2001 US press briefings
The James S. Brady Briefing Room
1:08 P.M. EDT
MR. FLEISCHER: Good afternoon. I want to report to you on the President's day. The President, earlier this morning, called Prime Minister Howard of Australia and thanked him for the strong expressions of sympathy and support from the Australian people and from the Australian government. The President thanked the Prime Minister for Australia's actions to to freeze the assets of terrorist organizations, and the two said they were looking forward to working together in other areas of bilateral cooperation in the counterterrorist effort.
The President also called President Arroyo of the Philippines this morning and thanked the Philippines for their immediate and strong support in the aftermath of the terrorist attacks. They discussed the Philippine government's ongoing struggle against terrorism within the Philippines, and President Arroyo noted the government's determination to secure the release of American hostages who have been held in the Philippines.
They discussed cooperation in the counterterrorist effort, and they also said they were looking forward to seeing each other at the upcoming meeting of the President with other APEC allies in Shanghai.
After his phone calls, the President convened a meeting earlier this morning of the National Security Council. Following the meeting, he met with the King of Jordan where the two discussed ways to cooperate in the war against terrorism. They discussed the importance of moving forward with the peace process in the Middle East, and they also discussed the importance of the strong bilateral relations that exist between the United States and Jordan. And, of course, earlier this morning, the President signed into law the Jordanian Free Trade Agreement.
The President will have a meeting midafternoon of his Domestic Consequence Committee to discuss various proposals to help people who have been hit by all of the layoffs in the economy, and to help with the possibility of a worker relief package. And then he will depart for Camp David late this afternoon, and he will be in Camp David through the weekend, where he will participate again in a meeting of the National Security Council via teleconference.
One final note for you and then I'll be pleased to take questions. Secretary Powell and the Foreign Minister of Spain will be available at 4:15 p.m. this afternoon at a stakeout following their meeting at State. With that, I'm happy to take questions.
Q You mentioned the worker relief package. Is that the same thing as what others call a stimulus package?
MR. FLEISCHER: The President has had a series of meetings on a stimulus package. A component that is also being explored is a worker relief component to a stimulus package.
Q Does that include such things as extending unemployment benefits? Is that one of the options?
MR. FLEISCHER: The President is very concerned about the rising unemployment that's taking place in the country prior to September 11th, but also in the wake of the attacks, with all the layoffs that have hit various communities across the country. The President wants to address that by working with the Congress, in a bipartisan way, on an economic stimulus package. He's going to discuss a variety of ideas, that many people, including many leading Democrats have offered, about how to help workers who have lost their jobs.
Q Would that be ready as early as next week?
MR. FLEISCHER: You know, I'm just not going to get into guesses about the timing of it. It will be ready when the President and the Congress have reached sufficient agreement about it and the President thinks that it's right.
Q Is that something that you want to -- following up on Ron, and then I have a separate question -- but would you want to attach that or -- as some people on the Hill have talked about -- to the airline security package, or is that something you would want to do separately? Would you rather do it with the stimulus package?
MR. FLEISCHER: Well, yesterday in Chicago, the President made a series of announcements designed to help protect the traveling public, so when they travel, for example cockpit doors are reinforced, the federal government takes a much more aggressive role in background checks of airport workers and setting federal standards on the screening operations that people go through when they board airplanes.