    [Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States: William J. Clinton (1993, Book II)]
    [October 13, 1993]
    [Pages 1738-1739]
    [From the U.S. Government Publishing Office www.gpo.gov]

    Remarks and an Exchange With Reporters Prior to a Meeting With Members
    of Congress
    October 13, 1993

    NAFTA

        The President. Let me make a brief comment and then I'll answer a
    question or two.
        I want to thank the Members of Congress who are here today. This is,
    as you can see, a fairly large bipartisan group of House Members who
    have come for one of a series of meetings I've been having to try to
    persuade them to vote for the North American Free Trade Agreement. I
    want to reiterate that the thing that has impressed me is that more and
    more Members are trying to look beyond the politics of this issue and
    just ask what's good for America, whether it will create jobs for
    America, whether it opens the opportunity for more growth. I strongly
    believe that. I think we're making progress, and I'm looking forward to
    having a good discussion.
        I thank Mr. Michel for coming, and the Speaker who was going to come
    and couldn't come at the last minute. But we've had good support there,
    and I'm looking forward to this discussion this morning.

    [[Page 1739]]

    Somalia

        Q. Mr. President, Senator Byrd has just announced his intention to
    introduce an amendment which would cut off funding for the U.S. forces
    in Somalia February 1st, as opposed to your March 31st. (a) Do you know
    about this? (b) What are you going to do about it; what does it mean?
        The President. Well, I just talked to him. He said that he has--he
    started off at December 1st as a hard deadline and now says February
    1st, and the President can ask for an extension and the Congress can
    give. So I appreciate Senator Byrd working with me on it. I've not read
    it so I can't comment on the substance of it. I'm very interested in
    what the details are. It's not just a question of a deadline, it's also
    of not tying not just my hands but any President's hands in foreign
    policy too much.
        Our policy in Somalia, I believe, is beginning to work. I think the
    obvious import of what's happened in the last few days is that we're
    moving in the right direction, and I hope we can continue to do that. I
    can't comment about the specific resolution until I've read it and until
    I know what the alternatives are.
        Q. Are you going to get Durant out? Is there a movement there--the
    pilot, the captive American?
        The President. We're working very hard to get him out.

    Note: The President spoke at 11:48 a.m. in the Roosevelt Room at the
    White House. In his remarks, he referred to Robert H. Michel, House
    Republican leader. A tape was not available for verification of the
    content of this exchange.