By DEB RIECHMANN, Associated Press Writer
July 21, 2007
CAMP DAVID, Md. - Doctors removed five small polyps from President
Bush's colon on Saturday after he temporarily transferred the
powers of his office for two hours to Vice President Dick Cheney
under the rarely invoked 25th Amendment.
The polyps, or growths in his large intestine, were found
during a routine colon cancer scan. They all measured less
than a centimeter and none "appeared worrisome," White
House spokesman Scott Stanzel said.
The colonoscopy, performed at the Camp David presidential
retreat, last 31 minutes. The polyps have been sent for microscopic
examination to the National Naval Medical Center in Bethesda,
Md. Results were expected within 72 hours. Most polyps are
benign, or noncancerous. But over time, some types of polyps
can grow and turn into cancer. To be safe, doctors remove all
polyps and test them.
Bush invoked the disability clause of the Constitution at
7:16 a.m. EDT and transferred his authority to Cheney, who
was at his home on the Chesapeake Bay in St. Michaels, Md.,
about 30 miles east of Washington. Nothing occurred that required
Cheney to take official action during the transfer of power,
Stanzel said.
The president invoked Section 3 of the 25th Amendment "out
of an abundance of caution," Stanzel said. The amendment,
approved in 1967, four years after President Kennedy was assassinated,
had been used only twice before.
The transfer of power took place with letters Bush sent to
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., and Sen. Robert Byrd,
D-W.Va., president pro tempore of the Senate. Bush reclaimed
the powers at 9:21 a.m. EDT with follow-up letters once the
colonoscopy had ended.
The president spoke by phone before and after the procedure
with first lady Laura Bush, who was in Midland, Texas, celebrating
her mother's birthday. After the colon check, Bush had breakfast
with chief of staff Joshua Bolten, White House counsel Fred
Fielding and national security adviser Stephen Hadley.
Later, Bush played with his dogs, Barney and Miss Beazley,
and planned a bike ride in the afternoon at the presidential
compound in the Catoctin Mountains of western Maryland.
"The president was in good humor and will resume his
normal activities at Camp David," Stanzel said.
Dr. Richard Tubb, the president's doctor, supervised Bush's
colonoscopy, which was performed by a team from the Bethesda
medical center.
Two polyps were discovered during a similar examination in
1998 and two more were found during a colon scan in 1999, while
Bush was governor of Texas. That made the 61-year-old president
a prime candidate for regular examinations.
It was the third time that the presidential disability clause
has been invoked. During a screening on July 29, 2002, Bush
relinquished powers to Cheney for more than two hours. No abnormalities
were found during that scan. In July 1985, President Reagan
had surgery and turned over power to his vice president, George
H.W. Bush.
For the general population, a colonoscopy to screen for colon
cancer is recommended every 10 years. But for people at higher
risk, or if a colonoscopy detects precancerous polyps, follow-up
colonoscopies often are scheduled in three- to five-year intervals.
According to the National Cancer Institute, an estimated 112,340
new cases of colon cancer and 41,420 new cases of rectal cancer
will be reported this year. About 52,000 people in the United
States will die this year of colon and rectal cancer.
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On the Net:
Background on colonoscopy: http://tinyurl.com/2nfltw
Background on polyps: http://tinyurl.com/yqwb6w
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