Lawrence Ari Fleischer

“ I think what some of the opponents have done is said that if America has no energy from anywhere else other than this region of Alaska, then it will only last a certain period of time. Well, of course, we do have energy supplies from other places. You can't pretend we don't. But it's indicative of a mind set in Washington that we keep lurching from short-term problem to short-term problem. President Bush is determined to focus on a long-term solution, so that his successors and their successors will not be back in the same box that he is in today. ”

“ We have inherited this energy crisis, this looming energy crisis. One of the reasons is we did not have from the previous administration a long-term energy policy in place. President Bush's focus will indeed be long-term. ”

“ So to address an imbalance, what's important, in the President's opinion, is to increase supply. And we need to increase our supply from domestic supplies, which means oil, it means natural gas, it means coal, it means clean burning coal. That's where the focus will be, to a substantial degree. There will be other measures, as well, as we work forward. But the President believes there is a supply-demand imbalance and the best way to address it is to increase America's supply. ”

“ The President's concern is twofold: one, how do you get prescription drugs to seniors as quickly as possible, because they need them. But, secondly, we need to reform a Medicare system that was created in the early 1960s, when medicine was practiced in an entirely different fashion than what our nation enjoys now. And we need to modernize the Medicare system. And there have been many different people on the Hill of both parties who, for the last several years, have worked actively to come up with a bipartisan Medicare reform. ”

“ Q By putting the Vice President in charge of this energy task force, do you not raise the possibility of concerns that any policy he comes up with be favorable to oil companies, rather than consumers? MR. FLEISCHER: No, I think that the policies they come up with will increase America's supply. One of the factors that we've seen is that supply -- our demand has grown nine times in the last -- I don't have the exact number of years -- but particularly in California, where no new supply has been brought on line, no new plants have been built, but demand is surging. ”

“ Well, I think as we just saw from the variety of people who participated in a very powerful meeting with the President, we have people from all walks of life, all religious faiths and backgrounds joined together in saying that the power of faith can lift up peoples' lives. ”

“ Of course, we are a very big driver of the world's economy, and that's another reason for concern, that's another reason that we're going to seek bipartisanship in passing the President's tax cut. It's important to our economy, it's important to the global economy. Q On the name of the new office, Office of Faith-Based and Community Initiatives, does that suggest that you want to also increase your involvement with grassroots groups that are not religiously based? ”

“ However, the American people also recognize that there are social problems that are not getting solved by the government, and that there is a vital role that we can play as a compassionate society to help those who are less fortunate through faith-based programs. ”

“ Since the energy crisis of '73, and probably before, there have been suggestions from this building to try and come up with new energy policies, new types of fuels -- cleaner, et cetera. And, yet, it's always come back to the same problem, America's reliance on foreign oil. And many of the nations, if not most, we get oil from are members of OPEC. What is the President doing successfully to try and get OPEC to lower or increase production? ”

“ The government shouldn't walk away or leave people languishing on welfare simply because some people raised questions about faith-based groups. Faith-based groups can often be the answer that helps people get off the street and back into life. ”

“ People should be able to itemize their charitable deductions, but that doesn't mean that those who aren't in a position where they itemize should be denied a deduction of their own. So this extends one of the best benefits of our society to those who give to charity. ”

“ Q On the question of prescription drugs, the complaint is that even though you're program is aimed at the poorest, virtually every senior has a problem paying for prescription drugs because they're so expensive and inflations is so high. How much wiggle room is there in your proposal to cover some of those people? MR. FLEISCHER: Under the President's proposal, it was a two-part proposal, the first part was a four year, $48 billion Immediate Helping Hand that would get prescription drug coverage to seniors, the neediest seniors. ”

“ It's not just foreign oil. It is America's ability to produce its own energy. For example, we have large, large reserves up in a small portion of Alaska. And the President has proposed opening up 8 percent of that area of Alaska to exploration, so we can protect America's security, so we can produce energy that the American people can use. American energy for the American consumer. ”

“ In fact, one of the things he said in the meeting with the leaders is he said, the reason this will work is because America is full of love. And he believes very deeply that the reason we have a lot of people who are still in poverty, despite a myriad of government programs that have cost trillions of dollars, is because the government programs aren't always the best solution. ”

“ One is that you have industries that are dependent on hydro power and other sources of energy which are now being shipped to California facing difficulties. In the Pacific Northwest, there are some aluminum plants that are shutting down. In Arizona, the agriculture community is being affected as a result of the sales to California. ”

“ Because the only people who itemize, typically, are people who own a home and pay interest expenses on their home, or live in high property-tax states. There are 70 million Americans who, just because their income tax circumstances, don't itemize. And they should not be discriminated against by the tax code when they, too, give to charity. Q Ari, on the Marc Rich pardon, is the administration -- can you describe any efforts the administration is now going through to seek to overturn the pardon? ”

“ And I think, frankly, in the hearts and the minds of the American people, there is scant a sense of that. I think the American people recognize that we need to be sensitive to make certain that there is no proselytizing, for example. ”

“ There will be other proposals in here helping the states to encourage charitable giving within state tax structures. So it's a multi-pronged effort that focuses on community, nonprofit and faith-based to deliver social services. Q Ari, in terms of who may be getting the funding, there are some groups who may apply who -- like, say, the Nation of Islam or the Branch Davidians. How are you going to gauge who is appropriate to get the money? MR. FLEISCHER: As with all federal grant programs, all the regulations get worked out by the agencies. ”

“ The President's focus will be on those programs that work, as he has said. And so if a program is proved to be working, he is going to fund it. If a program is not working, he's going to look for alternatives. Q Ari, the equation on the energy situation, you talk about oil, gas and coal. ”

“ California's energy situation was discussed, of course. But the purpose of it is to focus on a national solution. But you can't talk about a national energy policy without also talking about California. California is terribly important. Q Ari, someone said at that meeting that there was evidence that the California problem is spilling over into western states. ”