[Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents Volume 29, Number 14 (Monday, April 12, 1993)]
[Pages 532-534]
[Online from the Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]

<R04>
Remarks and an Exchange With Reporters in Vancouver

 April 3, 1993

    The President. Thank you very much. I want to begin by thanking the 
Prime Minister and Canada for hosting this meeting between President 
Yeltsin and me. I want to thank also the Prime Minister for his 
leadership in support of the process of democracy and reform in Russia 
and the Canadian effort to support that process, which has recently been 
announced. We have worked together very, very closely in the last few 
weeks to mobilize support among the G-7 for the process of democracy and 
reform. And he deserves a good share of credit for many of the positive 
actions which will be taken in the days and weeks ahead. I thank him for 
that and for hosting this. And I look forward to the meeting with 
President Yeltsin.

Aid to Russia

    Q. Mr. President, there's some concern that any U.S. aid or any 
Western aid that may pour into Russia now could be wasted. Is there a 
danger at this point that you could actually give Russia too much 
Western aid?
    The President. Well, I guess there are two concerns that you might 
have. One is that any aid itself might not be well spent. The other is 
that future political events might undermine the impact of the aid. As 
far as the second risk is concerned, that is there, it is clear. But you 
could say that about any effort we might make anywhere, including in our 
own country, that future events might undermine the impact of present 
action. We are proposing to take action to support democracy and to 
support economic reform.
    Now, in terms of making sure the money is spent properly, that it's 
the right kind of aid, I have spent a significant amount of time on 
this. We have put together a very good team. I will be consulting in 
significant detail with President Yeltsin about this. I think that the 
kinds of things we propose to do are likely

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to have lasting and tangible impact, and the way we propose to do it 
will minimize the chance that the money will be squandered.
    Q. Does that mean control, sir, control on how the money is spent?
    The President. No. You'll see. We're working on it. I think you'll 
like it.
    Q. Mr. President, on the way over here, President Yeltsin mentioned 
a figure of $100 billion in connection with the cost that Germany had to 
pay for East Germany. Is that a realistic figure in your mind?
    The President. Well, he didn't mention it. I know what he said when 
he got here, and he went out of his way to say that the amount of money 
wasn't as important as the kind of support. Germany had to spend a lot 
of money on Germans to integrate their country. It's a different and I 
don't think entirely analogous situation.
    I believe what you will see building up over the next few weeks is a 
very significant effort by the G-7 and perhaps by other countries as 
well to support a long-term process of development in Russia. To go back 
to the first question, it is important that the efforts that are made be 
targeted and be designed to produce and support reform and lasting and 
tangible benefits to the people in Russia in ways that help the security 
and the economy of all the countries that are helping. So I think I look 
at this as a long-term effort, and I think it would be a mistake to put 
a short-term dollar figure on it.
    Yes, Mark [Mark Miller, Newsweek].

The Summit

    Q. How much pressure do you feel under going into this two-day 
event? And what are the big unanswered questions in your mind, the 
things that, despite all your preparation, you still don't know the 
answers to?
    The President. I don't feel under any pressure. I'm glad that this 
day has arrived. I welcome the chance that the United States has to 
support the millions of courageous people in Russia who have stood up 
for democracy and have had the courage to go through some very difficult 
times and, I might add, to support the people in the other newly 
independent states of the former Soviet Union who are going through 
equally difficult economic times and striving hard for democracy. I 
welcome that opportunity.
    The only unanswered questions I have are the same ones that you 
have. I don't know what's going to happen. None of us do. But I think 
that, I would just remind you all--it's something I said in my speech at 
Annapolis--in 1776 the United States adopted the Declaration of 
Independence. It was well over a decade before we actually settled on a 
Constitution and got around to electing a President.
    And the Russians are trying to undertake three fundamental changes 
at once: moving from a Communist to a market economy; moving from a 
tyrannical dictatorship to a democracy; and moving to an independent 
nation state away from having a great empire. And these are very 
difficult and unsettling times. But I think that the direction is clear, 
the direction that they ought to take, and I think we ought to support 
the direction. And I'm not troubled by the fact that I can't control 
that process or that I don't know the outcome of it. We just need to 
weigh in and do what we can to do what's right.

Aid to Russia

    Q. Mr. President, why don't the majority of Americans think we 
should be sending more aid to Russia?
    The President. I think there are probably two or three reasons. 
First of all, historically in our country, foreign aid has never been 
popular. And that's why I have gone out of my way to show that this is 
the establishment of a partnership which will be mutually beneficial. 
This is not in any way an act of charity that we are engaged in. It 
doesn't have anything to do with that.
    Secondly, the American people are preoccupied with their own 
problems. We've got one million fewer jobs in the private sector than we 
had 3 years ago. Unemployment is high. Incomes have been stagnant for 
years. We have serious challenges at home, and they want to know that 
we're putting those first.
    Then I think the third thing is the question that you asked in the 
beginning. They want to know that if there were efforts to make sure 
that the money is well spent and is in the long-term benefit of both 
countries.

[[Page 534]]

    Q. Are both of you confident that you can get Japan on side with 
some big bucks for this venture and to ignore the Northern Islands 
issue?
    The President. Well, let me say this. I had a very good talk with 
Prime Minister Miyazawa last night. The Japanese have been very 
forthcoming as the leaders of the G-7. This is their year to lead, and 
they are leading. They are hosting this meeting of the finance and 
foreign ministers on the 14th and 15th, and I believe that they will 
fulfill their leadership role. I'm encouraged.
    Thank you very much.

Note: The President spoke at 11:39 a.m. at the Mackenzie House at the 
University of British Columbia. A tape was not available for 
verification of the content of these remarks.