[Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents Volume 34, Number 46 (Monday, November 16, 1998)]
[Pages 2291-2292]
[Online from the Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]

<R04>
Remarks in a Telephone Conversation With Tipper Gore on Hurricane Damage 
in Central America

November 10, 1998

    The President. Hello?
    Tipper Gore. Hello, Mr. President.
    The President. Hi, Tipper.
    Mrs. Gore. Hi, how are you? Thank you very much for the honor of 
leading the delegation. It's a privilege to bring the aid and the 
assistance to the people of Honduras. They need it. They have suffered 
an incredible amount of devastation, and they're very grateful for the 
$70 million and the additional $10 million that you authorized and that 
I was able to tell them about today.
    The President. Well, what have you seen?
    Mrs. Gore. Well, I took a helicopter tour along with the delegation 
of the area that had a great deal of devastation. We've seen communities 
and neighborhoods and entire areas wiped out. You can see that the base 
of their infrastructure is completely destroyed--farming, bridges 
knocked out. From the air I've seen dead animals, lots of vultures.
    But I can tell you something else that's very important, and that is 
that in working in a neighborhood outside the capital with people that 
so have an inspirational spirit, they have learned how to reorganize, 
and we all worked to help them clean the mud out of a schoolhouse so it 
can be converted for medical facilities, first and foremost.
    The President. That's really good. I wonder, what are your thoughts 
about how well we're doing in getting our aid down there, how we're 
going to handle extra volunteer help, all the other things you could do. 
What's the most important thing we could give next--that we should do 
next after the money that you brought down?
    Mrs. Gore. I think the most important thing--and they are very, very 
appreciative of the money that you authorized and we brought--but the 
next most important thing would probably be if some of the FEMA--the 
Spanish-speaking FEMA people who have worked in Puerto Rico and have 
experience after Hurricane Georges be sent over here in order to help, 
again, with the acute relief effort. I think that would be a tremendous 
asset if that could be arranged.
    The President. We'll arrange it.
    Mrs. Gore. That's wonderful. That's wonderful.
    The President. When you meet with the President and you finish your 
trip, I think when you come back, the thing that I think would be most 
helpful is if you could brief me and also brief Hillary before she goes 
down and be--let us know specifically what you really think we ought to 
do. I think everyone in the United States wants to do as much as we 
possible can to help, both in the immediate aftermath of this horrible 
tragedy and also for the long-term rebuilding.
    And so one of the reasons I was hoping that you could go is to get a 
firsthand feel for what's going on that even the pictures don't give us 
here or the telephone calls, and just let me know exactly what you think 
we ought to do.
    Mrs. Gore. Well, I will, and one thing I can tell you is this is a 
catastrophe of Biblical proportions. It's really unbelievable, and yet 
the spirit of the people is inspirational. And I will listen; I'm going 
into a meeting with the President. I've been with Mary Flores all day, 
working. And the delegation and I look forward to giving you a full 
report and telling you what we have learned and what we think will be 
the most helpful for you.
    The President. That's great. Where are you going to spend the night 
tonight?
    Mrs. Gore. I'm going to spend the night--we're pitching tents. We 
don't want to take any assets away from the relief effort, so we're 
pitching some tents, and we're going to sleep in those.
    The President. That's good.
    Mrs. Gore. And we're going to get up and go to Nicaragua tomorrow.
    The President. That's great.
    Mrs. Gore. Thank you again for allowing us to bring this and to work 
shoulder-to-

[[Page 2292]]

shoulder with our neighbors who are in crisis right now.
    The President. Well, thank you for going. I thank you and all the 
people on your delegation, all the congressional Members, I hope you'll 
thank them for me. And have a good night and have a good trip the rest 
of the way to Nicaragua. And when you come back, let us know what we can 
do. And let them know that the people of the United States are pulling 
for them, and we want to be helpful today, tomorrow, and until 
everything is restored.
    Mrs. Gore. Yes sir. I'll be happy to convey that message. Thank you 
very much.
    The President. Goodbye, Tipper.
    Mrs. Gore. Bye-bye.

Note: The President spoke at 7:05 p.m. from the Oval Office at the White 
House. In her remarks, Mrs. Gore referred to Mary Flores, wife of 
President Carlos Flores of Honduras.