Press Briefing by Tony Fratto

Business Wire, April 18, 2008

WASHINGTON -- James S. Brady Press Briefing Room

1:35 P.M. EDT

MR. FRATTO: Sorry to make you wait on this beautiful Friday afternoon. The reason for waiting is because we were going to get this picture up here. Let's see. Now? Now? One more. "I'm going to get Pete Seat." (Laughter.) Well, technical difficulties in the White House Press Briefing Room. We'll see if we can get it working -- there we go, all right. (Applause.)

This is a picture of the President who -- on March 17th, the President taped a surprise "good luck" video for one of our soldiers in Iraq, who is back here and a contestant on the NBC game show "Deal or No Deal" -- Captain Joe Kobes. The show's producers contacted the White House after learning from Captain Kobes that the President is one of his heroes. Captain Kobes is an Army transportation officer who has served three tours of duty in Iraq, one from March 2004 to March 2005, and then two back-to-back deployments which stretched from November 2006 to July 2007. He received a Purple Heart for injuries sustained after his truck was blown up in 2004. He volunteered for the last two deployments and has just re-signed with the Army for three more years. Captain Kobes is 29 years old.

The show will air on Monday, April 21st. The President thanked him for his service to his country and for serving in Iraq and wished him good luck. And you'll have to watch the show to see how Captain Kobes did.

Q Do you know how he did?

MR. FRATTO: I don't, no. One of the reasons we're showing it is NBC will be previewing the clip over the weekend with the President, so you'll be able to see the clip. And it really is actually an emotional moment for Captain Kobes and the family. So we look forward to that -- and we all wish him well, as well.

Q How do you spell?

MR. FRATTO: K-o-b-e-s, Joseph.

Q Do you know where he's from?

MR. FRATTO: You know what, I don't have it here. I think I had something on that, but I don't have it on my note -- if we can find out, we'll get it. We'll try to get those facts out for you.*

Two other things that I wanted to mention at the gaggle this morning and didn't get to -- you might have seen early this morning U.S. Trade Representative Susan Schwab announced the reopening of -- an agreement to reopen the beef market in Korea -- obviously timely with President Lee's visit with President Bush today up at Camp David.

Q It's what's for dinner tonight.

MR. FRATTO: I hope it is beef that's for dinner tonight. This agreement includes all beef products, from cattle, all ages. It will ensure safe, portable, high-quality American beef on the table of Koreans, as had been previously the case. Korea before -- Korea had banned American beef and -- in response to Mad Cow -- some Mad Cow disease issues, and we have been trying to work out our arrangement on beef for some time. This is a major sticking point in Congress's consideration of a South Korea trade agreement. Before they had done this Korea was America's third largest export destination for beef. So it is a major agreement and very important to our ranchers.

The other announcement was Department of Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff announced that he and the Korean Minister of Foreign Affairs signed a memorandum of understanding regarding the visa waiver program. They employ some additional security enhancements in the agreement,

and it puts Korea on a path towards visa-free travel to the U.S., and potential designation as a visa-waiver program member as early as later this year.

So these are two important agreements with a critical ally of the United States and a partner in anti-terrorism efforts, an important trading partner, an important partner in the six-party talks to denuclearize the Korean Peninsula.

And with that, I'll take your questions. Yes, Wendell.

Q Two; one on the Korea beef waiver. Does that phase in beef of different ages? I mean, the agreement itself may cover beef of all ages, but do I understand that at least initially there's only younger beef taken and then at some point --

MR. FRATTO: At this point, it is only younger beef, beef of 30 months or less. There had previously been some agreements on boneless beef, but this will be expanded to include all beef and all beef products. Still younger beef at this point, but with a plan to get to all beef products.

Q And on the Colombia free trade agreement, you guys have often said that Colombia products already come in, 90 percent of them duty-free because of the Andean free trade agreement. So I wonder why this is such a big deal for Colombia if virtually all their products enter the U.S. duty-free anyway.

MR. FRATTO: Well, it's interesting -- I was thinking about that question when -- a similar question was asked of Dana the other day at the briefing, and that is there is this -- there's implied in the question that you only benefit from exports and you don't benefit from imports. And the truth is, is that every country in a trade relationship benefits both from exports and imports. The benefit you get from imports is the ability to buy the best products at the least cost price, wherever it's produced in the world. And that's a benefit to consumers. Some of those products are products that you lack in your own economy. And in the case of a country like Colombia, it might be financial services or legal services, or manufacturing products that we make here that, today, their consumers must pay more to get the higher-quality American products in those areas.