06 November 2002
White House Report: U.S. Midterm Elections, Iraq
(Press Secretary Ari Fleischer briefed) (930) BUSH PHONES CANDIDATES IN ELECTIONS; HAS NO PUBLIC EVENTS President Bush spent November 6 out of the public eye, but phoning candidates of both parties following the nation's November 5 mid-term elections in which Republicans took control of the Senate and retained control of the House of Representatives. The President "thought that the most appropriate way to mark the day would be with a touch of graciousness. And so the president is not going to have any public statements today," White House Press Secretary Fleischer told reporters. "After a very late night in the residence last night, the president this morning has been making a series of phone calls to talk to candidates from last night's election. He has spoken to (Democratic) Senator-elect Pryor. He looks forward to talking to other Democrats, as well. He has made additional calls to Republican candidates. He spoke to some 30 or so candidates last night. And that's how the president will spend his day. He has no public events on his schedule for the day." Bush believes the election results are "a reflection of the strong candidates that we had running across the country, and that the results are really a testament to those individuals," Fleischer said. At a meeting in the morning with his senior staff, Bush told them that 'the credit goes to the candidates and to those who focused on changing the tone, people who want to work together to get things done,'" Fleischer said. "That's what the president saw as the message from last night." The 2002 midterm elections made history, Fleischer said, because the historical trend of presidents' parties losing congressional seats in the midterm elections did not take place. "In fact, for the first time in history Republicans gained seats in the House of Representatives in the midterm election...as well as taking the Senate was the first time," Fleischer said. But notwithstanding the Republican gains in Congress overall, Fleischer reminded reporters that the U.S. Senate still remains closely divided between Republicans and Democrats, even though party control has switched. President Bush "thinks it remains terribly important to listen to people in both parties and to work on principle and from principle on behalf of the agenda he believes in," the press secretary said. But Fleischer said the election results "increase the likelihood of getting things done for the American people. There are many initiatives that could have and should have been done in the last Congress that got bottled up and stopped that now have a much stronger chance of getting done," he said. Bush's two major priorities are the protection of America's homeland, including its national security, and strengthening America's economy, the press secretary said:"those are the two presidential priorities that he wants to work very closely with Democrats and Republicans alike to make happen." And the most important item of unfinished business for this Congress when it returns this year to Washington for its lame duck session "is the creation of the Department of Homeland Security, said Fleischer. "America remains a nation at war, we remain a nation where there are enemies who are trying to attack us, and the President thinks that it remains a vital priority of the Congress this year to pass the Department of Homeland Security(Act)." U.S. OFFERS REVISED TEXT OF RESOLUTION ON IRAQ AT U.N. United States representatives to the United Nations have presented to U.N. Security Council members a revised text of the U.S. resolution on Iraq, White House Press Secretary Ari Fleischer told reporters November 6 at his midday briefing at the White House. United States diplomats in New York "laid down the resolution today," Fleischer said. "This is a revised text of our resolution that makes crystal clear that Iraq must disarm," he said, adding that the United States is seeking a vote on the resolution on Friday, November 8. The United Nations discussion on Iraq "has been a long, but a very constructive and important process," the press secretary said. President Bush "made the decision to go to the United Nations. He set this course in motion, and the course he set in motion is now coming to a head." For six weeks, efforts by President Bush, Secretary of State Colin Powell and U.S. Representative to the United Nations, Ambassador John Negroponte, "have put together the key elements of a resolution that we hope will meet with support of all the members of the Security Council," said Fleischer. The resolution the United States is circulating, he said, "takes into account the views that we heard from our allies on the Security Council. And it meets the goals that the president identified from the start. "From the start the president made clear that any resolution to be voted on had to say that Iraq is in material breach. This resolution does. He made it clear that it had to provide for a very tough inspection regime. This resolution does that. And the president made it clear that there will be serious consequences if Iraq fails to disarm. This resolution accomplishes all of those core principles. And it does so in a way that we believe will also attract the support of our allies whose voices are important and whose voices the president wanted to listen to." "Under this draft, and as always at the United Nations, it is the prerogative and the right of any member of the Security Council to convene, to hold a meeting as they judge wise and see fit," Fleischer said. "Nothing in this resolution handcuffs the president, and the president thinks it is very important and has committed to further consultations." (Distributed by the Office of International Information Programs, U.S. Department of State. Web site: http://usinfo.state.gov)
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