[Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States: William J. Clinton (1994, Book I)]
[June 22, 1994]
[Pages 1114-1115]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office www.gpo.gov]



Remarks and an Exchange With Reporters Prior to Discussions With 
King Hussein of Jordan
June 22, 1994

Middle East Peace Process

    The President. First, I would like to welcome King Hussein back to 
the White House and to say how very much I support his courage and 
vision in renewing his efforts to make peace with Israel. I want to 
reaffirm the support of the United States for a comprehensive settlement 
in the Middle East, including the Syrian track, and we will do whatever 
we can to keep those things going.
    This remains a very important priority for me and for our 
administration. And I am very encouraged by where we are now in the 
whole process and especially by the efforts that King Hussein has made. 
And I'm looking forward to having the chance to discuss that with him.
    So, sir.
    Q. What are the chances, Mr. President and King Hussein, of a 
trilateral settlement between you two and Prime Minister Rabin? Your 
Majesty.
    King Hussein. I don't think it is something that has been discussed 
as yet, but in the future, I suppose anything and everything is 
possible.

Decline of the Dollar

    Q. Mr. President, are you at all concerned with the dollar's fall? 
Your administration is not intervening as it has in the past.
    The President. Well, I talked to--I spent some time yesterday on it. 
I talked to Secretary Bentsen again today about it. And I think that I 
would let him speak for us today on it. We have agreed today on what he 
will say and what our course will be.
    Let me just emphasize that the dollar, as you know, is traded in big 
multinational markets with other currencies, and they go up and down. 
But the fundamental economic realities in this country are very strong. 
This is the first time in 30 years when we have had a growth in the 
economy, with no inflation, led by investment that will create jobs. The 
unemployment rate has dropped dramatically in the last year and a half; 
we've just passed in the first quarter of this year--the first quarter 
in over 15 years when there was no bank failure.
    So our fundamentals are quite good. We had a record number of new 
business incorporations, the largest number since World War II, in 1993. 
I think we just have to keep working on our fundamentals and know that, 
in the end, the

[[Page 1115]]

markets will have to respond to the economic realities of the American 
economy.
    Q. Well, what do you think is wrong?

Campaign Finance Reform

    Q. Mr. President, speaking about dollars, Common Cause has accused 
you and your administration of betraying your campaign commitments on 
soft money for the DNC, raising a lot more over these past 18 months 
than the Republicans did when they were in office. How do you respond to 
Common Cause's accusations?
    The President. First of all, my campaign commitment is to seek 
campaign finance reform legislation which will put both parties on an 
equal footing and will give the Government of this country back more to 
ordinary Americans. I have supported that legislation strongly from the 
beginning. I still believe we're going to get a good campaign finance 
reform bill out of the committee and onto my desk in this session of 
Congress.
    In the meanwhile, as I have said all along, I don't believe in 
unilateral disarmament. And I believe, if you will look, I've had a lot 
more advertising and attacks against our administration and our policy 
than we have had the financial wherewithal to respond to.
    So, we've done our best to defend ourselves in the system that now 
exists. But I agree with Common Cause, we need a campaign finance reform 
bill. I'm going to work hard for it.

Note: The President spoke at 10:50 a.m. in the Oval Office at the White 
House. A tape was not available for verification of the content of these 
remarks.