Lawrence Ari Fleischer

“ The only question is, is there any one group in America that should have a preferential role earlier than all other groups and above all other groups. So the American Bar Association will have an equal role of all the other groups who are entitled and the President will welcome their input and their ideas once the nomination is made. As far as the so-called blue slipping issue, that really is an internal Senate matter. The President's approach is going to be to work with Democrats and Republicans alike to convince them to support his nominees. ”

“ The President favors an extension on the moratorium on Internet taxation, and he favors a permanent ban on all Internet access taxes. Now, he'll continue to work with the Congress for the exact duration of it. What the President has indicated on that topic before, Major, is the Internet economy represents a new world and it has a lot of new consequences for not only consumers who like to buy products off the Internet, but also for governments who rely on sales taxes for their revenues. ”

“ This administration, under President Bush's leadership, takes very seriously the problems of energy costs, the impact it's having on low-income Americans particularly, and the problems it presents for American people when they have blackouts, when they have brownouts, and that's why the President ordered, from the very beginning of his administration, a comprehensive national energy policy to be developed. ”

“ I think no matter how you analyze it, California, while doing its best with its economy and with its environment, has not built any new plants in 10 years. And California's electricity usage has soared, and the fact that no new plants have been built during that 10 years has contributed mightily to the problem. ”

“ The United States is going to continue its role as a beacon of freedom and human rights. And the President will continue to speak out. It's unfortunate that this one panel of the United Nations will be a weakened voice in that effort. But I remind you that this is not the full United Nations. The full United Nations will be able to carry out its work on human rights and other areas. These are two entities within the United Nations. Q On the same theme, Ari, it seemed last week as if the White House was taken somewhat by surprise on the first vote, the Human Rights Commission. ”

“ Are you interested in who the countries are -- MR. FLEISCHER: As you acknowledged, Secretary Powell has pointed out that in a secret ballot, where people give you a written assurance, saying, yes, we are voting for you, and then they don't keep their word when it counts, it's not likely that they're going to keep their word when you ask them, or tell you, oh, yes, we're one of those nations that gave you a written commitment, but then we voted against you in reality. It's not exactly the type of action or behavior that most nations fess up to. ”

“ I think the people of California recognize the difficult spot, the unique spot that their state is in, and the President and the Vice President are going to continue to help California while they move ahead with the plan that represents fundamental long-term thinking, so other states don't have to go through this and so California can recover from it. ”

“ Again, the underlying problem again is when a nation gives you a written commitment that it will support you and does not honor that written commitment, it is hard to imagine how to get something more in concrete than a written commitment. ”

“ If you're asking me does the President have a blame America first reaction to something that hurts people all around the world when it's these other nations that cause this to take effect, the answer is clearly no. ”

“ They're running full-speed. It's a reflection of the fact that we have an aging infrastructure that needs more capacity, that needs more modernization, so that prices can be lowered. Another example of capacity utilization that's impacting the market is that the average capacity utilization for refineries for all of 2000 was 94 percent; across all industry as a whole, capacity utilization for all types of products ran at 82 percent. And that's a reflection on how tight utilization, tight infrastructure needs are inhibiting people's ability to get more gas at a lower price. ”

“ On the first point, the President would urge the Senate to move quickly on all the nominations that have been submitted that are now under review in the Senate. Q Ari, also on the U.N., you expressed earlier that the White House is disappointed in the recent votes. I am wondering if the votes are also a source of any embarrassment for the administration. MR. FLEISCHER: The President views it as, frankly, a source of trouble for people who love freedom around the world. They're the ones who are affected, not the United States. ”

“ I think what the American people want to know is that the government takes these problems seriously and has a plan to do something about them, and to do something about them in a way that can help as much as is doable in the here and now. ”

“ And once the recommendations are received, the President is going -- or once the President makes his recommendations, he will travel across the country, he will meet with Americans to promote his proposals. ”

“ He hopes that the process will not become politicized, and he is also concerned about the vacancies on the Bench and what vacancies on the Bench mean for denial of justice, as cases are not heard, where cases are stretched out or people have slow access to the courts because there are judicial emergencies in effect, and where there are not sufficient justices or judges to serve in various regions in circuit courts or district courts. So the President is going to move forward and work very closely with the Democrats and Republicans. ”

“ At the same time, he believes that consumers should be empowered and individuals should not be subject to numerous or unwanted spam messages. And that means working very carefully with all sides on this issue to find the appropriate balance to protect people's 1st Amendment rights, also protecting consumers and individuals' rights to not be spammed when they do their work. Q Secondarily, the Internet tax is up this year. ”

“ I think that until the President makes an announcement, you can always anticipate that there is room for something to be changed or added to it or subtracted. But they're very well along. Q And my other question related to that is, do you have any concerns that with all this focus on the long term when this thing comes out, a lot of people who are worried a lot about high energy prices right here and now are going to say, you know, where's the help for us in this thing? ”

“ He's going to work with the Congress to determine what that should be. Q Ari, a little while ago Vice President Cheney said on CNN about California's problem that they, for years they've had the attitude, well, we can conserve our way out of this problem; all we have to do is conserve; we don't have to produce any more power. ”

“ Q So the administration has not in any way changed the list of the number of people -- would send up on the last two or three days based on advice its gotten internally from Senate Republicans? MR. FLEISCHER: It's hard to change something that hasn't happened yet. The administration has not yet submitted any lists up to the Hill. Q Isn't it true that the number of nominees that were intended to be submitted, has been changed by the number of three? ”