    [Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States: William J. Clinton (1996, Book II)]
    [July 30, 1996]
    [Pages 1221-1222]
    [From the U.S. Government Publishing Office www.gpo.gov]

    Exchange With Reporters Prior to Discussions With President
    Hosni Mubarak of Egypt
    July 30, 1996

        The President. Good morning.
        Q. Mr. President, what do you think of the Israeli plan now to build
    new highways and bridges into the occupied territories, the West Bank
    and Golan Heights, consolidating their control?
        The President. The President just walked in the door, and we're
    going to start talking, and I think that I'd rather wait to answer those
    questions until the press conference. We're going to have a press
    conference after lunch, and we'll--I'll be glad to answer your
    questions.

    Welfare Reform

        Q. [Inaudible]--the welfare reform bill that's coming out of
    conference, is it something you can sign, Mr. President?
        The President. I don't know. I don't know what's going to happen in
    the conference yet. They're working on the conference now, and I'm going
    to wait and see what happens, what comes out.
        Q. I think you're going to sign it because you have used all the
    language of the opponents: failed system, broken system.
        The President. We have actually done something about it. Keep in
    mind that 75 percent of the people on welfare today are under welfare-
    to-work experiments. There are 1.3 million fewer people on welfare today
    than there were the day I took office. Child support is up 40 percent.
    There are a lot of things in the bill I'd like to sign. I like the child
    care money. I like the increased child support enforcement.

    [[Page 1222]]

    I like the fact that we get out of the waiver business on a State-by-
    State basis. But I don't want to see harm come to the children of this
    country. And so we'll just wait and see.
        Q. Mr. President, the Democrats really want to know, they want some
    guidance from you about whether you'd accept this from this conference.
        The President. Well, we're talking to them all. But I don't want to
    make comments about a bill I haven't seen yet. Let's see what comes out
    of the conference. We're working with them, and obviously I hope I can
    sign a bill. We're working hard, but it depends on what that bill does.
        The Vice President. Did you get Helen's [Helen Thomas, United Press
    International] comments down? Did you get those down? [Laughter] You'll
    have to go with her analysis. She's going from questions to making
    comments now that she's got a microphone.
        Ms. Thomas. It's my day in the sun. Where's my crew? [Laughter]
    Anonymity is better.
        The President. Oh, I don't know. I think you lost your anonymity a
    long time ago, Helen.
        Ms. Thomas. Hell. [Laughter]

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

    Middle East Peace Process

        Q. Mr. President Clinton, when will see the photo number six of a
    Middle East treaty signing hang on the wall of the Oval Office, probably
    the Syrian track?
        The President. The next one out there? I hope it won't be too long.
    We are--the President just arrived, and we're looking forward to a
    conversation. And of course, we're going to have a press conference
    afterward, and we'll try to answer all your questions.
        Q. What is the agenda of the meeting today, Mr. President?
        The President. Excuse me?
        Q. What is the agenda of the meeting?
        The President. We're going to discuss a whole range of things, our
    bilateral relationship, issues in the Middle East. I've been very
    impressed with the leadership that President Mubarak has continued to
    show in the last several months. And I'm looking forward to listening,
    asking him a lot of questions and listening, and then having a chance to
    share some ideas. And then we'll have the press conference and do our
    best to answer your questions.
        Q. I have only one question, please, President Clinton. Will the
    United States try to convince Prime Minister Netanyahu to respect
    agreements that the Israel Government--not the Labor Party, but the
    Israel Government--have signed and redeploy the Israel troops from
    Hebron. The second point, also, to negotiate about Jerusalem and also to
    try to stop sealing off every time, and every now and then, the Gaza
    Strip.
        The President. Well, let me say, first of all, he reaffirmed to me
    when he was here, and he has met with President Mubarak as well, that he
    would honor the Oslo accords in every way. So I think we have to give
    him a chance to do that and work on that assumption. I believe that
    the--I think that the government is bound to honor commitments that it
    has made, and I believe that it will and I certainly believe it should.
    And so we'll just have to--we'll see. But we're going to discuss that
    today, and again, we'll be able to answer more questions at the press
    conference, after we have our meeting.

    Note: The exchange began at 11:15 a.m. in the Oval Office at the White
    House. In his remarks, the President referred to Prime Minister Binyamin
    Netanyahu of Israel. A tape was not available for verification of the
    content of this exchange.