The White House yesterday said that President Bush won't consider suspending deposits to the U.S. strategic petroleum reserve because they did it in 2006 and it didn't work.

But I remembered that gas prices fell pretty dramatically prior to the 2006 mid-term elections, and that there was some speculation that the Bush administration used their influence to lower prices.

I couldn't remember if gas prices fell all summer, or just in the fall. If they fell over the summer, then the White House assertion that the SPR deposit pause in late April had no effect would be suspect.

But it appears that the price drop took place primarily in the fall, just before the Nov. 7 election.

Gas at the pump cost $2.92 for a gallon of regular unleaded on April 25, the day the president announced the SPR pause, and on May 1 the cost was the same. It had dropped slightly to $2.85 on May 5, according to the AAA.

At the end of the summer, on Sept. 1, gas was still $2.79 a gallon. But then it dropped dramatically, to $2.32 a gallon on Sept. 29. By Nov. 1, a few days before the election, the price was $2.21 a gallon.

When the SPR deposits were resumed more than a year after the pause, in July 2007, gas prices were back to $2.96 a gallon on July 1.

The White House used prices of crude to back up their point that SPR deposit pauses don't make a difference. Crude prices were $71.93 a barrel on April 25, 2006, when the president announced the deposit suspension, said White House spokesman Scott Stanzel. The next day, the price was $70.97 a barrel, and then $70.88 the next day.

"It should have impacted the prices right that day, and it didn't," Mr. Stanzel said.

But couldn't the SPR impact gas prices over a longer period of time?

"There are many different factors in whether the demand changed, OPEC supply changed," Mr. Stanzel said. "My understanding is that the markets of oil would react to the initial news."

As we reported in our story today, Mr. Bush said that the 75,000 barrels per day deposited in the SPR would have little impact if they were released for consumption — the U.S. imports about 12 million barrels a day, consumes about 20 million barrels a day, and the worldwide demand is 85 million barrels a day.

As for whether suspending SPR deposits could lower prices over a few weeks or months, Mr. Stanzel suggested I talk to an economist, so I called up John Felmy, with the American Petroleum Institute.

Mr. Felmy agreed with Mr. Bush that SPR deposits are "such a small share of worldwide crude prices."

Mr. Felmy, however, did say that President Clinton was able to influence the oil market when he released 30 million barrels of oil from the SPR in the fall of 2000. But then the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) cut output by 44 million barrels over the month of December.

"When you're trying to do these types of manipulations, you have to understand that OPEC might offset anything you do," Mr. Felmy said.

There is one wild card that could possibly explain why prices dropped in the fall of 2006 prior to the election, but it's incredibly complicated.

Deposits to the SPR were suspended in August 2005 after Hurricane Katrina disrupted production by Gulf Coast refineries. The SPR was then at 700 million barrels, an Energy department spokeswoman said (Mr. Bush has mandated that SPR be built up to a billion barrels).

After Katrina, the U.S. government sold 11 million barrels and loaned 9 million barrels to energy companies whose production capabilities had been hit.

Repayment of those 9 million loaned barrels went on through the fall and winter of 2005, but were suspended by the president, along with regular deposits of oil to SPR, in his April 25, 2006 order.

Now, because of Energy Department bureaucratic red tape, regular deposits to SPR did not resume until July 2007, but after the 2006 summer driving season, repayment deposits to SPR did resume.

I don't know what percentage of the 9 million barrels was repaid in the fall of 2006, but the Energy Department has promised to give me that number tomorrow. It does seem like that's a pretty small amount of oil, though, to leverage a change in prices at the pump.

By the way, Congress is considering adding an amendment to the FAA reauthorization bill that would mandate a temporary suspension SPR deposits.

A group of 16 Republican senators sent Mr. Bush a letter this week calling for a pause in SPR deposits.

"Temporarily halting deposits to the reserve can provide some relief because the increased supply of oil available for refinement will send the right signal to all markets that the U.S. Government will take measures necessary to address exorbitant crude oil prices that negatively affect the global economy," said the letter, which was released by Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison, Texas Republican.

"We believe, in light of the dramatic increase in oil prices, a temporary halt to deposits into the SPR should be considered until the economy stabilizes," the letter said.

— Jon Ward, White House correspondent, The Washington Times

My profile of Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal is scheduled to run next Monday.

In the meantime, here's his appearance Monday night on the Tonight Show with Jay Leno

"The old saying was Louisiana was half under water and half under indictment," Mr. Jindal said. "We want people to be entertained by our musicians, our actors, our culture, but not by our politicians."

Mr. Jindal speaks at the National Press Club on Friday.

— Jon Ward, White House correspondent, The Washington Times

President Bush has called a news conference for 10:30 a.m. A White House release says that he'll begin with an eight-minute statement "regarding Americans' understandable anxiety about issues affecting their pocketbooks."

"He will also call upon Congress to send him sensible and effective bills that will help Americans weather this difficult period and keep our country moving forward," said White House press secretary Dana Perino.

The White House outlined four areas where the president will call for legislation:

Energy prices — Congress should pass legislation which would clear away obstacles to more affordable, more reliable energy here at home.

Rising food prices — Congress should reform our farm programs by passing a fiscally-responsible bill that does not impose new burdens on American consumers.

Mortgage payments — Congress should pass specific legislation that will help more families stay in their homes.

Student loans — Congress should give the federal government greater authority to buy federal student loans.

— Jon Ward, White House correspondent, The Washington Times

In what is quickly shaping up to be a week focused primarily on Sen. Barack Obama's pastor, the main news out of the White House will likely not come until Friday when President Bush speaks on the economy in St. Louis.

No major new initiatives are expected from the president's speech. He is likely to say that Democrats should allow the $157 billion stimulus deal to take effect before calling for any further stimulus packages. Checks of between $300 and $1,200, plus $300 per child, are going out this week and next.

But the Federal Reserve is also expected to make its last interest rate cut for a while as it tries to boost the economy without causing inflation, which is a growing concern because of global food shortages.

The other big event coming up for the president is his daughter Jenna's wedding, on May 10, to Henry Hager, at the Bush family ranch in Crawford.

As for the rest of Mr. Bush's week, here's a quick rundown (all events are at the White House unless otherwise noted):

Today: 11 a.m. meeting with newly elected Guatemalan President Alvaro Colom, 1:55 p.m. meeting on U.S. business ties with Brazil, and 3:30 p.m. meeting with the American Legion's National Commander, Martin F. Conatser.

Tomorrow: 1:15 p.m. meeting with Kai Eide, the U.N.'s special representative for Afghanistan, and 1:50 p.m. remarks on National Volunteer Week.

Wednesday: Teacher of the year events in the morning, followed by 3:20 p.m. remarks to the Super Bowl winner New York Giants, and a private evening fundraiser in Fairfax for the National Republican Congressional Committee.

Thursday: 10:05 a.m. remarks on the National Day of Prayer, and 2:50 p.m. remarks on Asian Pacific American Heritage month.

Friday: Travels to St. Louis for a speech on the economy; no time has yet been released.

Saturday: At the ranch in Crawford.

Sunday: A 3 p.m. graduation speech to Greensburg High School in Greensburg, Kan., on the one-year anniversary of an F5 tornado that wiped out most of the town, which has since begun to rebuild.

— Jon Ward, White House correspondent, The Washington Times

This is what it looked and sounded like walking into the Bloomberg party at the Costa Rican Embassy after last night's White House Correspondents' Association Dinner.

— Jon Ward, White House correspondent, The Washington Times

NEW ORLEANS — Sen. John McCain toured the Lower Ninth Ward today with Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal today, and a group of 50 or so traveling and local press tagged along.

I rode from Mr. McCain's hotel on his "Straight Talk Express" campaign bus, along with seven or eight other reporters, to the Lower Ninth. Mr. McCain talked at length about the progress of recovery from Hurricane Katrina, and said the Bush administration has not done enough to reduce red tape for New Orleans residents trying to return home.

More details from the ride on the candidate's bus will be up on this blog later, but I'm now at a campaign event and just have time to relate a funny anecdote from the tour of the Lower Ninth.

When the "Straight Talk" rolled up to Caffin Street, we saw the rest of the press corps in the back of a large, Army flatbed truck. When we got off the bus, expecting to walk along with the senator and governor, we were told to get up in the back of a second truck. Up we went on a ladder and into the back, and that is where we stayed for the entire 30-minute tour of Caffin Street and onto Marais Street.

Here is a picture of the two trucks with all of us in the back.

— Jon Ward, White House correspondent, The Washington Times

BATON ROUGE, La. — For a man who swears he has no desire to be the Republican vice presidential nomination, Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal is doing a bad job of appearing uninterested.

Mr. Jindal, who at 36 is the youngest governor in the U.S. and has stormed into office over the past few months by passing ethics reforms and tax cuts, is appearing tomorrow at a press availability in New Orleans with the presumptive Republican presidential nominee, Sen. John McCain.

And the governor told me that tonight he is meeting with the Arizona senator in the Big Easy.

After an event this afternoon in Shreveport to talk about increased funding for crime labs, the first question from the local press here was about the speculation that Mr. McCain will choose Mr. Jindal as his running mate.

"I've got the job that I want," Mr. Jindal said told the reporters. "I told the voters that this is a historic time for the people of Louisiana. We’re not going to get the chance to make these changes again."

"We did it with ethics reform. We did it with tax cuts. I want to be here to continue the reforms that are so necessary so that our kids don't have to leave home to pursue their dreams. I've got the job I want, so I'm flattered, but I'm exactly where I need to be," the governor said.

I told the governor during an exclusive interview this afternoon (a full profile will appear in a few days in The Washington Times' print edition) that his appearance on the Jay Leno show next Monday also won't help put to rest the rumor mill.

But Mr. Jindal said that Mr. Leno's producers invited him on months ago, prior to the writer's strike, and that because of the work stoppage the appearance got pushed back.

Here's video from today's event:

— Jon Ward, White House correspondent, The Washington Times

NEW ORLEANS — Before President Bush arrived here this week, I was able to get over to the Lower Ninth Ward, one of areas that was hardest hit by Hurricane Katrina and has been one of the slowest to recover.

It is still a wasteland, over two years after the storm.

The Lower Ninth is not a large area. But it was once home to about 14,000 people, mostly poor blacks. Now, unofficial estimates say there are only a few hundred people living here, after multiple levee breaches during Katrina brought water pouring in from several directions.

Few of the residents here had flood insurance. Most houses that weren't knocked over by the storm have been bulldozed. There are a handful of new houses, and when I drove through yesterday, there were a few pockets of volunteers working to clear brush and cut grass.

There are apparently a few folks who claim to be the first person back to the area after Katrina. Mike Young is one of them, and he's got a pretty good story.

Mr. Young, 47, is one of the few residents to be up and running again, living in a refurbished home and making a living. He and his wife Barbara live in a home they had moved into five months before Katrina.

When I asked Mr. Young why he was one of the few who had been able to repair his home and appeared to be making a living, he said simply, "I know how to work."

Just before Katrina hit, Mr. Young told his wife and a few other relatives and neighbors that they had to evacuate, but that he himself would stay. He stood on their porch as Mrs. Young drove away and said, as a joke, "When you see me next, I'll be swimming."

After the storm hit, Mr. Young took one of his boats and drove around the area saving people who were stranded in or on top of their houses. He slept on the roof of a house nearby his own.

"I spent seven days on that roof. They thought I was dead," Mr. Young said.

After the waters receded, Mr. Young began clearing junk and doing odd job repairs. He said people would call from out of town and ask him to clean up or fix things at their houses.

But the junk-clearing market is drying up, Mr. Young said, so when I talked to him he had just returned from a parts shop and was working on repairing a riding lawnmower, because he is now going to focus his energies on cutting grass.

When I asked Mrs. Young why they were able to get back into their house, while their neighbors' houses were still wrecks, she said, "That’s something you'd have to ask my neighbors. We were just determined."

Mrs. Young said Mr. Young still has trouble sleeping because of bad dreams about the people he couldn't save, but that she is proud of him for what he did.

"God had work for him to do," Mrs. Young said. "When you're doing God's will he opens doors and makes a way."

Both of them said the recovery in the Lower Ninth has been too slow.

"They don't want to give nobody no money. We were the worst hit and we're the last to get money," Mr. Young said.

Louisiana's disbursement of federal funds for home repair and reconstruction has been hampered by bureaucracy and mismanagement, the current governor, Bobby Jindal, told me.

And many of the folks who lived here before are beginning to put down roots wherever they moved to. Many of them moved to Houston.

Different people I talked to this week said it will be 10 to 20 years before the area is back to normal, assuming effective flood walls are built that ensure Katrina-like flooding won't happen again.

— Jon Ward, White House correspondent, The Washington Times

NEW ORLEANS — After I got back from President Bush's event last night and went to the filing center at my hotel to finish my story, I found out that the president was going to appear on "Deal or No Deal."

Mr. Bush appeared to wish the contestant, Iraq war veteran Capt. Joseph Kobes, good luck. Capt. Kobes earned a Purple Heart for injuries sustained in Iraq after his truck was blown up in 2004, but he has resigned with the Army for three more years, according to the White House.

The president came on and said he was "thrilled to be anywhere with high ratings these days."

Though the White House says Mr. Bush taped the comments on March 17, his remark was fortuitous. A USA Today/Gallup poll over the weekend showed that Mr. Bush has now set a record for the highest disapproval rating of a U.S. president, at 69 percent. The previous record was held by President Truman, whose disapproval rating hit 67 percent in 1952.

Here's the video:

— Jon Ward, White House correspondent, The Washington Times

NEW ORLEANS — One of the best quotes from yesterday's events here in the Big Easy came from Commerce Secretary Carlos Gutierrez, who took a jab at Democratic presidential candidates Barack Obama and Hillary Rodham Clinton.

Mr. Gutierrez, speaking to a U.S. Chamber of Commerce reception last night in Gallier Hall, mocked the Dems' talk of opting out of the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA).

"This isn't a 401K," Mr. Gutierrez said to about 200 business leaders and politicians, drawing laughter. "This is a huge relationship with a huge amount of jobs and prosperity."

Our story this morning did include President Bush's sharp elbow in the direction of House speaker Nancy Pelosi, calling her actions to block the Colombia free trade agreement "petty politics."

The best photo of the day also came from the Gallier Hall event, when President Bush entered the hall around 6:30 p.m. and began dancing what is called a "second line" with members of the Euphonic Brass Band.

After he finished, the president thanked the band for "giving me a chance to relive my youth."

"I've had many a fine day here in New Orleans," Mr. Bush said.

— Jon Ward, White House correspondent, The Washington Times

NEW ORLEANS — Hello from the fourth annual North American summit, or as some like to call it, the conspiracy to form a North American Union.

The president doesn't arrive for another two hours, so in the absence of news, I'll mention a few things of interest and then get to his schedule.

Sounds like there's some messaging going on among the Palestinians and their backers.

Reports this morning say that Hamas leaders told former President Jimmy Carter they'd accept a peace deal negotiated by Mahmoud Abbas if the Palestinian people approve it in a referendum.

Egyptian Foreign Minister Ahmed Geit said the same thing on Friday, speaking to about a hundred folks at the Council on Foreign Relations in Washington, D.C.

Mr. Geit said that if the Palestinian people approved an agreement, "pressure would build up on Hamas."

Of course, Hamas and the Egyptians may be betting on the fact that the same folks who voted for Hamas in free elections aren't going to go soft anytime soon on peace agreement terms.

Secondly, since we're at a summit here in the Big Easy, now's as good a time as any to mention a fascinating nugget from President Bush's last summit, the NATO gathering in Bucharest, Romania earlier this month.

Russian President Vladimir Putin reportedly lost his temper with Mr. Bush during his one-day visit to the NATO summit, during a discussion over U.S. support for Ukraine's ambition to join NATO.

This from the Economist's April 10 issue:

According to a Russian newspaper report, Mr. Putin lost his temper with Mr Bush at a meeting on the final day of the Bucharest summit, telling him: "Do you understand, George, that Ukraine is not even a state." Claiming that most of Ukraine's territory was "given away" by Russia, Mr. Putin supposedly also said that if the country joined NATO it would "cease to exist." A Kremlin spokesman at the meeting says he did not hear the exchange.

Of course, the very next day Mr. Putin and Mr. Bush were standing next to the Black Sea at Mr. Putin's summer resort in Sochi, Russia, watching the sun set, and then heading to a dinner where they danced with a Russian troupe.

And now to Mr. Bush's schedule during the next two days in New Orleans.

The president's first public event is 12:45 p.m. (1:45 EDT) remarks at the opening of a new Mexican consulate here in New Orleans. Mr. Bush meets at his hotel with Mexican President Felipe Calderon an hour later, and then just after 3 p.m., he'll meet with Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper.

This evening, Mr. Bush will make a 30-minute appearance at a U.S. Chamber of Commerce reception before heading to a 7:30 dinner with Mr. Calderon and Mr. Harper at a New Orleans restaurant that has not yet been publicly disclosed.

Tomorrow, there are more meetings with the leaders and with a group of 30 CEO's from the U.S., Mexico and Canada, who were grafted into these summit proceedings in 2006. Then the three leaders will hold an 11:35 a.m. press conference (12:35 p.m. EDT).

The summit is then officially over, and Mr. Bush will then head to a tree-planting ceremony in honor of Earth Day, a 1 p.m. meeting with community leaders, and then finally a fundraiser in Baton Rouge for state treasurer John Kennedy, who is running this fall for the U.S. Senate against Democratic incumbent Mary Landrieu.

The White House also just announced that King Abdullah of Jordan will visit Mr. Bush at the White House Wednesday.

— Jon Ward, White House correspondent, The Washington Times

Democratic threats to withdraw from the North American Free Trade Agreement are little more than "political grandstanding" said a panel of economists and trade experts at the National Press Club this morning.

"Withdrawal is not a viable option," said Jeffrey Schott, senior fellow at the Peterson Institute for International Economics. "It would be too costly in terms of American jobs."

As for the railing of politicians against outsourcing and losing jobs to China and India, Mr. Schott said the protectionist fever in the U.S. ignores reality.

"The manufacturing jobs that were lost in Ohio were lost not to Mexico but to Alabama, Texas, California" and other states, he said, adding that the same thing has happened to auto industry jobs in Detroit.

"A lot of the migration is going between the states, but you never hear about that," Mr. Schott said.

Mr. Schott did allow that NAFTA could use some "renovation."

But he also said that any real negotiating between the U.S., Canada and Mexico is impossible in the current political environment, which has risen several degrees as Democratic presidential candidates Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama try to win over the populist vote that once belonged to John Edwards.

Mr. Schott and his colleague Gary Hufbauer have proposed building a coalition between the U.S., Canada and Mexico under the next president that focuses on a North American solution to climate change, and using that common ground from which to launch NAFTA negotiations.

Mr. Hufbauer's testimony before a House Energy and Commerce subcommittee can be viewed here.

Along with Mr. Schott, former U.S. representative to the World Trade Organization James Bacchus railed against protectionist rhetoric in both the Democratic and Republican parties.

"I am concerned that this cascading political rhetoric, this competition to see who can punch the pinata of NAFTA and trade the hardest, could have very deleterious results to the true economic interests of the United States of America," he said.

But Mr. Bacchus, himself a Democrat, lobbed his biggest bombs at his own party.

"We Democrats have been shouting from the rooftops since the beginning of the Iraq war that we need to be seeking multilateral solutions first and not last," Mr. Bacchus said. "But in terms of multilateral approaches to shared global concerns, what is it that the rest of the world wants most? It is the opportunity to trade with us."

"What kind of message are we sending?" Mr. Bacchus said, referring to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi's blocking of the Colombian Free Trade Agreement and to the rhetoric of Mr. Obama and Mrs. Clinton. "What does that say to the rest of the world?"

"All of our troubles are blamed on trade and NAFTA, as opposed to what we can do about it ourselves," said Jim Jones, former U.S. ambassador to Mexico, who was also on the panel. "That's a bad tone to be setting."

"Amen!" thundered Mr. Bacchus.

Here is another great Bacchus quote:

"It is arrogant and solipsistic for the United States of America to think that we can take a timeout on trade and that the rest of the world will simply wait until we're ready to trade again. That won't happen," Mr. Bacchus said. "The rest of the world will look elsewhere for places to invest their funds. The rest of the world will look elsewhere for opportunities to trade. The rest of the world will continue to develop economically and advance economically and become more competitive. If we insulate and isolate ourselves from the rest of the world, we will become less competitive and not more competitive, and the rest of the world will move forward without us."

As for the deal announced today on U.S. beef imports to South Korea, Mr. Schott said it "opens the door for congressional consideration" of the free trade agreement with Seoul.

He said that the Democrats "risk putting themselves in a box" by opposing the Colombian and Korean FTA's, and that the two deals could be packaged together in a twin deal this year, though he called that possibility a "longshot" because of the lack of time on the congressional calendar.

— Jon Ward, White House correspondent, The Washington Times

It will be interesting to see if and how the White House reacts to this statement by House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, California Democrat, during her weekly press conference.

Q Do you think that the power has somewhat shifted, at least somewhat, from one side of Pennsylvania Avenue to another, now that Congress has said no to the president on two of these issues?

Ms. Pelosi. I think that the president has finally realized that the leverage has changed. You know, I use that word quite frequently, and some of you have made note of that. But that is the question: Who has the leverage? And I think the president realizes now that we do.

— Jon Ward, White House correspondent, The Washington Times

UPDATE - 1:46 P.M. - Transcript portions are now included at the bottom.

------

The White House this morning said their requirements for a full declaration from North Korea on nuclear weapon activities no longer includes proliferation activities, one day before President Bush meets with the South Korean president at Camp David.

The regime in Pyongyang will have to fully disclose a list of all "facilities that produced the nuclear weapons," said Dennis Wilder, the top White House official on East Asia, in a briefing with reporters this morning.

Since North Korea signed an agreement late last year agreeing to declare all its nuclear activities, the White House has said that those activities included proliferation — or the transfer of nuclear materials or knowledge about uranium enrichment — to other countries.

North Korea is suspected of helping Syria build a nuclear facility for the purpose of building a weapon, and Israel's top-secret aerial bombing raid into Syria last year is thought to have been aimed at this facility.

But this morning, Mr. Wilder said that proliferation is "being handled in a different manner" than the main declaration, which led him to pronounce himself optimistic about a full declaration.

"We have every indication that the North will comply with its obligations," Mr. Wilder said.

But he insisted that "no one has let them off the hook with that declaration" and that nuclear weapons production and proliferation have not been "decoupled."

"These two things will stand together. They are part and parcel of the same process. How we've gotten there are two different methods of negotiating with the North Koreans," Mr. Wilder said.

There is a transcript coming later and we'll paste the entire relevant portions.

John Bolton, the administration's former top proliferation official at the State Department, said the administration is "obviously in full retreat."

"The real question is whether they're going to give North Korea what it wants, which is to be taken off the terrorism list, before they have verification," Mr. Bolton said.

Mr. Bolton said he believes the State Department views proliferation as a non-issue and wanted to take Pyongyang off the state sponsors of terrorism list before South Korean President Lee Myung-bak arrived yesterday in New York.

"I think it'll happen in a few weeks, and it will be a disgrace," Mr. Bolton said. "They think the plutonium issue is the only one that matters, and it's a potentially fatal mistake."

On trade, Mr. Wilder said that despite Democrats' blocking of a free trade agreement with Colombia last week, the White House remains optimistic about negotiations with the South Koreans on allowing more U.S. beef imports, and about congressional approval of a free trade agreement with Seoul.

Mr. Wilder said the Bush administration is "extremely hopeful" that a deal on beef can be reached soon, but did not say whether a deal would be made by the time that Mr. Bush and Mr. Lee meet and hold a joint press conference at Camp David on Saturday.

Mr. Wilder also said that there is growing concern in Asia over House Speaker Nancy Pelosi's actions last week to block the Colombia FTA by changing the rules requiring a vote within 60 days of the deal being submitted by the president to Congress.

"I have had many East Asian diplomats come to me concerned about a growing protectionism in the United States, and concerned that Americans are turning their backs on what has been a cornerstone of our relationships in East Asia," Mr. Wilder said.

He said it is "very important for Congress to think through [the South Korean FTA] clearly."

------

Here are the relevant transcript portions:

MR. WILDER: Disablement at Yongbyon is continuing under U.S. supervision, and we are sending an experts group back to Pyongyang next week to see if we can make progress on the declaration that the North Koreans are obligated to provide under the February 2007 agreement.

Q Do you think that North Korea has any intention of honoring its promise to make a complete and correct declaration?

MR. WILDER: I think the North Koreans signed the agreement last year in good faith. And I think that we have every indication that the North will comply with its obligations.

We, as the Secretary, I think, said just a few minutes ago, though, are going to have a verification mechanism. We are not going to just simply accept the North Korean declaration without ways in which to make sure that the North Koreans live up to their obligations. And that is part of the process we're going through as we complete the Phase Two part of this effort.

So we will trust but verify, and that will --

Q How will you do that?

MR. WILDER: I think I will leave it to a later date to explain that. We are working with the Chinese on this, we are working with the other six-party members on this, and we're not prepared yet to talk about the details.

Q But presumably it would involve the cooperation of the North Koreans.

MR. WILDER: Absolutely. And part of what that team will do next week in North Korea is discuss this.

....Q Dennis, on the declaration. The media reports out of the region are now that the understanding with the United States and North Korea is that there won't be a declaration; there's going to be something called an acknowledgment, where the United States lists what it has concerns about, and North Korea will acknowledge those concerns. It's not even going to be made public. Is this expert commission next week, is this the last attempt at a formal declaration by North Korea before you shift to this acknowledgment?

MR. WILDER: I think we're conflating two different issues here. As part of the February 2007 agreement, the North is committed to providing a complete and correct declaration related to their nuclear program. No one has let them off the hook on that declaration. That declaration is and remains a crucial part of getting beyond Phase Two to Phase Three.

What you are talking about is side negotiations that the United States has had with the North Koreans. That's a different matter because that involves different kinds of activities, such as proliferation, and that is being handled in a different manner. But the North and all members of the six-party talks expect this has to come up with a list of the facilities that produced the nuclear weapons. That includes Yongbyon but it includes a lot of other facilities from the iron-ore enrichment all the way to the nuclear test sites. And that is a declaration; that is what we expect to see in the declaration: the plutonium cycle that led to nuclear weapons.

Q I'm obviously not as close to this as you are, but for months and months and months from that podium, various spokespeople have said that the North has to come up with a full declaration, including its proliferation activities. You seem to be decoupling that now, saying that there's a side negotiation with the United States on proliferation, and a declaration about the list of the facilities used in the production of nuclear weapons. Is that right?

MR. WILDER: It isn't decoupled. These two things will stand together. They are part and parcel of the same process. How we have gotten there are two different methods of negotiating with the North Koreans.

— Jon Ward, White House correspondent, The Washington Times

Sen. Obama ain't the only one talking about hope. I saw this on a bus this morning in Farragut Square.

— Jon Ward, White House correspondent, The Washington Times

Jim Connaughton, chairman of President Bush's council on environmental quality, briefed the press today in advance of the president's remarks on global warming.

After giving a long opening statement and then answering more than a dozen questions, Mr. Connaughton hustled out of the Brady briefing room under the pretense that he had to hurry to the airport.

"Thank you, Jim. Jim has a plane to catch for the meeting in Paris. So thank you," said White House press secretary Dana Perino.

About an hour later, roughly 100 White House and executive branch staffers filed into the Rose Garden to serve as an audience for the president's remarks.

Among them was Mr. Connaughton, who sat threw the entire speech, apparently unhurried by any travel schedule.

— Jon Ward, White House correspondent, The Washington Times

White House staff took a few of us reporters out to the otherwise shut down Pennsylvania Ave., just a few minutes before Pope Benedict XVI drove off the White House grounds for the first of his two motorcades today.

I got this shot of the popemobile as it went by, right in front of 1600 Pennsylvania Ave.

Earlier, on our way out to the press area on the south lawn, prior to the pope's arrival, staff walked us behind the podium where President Bush and Benedict would give their remarks. Here's what that looked like.

And here's what the scene looked like from the press pen. You might have been better off watching on TV, although there's nothing like a 21-gun salute in person.

— Jon Ward, White House correspondent, The Washington Times

Former Los Angeles Dodgers Manager Tommy Lasorda stopped into the White House briefing room this afternoon after attending the ceremony welcoming Pope Benedict XVI.

Mr. Lasorda, 80, who is Catholic, held court for a few minutes with a handful of reporters, and said that while he was on the South Lawn, he was grateful for the pope's coming to the U.S., but was fixated on President Bush.

"I just kept looking at the president and feeling so bad for him, knowing what he's gone through for eight years," Mr. Lasorda said.

"He's been through so much. He has really had it rough," Mr. Lasorda said, blaming "inherited" issues for many of the president's problems, and saying Mr. Bush was unfairly blamed for the government's failed response to Hurricane Katrina.

Mr. Lasorda called Mr. Bush "a remarkable man."

"He's withstood it. He's a patriot. He's given eight years of his life to serve the country," he said.

Mr. Lasorda said that when Mr. Bush leaves office, he hopes the president, who owned the Texas Rangers for several years, is able to go to lots of baseball games.

— Jon Ward, White House correspondent, The Washington Times

Here is the schedule for this morning's ceremony at the White House welcoming Pope Benedict XVI to the U.S., as released by the White House.

10:20 a.m. Members of the U.S. Delegation are escorted from the Diplomatic Reception Room to their seats.

10:25 a.m. Members of the Official Holy See Delegation arrive the Diplomatic Entrance of the White House, via vehicles, and proceed to the South Lawn.

10:25 a.m. Vice President and Mrs. Cheney, Speaker Pelosi, Mr. Pelosi, Secretary Rice, and Ambassador Glendon are escorted to their chairs.

10:30 a.m. Herald Trumpets play Ruffles and Flourishes

The President and Mrs. Bush are announced on to the South Lawn

Marine Band plays Hail to the Chief: The President and Mrs. Bush walk to the end of the red carpet.

Marine Band plays Fanfare.

The President and Mrs. Bush will cross the driveway to the south side and face west.

Vehicle carrying His Holiness arrives Diplomatic entrance.

His Holiness steps out of the vehicle.

The Chief of Protocol introduces the President and Mrs. Bush to Pope Benedict XVI.

The President and Mrs. Bush escort His Holiness to the front row of the U.S. Delegation. The President introduces the His Holiness to:

Vice President and Mrs. Cheney

Speaker Nancy Pelosi

Mr. Paul Pelosi

Secretary Rice

Ambassador Mary Ann Glendon, U.S. Ambassador to the Holy See

VP, Mrs. Cheney, Speaker, Mr. Pelosi, Secretary Rice, and Ambassador Glendon take their seats.

The President escorts His Holiness to platform.

Ceremony begins.

Marine Band performs National Anthem of the Holy See.

A simultaneous 21-gun salute sounds from the Ellipse.

Marine Band performs National Anthem of the United States.

Musical Troop in Review

Ms. Kathleen Battle sings "The Lord's Prayer"

10:40 a.m. The President delivers remarks.

His Holiness delivers remarks.

Army chorus performs "Battle Hymn of the Republic"

10:55 a.m. The President and His Holiness exit the stage and join Mrs. Bush.

The President, His Holiness, and Mrs. Bush walk up the west steps and proceed to the center of the Blue Room balcony.

The President, His Holiness, and Mrs. Bush pose for a photo between the center columns of the Blue Room balcony.

The President, His Holiness and Mrs. Bush participate in a Greeting in the Blue Room. (Closed Press)

11:10 a.m. The President and His Holiness Pope Benedict XVI depart the Residence and Proceed along the Colonnade to the Oval Office prior to their Meeting. (Press Pool)

11:15 a.m. The President and His Holiness Pope Benedict XVI participate in a meeting in the Oval Office (Stills at top).

12:05 p.m. Departure of His Holiness Pope Benedict XVI from the South Drive via popemobile.

Note: The popemobile will proceed from the South Drive to East Executive Avenue and head West on Pennsylvania Avenue. (Press Pool).

About two hours before Pope Benedict XVI arrived at the White House, there was a flurry of activity and long lines waiting to get into the presidential compound.

There were more TV crews and reporters on "Pebble Beach," the standup area on the North Lawn, than I've seen in a year of covering President Bush.

And then in the driveway on the north side of the West Wing, where the press come and go to and from their work area, a group of Catholic cardinals from around the U.S. were waiting to be ushered onto the South Lawn, surrounded by people taking their picture wondering who they were.

And the place was awash with journalists. When I got to my desk near the back of the White House press corps work space, Matt Lauer and Tim Russert were huddled next to the NBC booth. Below you'll see mostly photographers waiting in two different spots, waiting to be allowed onto the South Lawn to set up for the best possible shot.

— Jon Ward, White House correspondent, The Washington Times

White House press secretary Dana Perino today declined to comment on whether President Bush supports Sen. John McCain's idea to suspend the gas tax this summer, but said the Arizonian is distinguishing himself from Democrats by backing lower taxes.

"In a campaign, everybody wants a quick reaction," Mrs. Perino said at the midday press briefing.

She said, however, that White House approval of any proposal is contingent on "a policy process we go through to look at that."

Mr. McCain, the presumptive Republican presidential nominee, today proposed suspending the 18.4 cent federal gas tax and 24.4 cent diesel tax from Memorial Day to Labor Day.

Mrs. Perino said that "in theory and in our philosophy, we are always for lower taxes. And I think what John McCain has laid out is his proposal for how he would get there."

Mrs. Perino said that as the November election gets close, "distinctions between the two parties become very clear, and taxes is going to be one of those core issues that Americans are going to be thinking about, especially in a time when they feel economic uncertainty."

"What John McCain is showing today is that he is representing the party for lower taxes. And I think your question is best posed to his opponents," she said.

— Jon Ward, White House correspondent, The Washington Times

At 4 p.m. today, President Bush will take the unprecedented step of greeting Pope Benedict XVI upon his arrival at Andrews Air Force Base. You'll want to tune in to live coverage about 3:45, when Mr. Bush and first lady Laura Bush arrive at the base via motorcade (we earlier said they would come by helicopter, which was incorrect).

The pope, on board his papal plane en route for the U.S. today, said he was "deeply ashamed" of the pedophilia scandal involving Catholic priests, and promised that the church will "do what is possible so this cannot happen again in the future."

On another note, the White House last night sent out an imposing list of newspaper editorial boards that have criticized House Speaker Nancy Pelosi for blocking the Colombian free trade agreement. We wrote today about Mr. Bush's harsh words for the California Democrat yesterday.

White House spokesman Tony Fratto, in the e-mail last night, said that Mrs. Pelosi "really knows how to bring people together."

"She has single-handedly managed to unite editorial rooms all across the nation (and beyond) with her misguided decision on the Colombia trade agreement," Mr. Fratto said.

Here's the list of editorials put out by the White House:

Washington Post — "Drop Dead, Colombia," 4/10

Wall Street Journal — "Pelosi's Bad Faith," 4/10

St. Louis Post-Dispatch — "The Politics of Trade," 4/10

National Review — "Free Choice," 4/10

Las Vegas Review Journal — "Trade talks," 4/10

Boston Herald — "The Pelosi Doctrine: Duck," 4/10

Seattle Times — "The Washington six: tampering with trade," 4/11

New York Post — "Pelosi's Putrid Sellout," 4/11

San Francisco Chronicle — "Trade pandering," 4/11

Denver Post — "Historical failure on Colombia trade pact," 4/11

New York Times — "Time for the Colombian Trade Pact," 4/11

The Oklahoman — "Pelosi's Ploy: Colombia Deal Succumbs To Politics," 4/11

Los Angeles Times — "Pelosi plays politics," 4/12

Chicago Tribune — "Caving on Colombia," 4/12

The Plain Dealer — "Sidetracking Colombia trade deal hurts U.S. businesses and workers," 4/13

Orange County Register — "Trading on ignorance," 4/13

Charleston Post Courier — "Politics trumps free trade," 4/14

Corpus Christi Caller Times — "Congress should pass Colombia trade deal," 4/14

Knoxville News-Sentinel — "House Democrats Holding Free Trade Hostage," 4/14

Financial Times — "A setback on trade in Washington," 4/14

Tacoma News Tribune — "Free trade shouldn’t be sacrificed to politics," 4/14

And more …

— Jon Ward, White House correspondent, The Washington Times

It's a busy week for President Bush, headlined by the first visit of Pope Benedict XVI to the US of A.

Mr. Bush welcomes the pope tomorrow in a 4 p.m. arrival ceremony at Andrews Air Force Base, then takes part in a welcome ceremony on the White House South Lawn Wednesday at 10:30 a.m., followed by an 11:15 Oval Office meeting.

For all pope all the time, check out The Washington Times' Pope page here, which has a detailed itinerary for all of Benedict's events here in the city from tomorrow through Thursday. He goes to New York Friday for an address to the United Nations.

And for valuable details such as the parade routes that Pope Benedict will take on Wednesday and Thursday through the District, check out Julia Duin's blog devoted to the papal visit.

Even as the pope will be in town Thursday, Mr. Bush will be hosting British Prime Minister Gordon Brown for a 1:15 p.m. Oval Office meeting, followed by a 2:35 press conference, scheduled for the Rose Garden. Mr. Bush and first lady Laura Bush host Mr. Brown and his wife, Sarah, for a social dinner Thursday night at 7 in the White House residence.

Mr. Bush hits two intown hotels Friday morning (the Hilton and Renaissance) for speeches to the National Catholic Prayer Breakfast and the America's Small Business Summit 2008, then heads out to Camp David for the weekend, but he'll still be working.

On Friday afternoon at 4, newly elected South Korean President Lee Myung-bak arrives at Camp David for talks with Mr. Bush. The Bushes host Mr. Lee and his wife, Kim Yoon-ok, for a dinner at 7 p.m., and then on Saturday at 11:25 a.m., Mr. Bush and Mr. Lee will hold a press conference.

— Jon Ward, White House correspondent, The Washington Times

White House press secretary Dana Perino said this morning that President Bush will pause troop drawdowns this summer and will also shorten troop deployments from 15 months to 12 months after Aug. 1.

"He is going to accept the recommendation from Gen. [David] Petraeus," Mrs. Perino said.

Gen. Petraeus, commander of U.S. forces in Iraq, told Congress in two days of testimony this week that he recommends a 45-day period of "consolidation and evaluation" after the U.S. presence returns to the pre-surge level of about 130,000 soldiers.

Mr. Bush also confirmed this yesterday in an interview with Weekly Standard editor Bill Kristol.

The president sat down with Mr. Kristol to foreshadow the speech he's giving this morning on Iraq, and said he'll pause troop reductions this summer.

"I won't commit beyond July," Mr. Bush said.

But Mr. Bush took issue with the word "pause."

" 'Pause' is the wrong word — because I'm going to explain why — you don't pause in the middle of a war; you continue to conduct war, you assess. And do I hope that we can continue 'return on success'? Yes, I do hope so. Do I guarantee it? No, I don't," Mr. Bush said.

Addressing the issue of troop morale and force strength, which is a major concern of top military planners and commanders, the president read from his speech.

"Our troops want to win in Iraq, and we can see that desire in the gains in recruiting and retention since the surge began. And the surest way to depress morale and weaken the force would be to lose in Iraq," he said to Mr. Kristol.

Mr. Bush also shared with Mr. Kristol some more details about Tuesday's Medal of Honor ceremony for Navy Seal Michael Monsoor, which as we wrote about here, provoked a show of emotion from the president.

"He explained how difficult it had been for him to keep his composure. This was especially the case, he said, when he was congratulating and comforting Petty Officer Mansoor's parents (this was evident on television). What wasn't evident on the telecast was that when the president was reading his remarks and looked up at the audience, he saw the Navy SEALs assembled in the East Room, to a man, weeping. That's when, the president said, he really had to steel himself to retain his composure. The president had a catch in his voice yesterday, 24 hours later, talking about the ceremony.

— Jon Ward, White House correspondent, The Washington Times