Briefing by Scott McClellan, July 12, 2005

Press Briefing by Scott McClellan, FULL STREAMING VIDEO James S. Brady Briefing Room, 12:56 P.M. EDT

MR. McCLELLAN: Good afternoon. The President had a good visit this morning with four leaders of the Senate on the Supreme Court nomination process. It was a good bipartisan discussion that the President had with Senators Specter and Leahy, and Senators Frist and Reid. The President talked about the importance of moving forward in a dignified and civilized way during the nomination process. Today's meeting underscores the President's commitment to consulting closely with members of the Senate. The consultative process is an important part of the nomination process, and the President takes his responsibility very seriously.

The President spent a good bit of time visiting with the senators about the timing of moving forward on the hearings for a potential nominee. The President continues to visit with members of his senior staff and look over the backgrounds and rulings of potential nominees, and he looks forward to continuing to consult with members of the Senate. He wants to hear their views and their ideas as we move forward, and I think the consultations, you can expect, will continue even after he makes his decision and makes his nominee known.

We have now consulted with more than 60 senators; we've consulted with more than half the Democratic Caucus; we continue to reach out to others, and this process is something that continues.

Secondly, this afternoon the President looks forward to welcoming some bipartisan leaders to talk about passing comprehensive energy legislation. The House and the Senate have both moved forward on comprehensive energy legislation that will reduce our dependence on foreign sources of energy. And so the President will have the bipartisan leaders from the energy committees, as well as the Senate Finance and House Ways and Means Committee over this afternoon to talk about the importance of moving forward and resolving remaining differences and getting this to his desk by the August recess.

This is a high priority for the President of the United States. Our economy is strong. We continue to see sustained growth. We've had more than 3.7 million jobs created over the last 25 months. We have an unemployment rate that is now at its lowest since September of 2001, at 5 percent.

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