Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents Monday, March 17, 2008 Volume 44—Number 10 Pages 345–388 VerDate Aug 31 2005 12:15 Mar 18, 2008 Jkt 214250 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 1249 Sfmt 1249 E:\PRESDOCS\P10MRF4.014 P10MRF4 yshivers on PROD1PC62 with PRESDOCSF Contents Addresses and Remarks Interviews With the News Media See also Meetings With Foreign Leaders Exchange with reporters in the Oval Office— Intelligence reform legislation—373 348 Kuwait-America Foundation’s Stand for Africa gala dinner—372 Meetings With Foreign Leaders National Republican Congressional Committee dinner—368 Poland, Prime Minister Tusk—348 New York City, Economic Club of New York Notices and a question-and-answer session—376 Provincial Reconstruction Team leaders and Continuation of the National Emergency With brigade combat commanders, briefing—374 Respect to Iran—361 Radio address—345 Tennesse Proclamations Arrival in Nashville—354 National Poison Prevention Week—384 National Religious Broadcasters convention Women’s History Month—353 in Nashville—354 U.S. Hispanic Chamber of Commerce—362 Resignations and Retirements Women’s History Month and International Women’s Day, celebration—351 U.S. Central Command, commander, statement—361 Bill Vetoes ‘‘Intelligence Authorization Act for Fiscal Year Statements by the President 2008,’’ message—346 See also Resignations and Retirements Communications to Congress Death of Archbishop Rahho of Mosul—376 See also Bill Vetoes Farm legislation—375 Canada-U.S. Taxation Convention, message transmitting protocol amending—376 Supplementary Materials Iran, message on continuation of national Acts approved by the President—387 emergency—362 Checklist of White House press releases—386 Communications to Federal Agencies Digest of other White House Unexpected Urgent Refugee and Migration announcements—385 Needs Related to Kenya, memorandum— Nominations submitted to the Senate—386 348 Editor’s Note: The President was at Camp David, MD, on March 14, the closing date of this issue. Releases and announcements issued by the Office of the Press Secretary but not received in time for inclusion in this issue will be printed next week. WEEKLY COMPILATION OF Distribution is made only by the Superintendent of Docu- ments, Government Printing Office, Washington, DC 20402. PRESIDENTIAL DOCUMENTS The Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents will be furnished by mail to domestic subscribers for $80.00 per year Published every Monday by the Office of the Federal Reg- ($137.00 for mailing first class) and to foreign subscribers for ister, National Archives and Records Administration, Washing- $93.75 per year, payable to the Superintendent of Documents, ton, DC 20408, the Weekly Compilation of Presidential Docu- Government Printing Office, Washington, DC 20402. The ments contains statements, messages, and other Presidential charge for a single copy is $3.00 ($3.75 for foreign mailing). materials released by the White House during the preceding The Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents is also week. available on the Internet on the GPO Access service at http:// The Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents is pub- www.gpoaccess.gov/wcomp/index.html. lished pursuant to the authority contained in the Federal Reg- There are no restrictions on the republication of material ister Act (49 Stat. 500, as amended; 44 U.S.C. Ch. 15), under appearing in the Weekly Compilation of Presidential Docu- regulations prescribed by the Administrative Committee of the ments. Federal Register, approved by the President (37 FR 23607; 1 CFR Part 10). VerDate Aug 31 2005 12:15 Mar 18, 2008 Jkt 214250 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 1249 Sfmt 1249 E:\PRESDOCS\P10MRF4.014 P10MRF4 yshivers on PROD1PC62 with PRESDOCSF yshivers on PROD1PC62 with PRESDOCSF VerDate Aug 312005 12:15 Mar 18, 2008 Jkt214250 PO00000 Frm00003 Fmt7969 Sfmt7969 E:\PRESDOCS\P10MRF4.014 P10MRF4 newmail.eps Week Ending Friday, March 14, 2008 The President’s Radio Address The main reason this program has been effective is that it allows the CIA to use spe- March 8, 2008 cialized interrogation procedures to question a small number of the most dangerous terror- Good morning. This week, I addressed the ists under careful supervision. The bill Con- Department of Homeland Security on its gress sent me would deprive the CIA of the fifth anniversary and thanked the men and authority to use these safe and lawful tech- women who work tirelessly to keep us safe. niques. Instead, it would restrict the CIA’s Because of their hard work and the efforts range of acceptable interrogation methods to of many across all levels of government, we those provided in the Army Field Manual. have not suffered another attack on our soil The procedures in this manual were de- since September the 11th, 2001. signed for use by soldiers questioning lawful This is not for a lack of effort on the part combatants captured on the battlefield. They of the enemy. Al Qaida remains determined were not intended for intelligence profes- to attack America again. Two years ago, sionals trained to question hardened terror- Usama bin Laden warned the American peo- ists. ple, quote, ‘‘Operations are under prepara- Limiting the CIA’s interrogation methods tion, and you will see them on your own to those in the Army Field Manual would ground once they are finished,’’ end quote. be dangerous because the manual is publicly Because the danger remains, we need to en- available and easily accessible on the Inter- sure our intelligence officials have all the net. Shortly after 9/11, we learned that key tools they need to stop the terrorists. Al Qaida operatives had been trained to resist Unfortunately, Congress recently sent me the methods outlined in the manual. And this an intelligence authorization bill that would is why we created alternative procedures to diminish these vital tools. So today I vetoed question the most dangerous Al Qaida it. And here is why. operatives, particularly those who might have The bill Congress sent me would take away knowledge of attacks planned on our home- one of the most valuable tools in the war on land. The best source of information about terror, the CIA program to detain and ques- terrorist attacks is the terrorists themselves. tion key terrorist leaders and operatives. This If we were to shut down this program and program has produced critical intelligence restrict the CIA to methods in the field man- that has helped us prevent a number of at- ual, we could lose vital information from sen- tacks. The program helped us stop a plot to ior Al Qaida terrorists, and that could cost strike a U.S. Marine camp in Djibouti, a American lives. planned attack on the U.S. consulate in Kara- The bill Congress sent me would not sim- chi, a plot to hijack a passenger plane and ply ban one particular interrogation method, fly it into Library Tower in Los Angeles, and as some have implied. Instead, it would a plot to crash passenger planes into eliminate all the alternative procedures we’ve Heathrow Airport or buildings in downtown developed to question the world’s most dan- London. And it has helped us understand Al gerous and violent terrorists. This would end Qaida’s structure and financing and commu- an effective program that Congress author- nications and logistics. Were it not for this ized just over a year ago. program, our intelligence community be- The fact that we have not been attacked lieves that Al Qaida and its allies would have over the past 61⁄2 years is not a matter of succeeded in launching another attack chance. It is the result of good policies and against the American homeland. the determined efforts of individuals carrying 345 VerDate Aug 31 2005 12:16 Mar 18, 2008 Jkt 214250 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 1244 Sfmt 1244 E:\PRESDOCS\P10MRT4.014 P10MRT4 yshivers on PROD1PC62 with PRESDOCST 346 Mar. 8 / Administration of George W. Bush, 2008 them out. We owe these individuals our addressing the 9/11 Commission’s concern, thanks, and we owe them the authorities they the bill would subject two additional vital po- need to do their jobs effectively. sitions to a more protracted process of Senate We have no higher responsibility than confirmation. Apart from causing such po- stopping terrorist attacks. And this is no time tentially harmful delays, this unwarranted re- for Congress to abandon practices that have quirement for Senate confirmation would a proven track record of keeping America also risk injecting political pressure into these safe. positions of technical expertise and public Thank you for listening. trust. NOTE: The address was recorded at 7:50 a.m. on Section 413 would create a new Inspector March 7 in the Cabinet Room at the White House General for the Intelligence Community. for broadcast at 10:06 a.m. on March 8. The tran- This new office is duplicative and unneces- script was made available by the Office of the sary. Each intelligence community compo- Press Secretary on March 7 but was embargoed nent already has an Inspector General, and for release until the broadcast. In his address, the the Inspector General of the Office of the President referred to Usama bin Laden, leader Director of National Intelligence has been of the Al Qaida terrorist organization. The Office of the Press Secretary also released a Spanish lan- vested with all the legal powers of any inspec- guage transcript of this address. tor general to carry out investigations on mat- ters under the jurisdiction of the Director of National Intelligence. There is no reason Message to the House of to commit taxpayer resources to an additional Representatives Returning Without inspector general with competing jurisdiction Approval the ‘‘Intelligence over the same intelligence elements. Cre- Authorization Act for Fiscal Year ating duplicative inspectors general, who may 2008’’ have inconsistent views on the handling of March 8, 2008 particular matters, has the potential to create conflicts and impede the Intelligence Com- To the House of Representatives: munity from efficiently resolving issues and I am returning herewith without my ap- carrying out its core mission.