[Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents Volume 32, Number 47 (Monday, November 25, 1996)]
[Pages 2407-2408]
[Online from the Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]

<R04>
Exchange With Reporters Prior to a Meeting With Prime Minister John 
Howard of Australia in Canberra, Australia

November 20, 1996

[The exchange is joined in progress.]

President's Cup Golf Tournament

    Prime Minister Howard. ----I signed off a letter the other day 
trying to--and we're very keen for it to come here.
    President Clinton. I've told the PGA that I thought it was a good 
idea not to keep it always in the United States, that I thought it would 
be a good idea to bring it here.
    Prime Minister Howard. And we're rather hoping it will actually come 
to the ACT right here in Canberra because they have--well, they have one 
really outstanding course in Canberra as you'll find----
    President Clinton. I saw it today.
    We're talking about the President's Cup; you know, the golf 
tournament. The PGA is trying to arrange to have it in Australia 2 years 
from now.
    Prime Minister Howard. In '98. And naturally, in the lead-up to the 
Olympic games, if we can pull it off, we'll be delighted and very 
delighted to have the President's endorsement of the idea, too.
    President Clinton. I'm for it.
    Q. Will that change the rules to allow it?
    Prime Minister Howard. No.
    President Clinton. No. The Ryder Cup is an American-European 
contest, and it alternates. So we just had the President's Cup in the 
alternating years--in the alternating 2 years we don't have Ryder Cups. 
It's the American team against teams essentially from Australia, Japan, 
and the southern part of Africa and anyplace else in the Asia-Pacific 
region. So we're going to alternate it.
    Q. Who's the golf pro in your entourage, Mr. President?
    President Clinton. What do you mean?
    Q. There were reports----
    Q. [Inaudible]--golf and you brought a golf pro with you on Air 
Force One.
    President Clinton. To my knowledge, that is not so. [Laughter]
    Q. Would you have liked to?
    President Clinton. I would have, yes. I'm going to need all the help 
I can get tomorrow.

Zaire

    Q. Will you all talk about Zaire? Is that something that----
    President Clinton. Yes. And we will have a press conference later 
and answer all your questions. We want to.

President's Visit

    Prime Minister Howard. Yes, you'll have a good run. [Laughter]
    President Clinton. And I want you to have fun tonight.
    Q. We did the boat tour last night.
    President Clinton. You did?
    Q. You get to do it tonight. The press was taken out on the same 
boat last night.
    President Clinton. Good.
    Q. The view was spectacular.
    President Clinton. Did they tell you there were sharks in the water?
    Q. They told us they had sharks on deck. [Laughter]
    Prime Minister Howard. A lot in the water, too.
    President Clinton. In Sydney Harbor?
    Prime Minister Howard. Yes, seriously.
    President Clinton. So you don't want to fall in.

Note: The exchange began at 10:50 a.m. in the Prime Minister's Office at 
Parliament House. In

[[Page 2408]]

his remarks, the President referred to his scheduled golf game with 
Australian professional golfer Greg Norman. The exchange released by the 
Office of the Press Secretary did not include the complete opening 
remarks of the President and the Prime Minister. A tape was not 
available for verification of the content of this exchange.