The President and this Administration, as I am sure every American, grieves heavily at the loss of any of our men and women who are fighting and working for the cause of freedom. We live in a new era with new challenges. Freedom is under attack and this country must not stand idly by while our security is put in jeopardy. We are working to better protect America and that protection does not stop at our borders. We must take this fight to the terrorists, where they live and operate. Iraq is the central front in the war on terror, because the terrorists have made it that. They do not want to see democracy flourish and freedom prevail. Let me remind you of the words found in a memo by a senior al-Qaida associate named Abu Musa.ab Al-Zarqawi who is operating in Iraq.

"There is no doubt that our field of movement is shrinking and the grip around the throat of the Mujahidin has begun to tighten. With the spread of the [Iraqi] Army and Police, our future is becoming frightening... [As of January 2004] I have completed 25 of these operations, some of them against the Shi.ia and their leaders, the Americans and their military, the Police, the Military, and the Coalition Forces... This region is our base of operations from where we depart and to where we return..."

We need to remain resolute in our mission -- defending our ideals and ways of life. As President Bush said on April 13, 2004, "I also have this belief, strong belief, that freedom is not this country's gift to the world; freedom is the Almighty's gift to every man and woman in this world. And as the greatest power on the face of the Earth, we have an obligation to help the spread of freedom. We have an obligation to help feed the hungry. I think the American people find it interesting that we're providing food for the North Korea people who starve. We have an obligation to lead the fight on AIDS, on Africa. And we have an obligation to work toward a more free world. That's our obligation. That is what we have been called to do, as far as I'm concerned. And my job as the President is to lead this nation into making the world a better place. And that's exactly what we're doing."

So Jim, I have to believe that Afghanistan and Iraq and the 50 million people who inhabit those countries are better off today because of the actions taken by President Bush. The citizens of Iraq and Afghanistan have been given a renewed sense of hope and an opportunity to live and grow in an open society where there are civil and human rights...Free and open societies are less likely to breed ideologies of hatred and the bottom line is... With Afghanistan and Iraq free and democratic this world will be safer and America more secure.

John Quincy Adams was the only former president to serve in the House of Representatives after his term as president--March 4, 1831 to his death on February 23, 1848. His posthumous portrait for the White House was commissioned ten years later in 1858.

Fifteen of the presidents served in the Senate before becoming president, including John Quincy Adams and Andrew Johnson, so technically their portraits are one-time senators.

Thanks for your note and your support. It is critical that we, the United States, remain steadfast in our resolve to defeat the enemies of freedom, the terrorist only need to be right once... We need to be right 100% of the time. I would also like to respond to your note with a quote from our President George W. Bush.

Thank you for your questions and the opportunity to clarify for you the Bush Administration's approach to protecting -- and improving -- our environment.

I think you'll find that underneath the misrepresentation of our efforts by some special interest groups, we all share the same goal of improving the environmental quality of our great nation and ensuring responsible stewardship of our natural resources. These days, the issue is no longer whether to protect the environment, but how much, by when, and using what tool is best for the job. Most differences lie in how we accomplish our shared goal.

The Bush Administration stands behind the philosophy that a dynamic economy will provide the resources and innovation that will bring about strong environmental progress. We've seen that progress over the last 30 years as air pollution declined by nearly half while the U.S. economy more than doubled in strength. We propose and implement policies that encourage innovation and investments in newer, cleaner technologies, and programs offering incentives to improve faster, as opposed to the old way of thinking that required prolonged conflict and litigation. Most Americans know from their own experience that newer is usually cleaner, more efficient, safer, longer lasting, and requires fewer resources to deliver better performance.

With regard to your point about trees in southern Oregon, we actually are trying to save the trees from being destroyed by catastrophic wildfires. The Healthy Forests Restoration Act aims to do that by strengthening public participation in developing high priority forest health projects; reducing the complexity of environmental analysis allowing federal land agencies to use the best science available to actively manage land under their protection; providing a more effective appeals process encouraging early public participation in project planning; and issuing clear guidance for court action against forest health projects. The legislation, which the President signed last December, specifically protects old-growth trees. In the long-term, communities and wildlife will be safer as we reduce the threat of catastrophic wildfires, like the ones that have occurred in Oregon in recent years. This approach was supported by an overwhelming bipartisan group of congressmen, senators and governors - including the Oregon delegation.

You probably saw photographers and reporters getting ready for the event. Usually, there is a 2 minute warning for the press and some of them use that time to do live stand-ups from their position in the Rose Garden. You may have also seen the U.S. and Afghan delegations come out to their viewing area after their meeting with the leaders.

As soon as the event is over, we try to clean-up as quickly as possible. We take the press back to the Briefing Room and then take down the stage, flags, podiums, etc. Usually, most of the 'running around' takes place right before and right after an event.

I am so happy, and I know the President would be, too, that you and your class are learning about tropical rainforest protection. This is a very important issue, one that we take seriously and are working on here at the White House. Thank you for sharing your ideas with us.

There are a lot of ways to protect, or conserve, rainforests around the world. For example, President Bush is a strong supporter of the Tropical Forest Conservation Act, which helps countries redirect their debt payments toward local projects to help protect tropical forests. To learn more, please visit /news/releases/2001/04/20010423-2.html, and /news/releases/2002/03/20020323-6.html for an example of how it works.

President Bush thinks that one of the best ways to help protect rainforests is for the United States government to work closely with other countries that have rainforests, such as the developing nations in South America and Africa, to help their governments create programs to fight illegal logging - timber that is harvested, transported, processed or sold against a country's laws.

The United States has been a leader in educating people and governments about this terrible problem, and is finding the solutions to take care of it through a variety of cooperative efforts with those countries. President Bush.s Initiative Against Illegal Logging expands those efforts by helping to improve law enforcement, getting the local communities in those countries involved, sharing our environmental technology with them, and helping the legal businesses that are regulated by their countries. governments.

You can learn more about this great program at /infocus/illegal-logging/.

We are also the largest supporter of the Congo Basin Forest Partnership, which helps countries in Africa.s Congo Basin fight poverty and illegal logging, enforce anti-poaching laws, improve how local governments work, and conserve natural resources by supporting national parks and protected areas. Participating countries include Cameroon, the Central African Republic, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Equatorial Guinea, Gabon, the Republic of the Congo, the United States, Belgium, Canada, France, Germany, Japan, South Africa, the United Kingdom, and the European Commission.

You can learn more about the Partnership at its Web site, http://www.cbfp.org/en/about.aspx.

An emergency room doctor needs real-time access to the right information in order to make the right decisions about care of a seriously injured patient. This kind of information is not readily available today to most doctors. In fact, it is a testament to our physicians and other providers that they deliver high-quality health care with a 19th Century, paper-based system.

The President supports health information technology as a way to reduce medical errors -- and reduce health care costs. In May, President Bush visited Vanderbilt University Medical Center in Nashville, Tennessee, to see these technologies in use. Vanderbilt is a leader in health information technology, and uses its system to prevent doctors and other providers from ordering the wrong medication or duplicative tests. Approximately 10,000 electronic orders are placed on their system every day -- 70 to 80 percent generated directly by physicians. Vanderbilt is harnessing the power of health information technology to dramatically improve the care it delivers to patients, and reduce its costs.

President Bush wants every American to have the same benefits that Nashville residents currently enjoy. Under his leadership, the Federal government has worked with the private sector to identify and endorse uniform standards -- to make it easier for Vanderbilt Medical Center to share a patient's medical information with a hospital in Crawford, Texas, for example. The President also has proposed to double to $100 million the amount of money for demonstration projects to test the effectiveness of these systems, and created a high-level health information technology coordinator to develop a strategic plan and recommend actions that the federal government may undertake to foster greater adoption.

Finally, let me just say that the President does not believe the use of these technologies should come at the expense of an individual's right to privacy of their private medical information. Americans should not have to worry about their personal medical information being used inappropriately, and President Bush strongly supports privacy rights for personal health information.

President Bush is working to ensure that what the Federal Government spends more closely matches the Federal Government's revenues. But it is important to remember what we've been through in the last three years.

The Federal budget--like America itself--is in solid shape considering the extraordinary strain placed upon it: a stock market collapse that began in early 2000; a recession that was fully underway by early 2001; revelation of corporate scandals; and, of course, the September 11th attacks and ensuing War on Terror.

The President is committed to spending what is necessary to provide for our security--even if it means running a deficit for a while--and restraining spending elsewhere. Since September 11th, 2001, more than three-quarters of the increase in discretionary spending has been directly related to our response to the attacks, enhanced homeland security, and the War on Terror. The President's 2005 Budget continues this spending trend: significant increases in funding our security programs combined with a dramatic reduction in the growth of discretionary spending unrelated to security.

With Treasury receipts only beginning to reflect a recovering economy--and major ongoing expenditures in Iraq, Afghanistan, and elsewhere in the War on Terror--we still face a projected $521 billion deficit for the 2004 fiscal year. Although a legitimate matter of concern, that size deficit, at 4.5 percent of the economy (Gross Domestic Product), is not historically out of range. Deficits have been this large or larger in six of the last 25 years, including a peak of 6.0 percent in 1983.

The Administration remains committed to dramatic deficit reduction in the coming years. With continuation of the President.s economic growth policies and sound spending restraint as reflected in the 2005 Budget, our projections show the deficit will be cut by more than half over the next five years. Indeed, our projections show the deficit falling from 4.5 percent of GDP in 2004 to 1.6 percent by 2009--which is also well below the 2.2 percent average deficit during the last 40 years. By cutting the deficit in half, we will slow the growth of the Federal debt.

Thanks for writing.

The G8 Summit brings together the Leaders of the world's major industrial democracies: Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Russia, the United Kingdom, and the United States. The European Union also attends the G8 Summit, represented by the President of the European Commission and the Leader of the country holding the Presidency of the European Council. At previous Summits, Leaders have discussed a wide range of international economic, political, and security issues.

The G8 began with a 1975 Summit in France of six countries ( France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the United Kingdom, the United States). Canada joined the group at the San Juan Summit of 1976, and the European Community began participation at the London Summit of 1977. Starting with the 1994 Naples Summit, Russia attended the political sessions and at the 1998 Birmingham Summit, Russia began participating in all sessions.

The Presidency of the G8, and responsibility of hosting the G8 Summit, rotates each year. Italy hosted the G8 Summit in Genoa in 2001, Canada hosted in Kananaskis in 2002, and France hosted in Evian in 2003. The United Kingdom will host the G8 Summit in 2005 and Russia will host in 2006.

Sea Island is located on the southern portion of the Georgia coastline, 80 miles from Savannah, Georgia. Previously, the United States hosted G8 Summits in Dorado Beach, Puerto Rico (1976), Williamsburg, Virginia (1983), Houston, Texas (1990) and Denver, Colorado (1997).

We do post Scott's press briefings on the White House web site www.whitehouse.gov/news/briefings/ and when Scott briefs from the Press Briefing Room, we webcast these briefings live.

Scott hasn't had a briefing (or gaggle) since June 3, 2004 due to the G8 Summit in Georgia. There were many briefings at the conference, however, and can be accessed on the G8 Summit page: /g8/

Press Briefings do not happen every day, but when they do occur, we put them up.

Thanks again.

Traditionally, the President then issues a proclamation "officially" informing the people of the United States, directs all Federal flags to be flown at half-staff over Federal facilities, and designates a "National Day of Mourning," as a mark of respect and remembrance for the former President. President Bush has designated this Friday, June 11, 2004, the day of President Reagan's funeral, as the National Day of Mourning for President Reagan.

As far as flags generally, the President directs the manner of their display over Federal facilities only -- he does not direct their display over non-Federal facilities. Individuals, other levels of government, and private concerns are simply encouraged to follow these observances.

You can find the President's proclamation here on the White House Web site.

Hope this helps,

TIM SAUNDERS
White House Executive Clerk

During the National Day of Mourning, the pay and leave policies for Federal employees will be consistent with those in effect on a Federal holiday. The decision as to who must work on a holiday is left to each agency head and may be delegated down to lower levels - just like the decision to designate emergency employees for closings such as those that are weather-related.

The President's 2005 budget proposes to increase funding for the Pell Grant program, which provides grants to low-income undergraduate students, by $4.1 billion, or 47%, since 2001. In addition, the number of Pell Grant recipients has risen by approximately one million since 2001, and the maximum Pell Grant has risen from $3,750 in 2001 to $4,050. President Bush also proposes larger Pell Grants, up to an additional $1,000 per year for the first two years, for students who prepare for college with demanding courses in high school - the State Scholars curriculum.

The President proposes establishing a new public-private partnership to provide $100 million in grants to low-income students who study math or science beginning in 2006. Under this plan, approximately 20,000 low-income undergraduate students would receive up to $5,000 each to study math or science.

Since entering office, President Bush has also proposed to increase loan forgiveness from $5,000 to $17,500 for highly qualified math, science, and special education teachers who serve low-income communities.

The President's Fiscal Year 2005 budget would expand overall student financial aid available to $73.1 billion, an increase of $25.9 billion or 55% over the 2001 level. The number of recipients of grant, loan, and work-study assistance would grow by 426,000 to 10 million students and parents.

In addition, President Bush.s FY 2005 budget includes a package of student loan program proposals to make college more affordable for students and their families and to strengthen the financial stability of the student loan programs, such as reduced interest rates for student loans, increased student loan limits, and expanded repayment options.

Coupled with an increase in the overall number of AmeriCorps members, more American youth than ever before will have the opportunity to pay for their education through public service.