Cox News Service
October 17, 2007 Wednesday
BUSH WARNS CONGRESS AGAINST ANTAGONIZING TURKEY
by BOB DEANS
WASHINGTON – President Bush assailed Congress on Wednesday for
failing to send key legislation to his desk and warned it not to
antagonize a key U.S. ally by censuring Turkey for its role in the
mass killing of Armenians during World War I.
In a 47-minute White House news conference, Bush ticked off a dozen
legislative priorities before Congress, from passing the spending
bills needed to fund the government to working out a compromise over
the politically contentious issue of health spending for poor
children.
"With all these pressing responsibilities, one thing Congress should
not be doing is sorting out the historical record of the Ottoman
Empire," Bush said. "Congress has more important work to do than
antagonizing a democratic ally in the Muslim world, especially one
that is providing vital support for our military every day."
He was referring to a non-binding resolution the House was prepared
to take up as early as Thursday that would label as genocide the
killing of up to 1.5 million Armenians by Turks during World War I.
The war resulted in the breakup of the Ottoman Empire, laying the
foundations for the birth of modern Turkey as a secular and
democratic state.
Turkey is a NATO ally and host to a Cold War-era U.S. air base from
which combat and supply missions are flown into neighboring Iraq.
After the House Foreign Affairs Committee passed the resolution last
week, the Turkish parliament on Wednesday authorized the deployment
of more troops into northern Iraq to confront Kurdish activists that
Turkey regards as terrorists. Bush warned Turkey, which already has
troops in northern Iraq, not to send more.
"We are making it very clear to Turkey," said Bush. "We don’t think
it’s in their interests to send more troops in."
Turning to a second historic conflict with enduring echoes in U.S.
foreign affairs, Bush offered kind words for the Dalai Lama, hours
before the spiritual leader of 6 million Tibetans received the
Congressional Gold Medal for a lifetime spent advocating for human
rights.
"I admire the Dalai Lama a lot," said Bush. "I support religious
freedom, and he supports religious freedom," said Bush, who praised
the Tibetan spiritual leader as "a man of peace and reconciliation."
The president’s embrace of the Dalai Lama has irritated the
government of China, which annexed Tibet in a military invasion
shortly after the Communist Party seized power in Beijing in 1949.
The Dalai Lama, who was a boy at the time, fled Tibet and has since
made his home in northern India.
Bush said he had discussed his support for the Dalai Lama with
Chinese President Hu Jintao – Beijing’s former administrator of Tibet
– and told Hu in advance that he would attend the Gold Medal award
ceremony at the Capitol.
"They didn’t like it, of course, but I don’t think it’s going to
damage – severely damage – relations," said Bush. "Matter of fact, I
don’t think it ever damages relations when the American president
talks about religious tolerance and religious freedom is good for a
nation."
Later at the Capitol, Bush sat beside House Speaker Nancy Pelosi,
D-Calif., as the Dalai Lama received the Congressional Gold Medal.
"Our American friends have stood with us in the most critical of
times and under the most intense pressure," the Buddhist leader said,
addressing members of Congress and other dignitaries in the ornate,
marble-floored Rotunda.
That support "has not gone unnoticed in China," the Dalai Lama said,
draped in the saffron-and-wine-colored robes signifying his faith.
For the Sino-American tensions the Tibetan issue has stirred, he
said, "I feel a sense of regret."
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On a third international front, Bush voiced optimism that his
administration can help to broker a new round of Arab-Israeli peace
talks in late November.
Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice is traveling in the region and
trying to get Palestinians and Israelis to agree to the talks, aimed
at paving the way to the creation of a democratic Palestinian state
living in peace with its Israeli neighbors.
"We believe that now is the time to push ahead," said Bush. "I’m
feeling pretty optimistic about it."
Turning to bread and butter issues, Bush voiced concern about a
deepening recession in the U.S. housing market, calling on Congress
to pass legislation that would offer tax incentives and other support
aimed at helping homeowners refinance steep mortgages. Bush was
generally upbeat about the economy, though, citing continuing low
inflation and a record 49 consecutive months of job growth.
Bush also said he was ready to work with Congress to resolve an
impasse over legislation to expand health care spending for poor
children.
Bush vetoed legislation that would expand the so-called SCHIP program
by $35 billion over five years. One reason, he said, is that the bill
would include children in families earning as much as $83,000 per
year.
Bush said the legislation would "expand the reach of the federal
government in medicine" by encouraging families to shift from private
health care funding to plans that rely on government funding.
"I think the federal government ought to help those who are poor,"
said Bush. "But I don’t like plans that encourage people to move from
private medicine to the public. And that’s what’s happening under
this bill."
House Democrats faced an uphill climb in trying to override Bush as
early as Thursday, with SCHIP backers falling, by some counts, about
two dozen votes shy of the two-thirds majority needed to trump the
presidential veto.
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Throughout the press conference – his first since Sept. 20 – Bush was
confident, at times forceful, drawing, after seven years in
Washington, on his brand of Texas straight talk to make his points.
"This is not my first rodeo," he told reporters at one point, after
several tried unsuccessfully to engage Bush in a discussion of North
Korea’s alleged role in a Syrian nuclear site and an Israeli air
strike that destroyed the site.
At another point, he said Russian President Vladimir Putin was "wily"
at a summit last month in Australia, when Bush tried to discuss when
– and whether – the former KGB agent would leave office when his term
expires later this year.
"I tried to get it out of him: who’s going to be his successor, what
he intends to do, and he was wily," said Bush. "He wouldn’t tip his
hand. I’ll tip mine: I’m going to work hard to the finish. I’m going
to sprint to the finish line, and then you’ll find me in Crawford,"
the Texas hamlet where Bush plans to retire at his Prairie Chapel
Ranch.