[Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States: William J. Clinton (1997, Book I)]
[March 26, 1997]
[Pages 350-352]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office www.gpo.gov]



Remarks Prior to Discussions With President Alija Izetbegovic of 
Bosnia-Herzegovina and an Exchange With Reporters
March 26, 1997

    President Clinton. Let me say that it's a real pleasure for me to 
welcome President Izetbegovic back to the White House. I'm looking 
forward to this meeting and to getting an update on his efforts to 
complete the implementation of the Dayton accord. The United States 
remains committed to that and committed to supporting those in Bosnia 
who are working for that.
    And we still have an awful lot of work to do in the time remaining 
for our mission there on the security front, and then even beyond there 
will be a lot more to do. So I'm pleased to have him here, and I'm 
looking forward to our visit.

Middle East Peace Process

    Q. Mr. President, why did you send Dennis Ross to the Middle East?
    President Clinton. Because I'm concerned about the peace process, 
and we have been talking among ourselves here intensely over the last 
several days about whether there are some ideas we ought to advance with 
the Israelis and the Palestinians, and particularly what we can do to 
minimize the violence and to get the negotiations back going. So that's 
what--Dennis' trip is the product of our deliberations here, and we'll 
see what it produces.
    Q. What are you suggesting?

FBI and Alleged Chinese Efforts To Influence the 1996 Election

    Q. Mr. President, we never had a chance to ask you yesterday about 
your response to the possibility that FBI Director Louis Freeh withheld 
information that you might actually have needed to conduct policy. I was 
wondering if you have a response to that and what you're doing, if 
anything, to look into whether that actually occurred.
    President Clinton. Well, first of all, obviously I have no way of 
knowing--you don't know what you don't get. But if you look at the last 
several years, or just the last couple of years, we have worked with the 
FBI in areas that have both national security implications and the 
question of a crime that violates the criminal laws of the United 
States. The two most obvious and most recent cases are the Khobar Towers 
and the Atlanta bombing during the Olympics. And we worked with them on 
both cases.
    Now, they have dual obligations to share with the White House and 
with the State Department--the Secretary of State, where appropriate, 
information we need to protect and advance national security and to 
preserve the integrity of criminal investigations. And ultimately, those 
things almost have to be resolved on a case-by-case basis, where there 
is a doubt, by the Attorney General.
    And I'm confident that that is what has been and will continue to be 
done in this case. And that's really the best answer I can give you 
here.
    Q. Do you still have strong confidence in Louis Freeh to run the 
FBI?
    President Clinton. Yes, I have no basis--on the basis of this 
incident, I don't have any information at this time which would call 
into question that confidence. These are not always easy questions. And 
that's why the Attorney General has to resolve them when there is a real 
doubt. I just wanted--I wanted to make sure that the national security 
interests of the country have been fully taken into account and that 
there's really been an honest effort to look at all the evidence and to 
resolve it.
    I can't say that--to go back to your original question, since I 
don't know what was not given, I can't make a judgment about it.
    Q. Well, why----
    President Clinton. But I do know that the Attorney General was 
sensitive to it, and I believe will continue to make an effort to 
resolve the matters in the appropriate way.

[[Page 351]]

    Q. But there seems to be a--Mr. President, there seems to be a 
disconnect with what you get. I mean, it seems to me that they are not 
telling you a lot of things that you should know.
    President Clinton. Well, I'm concerned about that, as I said, but 
the only way we have of resolving that is through the Attorney General. 
And again, I've seen these suggestions in the press, but I don't know 
what the facts are. I think everyone understands that there are 
significant national security issues at stake here and that the White 
House, the National Security Council, and the Secretary of State, as 
well as the President, need to know when the national security issues 
are brought into play.
    And I have no reason--I have no evidence on which I could say that, 
that we have not been able to get the information we need. I know what I 
read in the press story, and I know that we have raised it with the 
Attorney General, and I believe that she will do the best she can to 
make the right decision.

Vice President's Visit to China

    Q. Mr. President, have you talked to Vice President Gore since he's 
been in China, sir?
    President Clinton. I haven't talked to him because of--I think he 
hasn't wanted to bother me because of my knee and the time differences, 
but I've gotten daily reports at least once and sometimes more than once 
a day on the Vice President's trip. And so far, I'm quite pleased with 
what I hear and what I have seen.
    And I've obviously gotten my daily reports and sometimes more on the 
First Lady's trip. And I'm quite pleased by what I have seen there as 
well.

Middle East Peace Process

    Q. Would you consider another emergency summit with the Mideast 
leaders?
    President Clinton. I don't want to comment anymore about anything I 
would consider on the Middle East until I hear back from Mr. Ross. He 
has very explicit instructions that he is implementing as a result of 
our meeting on this. And I want to see what happens as a result of that.
    But I'm concerned about it. I think everybody in the world who's 
worked for peace in the Middle East is concerned about it. We're all 
going to put our heads together and do the best we can.
    One more Bosnia question, yes.

Bosnian Peace Process

    Q. Mr. President, the peace process seems to be in trouble in 
Bosnia. Could you comment on that?
    President Clinton. Well, I'm going to talk to the President about 
what we can do to push it along. It's obviously going to take an effort 
on behalf of all parties. But the things that we knew from the beginning 
would be difficult, have been difficult. The resettlement issues, the 
return issues have been difficult.
    But I think it's important not to lose sight of what has been done 
and not to lose sight of the fact that there will be an international 
security presence there for quite some time yet, during which time we 
have to work hard to do as much as we possibly can to implement the 
Dayton agreement. And that's going to be my commitment and what I look 
forward to discussing with President Izetbegovic.
    Q. But you fully still expect U.S. troops to be out by June '98 as 
scheduled?
    President Clinton. I do. I think that in the--I think we all 
understood that we couldn't have an international security presence in a 
country forever. But on the other hand, I think we have to--we shouldn't 
focus so much on that now, as I have pleaded with everyone. We should 
focus on what's going to happen tomorrow and next week and next month 
and between now and the end of this year and in the months in 1998 that 
we have. We have--there is a lot of very specific work to be done that, 
if done and done right, will make it possible for the nation to succeed 
and for the people to be brought back into a more constructive 
cooperation and existence when we're gone.
    Q. How does the President of Bosnia--do you feel that way too? Do 
you feel hopeful?
    President Izetbegovic. Yes, I hope. First, I have to thank Mr. 
President for receiving me twice because of his leg.
    And we have some problems with the process of the Dayton--
implementation of Dayton, especially civil part of it is going slowly. 
And the implementation operation also is going slowly. We know that it 
is--that is--all that is our job firstly, primarily our job, but we need 
help of the States to push on the--and I am going to talk about this 
problem with Mr. President.
    Q. Do you think your country will be ready in a year and a half to 
exist on its own?

[[Page 352]]

    President Izetbegovic. I believe yes on condition--maybe on four 
conditions: If civil part of the Dayton agreement would be implemented, 
first; secondly, equip and train program also would be implemented; 
then, if--protocol about disarmament would be done; and an additional 
condition, maybe if Bosnia would be received in the Partnership of 
Peace. That's--on these four conditions, I believe that SFOR forces or 
foreign forces can leave Bosnia without big problems.
    President Clinton. Thank you all.
    President Izetbegovic. Some problems, maybe, but----
    President Clinton. Thank you.

Note: The President spoke at 11:29 a.m. in the Oval Office at the White 
House. In his remarks, President Clinton referred to Ambassador Dennis 
B. Ross, Special Middle East Coordinator. A tape was not available for 
verification of the content of these remarks.