    [Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States: William J. Clinton (1993, Book I)]
    [March 16, 1993]
    [Pages 308-309]
    [From the U.S. Government Publishing Office www.gpo.gov]

    Exchange With Reporters Prior to a Meeting With Congressional Leaders
    March 16, 1993

        Q. Mr. President, do you think you can really afford to cut the
    defense budget with what's happening in Russia? Cut it as much as you
    want to?
        The President. Well, I think we're going to have hearings about it.
    We're going to have to

    [[Page 309]]

    see. We'll have to cut it some. We can't meet the deficit reduction
    targets if we don't.
        What's happening in Russia may or may not present an additional
    threat to our security, but what we hope we can do is to keep democracy
    and economic reform going. And I think there's an almost unanimous
    feeling in the Congress that we ought to do that. We're bipartisan, and
    that's one of the issues I want to discuss here today.
        Q. Senator Dole said last night that instead of choosing Al Gore to
    reinvent Government, you should have chosen Ross Perot. What do you
    think of that?
        The Vice President. I can't believe he'd say that. [Laughter]
        The President. If I said what I thought, it would be a story. I
    don't want to do that. [Laughter]

    Note: The exchange began at 9:47 a.m. in the Cabinet Room at the White
    House.