MR. BLITZER: --in Iraq, the good as well as the bad. Just a short time ago, I had a chance to speak with the Agriculture Secretary about her early impressions.

     SECRETARY VENEMAN: "Well, it's difficult for me to assess, from my position, as I only arrived today, but certainly there have been additional attacks. We're very sorry to hear about the attack that took place today, and our condolences go out to the Italians and the Iraqis who were injured and killed in that attack.

     "Again, it's difficult for me to assess, but what I see here is a lot of progress being made in Iraq. Despite the security situation, there is economic activity taking place. People are going about their lives. They are looking at rebuilding Iraq. They're looking to the future with hope. I had the opportunity to meet with the Governing Council today, and I feel very encouraged by what I've seen."

     MR. BLITZER: Secretary Veneman, you've only been there a little while, but how free are you to move about where you are?

     SECRETARY VENEMAN: "Well, our movements today, we started out, after we arrived at Baghdad Airport, at the College of Agriculture, part of the University of Baghdad--had a very good visit there, was able to walk around the campus, meet with students, meet with faculty, have a free exchange, and I felt that we were able to do what we needed to do and have a very good conversation about this university.

    " It was very interesting because this was a College of Agriculture that was really built in 1952 with funds and partnership with the University of Arizona, and they were showing me that they would like to again rebuild these kinds of partnerships to rebuild an institution that's lost a lot over the last 30 years."

     MR. BLITZER: Many of your colleagues, members of Congress, and others who have come to Iraq, especially to Baghdad, for brief visits, have found it, from a security standpoint, worthwhile not to stay overnight in Iraq, but to go to Kuwait or Jordan or elsewhere. Will you be spending the night in Baghdad?

     SECRETARY VENEMAN: "I will be spending the night. We have secure facilities in order to spend the night, and we feel that the security for my visit is certainly something that I feel very, very safe with, and we're able to visit with people, as I indicated, and to see things and to get briefings as we need them, and we will see additional parts of the countryside tomorrow, including many of the agricultural areas."

     MR. BLITZER: I assume when you came you were expecting to get a briefing from Paul Bremer, the chief U.S. administrator in Iraq, but he's in Washington, as you know, right now for these emergency meetings with the President and other top aides. What have they told you? Why was--why was he rushed to Washington?

     SECRETARY VENEMAN: "Well, just as you say, he's meeting with the President. They're having discussions about the situation, but I did have the opportunity to get briefings from his top staff, his chief of staff, other ambassadors here in Baghdad, and while I'm sorry to have missed him while he's here, I know that we're all focused on the same mission, and that is we're focused on making sure that we have the ability to help the Iraqis rebuild their country, and that's our mission here.

    "That's what Ambassador Bremer is here to do. That's what the President is committed to do, and we want to continue to provide resources and work with the Coalition partners to give the Iraqis the resources they need to help them rebuild.

    "I had the opportunity today to meet with the members of the Governing Council. They are very hopeful. They're working on a new Constitution. They have appointed ministers now to most of these ministries. I met with the Minister of Agriculture today and will meet with him again tomorrow about some of the things that they're now doing.

     "Our department was very active in standing up the Ministry of Agriculture, and I know that we'll continue to have a strong partnership with that ministry because their food and agriculture sector is very, very important in this country."

     MR. BLITZER: Normally, the Secretary of Agriculture doesn't go to dangerous areas. You're in a dangerous area right now. What does it feel like? First of all, are you scared?

     SECRETARY VENEMAN: "No, I'm not scared. This is part of a trip that started out in Uzbekistan. We went to Afghanistan yesterday, where we saw a tremendous amount of hope on the part of the people, a lot of rebuilding. Agriculture is a key part of what the PRT, the reconstruction teams in Afghanistan, just as we are a key part of building--rebuilding institutions like the Agriculture Ministry and agriculture universities in Iraq.
As you say, you don't normally think of agriculture and some of these places, but in fact--"

     MR. BLITZER: We're going to interrupt the Secretary of Agriculture in order to go to New York.

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