Bush Blocks Abortion Aid
On his first full day of work, President Bush signed a memorandum banning international family planning organizations based outside the United States from receiving federal U.S. funds if they "perform or actively promote" abortions.
"It is my conviction that taxpayer funds should not be used to pay for abortions or advocate or actively promote abortion, either here or abroad," Mr. Bush wrote in a statement on Monday to the U.S. Agency for International Development, which oversees family-planning aid to foreign countries. It was Mr. Bush's first major policy action since becoming president last weekend.
On Tuesday, women Democrats in Congress called the order a terrible step backward.
"It took just 48 hours for George W. Bush to walk away from women by pushing his anti-choice agenda and we are here to say we will not forget," said Sen. Barbara Boxer, D-Cal.
Democratic women in House plan to introduce a bill to overturn the president's decision.
Mr. Bush's order restores a policy first implemented by former President Ronald Reagan in 1984 and rescinded by former President Bill Clinton in 1993. It bars U.S. money to international groups that use their own money to support abortion - either through performing the surgery, counseling on abortion as a family-planning option or lobbying foreign governments on abortion policy.
Also Monday, Mr. Bush issued a written statement to marchers on the 28th anniversary of the landmark Roe v. Wade decision that legalized abortion.
"The promises of our Declaration of Independence are not just for the strong, the independent or the healthy. They are for everyone, including unborn children," his statement said.
Abortion-rights supporter Kate Michelman saw it as Mr. Bush's latest act of war on women's reproductive rights, following on his nomination of staunch abortion opponents - former Sen. John Ashcroft for attorney general and former Wisconsin Gov. Tommy Thompson as secretary of health and human services - to key Cabinet posts.
Mr. Bush "is using his presidential powers quite aggressively already to undermine a woman's right to choose and clear a pathway to the overturning of Roe v. Wade," Michelman said. "I think it's a harbinger of things to come - Supreme Court appointments, judicial appointments ... . There's quite a bit of harm that can be done to women's reproductive rights."
On another front, Mr. Bush met Monday with GOP congressional leaders and, separately, with Democratic elder statesmen such as former Sens. John Glenn of Ohio and Paul Simon of Illinois, and former Democratic Party chairman Robert Strauss.
"In order to get an agenda through the Congress, it's best that I be able to personally explain the issues and what I'm attempting to do," Mr. Bush said after the gathering with GOP lawmakers.
"Get used to it," White House Press Secretary Ari Fleischer said, adding that the president would meet with Dmocratic congressional leaders Tuesday. "He's going to continue to identify those Democrats who are most willing to work with him."
Fleischer also announced Mr. Bush's first foreign trip, to Mexico on Feb. 16.
Mr. Bush, who entered the Oval Office shortly before 7:30 a.m. Monday, met later in the day with Secretary of State Colin Powell to discuss foreign policy. The pair will visit weekly, Fleischer said.
With wife Laura, Vice President Dick Cheney and White House Chief of Staff Andrew Card at his side, the new president implicitly sought to draw a distinction between his administration and President Clinton's, which was tainted by scandal.
"I expect every member of this administration to stay well within the boundaries that define legal and ethical conduct," Mr. Bush said. "This means avoiding even the appearance of improper conduct."
He urged the staff members to consult White House counsel Al Gonzales on ethical matters. And he called on them to confront colleagues if they see questionable behavior. "No one should hesitate to confront me as well," he said.
Mr. Bush expressed relief at a deal Mr. Clinton struck on Friday, his last full day in office, sparing himself possible indictment in the Monica Lewinsky case by acknowledging for the first time that he had made false statements under oath about his relationship with the former White House intern.
"My feeling about the action of last Friday was, it's finally over with," he told reporters. "It's now time to move on."
In other news from Congress, Republican Phil Gramm of Texas and Democrat Zell Miller of Georgia introduced the new Republican president's $1.6 trillion, 10-year tax-cut plan on the Senate floor.
Miller, the first Senate Democrat to endorse the Bush package, said he agreed with Mr. Bush that taxpayers knew better than Washington lawmakers how to spend their own money.
While many Democrats say there is a need for some tax relief, there is still widespread opposition to the Bush plan's size and composition.
It's "much too large" and would be bad for the economy, Sen. Joseph Lieberman, D-Conn., said Sunday on ABC.
Gramm, however, stressed, "We're not looking for a compromise that means that the working people of America get less." He said the package could get even larger.