Timeline of the George H. W. Bush presidency (1989)
October
October
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* **October 2** – President Bush announces the nomination of [Keith Leveret Wauchope](/wiki/Keith_Leveret_Wauchope "Keith Leveret Wauchope") for Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the United States of America to the Gabonese Republic.
* **October 2** – President Bush announces the nomination of Gordon H. Mansfield for Assistant Secretary of Housing and Urban Development (Fair Housing and Equal Opportunity.
* **October 3** – President Bush attends the welcoming ceremony for [President of Mexico](/wiki/President_of_Mexico "President of Mexico") [Carlos Salinas de Gortari](/wiki/Carlos_Salinas_de_Gortari "Carlos Salinas de Gortari") at the South Portico.
* **October 3** – President Bush signs H.R. 1529\. The legislation establishes the [Ulysses S. Grant National Historic Site](/wiki/Ulysses_S._Grant_National_Historic_Site "Ulysses S. Grant National Historic Site") in [St. Louis, Missouri](/wiki/St._Louis%2C_Missouri "St. Louis, Missouri"). In a statement, President Bush notes the life of [Ulysses S. Grant](/wiki/Ulysses_S._Grant "Ulysses S. Grant") as well as his own disappointment with Congress not accepting "the Department of the Interior's recommendation that performance of a formal new area study precede establishment of this Historic Site."
* **October 3** – President Bush attends the signing ceremony for the Mexico\-United States Environmental and Trade Agreements in the Roosevelt Room.
* **October 6** – President Bush announces the nomination of Ruth V. Washington for Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the United States of America to the Republic of The Gambia.
* **October 6** – President Bush issues a memorandum on the 1990 census to the Secretary of the Commerce and Director of the Office of Personnel Management.
* **October 6** – President Bush announces the nomination of Robert P. McMillan for membership on the Board of the Panama Canal Commission.
* **October 6** – President Bush undergoes minor surgery at Walter Reed Army Hospital to "remove a mucoid cyst of approximately one centimeter in diameter from the third digit on the middle finger of his right hand."
* **October 6** – President Bush insists his recent hand surgery was minor and defends the administration as it pertains to its policy toward Panama while in the Emergency Room at Walter Reed Army Medical Center.
* **October 17** – President Bush announces the nomination of Don R. Clay for Assistant Administrator, Office of Solid Waste, of the Environmental Protection Agency.
* **October 17** – President Bush attends the Republican Governors' Association Annual Dinner in the Presidential Ballroom of the Capital Hilton.
* **October 18** – President Bush speaks with reporters on the San Francisco Bay Area earthquake in the Cabinet Room.
* **October 18** – President Bush addresses the recipients of the National Distinguished Principals Award in Room 450 of the Old Executive Office Building.
* **October 23** – President Bush announces the appointment of Frederick D. Nelson for Associate Counsel to the President.
* **October 23** – President Bush appoints Christopher du Pont Roosevelt for membership on the part of the United States on the Roosevelt Campobello International Park Commission.
* **October 24** – President Bush attends the presentation ceremony for the Excellence in Science and Math Teaching Awards in the Rose Garden.
* **October 24** – President Bush announces the appointment of Charles R. Henry for membership as the Department of Defense member in the Committee for Purchase from the Blind and Other Severely Handicapped.
* **October 25** – President Bush addresses members of the Institute of International Education in Room 450 of the Old Executive Office Building.
* **October 26** – In an afternoon Cabinet Room appearance, President Bush announces "a major new initiative by our administration on food safety, a proposal to ensure that America's food supply remains the safest in the world."
* **October 27** – President Bush sends the District of Columbia Appropriations Act, 1990 back to the House of Representatives in a message. President Bush explains his veto of the measure was due to it funding abortions that did not endanger the life of the mother and notes that he had outlined his intent to veto the bill should it contain the feature.
* **October 27** – President Bush delivers remarks during a welcoming ceremony upon his arrival at Juan Santamaria International Airport.
* **October 27** – President Bush answers questions from reporters on Nicaragua at the Hotel Cariari in San Jose.
* **October 27** – President Bush announces the nominations of members for the Inter\-American Development Bank.
* **October 27** – President Bush announces the nomination of [Edmund DeJarnette](/wiki/Edmund_DeJarnette "Edmund DeJarnette"), Jr. for Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the United States of America to the United Republic of Tanzania.
* **October 28** – President Bush holds his twenty\-sixth news conference in the Convention Hall at the Hotel Cariari in [San Jose, Costa Rica](/wiki/San_Jose%2C_Costa_Rica "San Jose, Costa Rica"). President Bush answers questions on Nicaragua, El Salvador, regional diplomacy, relations between United States and Latin America, nuclear cooperation on the part of Israel and South Africa, territories occupied by Israel, abortion, Panama, Andean Drug Summit and the War on Drugs, and relations between Brazil and the United States.
* **October 28** – President Bush delivers an address to community members of the American Embassy on the lawn of the American ambassador's residence.
* **October 30** – President Bush transmits "the annual reports on activities under the Highway Safety Act (23 U.S.C. 401 note) and the National Traffic and Motor Vehicle Safety Act (15 U.S.C. 1408\)" in a message to Congress.
* **October 30** – President Bush attends the groundbreaking ceremony for the National Law Enforcement Officers' Memorial at Judiciary Square.
* **October 30** – In a statement, President Bush says the construction of the chemical weapons destruction facility "says to all the world that the United States is determined to fulfill its promises, that our people and our government are committed to halting the spread of chemical weapons and eliminating their very existence."
* **October 30** – President Bush transmits the Japan\-United States Fishing Agreement to Congress in a message.
* **October 30** – President Bush transmits the national emergency of Iran continuation in a message to Congress. President Bush recounts the history of the crisis between the US and Iran and states that he "determined that it is necessary to maintain in force the broad authorities that may be needed in the process of implementing the January 1981 agreements with Iran and in the eventual normalization of relations with that country."
* **October 31** – President Bush attends the White House Halloween Party in the South Lawn.
* **October 31** – President Bush transmits a report on the federal budget for the 1990 fiscal year in a message to Congress.
* **October 31** – President Bush announces the appointment of Thomas F.X. Needles for Special Assistant to the President and associate director of Presidential Personnel.
* **October 31** – President Bush announces the nomination of Hilary Paterson Cleveland for a United States Commissioner on the International Joint Commission—United States and Canada.
* **October 31** – In a statement, President Bush announces "a minimum wage package consistent with the criteria I set forth in March of this year has been agreed to by the Republican and Democratic leadership in Congress and the leadership of organized labor."

Why is there a need to establish chemical weapons destruction facilities?