White House Gaggle

By Stephen Lacey
The President’s Schedule:

The President had his usual briefings this morning. He is scheduled to meet with the Secretary of State at the White House at around 11:00. This afternoon President Bush will go to the Department of Veterans Affairs Medical Center to participate in a conversation on the benefits of health information technology for veterans. Participants will include Health and Human Services Secretary Tommy Thompson, Veterans Affairs Secretary Anthony J. Principi, Director of the Veterans Affairs Maryland health care system Dennis Smith, and Marlene Miller, a doctor specializing in quality and safety initiatives at the Johns Hopkins Children Center. The discussion will be about computerized patient record systems, imaging technology, and online medical records.

Vice President Dick Cheney:

Press Secretary Scott Mclellan was asked about Vice President Cheney’s speech on presumptive Democratic nominee John Kerry at Westminster College yesterday. He said that Mr. Cheney was not blasting Kerry’s military record. Instead, said Mclellan, Cheney was outlining the clear differences in policy issues concerning national security between the two candidates. He declined to comment further.

9/11 Commission:

On Thursday, Bush and Cheney will meet with the 9/11 Commission together to discuss the policy issues before and after the attack. Mclellan dismissed claims that the two men were meeting together because they wanted to get their stories straight. He explained that having the President Bush and Vice President Cheney meet at the same time will help the commission piece together the administration’s role in the September 11th attacks. "We are all working toward the same objective," said Mclellan. There will be no recordings during the meeting, only note takers. When asked why it will not be recorded, Mclellan said that there will be highly classified information discussed during the meeting. The full commission will be present.