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White House spokesman back at work after cancer surgery

(CNN) -- White House press secretary Tony Snow wasted no time jumping into the political fray on his first day back on the job Monday.
An absence of five weeks after undergoing cancer surgery didn't mean forgetting any of the White House talking points.

Asked what President Bush will do with Democratic legislation that calls for the withdrawal of American troops from Iraq to begin in October, Snow said, "He vetoes it.

Democrats will have made their political point. Now they can do their job." (The battle between the president and Congress over Iraq)
Snow called for a "clean bill" that does not impose "artificial timelines" or benchmarks.

"The problem with benchmarks at least as it's described is something where it doesn't even matter if there is progress, it doesn't matter if there is success," he told CNN's "American Morning." (Watch Snow's interview with CNN's John Roberts )

On the subject of benchmarks, Snow said, "The Democratic Party hasn't even made its own for legislation this year."

He became the latest member of the administration to insist that the president did not use former CIA Director George Tenet's "slam dunk" comment as the reason to invade Iraq. (Full story)

"The fact is the best intelligence we had indicated weapons of mass destruction, but obviously we haven't been able to find them," Snow said.

In March, Snow took time off as White House spokesman to undergo exploratory surgery, which found a recurrence of cancer. Doctors determined the cancer had spread to his liver, the White House said.

Snow said he has recovered from the surgery and will now start receiving chemo treatments every other week for four months.

Snow, 51, was treated for colon cancer in 2005, at which time his colon was removed.
Colon cancer is something Snow has had to deal with before. His mother died of the disease at age 38 in 1973, when he was 17.

Snow said he is optimistic that he will be able to "turn what used to be a fatal disease into a chronic disease."

The mere mention of cancer used to cause absolute panic, but with medical advances, what used to be incurable is now curable, the White House spokesman said.

"There are a lot of people with situations worse than mine that have been living 20, 30 years by simply dealing with it with regular chemo," he said. "They've been leading full and happy lives, and that's certainly what I hope to be doing."
This informations is copied from www.cnn.com

posted by mhai @ 10:11 AM