Bush Lays Out His Agenda
In his first public remarks after his party captured both the House and the Senate in midterm elections, President Bush said passing a homeland security bill was the number one item on his agenda. He said he wanted it done this year.
"The election may be over, but the terrorist threat is still real," Mr. Bush said at a Thursday afternoon news conference.
He called the homeland security measure, "the single most important item of unfinished business on Capitol Hill," and said Congress should take it up immediately at the "lame-duck" session that begins next week.
"I want it done. It is a priority," he said.
Mr. Bush also said that Vice President Dick Cheney will be his running mate if he seeks a second term in 2004.
"He's done an excellent job. I appreciate his advice, I appreciate his counsel, I appreciate his friendship. He is a superb vice president," Mr. Bush said. "There's no reason for me to change."
The president deflected credit for the Republicans' election victories, saying "candidates win elections because they're good candidates." He said Tuesday's results showed that "people want something done."
Mr. Bush's toughest words were aimed at Saddam Hussein, reports CBS News Chief White House Correspondent John Roberts. With the president expecting a "yes" vote from the U.N. Friday on the U.S.-sponsored resolution calling for Iraq to disarm, the clock will start ticking toward a possible war.
"This would be the 17th time that we expect Saddam to disarm," Mr. Bush said. "This time we mean it."
Asked why the United States was prepared to use force to disarm Iraq, but not to move militarily against North Korea, which has admitted to having a nuclear weapons program, Mr. Bush said: "I do care about North Korea...(but) we'll deal with each threat differently."
"With North Korea, we're taking a different strategy initially. We're going to talk to countries in the neighborhood to convince North Korea it is not in the world's interest that they develop" nuclear weapons.
Cheney's position on the 2004 ticket had been the subject of heightened speculation because of a heart condition and, more recently, because of the attention he draws in connection to corporate accounting scandals.
Asked if Cheney would agree to a second presidential run in 2004, Mr. Bush didn't pause.
"I'm confident that he will serve another term," he said.
The elections handed Republicans control of the Senate and broadened their majority in the House, after Mr. Bush put his popularity on the line and corralled the power of the White House behind candidates to secure just such a triumph.
Republican leaders were optimistic that the victories would help them win passage of administration proposals that have been stalled in the Senate by Democrats.
"There's going to be a complete laundry list of things people want to get done," Mr. Bush cautioned, when asked whether he would push for controversial issues such as his plan to allow younger workers to funnel some of their Social Security payroll taxes into stocks and other private investments.
Mr. Bush said the Social Security debate was important and "I still think the way to achieve security for... younger workers is to give them the option of managing their own account."
Mr. Bush was asked about a possible shakeup of his economic team after the Election Day resignation of Harvey Pitt, the chairman of the Securities and Exchange Commission.
"My economic team came in during very difficult times. There was a recession, terrorist attack, corporate scandals," he said. "We have done a lot to return confidence and to provide stimulus through tax cuts ... We have made good progress on the economy, there is still work to do."
He said that Pitt, who resigned under pressure, "did some very good things," including reopening the stock markets after the terrorist attacks and enforcing corporate responsibility.
Mr. Bush said that Pitt resigned because "he thought he couldn't be as effective as he wanted."