Grieving, budget, war fill Bush agenda - will attend a Houston memorial Tuesday for the 7 astronauts

Associated Press ^ | February 3, 2003 | Associated Press Staff

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Grieving, budget, war fill Bush agenda

02/03/2003

Associated Press

WASHINGTON - President Bush is tentatively planning to attend a memorial Tuesday in Houston for the seven astronauts killed in the space shuttle Columbia disaster.

The service at the Johnson Space Center will be part of a whirlwind week for Mr. Bush's administration, which will unveil his proposed budget on Monday and defend its handling of Iraq at the United Nations on Wednesday.

White House spokesman Ari Fleischer said Sunday that the shuttle disaster will not alter Mr. Bush's plans to confront Saddam Hussein.

"The president views this as a tragedy that has touched the lives of the American people and as a reminder of the risks of space flight," Mr. Fleischer said. "The president does not see it as connected to other events around the world."

Secretary of State Colin Powell goes before the U.N. Security Council on Wednesday to present purported evidence of prohibited Iraqi weapons programs.

On Sunday, Mr. Bush listened intently in church as a minister said he had heard others say the shuttle's breakup was "God's way of getting back at us" for the country's Iraq policies.

"That's just garbage," said the Rev. Luis Leon, rector of St. John's Church across Lafayette Square from the White House.

"What happened yesterday I think is the price that we pay for exploration, it's the price that we pay for the freedom that God has granted all of us."

Mr. Bush bowed his head as a congregation member, Doug Volgenau, read aloud the names of the seven lost astronauts.

Mr. Volgenau prayed that "they may have a place in your eternal kingdom."

"God's heart is more heartbroken than our own, and I believe they're already resting," he said.

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Online at: http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dallas/tsw/stories/020303dntexbush.5a4d4.html

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AP
President Bush and first lady
Laura Bush walk out of St. John's
Episcopal Church after attending
services there Sunday morning.