    [Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States: William J. Clinton (1999, Book I)]
    [February 23, 1999]
    [Pages 239-240]
    [From the U.S. Government Publishing Office www.gpo.gov]

    Remarks Prior to a Meeting With Congressional Leaders and an Exchange
    With Reporters
    February 23, 1999

        The President. I'd like to make a very brief statement, and then
    we'll take a couple of questions. And as you know, you'll get to ask the
    leaders questions after the meeting, and we've got a lot of work to do.
    But I think it's important to--first of all, I want to say how pleased I
    am to have the whole leadership here, how much I appreciate their coming
    down. We've got a lot to discuss, and I'm looking forward to it.

    Kosovo Peace Talks

        I'd like to make just a couple of comments about the peace talks at
    Rambouillet on Kosovo. They made a lot of progress; they've got about a
    40-page document which describes in greater detail than ever before what
    the nature of an

    [[Page 240]]

    autonomous Kosovo within Serbia would be like. And that's the good news.
        There are still some important disagreements. The Serbs have still
    not agreed to a NATO-led multinational force to try to maintain the
    peace over a 3-year period. The Kosovars still want some sort of
    assurance of a referendum at the end of the 3-year period, and neither
    side will agree to the other's position on that. And so we're working
    through that today, hoping for a resolution.
        I talked to Secretary Albright
    last night. Whatever happens today and however they agree to proceed, I
    think it's very important that the Serbs exercise restraint on the
    ground and that the Kosovars respond in kind. They've made a lot of
    progress, and they don't need to let this thing get away from them. And
    we'll keep watching it, and I expect there will be more news on it as
    the day breaks.
        Q. Will you extend the deadline again, sir; is that it?
        The President. No, I don't know. That's up to the parties. I hope
    that they'll be able to resolve what they're going to do today. I think
    there will be some sort of resolution about where to go from here today,
    and we'll just have to see.
        Q. But no bombings?
        The President. Well, whether NATO bombs or not, the Secretary
    General has the authority in his pocket now.
    That depends upon the actions of the Serbs. And what we need is
    continued restraint. But as I said, they made a lot of progress; they
    had these two big differences, each side having one condition the other
    won't agree to. So we'll just have to see where we go today.
        Q. Mr. President, Senator Lott expressed concern about a costly,
    open-ended, no-defined-peacekeeping mission. What kind of reassurances
    can you give him on that point?
        The President. Well, I think that what we learned in Bosnia was that
    we shouldn't set a date certain and later find out we can't meet it and
    have people feel that they've been misled. I don't want to do that. So I
    think the important thing to do is to have an exit strategy based on
    benchmarks, on developments. And then if the Congress agrees with the
    benchmarks, that those are reasonable standards, then I think we can
    have an open relationship that has some credibility in the agreements
    between the Congress and the executive branch.
        In terms of paying for it, I think in this fiscal year, whatever we
    have to do, we would need emergency funding because we're in a fiscal
    year where the Defense budget is already set. In the years ahead, I
    would expect that we would have to work that into the budget, and I
    think that's what the Congress leaders--Congress, as far as I know in
    both parties--have expected us to do, because they don't want the
    Pentagon to have to absorb these costs away from readiness and taking
    care of our people in the military.

    Cooperation With Republicans

        Q. Mr. President, these Republican leaders all voted to oust you
    from office. How can you work with them?
        The President. We all took an oath, and I think we intend to follow
    it. We owe it to the American people, and I'm looking forward to it.

    Note: The President spoke at 9:15 a.m. in the Oval Office at the White
    House. In his remarks, the President referred to NATO Secretary General
    Javier Solana. A tape was not available for verification of the content
    of these remarks.