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Analysis: President Bush and Democratic Leaders Continue Debate Over Possible Politicizing Over the Issue of Iraq
All Things Considered: September 26, 2002
 Bush and Congress
ROBERT SIEGEL, host:
From NPR News, this is ALL THINGS CONSIDERED. I'm Robert Siegel.
JOHN YDSTIE, host:
And I'm John Ydstie.
One day after Senate Democratic Leader Tom Daschle accused him of politicizing national security issues, President Bush met today with a bipartisan group of House members. Standing with the group in the Rose Garden, the president said both political parties are committed to fighting terrorism and eliminating threats posed by deadly weapons in Iraq. He also called for a quick vote on a resolution giving him authority to use force, if necessary, to disarm Iraq and remove Saddam Hussein from power. NPR's Don Gonyea reports from the White House.
DON GONYEA reporting:
Yesterday in Washington, rancor filled the air with Senator Daschle objecting to the president's suggestions that Senate Democrats don't care about national security. The White House has denied the charged, and ignored Daschle's call for an apology. But today, even under overcast skies and rain, the president used a Rose Garden ceremony to try to paint a much sunnier picture, one of bipartisanship. The president posed with 14 House Democrats and six Republicans, all of whom have supported his proposals regarding Iraq.
President GEORGE W. BUSH: We've just concluded a really good meeting with both Democrats and Republicans, members of the United States Congress, to discuss our national security and discuss how best to keep the peace. The security of our country is the commitment of both political parties and the responsibility of both elected branches of government.
GONYEA: It may have been conciliatory language, but it was not, the White House said, an apology or even an acknowledgement that Daschle may have had a point. The president's spokesman says the meeting this morning gave Mr. Bush a chance to get input on where the Iraq resolution stands and to press the need to Congress to get it to his desk soon.
Late in the afternoon, there was talk that House and Senate leaders had a draft version of the resolution to be shared with the members later today or tomorrow. The president, meanwhile, described the coming debate on the resolution as historic, important and one that will be conducted with all civility.
Pres. BUSH: We're making progress. We're near an agreement. And soon, we will speak with one voice.
GONYEA: While the president was speaking at the White House, the two most prominent Democrats, Senator Daschle and House Democratic Leader Richard Gephardt, were holding a joint news conference on Capitol Hill. Democrats have been frustrated that all the talk about a possible war with Iraq has completely overshadowed the struggling economy, for which they hold the president accountable. That topic was the focus of the Daschle-Gephardt event. They sat with charts propped up behind them showing the latest unemployment numbers. Here's Gephardt.
Representative RICHARD GEPHARDT (House Minority Leader): From January 2001, when we had 5.9 people unemployed, we now have as of last month 8.1 million people unemployed, a 2.2 million increase in unemployment as a result, in large part in our view, of the Bush economic plan and the failure...
GONYEA: But both men knew that when the questions came, the subject would be Iraq and homeland security and yesterday's charges and denials between Capitol Hill and the White House about playing politics with war. And sure enough, no one asked about the economic points. In response, the two Democratic leaders again complained that the president spends a great deal of time talking about the war while raising money for Republican candidates, and that his speeches often criticize Democrats who may disagree with him on some points. Daschle was asked if he thinks his angry comments on the floor of the Senate yesterday have had any impact on the administration.
Senator TOM DASCHLE (Majority Leader): I would just say that time will tell whether this exchange had any effect. Time will tell whether Republicans continue to go to fund-raisers and raise the war or raise questions of homeland security and national support. Time will tell what kind of rhetoric we get from the White House and from Republican leadership. Time will tell, and we're watching.
GONYEA: The president did give another fund-raising speech last night in Washington, and his remarks did not include the kind of criticism of the Democratic Senate that has been a staple of his recent speeches. The president's spokesman said that change was not a response to the Democrats' objections. Don Gonyea, NPR News, the White House.
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