Bush Prods Congress On Spending Bills

WASHINGTON, DC (AP) – President Bush on Wednesday accused Congress of dragging its feet on key pieces of legislation, urging quick action on budget and children’s health measures.

He also urged the Democratic-controlled Congress to drop efforts to pass a House resolution labeling as genocide the World War I-era killing of up to 1.5 million Armenians in the final years of the Ottoman Empire.

With all the pressing responsibilities facing the nation, “One thing Congress should not be doing is sorting out the historical record of the Ottoman Empire,” he said.

“Congress has little to show for all the time that has gone by” since Democrats gained control in January of both the House and the Senate, Bush said.

At a White House news conference, the president also said that Congress needs to act on mortgage relief for homeowners hit by the housing crisis, trade deals that would strengthen alllies, legislation expanding U.S. markets and aid to military veterans.

It is Bush’s first White House news conference since Sept. 20 and it comes just a day before the Democratic-controlled House will try to override his veto of a popular children’s health program. That vote is not expected to succeed.

White House press secretary Dana Perino said Bush would talk about the health program, known as the State Children’s Health Insurance Program, and say that he is willing to work with lawmakers on a version that would reauthorize and expand the program. The president has said that the measure he vetoed, which would have increased spending by $35 billion over five years, was a step toward socialized medicine.

The president also was expected to talk about taxes and spending, the budget and the No Child Left Behind education law.

“We are halfway through the month of October and there’s been nine months of this Congress and there hasn’t been a lot of legislation that has come to the president’s desk,” Perino said. “The president is going to call on this Congress to get some of these priority matters completed on behalf of the American citizens.”

“There’s a lot of work they could get done that they aren’t getting done,” Perino said.

Bush also was to talk about an eavesdropping bill that would expand court oversight of government electronic surveillance in the United States. The House was to vote on the measure Wednesday, and the White House has threatened to veto the bill unless substantive changes are made.

The bill allows unfettered surveillance of foreign targets but requires special authorization if the foreign targets are likely to be in contact with people inside the United States an effort to safeguard Americans’ privacy.

The president also was to urge the House to reject legislation to label the century-old deaths of Armenians as genocide. The measure was in jeopardy after several Democrats withdrew their support and sounded alarms that passage of such a resolution could cripple U.S. relations with Turkey.