Lawrence Ari Fleischer

“ Q How warm will the White House Press Office be this summer? MR. FLEISCHER: That's entirely up to you. Q Seriously, will any of these measures extend to places outside of California, buildings outside of California? MR. FLEISCHER: The President's directive will apply to all agencies to ask them to review their energy usage. The priorities will be in California and other places where there are potential energy shortages. That's where the most action you can anticipate will be taken. Q The White House or any other buildings here, do you think? ”

“ The announcement the President will make today about having federal facilities in California conserve energy in an effort to reduce demand in California is one more example of how the administration has been working with California officials to be helpful. At the same time, the President will emphasize that California does continue to suffer from a bigger energy problem California needs to fully address. The federal government will work shoulder to shoulder to do its fair part to help California in that effort. ”

“ Major, every day, this White House has conversations with people in the various agencies. We have frequent conference calls. I have a conference call every day with DOD. So I'm in frequent contact. Many people in this White House are in frequent contact with people in the agencies. I'm not going to tick-tock to any of those conversations. But you can assume that every day, people in this White House are in daily, multiple contact with people in the agencies. ”

“ Q Ari, does the President want Congress to renew normal trade relations with China? And two, does the President have any position on Chinese bid to host the Olympics? MR. FLEISCHER: The President does support permanent normal trade relations with China, as well as China's ascension into the WTO. That's an example of where the President finds areas where the United States and China can work cooperatively, the President will pursue those areas. ”

“ Q Ari, on energy, a question for you. The President obviously is going to come out later and announce steps for California to take federal buildings to conserve energy? If the President is thinking this is such a good idea, California has been faced with such an extreme situation for a while, why not do it sooner? How do you respond to critics who say the White House is just responding to criticism that it's not doing enough for California? MR. FLEISCHER: Since the very first day of this administration, the President has responded to requests from the governor of California for assistance. ”

“ Every agency will have 30 days to examine their energy usage and then to report back. Q What about the White House itself? Do you know -- MR. FLEISCHER: The White House will have 30 days to examine its energy usage and report back. Q California will have some -- the federal agencies in California will have specific instructions, unlike other areas; is that right? MR. FLEISCHER: And any other area of the country that suffers from electricity shortages will have -- will take an even more careful look at its energy usage. There will be some specific items announced for California shortly. ”

“ Well, generally around the world, military-to military contacts are an effective way of building bridges, of maintaining dialogue. And that's why military-to-military contacts have been a part of American diplomacy, American military operations for a very long period of time. Q With China, with respect to China, how does the President feel generally about that? MR. FLEISCHER: He believes that the military-to-military contacts with China should be reviewed and decided on a case by case basis. ”

“ No, the political action committee decides how to spend it, which is -- Q The company controls the political action committee. MR. FLEISCHER: No, no. Political action committees are not corporate. Political action committees are voluntary, as you know. ”