    [Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States: William J. Clinton (1999, Book I)]
    [June 18, 1999]
    [Pages 959-960]
    [From the U.S. Government Publishing Office www.gpo.gov]

    Exchange With Reporters Prior to Discussions With Prime Minister Keizo
    Obuchi of Japan in Cologne, Germany
    June 18, 1999

        Prime Minister Obuchi. I look forward very much to meeting you again
    next summer, in July, when we host the Kyushu-Okinawa summit. I hope to
    see you there.
        President Clinton. And I'm very pleased that it's going to be in
    Okinawa. That's great.

    Gun Control Legislation

        Q. Mr. President, as you know, Dingell won and McCarthy lost, and
    the NRA is crowing that they beat you. What's your reaction?
        President Clinton. They did. But they didn't beat me; they beat the
    American people. When the NRA got the House leadership to put the vote
    off a month, past the Memorial Day recess, so that the memories of
    Littleton would fade and they could wear the Members out--from these
    districts where they were vulnerable--they were given a terrific
    advantage. And they did what they always do with backroom politics; they
    made the most of it.
        But I noticed even last night they kept putting the vote off. When
    did they vote, 1:30 a.m.? After, so it wouldn't be on the evening news,
    in the hope that no one would find out that they are still running the
    Congress, this Congress, for their own convenience, instead of for the
    interest of the people.
        They did win, and it's a great tribute to their money and their
    power. But it's not a tribute to the children or the future of America.
    So one more time the Congress of the United States, with the majority in
    the lead, says, ``We don't care what's necessary to protect our
    children. We can't possibly bear to make anyone in the NRA mad.'' And
    the American people are going to have to send them a signal some way or
    another. Because the NRA can always produce several hundred telephone
    calls for every one an ordinary citizen would make. The people who feel
    strongly about this are not organized. They don't have a lot of money,
    and they don't normally threaten people in public life the way the NRA
    threatens them.
        So now they say, ``Okay, if you go to a gun show and you'd rather
    not have your background checked, just walk outside and swap guns and
    money, and everything is fine.'' I think when the American people figure
    out what they did in the dead of night, they will be bitterly
    disappointed; they'll be shaking their head; and they'll wonder what in
    the world is going on in Washington. What is going on is business as
    usual. And it was a great victory for the NRA, but it was a great defeat
    for the safety of our children.
        There's a reason they did this at 1:30 a.m. They will never be able
    to explain why it's okay not to have a background check if these guys go
    outside, or why it's okay to have a background check that the FBI has
    already told them will let over 20 percent more criminals get handguns.
    They'll never be able to defend it, so they did it at 1:30 a.m.

    NATO-Russia Negotiations on Kosovo

        Q. Mr. President, what do you hear from Helsinki this morning?
        President Clinton. That they're still working, that they've got
    almost all the issues resolved, that there are still some matters still
    to be resolved. When I was briefed this morning it didn't seem to me
    that it would take too much longer, given the nature of the issues.
        Q. Mr. President--[inaudible]--you and President Yeltsin to solve
    the issue?
        President Clinton. Well, I think the important thing right now,
    insofar as possible, is to focus on making decisions that will work. I
    don't think that--it may be necessary for this to be resolved

    [[Page 960]]

    not only at our level but the involvement of Prime Minister
    Blair, President Chirac, Chancellor Schroeder,
    and others. But I don't think so, I think the Defense Ministers are
    working. Secretary Cohen is consulting,
    basically, all the time with our Defense Ministers and NATO.
        The thing that I think we need to focus on is what is necessary to
    make this work. You know, you folks have done--the news media has done a
    stunning job in the last day or two in reporting what our people are
    finding, now that they're finally in Kosovo, about the dimensions of the
    wholesale slaughter that went on there. We must not make any decisions
    which will, in any way, shape, or form, undermine the ability of the
    Kosovars or the willingness of the Kosovars to come home.
        So we can work through all this. We want to protect the Serb
    minority; they deserve that. We want this to be a balanced force. But we
    have got to achieve our objectives. And certainly the horrible, horrible
    stories that have been coming out in vivid detail in the last 2 days
    should reinforce that in the minds of all of us, including, I would
    hope, the Russians. So I expect we'll get this worked out today.

    Economic Recovery in Japan

        Q. Mr. President, do you think the Japanese economy has turned the
    corner with the strong--[inaudible]----
        President Clinton. [Inaudible]--they had good news. I certainly hope
    so. I want to talk to the Prime Minister about it. His opinion would be
    better than mine, but I was thrilled by their economic performance in
    the last quarter. And I think it's a tribute to the steadfast economic
    reform program of the Prime Minister. I hope that they will be able to
    keep doing that. I think it's good for the world for Japan to have this
    kind of growth. And the United States should welcome it, too, because as
    one part of it, as you probably know, is that there has been a
    substantial drop in the trade deficit we had with steel, imported
    Japanese steel which, as you know, has been a huge bone of contention in
    America.
        So I hope we can keep making progress on that, and I hope they can
    keep growing, because I think it's good for the world, as well as for
    the Japanese people.
        Q. So do you think Mr. Obuchi's economic policies are paying off
    now, with the 7.9 percent economic growth----
        President Clinton.  It's very good news. I know that he wants to see
    it continue, and so do I. But I think--you know, this is good news. The
    people of Japan have endured a lot of disappointing quarters. They must
    be very happy about this, and the people in the United States, we're all
    pulling and hoping that this is a trend and that we'll see more of it.

    Note: The exchange began at 10:21 a.m. at the Hyatt Regency Hotel. In
    his remarks, the President referred to President Boris Yeltsin of
    Russia; Prime Minister Tony Blair of the United Kingdom; President
    Jacques Chirac of France; and Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder of Germany. A
    tape was not available for verification of the content of this exchange.