WASHINGTON - President Bush, weakened by record-low poll ratings, asserted he is still politically relevant and scolded the Democratic-led Congress yesterday for having "little to show for all the time that has gone by."
Bush used a midmorning news conference to lecture lawmakers about their failure to complete action on spending bills to keep the government running or to send him legislation on education, housing and other matters.
With his presidency in its final 15 months, his approval ratings at just 31 percent in the latest Associated Press-Ipsos poll and Democrats running Congress, Bush has little clout to push his own agenda through Congress.
However, he can stop the Democrats' proposals with his veto since Congress has been unable so far to override his rejection of troop-withdrawal deadlines in Iraq and expanded stem-cell research. The House today was expected to fail to override his veto of an expansion of a popular children's health-insurance program.
Bush said his veto pen was "one way to ensure that I am relevant; that's one way to ensure that I am in the process. And I intend to use the veto."
Bush said Congress, under Democratic control for nine months, has not "managed to pass many important bills. Now the clock is winding down and in some key areas Congress is just getting started." Congress should act on mortgage relief for homeowners hit by the housing crisis, trade deals that would strengthen allies, legislation expanding U.S. markets and aid to military veterans, Bush said.
"I'm looking forward to getting some things done for the American people," Bush said. "And if it doesn't get done, I'm looking forward to reminding people as to why it's not getting done."
Democrats were quick to return Bush's criticism.
"While the Democratic Congress works to pass children's health insurance, to protect Americans while preserving civil liberties, and to end the disastrous Iraq war, the president chose to launch another partisan attack," said House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif.
On the foreign-policy front, Bush expressed opposition to Turkey staging a military offensive in Iraq against Kurdish rebels. Turkey's parliament voted 507-19 to empower the military to cross into Iraq, although the government appeared willing to give diplomatic pressure more time to work.
He also urged Congress not to anger Turkey, a key ally in the war on Iraq, by approving a 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.
"One thing Congress should not be doing is sorting out the historical record of the Ottoman Empire," he said. The measure has been losing support and appears unlikely to pass.
Bush seemed less concerned, however, about offending China. He defended his decision to attend a ceremony on Capitol Hill yesterday honoring the Dalai Lama, the spiritual head of Tibet's Buddhists. The ceremony angered Chinese leaders.
"One, I admire the Dalai Lama a lot; two, I support religious freedom; he supports religious freedom," Bush said. *