Bush says Turkey bill wastes Hill’s time

President Bush yesterday criticized Congress for failing to pass dozens of important bills, ridiculing Democratic lawmakers for wasting time “sorting out the historical record of the Ottoman Empire.”

In a combative press conference in which he repeatedly cut off reporters and refused to answer questions, the president urged lawmakers to abandon efforts to pass a House resolution labeling as genocide the World War I-era killing of more than 1 million Armenians by Ottoman Turks.

“The resolution on the mass killings of Armenians beginning in 1915 is counterproductive. Both Republicans and Democrats, including every living former secretary of state, have spoken out against this resolution. Congress has more important work to do than antagonizing a democratic ally in the Muslim world, especially one that’s providing vital support for our military every day,” he said.

During the 45-minute press conference, Mr. Bush appeared resigned to taking a lower-profile role for the rest of his time in office, saying, “All I can do is ask them to move bills.”

In a flashback of former President Bill Clinton, the president at one point even vowed to remain “relevant.”

“I want to sprint to the finish and finish this job strong; that’s one way to ensure that I am relevant,” he said.

He said he plans to use the “bully pulpit” to keep “attention focused on the fact that major pieces of legislation aren’t moving, and those that are are at a snail’s pace,” including the issues of health care, the budget, trade and law enforcement.

“We’re now more than halfway through October, and the new leaders in Congress have had more than nine months to get things done for the American people,” he said. “Unfortunately, they haven’t managed to pass many important bills. Now the clock is winding down, and in some key areas, Congress is just getting started.”

Meanwhile, Mr. Bush was miffed over the nonbinding House resolution on Turkey, a key ally in the war in Iraq that also provides a major air base for troops moving in and out of Afghanistan. His rebuke of Congress came as Turkey neared a vote in parliament to approve a major incursion into Kurdish northern Iraq, which has been relatively stable throughout the war, in pursuit of Kurdish rebels.

“We are making it very clear to Turkey that we don’t think it is in their interests to send troops into Iraq,” he said. “Actually, they have troops already stationed in Iraq. And they’ve had troops stationed there for quite a while. We don’t think it’s in their interests to send more troops in.”

The president said he had talked about Turkey yesterday with Ryan C. Crocker, U.S. ambassador to Iraq, and Gen. David H. Petraeus, the top U.S. commander in Iraq. He noted that Tareq al-Hashemi, one of Iraq’s vice presidents, was in Istanbul expressing that Iraq shares Turkey’s concerns about terrorist activities, but that there is a better way to deal with the issue than having Turkey send additional troops into the country.

“What I’m telling you is that there’s a lot of dialogue going on, and that’s positive,” he said.