Presidential Counselor Says Congress Needs to Do More for Safety

Dec. 5, 2005 — -- Things seem to be getting worse and worse for the Bush White House. Public support for the war has steadily decreased, many of the president's Republican allies are embroiled in scandal, and now the 9/11 commission has issued a report that says the United States is unprepared for another terrorist attack.

In addition, Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan said that the economy, despite recent reasons for optimism, was on thin ice.

White House counselor Dan Bartlett spoke with "Good Morning America" today and said that the president was concerned about public safety. He also said that the president's economic strategy was on cue.

Public safety " is an issue we take very seriously especially after Katrina," Bartlett said. "It is getting better. It is getting better."

Bartlett pointed to cities like New York that have improved communication between first responders like the fire department and police department. He said that what some critics say is a misappropriation of homeland security -- some of the money has been used to fund things like self improvement seminars for sanitation workers -- is actually a result of Congress not adapting to the new environment.

"Congress is funding things based on old models -- pre-9/11 models," he said.

But 9/11 commissioner and former New Jersey governor Thomas Kean said: "You don't see Congress or the president talking about public safety as number one as we think it should be."

Nevertheless, Bartlett maintained that the administration was not distracted by its other problems, such as Iraq.

He also said that the best way to solve economic woes was to put more money in the hands of the American people and that Bush did not plan to levy new taxes.

"We are going to keep this economy growing by instilling more trust in the American people," Bartlett said. "The last thing we need to do is sock them with a tax increase."

Bush will give a speech on the state of the economy later today.