Administration of George W. Bush, 2003 349

These military operations have been care- Digest of Other fully planned to accomplish our goals with White House Announcements the minimum loss of life among coalition military forces and to innocent civilians. It is not possible to know at this time either The following list includes the President’s public the duration of active combat operations or schedule and other items of general interest an- the scope or duration of the deployment of nounced by the Office of the Press Secretary and U.S. Armed Forces necessary to accomplish not included elsewhere in this issue. our goals fully. As we continue our united efforts to dis- March 15 arm Iraq in pursuit of peace, stability, and In the morning, at Camp David, MD, the security both in the Gulf region and in the President had separate telephone conversa- United States, I look forward to our contin- tions with Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi ued consultation and cooperation. of Italy and Prime Minister Tony Blair of the Sincerely, United Kingdom to discuss the situation in Iraq. George W. Bush Also in the morning, the President had an intelligence briefing. NOTE: Identical letters were sent to J. Dennis Hastert, Speaker of the House of Representatives, March 16 and Ted Stevens, President pro tempore of the In the morning, the President traveled to Senate. An original was not available for Lajes Field Air Force Base in the Azores, verification of the content of this letter. Portugal, where, in the evening, he had din- ner with Prime Minister Jose Manuel Durao Message to the Congress Barroso of Portugal, President Jose Maria Aznar of Spain, and Prime Minister Tony Transmitting a Report on the Blair of the United Kingdom. National Emergency With Respect to In the evening, the President returned to Persons Who Commit, Threaten To Washington, DC. While en route aboard Air Commit, or Support Terrorism Force One, he had separate telephone con- March 21, 2003 versations with Prime Minister John Howard of Australia and Secretary of State Colin To the Congress of the United States: Powell. As required by section 401(c) of the Na- March 17 tional Emergencies Act, 50 U.S.C. 1641(c), and section 204(c) of the International Emer- In the morning, the President had separate telephone conversations with Prime Minister gency Economic Powers Act, 50 U.S.C. Tony Blair of the United Kingdom, President 1703(c), I transmit herewith the 6-month Jose Maria Aznar of Spain, and King Juan periodic report prepared by my Administra- Carlos of Spain to discuss the situation in tion on the national emergency with respect Iraq. to persons who commit, threaten to commit, Also in the morning, the President had in- or support terrorism that was declared in Ex- telligence and FBI briefings and met with ecutive Order 13224 of September 23, 2001. the National Security Council and Secretary of State . George W. Bush In the afternoon, the President had a tele- The White House, phone conversation with Defense Secretary to discuss possible military March 21, 2003. action against Iraq. In the evening, in the Roosevelt Room, NOTE: An original was not available for the President met with members of Congress verification of the content of this message. to discuss the situation in Iraq.

VerDate Jan 31 2003 10:06 Mar 25, 2003 Jkt 200250 PO 00000 Frm 00021 Fmt 1244 Sfmt 1244 E:\PRESDOCS\P12MRT4.021 P12MRT4 350 Administration of George W. Bush, 2003

March 18 The White House announced that the In the morning, the President had a tele- President will welcome President Paul Biya phone conversation with President Vladimir of Cameroon to the White House on March Putin of Russia to discuss the situation in 20 to discuss bilateral relations, regional Iraq, Russia-U.S. relations, and President issues, trade and development efforts, and Putin’s invitation to President Bush to visit combating HIV/AIDS. St. Petersburg, Russia, in May. Also in the morning, the President had a telephone con- March 20 versation with President Hu Jintao of China In the morning, the President had a tele- to congratulate him on taking office on phone conversation with National Security March 15 and to discuss China-U.S. rela- Adviser to discuss military tions, the situations in Iraq and North Korea, action against Iraq, which commenced the and the President’s commitment to a one- previous evening. Then, in the Oval Office, China policy. he had intelligence and FBI briefings. He Later in the morning, the President had also met with Defense Secretary Donald intelligence and FBI briefings and met with Rumsfeld. Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld. Later in the morning, the President met March 19 in the Oval Office with Vice President Dick In the morning, the President had a tele- Cheney, CIA Director , and phone conversation with Prime Minister White House Chief of Staff Andrew Card to Tony Blair of the United Kingdom to discuss discuss military action against Iraq. possible military action against Iraq and In the afternoon, the President had lunch peace efforts in the Middle East. He then with Vice President . had intelligence and FBI briefings. Later, he During the day, the President had separate met with the National Security Council in telephone conversations with President the Situation Room and then met with De- Hosni Mubarak of Egypt, Amir Hamad bin fense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld. Khalifa Al Thani of Qatar, and King Hamad Later in the morning, in the Oval Office, bin Isa Al Khalifa of Bahrain to discuss mili- the President met with Homeland Security tary action against Iraq. Secretary and Mayor Michael In the evening, in the Oval Office, the Bloomberg of New York City to discuss President had a meeting and dinner with antiterrorism measures in New York City. President Paul Biya of Cameroon. In the afternoon, the President met with The President announced his intention to Central Intelligence Agency Director George nominate Frank Libutti to be Under Sec- Tenet to discuss possible military action retary for Information Analysis and Infra- against Iraq. Later, in the Oval Office, he structure Protection at the Department of met with Vice President Dick Cheney, Sec- Homeland Security. retary of State Colin Powell, Defense Sec- The President announced his intention to retary Donald Rumsfeld, National Security nominate John E. Buchanan to be a member Adviser Condoleezza Rice, White House of the National Museum Services Board. Chief of Staff Andrew Card, and Chairman The President announced his intention to of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Richard B. appoint William Batoff as a member of the Myers, USAF, to discuss possible military ac- Advisory Committee to the Pension Benefit tion against Iraq. Guaranty Corporation (Public). In the evening, the President met with The President declared an emergency in speechwriter Michael Gerson to discuss his Delaware and ordered Federal aid to supple- address to the nation later that evening. ment State and local recovery efforts in the Later, he had dinner with Mrs. Bush in the area struck by record/near record snow on Residence. He then had a telephone con- February 14–19. versation with White House Chief of Staff The President declared a major disaster in Andrew Card to discuss possible military ac- Tennessee and ordered Federal aid to sup- tion against Iraq. plement State and local recovery efforts in

VerDate Jan 31 2003 08:26 Mar 25, 2003 Jkt 200250 PO 00000 Frm 00022 Fmt 1244 Sfmt 1244 E:\PRESDOCS\P12MRT4.021 P12MRT4 Administration of George W. Bush, 2003 351

the area struck by severe storms and flooding Submitted March 19 on February 14–26. The President declared an emergency in Eric M. Javits, New Jersey and ordered Federal aid to sup- of New York, for the rank of Ambassador plement State and local recovery efforts in during his tenure of service as U.S. Rep- the area struck by record/near record snow resentative to the Organization for the Prohi- on February 16–17. bition of Chemical Weapons. March 21 Pamela J. H. Slutz, of Texas, a career member of the Senior For- In the morning, the President had intel- eign Service, class of Counselor, to be Am- ligence and FBI briefings and met with the bassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary National Security Council. He also met with of the United States of America to Mongolia. Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld. Later, in the Oval Office, he met with Speaker of the House of Representatives J. Dennis Hastert, House Majority Leader Tom DeLay, House Minority Leader Nancy Checklist Pelosi, Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist, and of White House Press Releases Senate Minority Leader Tom Daschle. In the afternoon, the President went to The following list contains releases of the Office Camp David, MD. of the Press Secretary that are neither printed as The President announced his intention to items nor covered by entries in the Digest of nominate Karen P. Tandy to be Adminis- Other White House Announcements. trator of Drug Enforcement at the Depart- ment of Justice. Released March 16 The President announced his intention to appoint Robert Bruce Korver as a member Transcript of a press gaggle by Press Sec- of the Cultural Property Advisory Committee retary Ari Fleischer (international sales expert). Released March 18 The President announced his intention to appoint the following individuals as members Transcript of a press briefing by Press Sec- of the Advisory Commission on Drug-Free retary Ari Fleischer Communities: Judith A. Cushing (State orga- Released March 19 nization); Arthur Dean (national organiza- tion); Dennis Griffith (national organization); Transcript of a press briefing by Press Sec- Patricia J. Kempthorne (public); Charles W. retary Ari Fleischer Larson, Jr. (State organization); Ronald Luce Transcript of a statement in the James S. (public); Flor Santalo-Sherbahn (State orga- Brady Briefing Room by Press Secretary Ari nization); Peggy Sapp (national organization); Fleischer and Loretta M. Wenger (national organiza- tion). Statement by the Press Secretary: Meeting With Cameroonian President Paul Biya Released March 20 Transcript of a press briefing by Press Sec- Nominations retary Ari Fleischer Submitted to the Senate Statement by the Press Secretary on disaster assistance to Delaware The following list does not include promotions of Statement by the Press Secretary on disaster members of the Uniformed Services, nominations assistance to New Jersey to the Service Academies, or nominations of For- eign Service officers. Statement by the Press Secretary on disaster assistance to Tennessee

VerDate Jan 31 2003 08:26 Mar 25, 2003 Jkt 200250 PO 00000 Frm 00023 Fmt 1244 Sfmt 1244 E:\PRESDOCS\P12MRT4.021 P12MRT4