    [Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States: William J. Clinton (1997, Book I)]
    [May 19, 1997]
    [Pages 618-619]
    [From the U.S. Government Publishing Office www.gpo.gov]

    Remarks Prior to Discussions With NATO Secretary General Javier Solana
    and an Exchange With Reporters
    May 19, 1997

        President Clinton. Let me say that the United States is very, very
    appreciative of the leadership that Secretary General Solana has shown
    in negotiating this NATO-Russia Founding Act. We are excited about the
    partnership. It is consistent with what we believe NATO should be doing.
    It is consistent with our plans to expand NATO. And I think the
    Secretary General has done a marvelous job, and I'm looking forward to
    having this chance to talk with him about our meeting, I guess a week
    from today in Paris, to celebrate the NATO-Russia partnership and then,
    of course, the Madrid summit this summer.
        Secretary General Solana. Thank you very much, Mr. President, for
    your kind words. What you did is a prudent thing. [Laughter]
        President Clinton. Go ahead.

    NATO

        Q. Mr. President, not to put too much of a damper on your
    enthusiasm, but some people are quite critical of the--questioning this
    NATO expansion. They're saying it will create more tension and cost more
    money and give us less security in the long run. Can you give assurances
    that this is not the case?
        President Clinton. Well, it's a question of what you believe. I
    believe that we have had a long cold war and two world wars in the 20th
    century and a 19th century full of heartache and bloodshed because
    people were arguing over territory in Europe. And we now have a chance
    to create a European Continent where nation-states, for the first time,
    say they're going to respect each other's borders and work together on
    common security problems, as we are all doing together in Bosnia. And it
    seems to me, to find a framework which accomplishes that and which also
    keeps the United States and, I might add, Canada tied to the security
    and the freedom and the territorial integrity of Europe is an
    extraordinary achievement and gives us a chance to write a whole new
    chapter in the 21st century different from the one we have just written.
        So I just simply disagree with those; it's a difference of opinion.
    I think that we're right and I believe history will prove us right and
    I'm prepared to take the decisions and live with the consequences.

    Base Closings

        Q. Mr. President, do you feel, as the Secretary of Defense does,
    that more bases need to be closed, more military bases? That is a
    politically, of course, unpopular idea.
        President Clinton. I believe that the Secretary of Defense has done
    a good job on this quadrennial review. And what he has shown is the
    following: If we're going to keep a defense budget that is modest and
    take care of the men and women in uniform and continue to modernize our
    weapons system so we will maintain the kind of technological superiority
    we enjoyed in the Gulf war--and hopefully, never even have to fight a
    Gulf war again in the near future--to do that within the dollars
    available, we're going to have to continue to reorganize the military.
    And he's going to present that to the Congress and we will debate it and
    discuss it, but I think there are going to have to be some difficult
    decisions in the future. We can't balance the budget and continue to
    invest in the things that we need, whether it's new weapons systems or
    education, without continuing to restructure the underlying governmental
    support system.
        Let me remind you that on the civilian side we've reduced the size
    of the Federal Government by 300,000 since 1993, and as a percentage of
    the civilian work force, it's now as small as it was in 1933 when
    President Roosevelt took office before the New Deal. So this is a
    restructuring that you see going on all over the world; it has to be
    done in America in the Government, and the Defense Department can't be
    fully exempt from it. They've managed it brilliantly, and I think
    they've done a good job. And it's not just the Secretary of Defense;
    it's also the Joint Chiefs. They've all worked on this. They believe
    it's in our national security interests, and I'm going to do my best to
    be supportive.

    [[Page 619]]

    Most-Favored-Nation Trade Status for China

        Q. Mr. President, supporting MFN for China, how will you reconcile
    that support with the human rights record of China?
        President Clinton. I think we're more likely--as I've said
    repeatedly, I think we're more likely to have a positive influence on
    China by engaging them than we are by trying to isolate them. I think
    it's a simple judgment.

    Russia-NATO Agreement

        Q. Boris Yeltsin said today that he would reconsider his agreement
    with NATO if former republics like the Baltic States were to join NATO.
    Is it of concern to you?
        President Clinton. I think--look, let's just take this--we're moving
    in the right direction. We've got an agreement that speaks for itself
    with Russia. And if we can continue to work with a democratic free
    Russia led by a man like Boris Yeltsin, I think you'll see a more
    peaceful world. And I think we'll harmonize these things as we go along.
    You can't resolve every issue at every moment. We're moving in the right
    direction, and I'm quite comfortable that we're going to get there.

    Note: The President spoke at 1:15 p.m. in the Oval Office at the White
    House. In his remarks, he referred to President Boris Yeltsin of Russia.
    A tape was not available for verification of the content of these
    remarks.