[Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents Volume 29, Number 35 (Monday, September 6, 1993)]
[Pages 1682-1684]
[Online from the Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]

<R04>
Remarks Prior to Discussions With Prime Minister Viktor Chernomyrdin of 
Russia and an Exchange With Reporters

 September 2, 1993

    The President. I would like to make just a brief comment, if I 
might, and then I'll take a couple of questions.
    I want to welcome Prime Minister Chernomyrdin here to the United 
States. We clearly recognize that his support for President Yeltsin's 
reform program has been essential to its success and will continue to be 
essential to its success. And we're very grateful that he's here.
    I also want to express my appreciation to the Prime Minister and to 
Vice President Gore for successfully concluding the first round of talks 
and agreements under the Commission on Economic and Technological 
Cooperation that grew out of my meeting with President Yeltsin in 
Vancouver. They have signed just now, as all of you know,

[[Page 1683]]

some very exciting agreements which will permit us to cooperate with 
Russia in space. Russia has agreed to observe the principles of the 
Missile Technology Control Regime, which is something the United States 
very much appreciates. We are going to work together on matters of 
energy and environmental protection, which I think will be very helpful 
to Russia's long-term development and also help with American business. 
And in general, I think this is the beginning of a lot more 
opportunities for mutual trade and investment between our two countries.
    So I'm personally very happy about this. And because of the efforts 
of the Prime Minister and the Vice President, this first step has 
exceeded my expectations considerably, and I'm very, very appreciative.

Health Care Reform

    Q. Sir, on health care, are short-term price controls now dead?
    The President. Well, they never were alive. I never embraced them. 
They have been discussed. What I think you have to acknowledge is that 
the pharmaceutical companies and the industry as a whole and other 
segments of the health care providers have voluntarily offered, during 
the course of this debate, to keep their prices within inflation for a 
year or two as we get up and get going the health care reform package. 
And I think they should be given the opportunity to adhere to the 
commitment that they've made.
    And so, my own view is--I've never been particularly hot on price 
controls. I believe in budgets, and I believe we have to limit the 
amount of growth and the revenues we're spending on health care, both 
public and private. So I want to point out that, as all of you know, in 
the last budget, you've got a decline in defense, flat domestic 
spending. Medicare and Medicaid is going up. It's someplace between 11 
and 15 percent in the first year, down to 9 to 11 percent in the 5th 
year of the budget, and still going up way too much. So we're going to 
bring it down. But I don't think we have to have a bureaucratic system 
of price controls to do it.
    Q. Sir, what about the senior citizens groups that are afraid that 
Medicare is going to be squeezed under the plan that will be announced?
    The President. Under our plan, as you know because we've talked 
about it for a long time, we want to phase in a more comprehensive plan 
of long-term care for the elderly as well as access to medicine for 
people on Medicare who aren't quite poor enough to be on Medicaid and 
can't afford their drug bills. We're having a lot of extra costs in our 
health care system because senior citizens can't get the drugs that they 
need. So senior citizens will come out way ahead.
    It is not logical, with inflation at 3 percent and the population 
growth of Medicare and Medicaid between 1 and 1\1/2\ percent, to have 
those programs going up between 12 and 16 percent a year. That's not 
right and it's not necessary, and we can do much, much better. And from 
those savings in the rate of increase--we're not talking about cutting 
the programs, we're talking about slowing the rate of increase--we can 
fund the drug and long-term care programs, which is what I propose to 
do.

Bosnia

    Q. With the collapse of the Bosnian peace talks, are you going to 
repropose lifting the arms embargo on the Bosnian Muslims and the air 
strikes?
    The President. Let me answer the question in two parts, if I might. 
First of all, they are stalled. I don't believe they are collapsed. The 
United States will do everything we can in the next few days to get the 
parties to resume the talks in good faith.
    Secondly, if while the talks are in abeyance there is abuse by those 
who would seek to interfere with the humanitarian aid, attack the 
protected areas, and resume the sustained shelling of Sarajevo, for 
example, then first I would remind you that the NATO military option is 
very much alive. And secondly, I would say, as you know, I have always 
favored lifting the arms embargo. I think the policy of the United 
Nations as it applies to that government is wrong. But I am in the 
minority; I don't know that I can prevail. But our allies have said 
repeatedly that they don't want to totally eliminate the arms embargo if 
the present state of play is sufficiently abused by other parties. So 
yes, it's still on

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the table, but I think that the sequence should be let's try to get the 
peace talks started again. Let's remember that there is a NATO option 
that is very much alive if there is an interruption of the present state 
of play that is sufficiently severe.

[At this point, a question was asked and answered in Russian.]

    Q. Mr. President, a Russian journalist.
    The President. A Russian journalist?

Russia-U.S. Relations

    Q. Yes. When can be expected the lifting of these old restrictions 
and barriers to the trade and cooperation between Russia and the United 
States back from the cold war period?
    The President. When the Congress comes back into town next Tuesday, 
we have a list of approximately 60 pieces of legislation that we would 
like to see repealed. And we believe there will be broad bipartisan 
support from both Republicans and Democrats in the Congress for moving 
this legislation through. So I think you will see quick legislative 
action on a whole broad range of issues to recognize the fact that 
Russia is a democracy, is working with us, and that we are moving 
forward together. And I look forward to pushing that package very 
aggressively.

Vietnam

    Q. You mentioned the Bosnia arms embargo. Within the next couple of 
weeks people expect you to lift the embargo against Vietnam. Have you 
made a decision, sir, and have you discussed with the Prime Minister--
what have you discussed about the possibility of American POW's in the 
Soviet Union?
    The President. We're going to go visit. We haven't discussed 
anything about anything yet. We're just about to start our meeting. And 
I've reached no further decisions about Vietnam.

Middle East Peace Talks

    Q. On the Middle East, you will be discussing, I'm sure, that with 
Russia, that played a major role. What is the latest development that 
you know of? Are you very optimistic on the Middle East?
    The President. I'm still hopeful. The parties, I think, have been 
quite candid with the public and the press about some continuing 
difficulties. But they're really working hard and with great candor, I 
think, with one another. I'm hopeful. We've been up the hill and down 
the hill before with the Middle East, but these people are really 
working at it, and I think their hearts as well as their minds are in 
it. I think we should keep our fingers crossed. The United States will 
continue to do what we have done. We're just a sponsor of this process. 
They will have to make the agreement. And I think there's reason for 
hope.
    Thank you.

Note: The President spoke at 12:15 p.m. in the Rose Garden at the White 
House. A tape was not available for verification of the content of these 
remarks.