[Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents Volume 33, Number 14 (Monday, April 7, 1997)]
[Pages 453-455]
[Online from the Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]

<R04>
Remarks Prior to Discussions With Prime Minister Antonio Guterres of 
Portugal and an Exchange With Reporters

April 3, 1997

    The President. Let me say it's a great honor for the United States 
to have Prime Minister Guterres here from Portugal. We are immensely 
grateful to Portugal for many things and our partnerships.
    But I would especially mention their peacekeeping role as a nation 
in Bosnia and Africa, the work we've done together in the United 
Nations, the work we are going to discuss today regarding NATO. And we 
appreciate the very progressive and strong leadership the Prime Minister 
has given to his nation. So I'm looking forward to this, and it's been 
too long coming but I'm very glad to have you here.
    Would you like to say anything?
    Prime Minister Guterres. Well, first of all, let me say how happy 
and proud I am to accept the invitation of President Clinton. Portugal, 
as you know, is very much in favor of a united Europe, but we want a 
Europe that preserves its Atlantic character. And for us, the 
relationship between Europe and the United States is an extremely 
important part of our own way of life. And this is relevant in 
economics, in culture, in people-to-people contacts, and also in defense 
and security.
    We want NATO to go on as the basic framework for European security, 
and we consider that the United States has an irreplaceable role in the 
guarantee of European security. And we are very happy with the 
partnership that we have been able to establish in the past, and we are 
looking forward to improve as much as possible our bilateral relations 
that have been excellent, as a matter of fact, in the past.
    President Clinton's ideas have been very inspiring to our own 
programs, and we hope to go on doing our best to take profit of your 
initiatives, your ideas, your policies.

Russia and NATO Expansion

    Q. And you also are in favor of expansion of NATO, and what kind of 
an agreement, charter are you going to have with Russia?

[[Page 454]]

    Prime Minister Guterres. Well, I think that the expansion of NATO 
is--as the expansion of the European Union, it's a basic condition for 
democracy, for peace and stability in Central and Eastern European 
countries.
    And as for Portugal, it has been extremely important 10 or 15 years 
ago to consolidate our democracy. I think the same right must be granted 
to those new democracies in Eastern Europe. Of course, we understand 
that it is very important to preserve the very special relationship with 
the new Russia.
    I once heard Vice President Al Gore telling me that he looked at the 
enlargement of NATO and relations with Russia like the coupling of two 
space ships and the need to put them in the same orbit. I think this is 
a very good idea, and I think it's what effectively is being done now 
with the recent contacts in Helsinki and all the preparatory work that 
is going on.
    I hope that one day in the future NATO and Russia can be allies, 
defending the values of enlightenment against all the irrational 
behaviors in the modern world, irrational behaviors based on extreme 
nationalism, religious fundamentalism, and all other things that should 
not exist in a modern world.

Webster Hubbell

    Q. Mr. President, earlier this year when asked about the $100,000 
Lippo payment to Webb Hubbell, you said, ``I can't imagine who could 
have ever arranged to do something improper like that, and no one around 
here knows about it.'' Were the phone calls----
    The President. That's not what I said.
    Q. Let me ask this question----
    The President. I don't believe that's exactly what I said.
    Q. Let me ask you this, Mr. President. Were the phone calls made by 
Mack McLarty and Erskine Bowles proper or improper? And if you knew 
about them, should you have put a stop to them?
    The President. Well, first of all, let's go back to what you said 
before. I believe what I said was that I was unaware of the Lippo 
contract until it became public. And I believe that's all I said. I 
rendered no judgment on it one way or the other.
    Secondly, I do not believe they were improper. From what I know 
about them, they were just--they were people who were genuinely 
concerned that there was a man who was out of work, who had four 
children. And as I understand it, they were trying to help him for no 
other reason than just out of human compassion.
    Secondly, let me remind you of the critical fact. At the time that 
it was done, no one had any idea about whether any--what the nature of 
the allegations were against Mr. Hubbell or whether they were true. 
Everybody thought there was some sort of billing dispute with his law 
firm. And that's all anybody knew about it. So, no, I do not think they 
did anything improper.

Campaign Documents

    Q. Mr. President, Harold Ickes took a carload of documents away from 
the campaign. National Archives says it was your call. Did you give him 
permission to take all of those papers from the campaign?
    The President. I don't remember being asked about it one way or the 
other. I don't remember being asked about it.
    Q. Do you care?
    The President. Well, I didn't know it was my call to care. I don't 
remember being asked about it. I'd have to know more about it before I 
could answer that question.

[At this point, one group of reporters left the room, and another group 
entered.]

Visit of Prime Minister Guterres

    The President. Let me begin by saying it's a great honor for the 
United States and for me personally to have the Prime Minister here 
today. We are very proud of our friendship with Portugal. Our 
partnership, our alliance is very important to us. We are especially 
grateful for the leadership that Portugal has evidenced in peacekeeping 
in Bosnia, in Africa, in the United Nations, in our discussions about 
the role of NATO in the future and the expansion of NATO. And I have 
looked forward to this meeting for a long time, and I'm anxious to have 
it with the Prime Minister.
    And I think I'd like to give the Prime Minister a chance to make a 
few remarks, and

[[Page 455]]

then if you have a question or two, we'll try to answer them.
    Prime Minister Guterres. Well, first of all let me say how happy and 
proud I am to have been able to accept this kind invitation of President 
Clinton. This is a very exciting moment for the Atlantic community, and 
we have many things to discuss about our common interests in regards to 
the relations between Europe and the United States, at the level of the 
European Union, NATO, NATO's enlargement, relations with Russia, and 
also doing our best to improve the excellent bilateral relations that we 
have between the United States and Portugal. So it's really a very good 
opportunity for us also to discuss some of the very inspiring ideas that 
President Clinton has introduced in the world political debate.

East Timor

    Q. Mr. President, do you plan to review the United States position 
on the incorporation of its East Timor at any stage, sir?
    The President. What about East Timor?
    Q. At the moment, the U.S. recognizes the incorporation of East 
Timor without maintaining that legitimate act of self-determination took 
place. Do you plan to review this position once it has about, I think, 
about quite a couple of years?
    The President. Well, my main concern now is to make sure that we 
have done everything we can possibly do to respect the political and 
human rights of the people in East Timor. And the United States has 
been--particularly since I became President, has been very forthright on 
that subject. And I know that Portugal has as well and has a longer 
attachment than we do there. So that's one of the things I want to talk 
to the Prime Minister about, about what we can do to further the cause 
of human rights for the people of East Timor.
    Q. But Mr. President, you told Senator Feingold, regarding a 
proposal for a referendum in East Timor for self-determination, that you 
would take his idea into consideration in a letter you sent him late 
last year. What does that mean exactly? Does that mean that a review of 
that position is possible? Could you explain the meaning of it?
    The President. It means that I think we should do whatever is most 
likely to give us sufficient influence to guarantee basic human rights 
protections for the people of East Timor. And we have to do what we 
think is most likely to achieve our overriding objective, which is to 
give those people a chance to have the lives of decency and integrity. 
And sometimes what seems obvious is maybe not the best course, and we're 
reviewing what our options are. That's what it means.
    Q. Isn't self-determination the ultimate human right?
    The President. Well, that depends. That's a very complicated 
question. We fought a civil war over it.

Note: The President spoke at 12:20 p.m. in the Diplomatic Reception Room 
at the White House. A tape was not available for verification of the 
content of these remarks.