[Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States: William J. Clinton (1994, Book I)]
[May 6, 1994]
[Page 856]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office www.gpo.gov]



Exchange With Reporters Prior to Discussions With Prime Minister 
Mahathir bin Mohamad of Malaysia
May 6, 1994

Jones Lawsuit

    Q. Mr. President, do you have any comment on the lawsuit filed 
against you today?
    The President. Well, I thought Mr. Bennett did a fine job. I don't 
have anything to add to what he said.
    Q. Are you going to argue that all the charges are false?
    The President. I don't have anything to add to what Mr. Bennett 
said. I'm going back to work.
    Q. Do you categorically deny the charges?
    The President. Bob Bennett spoke for me, and I'm going back to work. 
I'm not going to dignify this by commenting on it.

Haiti

    Q. Can you tell us whether you're thinking of changing your Haiti 
policy regarding the return of the refugees given the escalation of 
violence?
    The President. We've had our Haiti policy under review, as you know, 
for the last 3 or 4 weeks. And we had a meeting about it today. We're 
going to meet again tomorrow. And I think we may have some announcements 
to make after that.
    Q. About changing the policy on the refugees, sir?
    Q. Have you tasked the Defense Department to do some military 
options just in case these sanctions cut today don't work?
    The President. I don't want to discuss that. As I have said, I do 
not favor that option. I just don't think we can rule it out. I think it 
would be irresponsible to rule it out.
    Q. You do not favor that option?
    The President. Well, I've never favored--you know what I favor. What 
I've been trying to do is to get Governors Island followed. I'm trying--
I think the people down there ought to keep their word. But we certainly 
can't afford to rule it out.
    Q. Do you think you might have announcements regarding the refugee 
policy, was that what you were referring to?
    The President. I don't have--I'll make an announcement when I have 
something to say about Haiti policy. But I don't have anything else to 
say.
    Q. Are you referring to the refugee policy?
    The President. I have nothing else to say about it.

[At this point, one group of reporters left the room, and another group 
entered.]

Malaysia

    Q. Mr. President, you missed Dr. Mahathir in Seattle. Now that you 
have met him personally, how do you feel about it?
    The President. Well, we haven't had a chance to visit yet, but I 
have been looking forward to this for a long time. I admire his 
leadership very much, and I admire the incredible accomplishments of his 
nation under his leadership over the last several years. And I look 
forward to establishing a good relationship with him and continuing our 
partnership.
    I'm also very grateful for the security partnership we have had and 
for the contributions that have been made by Malaysia to the operation 
in Bosnia, to the operation in Somalia, and to being a responsible 
leader in world affairs.
    So we've got a lot to talk about and I'm looking forward to it.

Note: The exchange began at 2:55 p.m. in the Oval Office at the White 
House. In his remarks, the President referred to attorney Robert 
Bennett. Former Arkansas State employee Paula Jones' lawsuit sought 
civil damages for alleged sexual harassment in 1991. A tape was not 
available for verification of the content of this exchange.