    [Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States: William J. Clinton (1996, Book I)]
    [March 12, 1996]
    [Pages 435-436]
    [From the U.S. Government Publishing Office www.gpo.gov]

    Exchange With Reporters Prior to Discussions With King Hussein of Jordan
    Aboard Air Force One
    March 12, 1996

    President's Health

        Q. How's your cold?
        The President. It's okay. Like I said, Hillary had a cough and then
    Chelsea was sick and I sort of got it. It'll be gone in a day or two.
    It's just a head cold, it's not any big deal--just from the neck up.
        Q. Does it bother your ears?
        The President. No.

    Air Force One

        Q. You know--[inaudible]--is a certified pilot of this aircraft.
        The President. Right. Well, he was up there on takeoff. I don't know
    if he lifted us off or not.
        King Hussein. I watched and was very impressed by the wonderful,
    professional team up there.

    Middle East Peace Process

        Q. What are you guys going to talk about?
        The President. A lot of--[inaudible].
        Q. Any surprises coming out of this summit, Mr. President? What do
    you expect?
        The President. I don't know. I think a very strong statement will
    come out of it and that we may have some pretty good ideas come out of
    it for what we can all do together. I hope so. But I thank His Majesty
    for standing up for the right thing in the Middle East and helping to
    get so many other countries involved in this. He's got quite a
    remarkable array of people actually coming together on short notice.

    [[Page 436]]

        Q. What would make the meeting a success?
        The President. Well, I think a strong united stand for keeping the
    peace process going and standing against the terror as a precondition of
    that, because unless people are secure they can't go forward. I think
    that's the most important thing. And then, obviously, we want to come
    out with some more concrete steps. We've taken some already; we intend
    to take some more.
        Q. Anything on Iran?
        The President. Well, wait a minute, we've got to have the meeting.
    We haven't had the meeting yet.
        Q. What about Syria? What about the lack of Syrians present?
        The President. Well, I wish they were there, the Syrians. I wish
    they were there. But I believe that in terms of continuing the peace
    process and keeping commitments, that President Asad will do that. And
    that's very important, very important.
        I hope you all get some sleep.
        Q. You, too.
        The President. It's 10 minutes after 10 Egyptian time--[laughter]--
    so watch a movie and go to bed. It's real important. You're going to
    have a hard day tomorrow.

    Note: The exchange began at 10 p.m. In his remarks, the President
    referred to President Hafiz al-Asad of Syria. A tape was not available
    for verification of the content of this exchange.