    [Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States: William J. Clinton (1995, Book II)]
    [September 14, 1995]
    [Pages 1358-1359]
    [From the U.S. Government Publishing Office www.gpo.gov]

    Remarks Prior to Discussions With Representatives From Greece and the
    Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia and an Exchange With Reporters
    September 14, 1995

    Normalization Agreement

        The President. First of all, let me say that I am delighted to be
    joined here by the Foreign Minister of the Former Yugoslav Republic of
    Macedonia and the Ambassador to Greece to formally congratulate these
    two countries on the agreement they signed yesterday in New York,
    agreeing to normalize their relations.
        I want to say a special word of thanks to a great American, Cy
    Vance, who is here, who represented the United Nations; and my Special
    Envoy, Matt Nimetz, for the remarkable role they played in bringing
    these two countries together.
        As you know, the United States has had troops stationed, since I
    became President, in the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia to try to
    help to prevent the spread of the Balkan war. And for these two
    countries to work out their longstanding differences and look forward to
    relationships of permanent peace and commerce and accord with one
    another is an enormous step forward in our attempts to find a
    comprehensive peace in the Balkans.
        Now, I also want to tell you that we have some reason to hope that
    we are making progress, thanks to the determination of NATO and the
    United Nations, in securing Bosnian Serb compliance with the conditions
    the U.N.

    [[Page 1359]]

    and NATO have set forward for the cessation of the bombing campaign. And
    we are working on that, will continue to work on it hard today. And
    obviously, if there are any developments, we will announce them.

    Bosnia

        Q. Do you have Russian acquiescence to place troops around Sarajevo?
        The President. Well, let me say, first of all, we are working on the
    details of the agreement. When they are worked out, we will then say
    what they are and answer all the questions.
        Q. But sir, is there an agreement for the Serbs to pull their
    artillery from the positions around Sarajevo?
        The President. That is what we are attempting to secure at this
    moment. We are working through that. There's been some progress in the
    last--there's been some reason to hope for progress in the last several
    hours, beginning last night our time. But we're not prepared to make a
    final announcement yet. When we are, we will, and we'll answer all the
    questions.

    Medicare

        Q. The Speaker of the House today said that the Democratic position
    on Medicare is to scare 85-year-olds, and he called the party morally
    bankrupt.
        The President. Well, you know, I think it's questionable to use
    words like ``morally bankrupt,'' but let's look at the facts. For 2
    years, I said the Medicare Trust Fund was in trouble, and Mr. Gingrich
    and others mocked me and denied that it was in trouble. All by
    ourselves, with no help from them, we added 3 years to the life of the
    Trust Fund. We have proposed legislation which would add 10 years to the
    life of the Trust Fund and will get Medicare out of trouble.
        I don't want to use a term like ``morally bankrupt,'' but I think it
    is morally questionable at least to propose vast Medicare cuts which
    would increase the cost of Medicare to elderly people living on under
    $24,000 a year and claim that it's going to the Trust Fund when they
    know not one red cent of the money being paid by seniors will go to the
    Trust Fund. It will go to fund a tax cut that is too big. And they
    should tell the truth to the American people that they want to charge
    the providers more money and put that in the Trust Fund. They want to
    charge the elderly people of this country more money and put that into
    the tax cut.
        Now, that is the truth. And if we're going to talk about what
    morality requires, morality requires them to tell the truth to the
    American people.

    Note: The President spoke at 10:45 a.m. in the Oval Office at the White
    House. Following his remarks, the President met with Greek Ambassador to
    the United States Loukas Tsilas and Foreign Minister Stevo Crvenkovski
    of the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia. A tape was not available
    for verification of the content of these remarks.