Obama postpones Asia trip to focus on health care

Washington | Fri, 03/19/2010 7:25 AM

President Barack Obama has postponed his trip to Asia until June so he can stay in Washington for a possible Sunday vote on his health care overhaul.

White House spokesman Robert Gibbs said Thursday the president is disappointed and regrets having to delay his visits to Indonesia and Australia but has told the leaders of those nations that health care is a crucial priority.

"The president believes right now, the place for him to be is in Washington seeing this through," Gibbs said.

Obama had already delayed the trip to Indonesia and Australia, pushing back a Thursday departure until Sunday so he could help Democrats in Congress rally last-minute votes for the plan.

White House staff had tried to find a way to push the trip back another few days, but by Thursday morning, it was clear the only way the president could still travel to Australia and Indonesia was if he left early Sunday afternoon. With the House likely to hold a vote on the health care bill sometime Sunday, Gibbs said, "very little padding remained."

Obama made the final decision to delay the trip during a brief Oval Office meeting Thursday morning with top aides, including chief of staff Rahm Emanuel and national security adviser James Jones.

House Democrats believe they are on track to vote Sunday on a $940 billion health care bill that will expand coverage to millions. If the bill passes, the Senate will begin considering changes to the bill next week.

Democratic lawmakers welcomed the president's decision to stay in town.

Said the leader of the House, Speaker Nancy Pelosi, a Democrat, "He wants to be here for the history."

"He may have to twist some arms," said Senate Finance Committee Chairman Max Baucus, a Democrat. "He may have to talk to some people. His personal presence helps."

The president's trip had originally been scheduled to coincide with his daughters' spring break from school. After the first delay, the White House announced the president's family would no longer accompany him overseas and the president's trip would be shortened by a day as aides sought to tamp down criticism that he was taking a family vacation as the health care debate reached its crucial final stages.

The trip to Indonesia was to be a homecoming of sorts for the president, who spent four years in the world's largest Muslim country as a boy when his mother married an Indonesian man. A statue of Obama as a 10-year-old boy has been erected at the elementary school he attended.

Obama also had been scheduled to deliver his first address to the Muslim world since his historic speech in Cairo last year and had been scheduled to meet with Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono.

Obama was to address Australia's parliament and meet with Prime Minister Kevin Rudd, with whom he shares a close relationship on the issues of climate change and the war in Afghanistan.

Rudd spoke with Obama early Friday morning Australian time, and said the president told him he was looking forward to having "a more relaxed visit" to Australia in June, rather than the 24-hour stop that had been planned for next week. Rudd, who has had his own issues with a problematic Senate, told Obama he sympathizes with his battle over health care reform.

Other U.S. officials have dropped plans to visit Australia and Indonesia this year. Defense Secretary Robert Gates canceled visits to both Australia and Indonesia in January, so that he could remain in Washington for coordination of the U.S. military response to the earthquake in Haiti. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton canceled a trip to Australia at the same time, also because of the earthquake.

Gates and Clinton had planned to attend an annual summit with their Australian counterparts that is a diplomatic priority for Australia, a close ally and a steadfast troop contributor to the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. At the time of the cancellations, Gates and Clinton said the Australia summit would be rescheduled.

Obama's Asia trip more about influence than policy

Washington | Tue, 03/16/2010 8:26 AM

President Barack Obama's second trip to Asia since taking office is unlikely to result in tangible accomplishments, but the two-country sojourn could be an important step in restoring U.S. influence in the region.

The economy, terrorism and climate change all figure to play prominently in Obama's stops in Indonesia, the world's most populous Muslim nation, and Australia, a key U.S. ally and supporter of American military efforts in Afghanistan.

Obama is the first U.S. president in at least a decade to travel to Southeast Asia for anything other than a regional summit, a move administration officials say reflects his efforts to strengthen relationships with smaller, emerging nations.

"There are a number of important middle powers, countries like Australia and Indonesia who are significant players," said Jeff Bader, the president's senior adviser for Asia.

As the president prepares to undertake his first international trip of the year, scheduled for Sunday, domestic politics have threatened to overshadow his foreign policy goals.

The ongoing debate on health care reform forced Obama to push back his original Thursday departure by three days so he could stay in Washington and help Democrats in Congress rally last-minute votes for his overhaul plan.

The change in itinerary also meant first lady Michelle Obama and daughters Malia and Sasha would no longer accompany the president abroad, despite the fact that the trip had been scheduled to coincide with the girls' spring break from school.

Obama had hoped to show his family his boyhood haunts in Indonesia, where he spent four years after his mother married an Indonesian man. A bronze statue of a 10-year-old Obama was recently erected at the elementary school he attended.

During his two-day stop in Jakarta, Obama will meet with Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono. In a separate appearance, he'll deliver his first address to the Muslim world since his historic speech in Cairo last year.

Obama will also spend a day in Bali, a well-known tourist destination that has been struck by deadly terrorist attacks. There he will meet with civil society leaders and hold an event promoting the role civil society has played in Indonesia's emerging democracy.

The president's itinerary in Australia has been scaled back due to the delay in his departure. He'll no longer visit Sydney, where his family was expected to do some sightseeing, and instead stop only in Australia's capital, Canberra.

He will meet with Prim Minister Kevin Rudd, with whom he shares a close relationship on the issues of climate change and the war in Afghanistan.

Obama will address Australia's parliament and mark the 70th anniversary of relations between the U.S. and Australia.

In some parts of Asia, the most carefully watched stop of Obamas trip will be the first, and the shortest - a speech he'll make to U.S. service members stationed in Guam while his plane refuels before heading to Indonesia.

The tiny U.S. Pacific territory is at the center of a growing rift between Washington and Japan. Under a post-World War II pact, the U.S. has about 50,000 troops in Japan, most of whom are on the island of Okinawa. Both countries had agreed to close the sprawling Marine Corps Air Station Futenma and relocate 8,000 Marines to Guam.

While Tokyo's previous administration agreed to build a replacement for Futenma farther north on a less-populated part of kinawa, Japan's new coalition government is divided over whether a base should remain in Japan at all. The U.S. says the transfer of Marines to Guam cannot move forward until the new site on Okinawa is finalized.