Lawrence Ari Fleischer

“ There were early actions taken by the administration that set a tone right from the very beginning that the President, when he thought it was appropriate, was going to take steps that protected the environment in a manner that business did not like, the President was going to take those steps. Those notices, those actions, got scant coverage. It doesn't stop the President from viewing his job as to proceed in a balanced way, regardless of what the coverage decisions are. ”

“ Wendell, what the President said was that the longer our men and women are detained, the more harm that will be done to the United States-Chinese relations. The President, as you know, after the matter was resolved, said in the Rose Garden that the future of the relations now also depends on the determined choices that both nations make. As I just indicated, the decisions that the President will make will depend on a whole variety of circumstances, a whole variety of the decisions made by China as they make their determined choices about the nature of our relationship. ”

“ There seems to be -- there is, if you talk to people at very high levels of the administration, an acknowledgment that perhaps in those early days, not disputing what you did, but how it was done, allowed critics to have an open shot at the President, to make that case that it was not -- that those decisions were not made and then released and marketed in a way that left you in a favorable political situation. ”

“ Terry, I think across the board, you're going to see an approach by this President that when there are the most sensitive and emotional moments in people's lives, the President is not going to always insert himself deep into the thick of them. ”

“ The President has a much more deliberative and thoughtful approach, a less publicity seeking approach. And that will be the manner in which he continues to conduct himself in office. He believes that's the manner that best leads to solutions. Sometimes when the President inserts himself, it raises so much attention that it makes it harder to bring people together to find solutions. And the President's focus at all times is going to be on finding solutions, particularly for some of these difficult and emotional issues, where there are two sides who have very powerful clashing views. ”

“ And as you know, the President has directed Bob Zoellick, the United States Trade Representative, to talk with several of the non-governmental organizations, several of the people who will be present in Quebec who have a strong point of view on the environment. It's part of the President being inclusive, reaching out, listening to groups that don't agree with his message on trade. But the President wants to make sure that they have an ear in this administration, and Ambassador Zoellick will be doing that. ”

“ Q Back on the environment, Ari. In the statement that was put out yesterday on arsenic, it talked about going back to the National Academy of Sciences for another review of the literature, but it also said the answer that the administration has to get from the National Academy of Sciences has to be between 3 and 20 parts per billion as far as the level of arsenic that's acceptable. How is it consistent with science to tell the scientists in advance what answer is acceptable? ”

“ Q Any reason why that policy from the campaign would change, and are there any other fundraising schedules -- MR. FLEISCHER: Frankly, this is our first fundraiser, so this is the first time we've really had to focus on it in the President's new capacity as President. So it's a coverage decision that we make, just like all other coverage decisions; as the event comes up, we focus on it. Q Will the event in Little Rock be open? MR. FLEISCHER: That's what we're working on right now. Q Will there be other fundraisers next week? ”

“ The second week the President focused extensively on faith-based solutions. The third week the President focused on taxes. There is a sense that one way to make sure the American people have an opportunity to fully understand the President's policies is to have several policies that are similar in nature take place in a similar period of time. ”