[Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States: William J. Clinton (1997, Book I)]
[June 20, 1997]
[Pages 772-773]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office www.gpo.gov]



Remarks Prior to Discussions With President Jacques Chirac of France and 
an Exchange With Reporters in Denver
June 20, 1997

Proposed Tobacco Agreement

    President Clinton. Let me say, first of all, I'm delighted to see 
President Chirac again, and I want to compliment him again on his 
leadership in Paris recently when we signed the NATO-Russia Founding 
Act. I have asked for his indulgence so that I can make a brief 
statement about the settlement which was announced in the tobacco case.
    You all remember that it was, I think, a little less than a year ago 
that the Food and Drug Administration announced its proposed rule to 
restrain the marketing, access, and sales of tobacco to children in the 
United States. The jurisdiction of the FDA subsequently was upheld in 
court, and I believe that it was those developments which gave rise to 
the willingness of tobacco companies to engage in talks with the States 
and the other parties.
    They have now reached a proposed settlement. And the first thing I'd 
like to do is to compliment the attorneys general and the others who 
were involved in the suit for their work to advance the cause of 
protecting the public health and protecting our children. Now what we 
have to do is to subject this proposed agreement to strict scrutiny.
    I have asked my Domestic Policy Adviser, Bruce Reed, and Secretary 
Shalala to head up an administration team to review this agreement very, 
very carefully. And they will do that in a matter of weeks, not months. 
But I want them to take an adequate amount of time.
    And I want to assure you that my standard will be what it always has 
been: We must judge this agreement based on whether it advances the 
public health and will reduce the number of children who are smoking 
cigarettes. And we will look at it from that point of view. But I do 
want to congratulate the parties for reaching this agreement, and I'm 
looking forward to looking into it.
    Q. What's your first take on it, Mr. President? Does it look pretty 
good, or are there certain areas that you have reservations--
[inaudible]?
    President Clinton. Well, what--the money--of course, it's an 
enormous amount of money. And apparently, quite a bit was added just in 
the last few days. I don't know much more about it than that. I would 
say this--what I want to look at is two things, principally, from the--
[inaudible]--point of view: What is the scope of the FDA's jurisdiction? 
What is the capacity of the FDA, for example, to deal with nicotine 
levels in cigarettes, things of that kind? And then the second issue is, 
how is this money going to be paid in and spent over this period of 
time? What is the spending? Will it really advance the public health?
    And of course, then there's some other nonfinancial issues: What are 
the nature of the warnings that they've agreed to? I've heard a little 
about that. But I have had no opportunity to really even see a summary 
of this agreement. So the number one thing for us would be the scope and 
nature of the FDA jurisdiction and then how will the money be spent? 
Will it really advance the public health?
    Thank you.

Romania and NATO Expansion

    Q. President Chirac, what is your position, and will you be talking 
to President Clinton about Romania's membership in NATO? Would you 
prefer Romania to be allowed into NATO right now?
    President Chirac. I think it's in the interest of the world and in 
the interest of Romania to be part of the first set of countries 
admitted into expanded NATO, and I will certainly be presenting this 
viewpoint, which I think is fair and normal.

Middle East Peace Process

    Q. Mr. President, you evidently got a bad report from President 
Mubarak on Mideast peacemaking. Are you bringing some urgent message to 
the President that the U.S. should redouble its efforts? Are you unhappy 
with the slow state of play?
    President Chirac. This is a subject that I will be discussing with 
President Clinton. I am, in fact, worried about the situation in the 
Middle East.

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

[[Page 773]]

    Q. Mr. President, can we ask you a question, please?

Visit of President Chirac

    President Clinton. Yes. Before you do, let me say, first, I want to 
welcome President Chirac to the United States again and thank him for 
the wonderful job that he did in hosting the NATO meeting in Paris where 
we announced the historic partnership with Russia. I would also like to 
thank him for the work that we are doing together in so many parts of 
the world and especially on behalf of the American people to thank him 
for the help that France gave in the evacuation of American citizens in 
Brazzaville. We were very grateful for that.

The European Economy

    Q. I would like to ask you, what's going to be your message to the 
French and to the Europeans regarding the economy? Do you have something 
special to say about how to have a better economy for Europe?
    President Clinton. I don't think there is a uniform answer for one 
country you can apply to another. But I think that the trick is how do 
you have enough fiscal discipline and flexibility to grow jobs and have 
economic growth while still preserving an adequate safety net for people 
who deserve their support.
    You know, the French have a lot of things that we Americans admire, 
a wonderful network of child care, for example, for working families, a 
provision for health insurance for all families. The question is, how 
can you preserve the essentials that make a society whole and give it 
integrity and have it be open and flexible enough to grow?
    And this question will have to be answered a little differently, I 
think, in every country. But perhaps if we all work together in good 
faith, we can all make progress. The United States has a very great 
interest in economic growth in France and, indeed, in Europe at large. I 
have always supported that.

Africa

    Q. Mr. President, are you planning, with President Chirac, are both 
of you trying to reshuffle the cards in Africa?
    President Clinton. Well, I have always been impressed with President 
Chirac's leadership in Africa and his passionate devotion to it. And I 
can tell you that in every private conversation we've ever had that 
lasted more than 30 seconds, he's brought Africa up.
    We have a proposal. We hope we can work together as we have in 
different ways in emergencies, in Sierra Leone, in Brazzaville, or the 
former Zaire. We hope we can work together to really do something for 
Africa.
    You know, there are several countries in Africa that had growth 
rates of over 7 percent last year, 48 democracies now, and the rest of 
the world simply can't walk away from it. We need a balance of aid and 
trade. And we are prepared in the United States to do more. France has 
always been a leader, and I hope that together we can persuade other 
countries to join us.

NATO Expansion

    Q. Do you think that it's possible to get an agreement of expansion 
of NATO with President Clinton before the Madrid summit? Is that 
possible?
    President Chirac. I hope so, and I believe so.
    President Clinton. Thank you.

Note: The President spoke at 2:50 p.m. at the Brown Palace Hotel. 
President Chirac spoke in French, and his remarks were translated by an 
interpreter.