071101In New York, Bush Visits Sites Evocative of His Philosophy
July 11, 2001
In New York, Bush Visits Sites Evocative of His Philosophy
By ADAM NAGOURNEY
Stephen Crowley/The New York Times
President Bush went to St. Patrick's Cathedral on Tuesday with
Senator Charles E. Schumer, Cardinal Edward Egan and Speaker
J. Dennis Hastert, right. He delivered a tribute to the late
Cardinal John O'Connor.
one hundred and seventy-one days after he was sworn in, George W.
Bush paid his first visit as president to New York State yesterday,
proposing ways to ease immigration and paying tribute to Cardinal
John O'Connor. But Mr. Bush expressed something short of pure
delight at being back in the state that he lost by nearly 25
percentage points last November and that his advisers view as
politically out of reach for 2004.
"How do you like New York, Mr. President?" a reporter asked Mr. Bush
as he posed for a photograph with a small cluster of Democrats and
Republicans in front of New York Harbor, moments after leading 29
new citizens at a V.I.P.-packed naturalization ceremony on Ellis
Island in the Pledge of Allegiance.
"It's a beautiful day," Mr. Bush responded tersely.
Fellow Republicans at his side, including Mayor Rudolph W. Giuliani
and Gov. George E. Pataki, froze for about five awkward seconds, and
Mr. Bush reconsidered his response. "I love New York," he
proclaimed, to the evident relief of his hosts.
In all, Mr. Bush spent just six hours in New York, a state where he
won the Republican primary only after a draining battle with John
McCain, the senator from Arizona who ran with Mr. Giuliani's warm
encouragement, and that he effectively conceded in the general
election to Vice President Al Gore.
The president made no references to his New York campaign encounters
during the course of two public speaking appearances that lasted,
combined, barely 20 minutes. Indeed, he went to places that broadly
evoked central aspects of Mr. Bush's political philosophy and
appeal.
In the morning, he went by boat to Ellis Island (which might
arguably be called a presidential visit to New Jersey) to propose
changes in immigration policy, including a six-month time limit for
the Immigration and Naturalization Service to process immigration
applications. The proposals won praise from New York's senators,
Charles E. Schumer and Hillary Rodham Clinton, both Democrats.
In the afternoon, he headed for St. Patrick's Cathedral on Fifth
Avenue (no jurisdictional disputes there) to present a posthumous
Congressional Gold Medal to Cardinal O'Connor, who died at 80 in May
2000.
The president drew a prolonged ovation as he praised Cardinal
O'Connor as "the gallant defender of children and their
vulnerability, innocence and their right to be born." Even
politicians who do not join in Mr. Bush's opposition to abortion
rights — among them, Mr. Pataki, Mr. Giuliani, Mrs. Clinton and Mr.
Schumer — rose to their feet for the ovation, which lasted for 71
seconds, the longest of the afternoon.
When it came his turn to speak, Mr. Bush, who had just had a private
lunch at the Waldorf-Astoria with Mr. Pataki, Mr. Giuliani and
others, seemed to make amends for his earlier remarks. Cardinal
O'Connor, Mr. Bush recalled, used to tell of being greeted at the
Vatican by Pope John Paul II with the question, "How is the
archbishop of the capital of the world?"
Looking down from the lectern at Mr. Giuliani, who was seated in the
first row, Mr. Bush said, "For me, on my first visit as president,
it is a pleasure, Mr. Mayor, to be in the capital of the world."
Still, Mr. Bush's mere presence in the nation's third-largest state
— he visited 32 states as president before putting New York on his
schedule, according to the White House — served as a reminder of
just how little interest Mr. Bush has displayed in the state, and of
just how little influence New York Republicans are enjoying in
Washington these days. So it was that Democrats praised Mr. Bush for
finally visiting yesterday, while Republicans came to his defense,
if tersely.
"He's a very busy man," Mr. Giuliani said. "He's got lots of places
to go." He said the president was very accessible and always took
his calls, adding, "I think he's been a very good president for New
York."
Mr. Pataki dismissed questions about the visit. "What matters is not
how many times he comes here, and what matters are what his policies
are," Mr. Pataki said.
Mr. Schumer praised Mr. Bush. "I think it's very good," the senator
said. "I visited all sorts of areas of New York State that I didn't
win and it helped me do my job better. And I think the same will be
true for the president."
It was, presumably, a poignant day for Mrs. Clinton, who found
herself back on Air Force One for the first time since leaving the
White House. When she arrived at Andrews Air Force Base yesterday
morning, New York's junior senator headed for the steps at the back
end of Air Force One, which are used by Secret Service agents, White
House aides and reporters. A steward escorted her to the front
steps, the entrance for presidents, first ladies — and senators.
If Mr. Bush had reason to dislike New York, those feelings were
returned by 500 protesters who assembled outside the church to greet
him, holding signs reading, "He's not my president," and chanting,
"Bush, Cheney, got to go."
The St. Patrick's gathering offered Mr. Bush a primer of New York's
political, religious and social world. There were past, current and,
possibly, future governors and mayors. All six major Republican and
Democratic mayoral candidates were in the pews. Mr. Giuliani sat in
the front row with Governor Pataki; the mayor's estranged wife,
Donna Hanover, sat several rows back.
The medal was accepted by Cardinal O'Connor's sister Mary Ward, who
referred not only to the cardinal's opposition to abortion but also
to the death penalty. She called him "above all, an outspoken
champion of human life from conception until natural death."
Former Gov. Mario M. Cuomo said the comments about abortion had
called to mind the debate over whether the federal government should
support embryonic stem cell research, an issue Mr. Bush has been
wrestling with in the last few weeks but did not mention yesterday.
At Ellis Island, Mr. Bush, speaking in a hall that included two
dozen empty seats, spoke warmly about immigration, as he listed
several changes that he said would make it easier for people to deal
with the immigration service. "New arrivals should be greeted not
with suspicion and resentment, but with openness and courtesy."
Then Mr. Bush stood to lead the new Americans in the Pledge of
Allegiance. "Right hand up, please," he said, raising his arm but
then stopping himself. "Actually, right hand on your heart."
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