    [Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States: William J. Clinton (1993, Book II)]
    [December 6, 1993]
    [Pages 2128-2132]
    [From the U.S. Government Publishing Office www.gpo.gov]

    The President's News Conference With Prime Minister Felipe Gonzalez of
    Spain
    December 6, 1993

        The President. Good afternoon, ladies and gentlemen. In April, I had
    the honor and the pleasure of welcoming King Juan Carlos and Queen Sofia
    of Spain to the White House. Today, on the 15th anniversary of Spain's
    constitutions, I'm delighted to welcome Prime Minister Gonzalez.
        When Spain hosted the Olympics last year, the world reveled in the
    modern bustle of Barcelona and the timeless beauty of the Iberian
    countryside. Spain's vibrant example inspires those around the world who
    are working to release market forces and political freedom from the
    shackles of the past. And few countries share as many rich cultural and
    historical ties to Spain as does America. The land on which I was born
    was once a part of the Spanish empire.
        Our two countries are friends and allies. For over a decade, Prime
    Minister Gonzalez has led Spain with vision and with purpose. In our
    discussions today, I praised the Prime Minister for Spain's achievements
    at home during his years in office and for the increasingly important
    role Spain has come to play in the international community. As a strong
    NATO ally, vigorous proponent of European integration, current member of
    the U.N. Security Council, and significant trading nation, Spain has
    earned and exercised positions of true global leadership. Spain is
    serving the cause of humanitarian relief through its admirable
    participation in the U.N. protective force in Bosnia. We were all deeply
    saddened to learn about the death of a Spanish officer and the wounding
    of another there over the weekend. In Central America, Spain continues
    to provide important support for the development of peaceful and
    prosperous democracies. And the Madrid Conference, organized by Spain in
    1991, helped make possible a fundamental shift in the dynamics of the
    Middle East.
        Today, the seeds planted in the Madrid are beginning to bear fruit
    as the Middle East moves closer to a just and lasting peace. Spain and
    the United States share a strong interest in expanding global economic
    growth and job creation. We discussed today the recent enactment of
    NAFTA and its potential as a building block for free trade, not only
    throughout Latin America but around the world. And we agreed on the
    critical importance of a successful conclusion to the GATT Uruguay
    round. All trading nations must now redouble their efforts in these last
    few days to secure a good GATT agreement.
        The Prime Minister and I also discussed preparations underway for
    the NATO summit meeting in January. We both want to use that occasion to
    reaffirm the strength and the durability of the transatlantic
    relationship. We want to make concrete progress in adapting NATO, one of
    the most successful military alliances in all history, to the new
    realities and opportunities it faces.
        Five centuries ago, Spain reached across the Atlantic to discover a
    new world. Today as partners, Spain and America set sail for a new
    century. And in that spirit, I am proud and honored to welcome Prime
    Minister Gonzalez and to extend to him and to the Spanish people a warm

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    greeting from all Americans.
        Mr. Prime Minister.
        Prime Minister Gonzalez. Thank you very much, Mr. President. Let me
    simply add to what President Clinton has said that it's been a great
    pleasure for me to make this official visit to the United States of
    America. This has been important to me. I have been following very
    closely the electoral program that led to the President's triumph and
    what he has been doing with them since then. And I think the Spanish
    press will understand quite a bit that when we talk about education,
    infrastructure, health reform, that we hear that talked about in the
    United States and we understand it; we feel it in our heart, too,
    because it's something we are doing.
        I'd like to thank President Clinton. This visit to Washington has
    allowed us to cordially exchange points of view in depth on our
    bilateral relations, European relations, the evolutions and changes
    taking place in Latin America, and certain different shared objectives
    we have in that part of the world. And it has allowed us to talk about
    the NATO summit in January, as the President mentioned. There are many
    problems, many challenges that we face after the Eastern bloc and the
    Iron Curtain fell. And obviously we face new challenges that NATO must
    meet. I think it's also worthy to mention that the GATT conversations
    may lead to success in the short term.
        As I said when I congratulated the President for the approval of
    NAFTA, I wasn't simply being courteous and diplomatic. I said that
    because I think that NAFTA has great importance for the U.S., for its
    relations with Mexico, and moreover, I think it's an axis for future
    developments with all of Latin America, in spite of the fact that it
    will be necessary to adapt to that new reality.
        So I think this has been an especially interesting visit. It's a
    very intense visit, I would add, and I think this is a good prolog. I
    have invited the President to visit Spain. I think he liked the idea,
    and I certainly hope that he gets a chance to do so.
        And I've mentioned that my government is especially interested to
    see him in Spain. We know that he has visited Spain in the past, that he
    has taken contact with our country, and I'm sure that would make it
    easier to explain our country to him now. And I'm sure he's interested.
    So I certainly hope to see Mr. Clinton, President Clinton, in Spain in
    the future.
        Thank you.

    North Korea

        Q. You mentioned today that the IAEA said that North Korea's
    proposal for nuclear inspections was not entirely adequate. What's the
    United States view of that? Do we accept it in part, in full, or not at
    all?
        The President. Well, as I said earlier, obviously we're not entirely
    satisfied with the response of the North Koreans to the proposal we put
    forward, but we're going to meet about it later today, and then we're
    going to consult with the South Koreans and our other allies in the area
    and formulate our next move. I think it's important for me to have the
    opportunity to meet and discuss this, and I will be doing so this
    afternoon. And then it's equally important for us to get back to the
    South Koreans and others, so I'll probably have more to say about it in
    the next day or two. But I think that, in fairness, I need to wait until
    I talk to my principal advisers and also talk to our allies.
        Q. Is there any part about it you like?
        The President. Well, what I liked most about it was there was some
    indication on their part that they understood that we needed to both
    start inspections and the dialog again between the South and the North;
    that was clear. And so it's like all these things in international
    diplomacy, the devil's in the details. But I'm hopeful that we can work
    something out, and I don't want to say more until I have a chance to
    meet with my advisers and also to talk to our allies.

    Global Economy

        Q. Would you share, for both of you, any ideas or differences about
    how to push the economy in the world?
        The President. Actually we did. I'd let the Prime Minister answer
    that, but we've talked a lot about how the United States, Japan, and
    Europe all have obligations to try to get the growth rate up and what
    each of us needs to do. And we talked about how that plus a system of
    expanded trade could reward Spain for all the changes that you have made
    and generate more jobs.
        Actually, the Spanish experience has been quite impressive in the
    growth you've had until the global recession of the last couple of
    years. So we've got to get out of that, and we have

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    to do that, it seems to me, with a coordinated economic strategy.
        Mr. Prime Minister.
        Prime Minister Gonzalez. Well, first of all, let me stress that we
    fully agree on the need for coordination, coordination of the developed
    world, the countries of the developed world, in order to overcome an
    economic crisis and promote growth and create jobs. Coordination is even
    more important if you take into account that the economy is becoming
    globalized, so we need coordination.
        We agree that successful GATT negotiations leading to agreement will
    be positive, and I think we agree on certain specific current policies
    such as coordination for lowering interest rates in Europe in order to
    spur investment and thus contribute to restarting the European economy.
    I think we are well aware that growth, growth even in powerful, large
    countries like the U.S., if it isn't carried out in coordination and
    collaboration with other countries such as Europe and Japan, will
    encounter greater obstacles than it would with good coordination. So,
    that is quite clear, and I think that's the way out of a recession.

    Somalia

        Q. In Somalia last week, Americans saw the extraordinary scene of
    General Mohamed Farah Aideed being escorted out of Mogadishu in an
    American armored personnel carrier and flown to Ethiopia in an Army jet.
    How would you explain that to the families of those whose soldiers were
    killed in Somalia just 2 months ago?
        The President. I would tell them that they were over there fighting
    ultimately for a peace to take place. And as I have said many times
    before, that action was fundamentally successful. They achieved their
    objective. They arrested a lot of people. We still have under custody
    the people who we think are the most likely to have been seriously
    involved in the murder of the Pakistani soldiers and to have caused
    difficulties for the Americans. We have started the process of having an
    independent commission look into that.
        I said back in August that we were in the business of trying to
    solve this thing politically. Everyone thought it was important that
    General Aideed go to that peace conference. And Ambassador Oakley, who
    had to make this decision on the spur of the moment without much time to
    consider whether there were any other options, knew that the only other
    conceivable option was not going to be accepted and that he had to get
    the peace conference going. And so he thought it was the right thing to
    do. And I will stand behind his decision.

    Summit of the Americas

        Q. I would like to ask Mr. Gonzalez whether he has any comments on
    the U.S. initiative regarding the Summit of the Americas next year in
    this country.
        Prime Minister Gonzalez. If you allow a comment before that, first
    of all, we ourselves don't have troops in Somalia, but we do in the ex-
    Yugoslavia. If the President will allow me, let me say that when one is
    involved oneself, it's harder to say. But let me say that in regard to
    the presence, the U.S. presence and other presence in Somalia has its
    cost. It has its human cost. But it has saved tens of thousands of
    lives, of innocent lives. It saved them from a death by hunger. Now,
    that isn't as visible. It's not stated as often in the media, but in
    honor of truth, let us say that it isn't a worthless sacrifice that has
    been made. Tens of thousands of people are reaping benefits from the
    sacrifice of those lives.
        Secondly, I have been able to tell both the President and the Vice
    President when they mentioned this initiative to me about the summit
    meeting of heads of states of Latin America: When you look at the
    history of Latin America from the Second World War up until the present,
    I think there isn't a more timely, a better time, then, to bring the
    heads of state from all of the Americas together at one time and in one
    place. All of us want to see greater democracy, the elimination of
    violent alternatives, and a greater economic opening throughout the
    area, and we don't want to see any kind of return to the temptation of
    supernationalism that has caused so much damage to the Americas in the
    past. So I think that initiative will find--[inaudible]--a very positive
    reception.

    North Korea

        Q. I wonder, sir, if I could get back to Korea for a moment, if you
    could characterize the near-term urgency of the situation over there,
    why it's so important now to settle this as quickly as possible.
        The President. In Korea?
        Q. Yes, sir.

    [[Page 2131]]

        The President. The near-term urgency is basically a function of what
    the IAEA has said. The longer they go on without adequate inspections,
    the more difficult it is for them to be able to certify the actual
    condition of the North Korean nuclear program and that's what the issue
    is. That's why we're trying to work it through as quickly as we can so
    we won't finally and completely break the chain that enables the IAEA to
    make certain representations to the rest of the world about where they
    are on that.
        Someone else from Spain? Yes, ma'am.

    Cuba

        Q. Yes. I have a question for you. I would like to know if there is
    any sign of change, economic and political opening, in Cuba. Will you be
    able to take a moderate view and lessen the economic pressures being
    brought to bear on Cuba in the future?
        The President. Well, as you know, the United States believes that
    the pressures we have brought to bear on Cuba are responsible, in some
    measure, for the very modest openings that we've seen coming out of Cuba
    with regard to travel and assets and a few other things. I see no
    indication that the nation or that the leadership, the Castro
    government, is willing to make the kind of changes that we would expect
    before we would change our policy.

    Missile Targeting

        Q. Mr. President, are you going to aim our long-range nuclear
    missiles away from Russia?
        The President. Well, as I said back in April, around the summit with
    President Yeltsin, that's something we have under consideration, and
    we're working it through now. We're working very hard with the Russians
    to continue the denuclearization and to make them and ourselves and
    others feel more secure with that move. So that's one of the things
    we've had under consideration, but no final decision has been made.

    Cuba

        Q. I guess Cuba was an issue today. Did you learn anything from the
    Prime Minister's experience on Cuban issues? President, Prime Minister,
    do you think it would be better to have Cuba attend meetings of
    international organization? Would that lead to greater democracy in
    Cuba? Or should Cuba be not allowed to partake in these international
    organizations until they're a democracy?
        The President. Yes, I learned something from talking to the Prime
    Minister. I found it very interesting. We've not had any contact with
    Cuba for a good long while now. So I asked him a number of questions,
    and I listened very closely to what he said.
        Prime Minister Gonzalez. I think everyone can understand that we
    agree on what our common goals are for Cuba. In other words, I think we
    all want to see Cuba to join in with the rest of the Latin American
    countries in moving towards greater democracy and open economy. I think
    we agree on what we want Cuba to become. We have had some Ibero-American
    meetings, and in those meetings we did not exclude anyone. But I can
    understand that if we're talking about a meeting of all the democratic-
    elected leaders of the hemisphere, there would be exceptions and not
    just Cuba. I imagine Haiti would not be invited. If all the
    democratically elected leaders were meeting, Haiti wouldn't be there,
    either.

    Health Care Reform

        Q. Mr. President, right now the American Medical Association is
    meeting in New Orleans, and it seems like there is a big question about
    whether or not they are going to support your health program. How
    important is that to you, and what do you say to them about the obvious
    disagreement that's going on there?
        The President. Well, first of all, I have been, frankly, pleased by
    the constructive response that the leadership of the AMA has taken to
    this point. As you know, it is a very different response than has been
    taken to any other health care initiative in the 20th century, different
    than their response to Medicaid or Medicare or to previous efforts at
    universal coverage. And I would hope they would do what the leadership
    has been doing, which is to explain what they want and where they differ
    and to keep working with us.
        Let me say that I'm also very impressed and gratified by the
    response that a number of the other physicians' groups have had, the
    family practitioners, the pediatricians, and others who have been much
    more uniformly supportive.
        There are a couple of things that I would expect are driving the
    debate at their meeting. First of all, there are some groups of
    specialists who disagree with our proposal to shift the Federal
    investment in medical schools to encourage

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    more family practitioners. But I don't see how anyone rationally could
    object to that since we are only turning out about 15 percent of our
    graduates in family practice, and we need more than twice that, looking
    ahead.
        Then there are those who feel so strongly that fee-for-service is
    the right way for doctors to be reimbursed that they object to the fact
    that our plan would require a fee-for-service option to be given to
    everybody who doesn't have insurance now but would also require other
    options as well. To that, I would respond that those folks don't have
    any health insurance at all now and this will make it possible for them
    to get some, and some will choose fee-for-service.
        Moreover, among those who do have insurance, every year fewer and
    fewer and fewer of them have that option. So, we're not accelerating a
    process that's not already well underway. We're simply trying to cover
    everyone on more or less equal terms, and we're going to at least give
    people the option to choose fee-for-service, which is something many
    people who are already covered don't have. So, I would hope they would
    consider those things and continue the dialog.
        Q. Do you need them to get--[inaudible]
        The President. I don't know about that. The more support we have,
    the easier it will be to pass. That's like anything else.

    Angola

        Q. On the role of fostering new democracies in the world that you
    both referred, I would like to hear your comments, both of you, on the
    situation in Angola, the lack of visible progress on the ground, and if
    you envisage any wider exercise that, in this case, that we see in
    Somalia these days, for restoring peace in Angola.
        The President. It's a different situation than Somalia was when we
    went in there and much more hazardous. I don't foresee that. We have
    named a special emissary there. We are working hard on it, and I'm very
    disturbed by it. You know, the loss of life has been very severe. The
    number of children maimed by land mines there, I believe, is now the
    largest number in any conflict that we know about. I hope we can make
    some progress. I discuss it with our people at least once a week,
    sometimes more often. And we sometimes feel we are making progress, and
    then it slips back. So, I wish I had a more hopeful scenario. I can tell
    you the United States is involved in it, that we are keeping up very
    closely with events, and we are doing our best to try to bring the
    conflict to a peaceful conclusion.
        Prime Minister Gonzalez. I was in Angola just before the last
    elections, and it would seem that the international community has taken
    a firm decision to move forward respecting the results of any truly free
    and fair elections. The international community recognized that those
    elections were free and fair and that the results should thus be
    respected.
        However, one of the parties in Angola did not respect the elections
    and were probably one of the bloodiest--[inaudible]--of the civil war
    that ever existed. So internationally, I think we need a high degree of
    coordination to try to get both parties to simply stop and try to help
    the country get back on the track of economic development. It's a
    country with tremendous resources and has tremendous economic potential.
    We haven't talked about that today, but I think all of us in the
    international community agree that we have to try to get those who
    ignored the rules of democracy in the past to respect the electoral
    results.
        Thank you.

    Note: The President's 37th news conference began at 2:01 p.m. at Blair
    House. In his remarks, he referred to Somali warlord Mohamed Farah
    Aideed. Prime Minister Gonzalez spoke in Spanish, and his remarks were
    translated by an interpreter.