’m not going to get into what specifically we’re doing to make sure they’re safe. We are taking -- doing everything we can to evacuate them, to make sure they are safe. But beyond that I don’t want to get into how we’re doing that....
Q: .... I was wondering if the administration had any response to anything Mr. Qaddafi has said in the last couple days.
MR. CARNEY: Jake, the way we’ve approached this, the way the President has approached this, is that our position on the unrest in these countries is not about an individual leader. It’s about the responsibility that each government has to not respond with violence to peaceful demonstrators, to not restrict the universal rights that their citizens have, and to move forward with the kind of reforms that will be responsive to the legitimate aspirations of their people. It’s not about personalities.
And I would simply note that one consistent theme I think you’ve seen in the way that we have responded to these developments, these events in the Middle East, in the region, has been to make it clear that it’s also not about the United States. It’s not about the United States dictating outcomes, picking leaders, telling countries who can run, who can be their leader and who can’t be -- because what we have seen are legitimate, organic, grassroots risings by the peoples of these countries demanding more freedom and greater opportunity in their lives. And again, it’s not about individual leaders and it’s about the peoples in these countries.
Q: The French Defense Minister has talked openly about imposing a no-fly zone more openly than the U.S. has talked about it. Can you explain why?
MR. CARNEY: Well, I don’t want to explain what other leaders in other countries have said or other senior officials from other countries. What we have said is that we’re not going to specify which options are on or off the table. We are discussing a full range of options with our partners at the U.N. and elsewhere. And we expect to take action in the near term with the international community to, we believe, hopefully compel the Libyan government to stop killing its own people....
I’m not going to get into specific options that are under consideration or not under consideration. I would again point out that we want to work with our international partners because we think the most effective action in many cases can be when the international community speaks with one voice and acts in a united way. I’m not -- again, I’m not ruling out bilateral options, but I’m just saying that that is a focus right now.
Q: So you’re not ruling out that there is a military option?
MR. CARNEY: I’m not ruling anything out.
Q: But you won’t say if the President has been presented with a military option yet?
MR. CARNEY: No, I won’t say that....
Again, I think we’ve -- I’ve been asked and it’s been discussed, the possibility of different kinds of sanctions, different measures that can be taken. That’s obviously on the table. I don’t want to categorize which options might come in which order, but we are interested in acting quickly because we have a situation in Libya that demands quick action. So we are interested in some of the actions that can be taken in the near term.
Q: Any frustration for the administration that this is a country that the U.S. has no real deep ties to, no real financial ties to, and so the options, what’s available, what may have been available in Egypt or other places is not available in Libya?
MR. CARNEY: Well, Dan, as we’ve said, each country that has been affected by this unrest is different. Each country in the region is different. Each country has different traditions, political systems and relationships with the United States and other countries around the region and the world.
So the way we approach our policy positions and make our decisions based on -- in reaction to the events in these countries is obviously affected by those differences, while it’s also guided by the principles that we’ve talked about that apply to -- that guide our approach to all these countries and the unrest in them.
So that’s a long way of saying each country is different and we deal with them and their differences as necessary....
Q: .... the President wasn’t reluctant or hesitant to use the name Mubarak when he spoke, but he seems reluctant to even mention the name Qaddafi....
MR. CARNEY: Well, I wouldn’t read over -- read too much into that because the overlying principle here is that it’s not about the individual leaders, it’s not about the United States deciding who should or should not lead a country -- that’s for the people of the country to decide. And that in many ways is what this unrest has been about, either specific leaders or regimes or the way that the governments have treated their peoples.
And I would point you, again, to the fact that the leader this country, Colonel Qaddafi, has tried to suggest that the United States was behind the uprisings of its own people or the demonstrations, the peaceful demonstrations, in its own country by its own -- by Libya’s own people. And that’s clearly not the case. And I think Jake pointed out that now he’s searching around for somebody else to blame.
Our focus is on the principles we’ve outlaid -- we’ve laid out on the need for these governments in the region and around the world to be responsive to the legitimate aspirations of their people, and first and foremost, not to use violence in response to peaceful demonstrations....
Q: On the Wisconsin -- I’m sorry, on the Wisconsin situation, Congressman Ellison and others have called for the President to come out to Wisconsin and stand with the workers. Is that under discussion?
MR. CARNEY: Not that I’m aware of, Chip. I think what we have made pretty clear is that the President thinks and we think, he’s stated this, that obviously a lot of states in the union are dealing with fiscal issues, big problems in their state budgets that need to be addressed. And they need to act responsibly, tighten their belts, live within their means, just as we in Washington, the executive branch and Congress need to do with our federal situation....
But again, he believes very strongly that the way to achieve that, just like the way to achieve it here, is that people need to come to the table, work together, share the sacrifice, and produce the result that the people in the states want and, again, extrapolating to the larger picture here, the whole country -- do the things that we need to do to live within our means so that we can invest in the future, and I think that’s true on a state level....
I think, Chip, that the President, as President, has a -- obviously an ability to be heard when he speaks, and he spoke to the situation in Wisconsin and his views on it last week. And I’ll leave it at that....
Q: The inspector general of the Home Affordable Modification Program says it’s effectively failed....
Spencer Bachus of Alabama....
MR. CARNEY: I don’t want to speculate about what we’re going to do in response to a possible action by a senator. So if and when something happens we’ll have a response....
Well, look, we’ve been very clear about the seriousness with which we have been trying to deal with stabilizing the housing market, helping responsible homeowners stay in their homes. The fact is that, as you state, tens of thousands, maybe hundreds of thousands of homeowners are in their homes because of the program. And we’re working to make sure that those responsible homeowners that can be helped are able to stay in their homes. And it is important to remember that those homeowners have been helped by this program....
Q: Can you talk about the Saudi national arrested last night in Texas, apparently trying to construct a bomb and targeting former President Bush?
MR. CARNEY: I can say a few things about that. The President was informed about the operation by John Brennan prior to the arrest. This arrest -- I assume everybody here knows about this story -- the arrest once again underscores the necessity of remaining vigilant against terrorism here and abroad. The President thanks the FBI, the Department of Justice and the rest of our law enforcement, intelligence and homeland security professionals who continue to keep us safe and who, once again, have served with extraordinary skill and with the commitment that their enormous responsibilities demand.
For anything else, I’ll have to refer you to the Department of Justice because obviously this arrest has been made and there’s an investigation....
(The President) was informed that the arrest was coming. (Information added later: The President was briefed on Khalid Ali-M Aldawsari earlier this month and yesterday he was informed that an arrest was likely.)....
Q: Can you say whether the President has asked Secretary Gates to come up with a contingency plan to enforce a no-fly zone or start working with NATO on that respect? ....
MR. CARNEY: Well, Chuck, I think it’s fair to say that when we’re examining all options, and that option has been tabled, I guess, at least in the press, but certainly been discussed in other venues; that by exploring those options we’re looking at the feasibility. And I mean that broadly about all the options that are -- that could potentially be on the table.
So without getting into updated plans for this option or that, exploring the options means just that: examining what our options are and what might work....
Q: On the issue of sanctions, can you -- is there a concern that if you -- that some set of sanctions are going to harm the -- I guess the free part of Libya, the eastern -- where Qaddafi doesn’t have control? I mean, is there a way to do sanctions that can humanitarily help one part of the country while punishing the government itself?
MR. CARNEY: As we look at the options, we’re obviously examining the impact of different options. And our interest is not in causing more harm to innocent people in Libya, the very people we’re trying to help, the international community is trying to help by getting -- doing what it can to get the Libyan government to stop its behavior. So I’m sure that is a consideration about how you would execute different options in a way that have the greatest impact towards the goal we’re trying to achieve without negative consequences.
Because you raised the humanitarian aspect of this, the Libyan government has a responsibility not only to refrain from violence but to allow humanitarian assistance to reach those in need. And as humanitarian assistance is attempted to be made available to Libyans, that’s another responsibility that the Libyan government is going to be held accountable for.
Q: Does the government -- does the administration view this as a full-fledged humanitarian crisis taking place right now in Libya?
MR. CARNEY: The administration views this as a serious issue, and that’s why we are working -- why Secretary Clinton is traveling to Geneva, why Bill Burns is traveling and engaging in these consultations, why the President is having phone calls with other leaders tonight on this issue and will continue to have conversations with other leaders about it. This is -- has definitely -- is definitely a focus of our efforts right now.
Q: One question on the continuing resolution debate, is the President open to signing a short-term continuing resolution that does have some spending cuts in it?
MR. CARNEY: Chuck, there are two broad points to make here. One, the President made clear when he released his budget that he believes we need to cut spending. Democrats on the Hill have also said that they agree, we need to cut spending, as have Republicans.
He wants to work together, the President wants to work together with the leaders of Congress, both parties, to make that happen.
On the issue of the continuing resolution, the short-term funding of the bill, how that process will be negotiated out, I don’t want to prejudge different options. But we believe that we -- two things: that we can work something out, and that the American people absolutely want us to work something out, because as the leaders of both houses of Congress have said, Republican and Democrat, as the President has said, it is not in the interests of the American people for the government to shut down. And that’s because -- principally because of the impact it could have on our economy. We are still in the stages of recovery here, and the negative consequences of a shutdown, the uncertainty that that would create, could be detrimental to our economy.
Q: Is the President encouraged or discouraged by what he’s watching take place right now between Speaker Boehner and Senator Reid?
MR. CARNEY: The President believes the leaders of the House and the Senate need to get together to work something out. And he and senior members of the administration are engaged in conversations on the Hill as well. But as you know, there is a congressional process here that has to work. The House passes something, the Senate passes something, compromises are worked out. But we’re also participating in that process because we believe we can work together to get something done, and that’s what the American people want....
Q: On that, Jay. Last week the President suggested one consequence of a government shutdown would be Social Security checks not going out....
MR. CARNEY: Well, look, as I said, we’re confident that we can find the common ground that we need to find in order to avoid a government shutdown, and that leaders in both parties agree that that’s what we need to do.
The President was pointing out some of the consequences, the potential consequences of failing to act, of failing to prevent a shutdown. And some recipients, new retirees, new applications might not receive their checks. If retirees have questions about their checks, if they didn’t get their check in the mail, if they have a change of address, all those things could prevent them from getting their check.
So there are obviously consequences that directly affect people who are recipients of Social Security benefits, and there could be. But the broader point is that the uncertainty created by this, the number of consequences that could unfold if this does happen, would create the kind of environment that would be harmful to the economy overall, which would then -- Speaker of the House said yesterday he’s focused on jobs and the economy; the President makes clear every day, as he will this afternoon when he speaks with his new council on jobs and competitiveness, that he’s focused on jobs and the economy. And we do not want and we do not believe the leaders of Congress and we know the American people don’t want actions to be taken in Washington that upset this recovery, set us back, affect growth and affect job creation....
Q: .... What is the message the administration is giving to the people who are being killed right now in Libya about what the United States intends to do....
MR. CARNEY: Well, we’ve made very clear that we absolutely support the people of Libya, the people of Bahrain, the people of Egypt, other people who have peacefully expressed their desire for change in their country. Again, I take you back to our governing principles as we approach these problems.
We are working with the international community to take the kind of action that will prevent the Libyan government from continuing to wreak this kind of havoc on its own people. The President has been very clear about how strongly he condemns this action. It’s unacceptable. It’s reprehensible. It’s abhorrent.
Q: But how does sending Secretary Clinton to a conference on Monday ameliorate the situation for people on the ground --
MR. CARNEY: We’re interested in outcomes. We’re interest in doing -- taking the measures that will actually have the desired effect, which is to get the Libyan government to stop the bloodshed.... The President is absolutely focused on this, as is Secretary Clinton and the rest of the national security team.
Q: ... is there a concern that a more forceful response by the administration could result in more bloodshed against Libyan protestors?
MR. CARNEY: Well, I don’t want to speculate about what might happen, but anytime you have a situation like this you have to gauge what the response will be to the actions you take. It’s a fluid, dynamic and dangerous situation. And we’re committed to getting this right so that the Libyan people are no longer subjected to the kind of violence that they’re being subjected to by their government....
Q: Thanks, Jay. Back on the situation with Libya. Protests have just been spreading in North Africa and the Middle East; the result is gas prices going up here in America. Is this administration asking countries in Africa that support -- that I guess export oil to us -- is this administration asking Canada, is this administration asking Mexico, is this administration asking Saudi Arabia to increase their output to keep prices down?
MR. CARNEY: April, whenever you have unrest in this part of the world, there are going to be reactions in the oil markets, and that is obviously something we’ve seen. The situation remains fluid, but we are monitoring this closely. We’re very cognizant of the fact that oil prices can affect the economy and can affect people in their wallets and pocketbooks. But we are in touch with the IEA and oil-producing countries about the developments in the market. We have the capacity to act in the event of a major supply disruption. I don’t want to speculate on any particular action and I don’t want to, again, speculate that -- predict what may or may not happen in terms of disruption. But the global community has -- global system has a lot of experience in managing the kind of disruption that we’ve seen, and our focus now is on monitoring this and making sure that we know what our options are if they need to be taken....
Well, I can assure you, April, that we are very closely watching this situation. I don’t want to speculate on where oil prices may or may not go or what the effects of unrest in Libya may or may not have tomorrow or next week or down the road on oil prices. But we have the capacity to act in case of a major supply disruption, and we are talking with international institutions and other -- and oil-producing nations to -- as we examine the developments in the markets....
Q: Coordination -- coordinating an international response to something is basically the definition of herding cats....
MR. CARNEY: Well, look, I would point you to the fact -- look at the international reaction. This is a case where what Libya has done has garnered very little support around the globe -- quite the contrary. The international community is speaking almost with -- entirely with one voice in condemning what’s happening there. And so I don’t believe this is a case of herding cats. I believe that this is an opportunity to act in a concerted way with our international partners....
Q: ....Several Democratic members of Congress have asked the President to consider releasing oil from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve to keep prices from rising too much....
MR. CARNEY: Well, I think I would just repeat what I said, which is that we have the capacity to act in case of a major disruption. Right now we don’t -- we’re simply monitoring the situation and discussing with the IEA and oil-producing states what’s happening in the markets, but I’m not going to preview what might happen if a further disruption happens and what our options are.
Q: President Obama back in August of 2008 advocated using oil from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve back in August ‘08....
MR. CARNEY: I think what’s important about that to remember is that the causes of the surge in oil prices in 2008 were quite different from the circumstances that we’re seeing now. And then I would say that we are examining our options and we have the capacity if necessary to act in case of a major disruption. But again, it’s important -- there’s not a one-size-fits-all response when the actual circumstances are quite different....
Q: ...My question is if we should have a government shutdown, would the people still get paid, or -- I was going to ask about Social Security, because obviously that would affect me. (Laughter.) ....
MR. CARNEY: Well, I would -- first of all, part of the problem is the uncertainty that it creates. But there are what I -- the point I want to make very clearly is that we believe we can work together with Congress to avoid a shutdown because we all agree that a shutdown would be disruptive to the economy, affect our capacity to grow and create jobs. That’s an outcome that no one -- we certainly don’t want, the President doesn’t want and the American people don’t want. So I don’t want to predict what might happen in a circumstance that we very much hope to avoid....
Q: .... About the uprisings. You’ve said that all the nations are different and all the relationships are different. So then what metrics is the administration using to evaluate that an uprising in one country is different from an uprising in another country....
MR. CARNEY: Well, because each country is different there -- you have to measure that. But we’re guided by these principles that I talked about yesterday that were enunciated by the President in his speech in Cairo, about the need for the countries in the region to respond to the aspirations, the democratic aspirations of their peoples, because they had a problem on their hands. And that still pertains, that is our approach: no violence; respect for the universal rights of your citizens; and actions, reforms, that respond to the demands and aspirations that are legitimate of the people.
And in terms of how you evaluate, again, these are events that are happening from the ground up. And we’ve all seen them -- in Egypt, how the people on the streets represented all walks of life in Egypt. And obviously we look at that in each country and how broad-based the unrest is.
Fundamentally, peaceful demonstrations should never be responded to with violence....
Q: .... we’re right in the middle of a big labor fracas. Is the President trying to keep his distance from this?
MR. CARNEY: The President made very clear, as all of you wrote about and many of you made more of than what was actually the case, his view on the need for public sector employees to tighten their belts just like everyone else in these -- as we all try to get control of our budgets at the state level and the federal level -- but his concern that what not happen is that the fiscal problems that states find themselves in be used as an excuse to go after the fundamental bargaining rights, collective bargaining rights, the sort of underlying foundation of unions. So I think he made his position on that very clear....
Q: Yes, a different topic, following yesterday’s decision by the Department of Justice to drop its defense of DOMA, members of Congress have reintroduced legislation to actually overturn the law....
MR. CARNEY: The President has long believed that DOMA, the Defense of Marriage Act, is an unnecessary and unfair law. He supports the repeal of the law. As for its constitutionality, obviously he made clear his views on that in the decision he made that was announced yesterday. But he does support the repeal, yes....
Q: Given the President’s commitment to transparency, is there any guidance White House officials get about when it’s appropriate to meet off campus with a lobbyist and when a lobbyist meeting should be on campus?
MR. CARNEY: This administration has taken extraordinary actions to be transparent. I think this question stems from a story that, frankly, was absurd. We release hundreds of thousands of records voluntarily, a policy instituted by this President because of his desire for transparency -- something no administration had ever done before. The decisions about where -- and those records are available to every American citizen online to be reviewed, and all different types of people come to the White House complex for meetings on issues. And our level of transparency and disclosure is unprecedented because the President believes deeply in it.
What I would say is that, as any of you who have walked around this complex know, been in the West Wing -- not like the TV show; very small space, very few meeting rooms. The Old Executive Office Building -- the Eisenhower Executive Office Building, a third of which has been under renovation since we’ve been here -- very limited space. Jackson Place is a White House conference center -- so designated -- and therefore when we have large meetings sometimes we use that space if there are no spaces here....
It is routine for the White House officials to meet with all types of people, including lobbyists, and frequently here. The suggestion that we’re not being transparent is laughable given the unbelievable precedent this administration has set in its -- closing the door, the revolving door, and releasing these records. There are no -- the WAVES system, which is the system that produces the records, operates in certain buildings and not others. And for those decisions, how that operates and why, I refer you to the United States Secret Service. But the principle here is the unprecedented level of transparency that we have provided because we believe deeply in it.
Q: Would it be inappropriate for a White House official to intentionally arrange a meeting off campus to not be caught by the WAVES records?
MR. CARNEY: Look, we have meetings with all sorts of people. We have them here. Those records are available.
Q: But would it be appropriate if you choose to go off campus because you didn’t want it to show up in the files? It’s yes or no.
MR. CARNEY: The guiding principle here is transparency, and we believe that -- nobody is, that I’m aware of, is hiding where they’re meeting....
....But what I think is fundamentally important to remind you of is that we release information that has never been released before. I think you probably remember, you were covering the previous administration. They went to court, to the Supreme Court, to prevent the disclosure of people who were meeting with the Vice President. We voluntarily release the records that are available to us. And we never said that there was a way to get every name in every meeting. The principle is disclosure, and we have gone to extraordinary lengths to make that happen....
Q: Would any sanctions be partly designed not necessarily just targeting Qaddafi, but family members, other power centers that might kind of convince them to try and peel away from Qaddafi?
MR. CARNEY: I would only say that we’re examining a variety of options.
That’s it. Thanks, guys.
White House, Feb. 24, 2011:
In honor of African-American history month, the White House hosts a screening of the new film "Thurgood" - a one-act play starring Lawrence Fishbourne and written by George Stevens, Jr. Go inside the screening to watch interviews and learn more about the impact of Justice Marshall's work towards equal rights in America.
White House Blog, Feb. 24, 2011:
White House Blog, Feb. 24, 2011: