[Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents Volume 35, Number 37 (Monday, September 20, 1999)]
[Pages 1741-1742]
[Online from the Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]

<R04>
Exchange With Reporters Following a Round of Golf in Queenstown, New 
Zealand

September 14, 1999

    Q. How's your golf game today, Mr. President? Did it improve as you 
went along?
    The President. It got a lot better. It had nowhere to go but up when 
I started. No, we did better, and we won the match, thanks mostly to my 
partner here. But we did okay. We played the way partners should play. 
When I had a good score, he didn't; when he had a good score, I didn't 
play good. We wasted no shots.
    Burton Shipley. The President suggested at one stage that we were 
playing very good brother-in-law golf. I thought the line was very good.
    Q. [Inaudible]
    The President. We did, we actually played the pro and his partner, 
and we won, and they bought me a Diet Coke. It was a big stake here; it 
was great.
    Q. [Inaudible]--the last hole?
    The President. No, we won that, too. All four of us parred all four 
holes the second time we played.
    Mr. Shipley. But we got a couple more strokes.

Situation in East Timor

    Q. Are you satisfied with how the talks went in New York today?
    The President. What?
    Q. It seemed to be positive. It seemed that the Indonesians signed 
on to what the United States wants.
    The President. It appears so. You know, the initial report I got was 
quite good, but I want to get a detailed briefing about exactly where we 
are. I think the important thing is to get the force mobilized, get it 
in in a hurry, and also get the humanitarian aid out there. There are a 
lot of people still actually in East Timor who need food and supplies, 
so we've got a lot of work to do.

Hurricane Floyd

    Q. What have you heard about the hurricane?
    Q. Are you monitoring Hurricane Floyd?
    The President. Yes. I talked to Mr. Witt this morning, and he told 
me he would call me back in about 12, 14 hours and let me know where it 
was. I've not talked to him since I got up this morning.
    Q. It sounds like a monster storm, sir.
    The President. Yes, he said it's going to be huge. And we didn't 
know at the time how many States would be hit for sure. But all the 
experts think it's going to be a very, very large storm. We'll just have 
to hope for the best.

President's Visit

    Q. [Inaudible]
    The President. It's fabulous; it's really quite a wonderful course. 
It's an honest

[[Page 1742]]

course. It's a good course. It plays hard, but it's an honest course.
    Q. What do you think of Queenstown?
    The President. I wish I had weeks to spend here. You know, when we 
were coming in the airplane, landing, everybody on our plane was just 
gasping when we saw the landscape. It's just so beautiful. You're all 
very fortunate.
    Q. When are you coming back, Mr. President?
    The President. How about next week? [Laughter]

Round of Golf

    Q. [Inaudible]
    The President. This guy hits the ball further than any person his 
age I've ever played with, including a lot of the pros I've played--
water treatment.
    Mr. Shipley. Just not as straight as the pros.
    The President. And it's only because his public service has kept him 
from playing every day that he's not a scratch golfer.

Chelsea Clinton

    Q. What did Chelsea do today?
    The President. I think she looked around here and went running. I 
don't think she went caving or anything as great as yesterday.

Note: The exchange began at 6:41 p.m. at the Millbrook Resort. In his 
remarks, the President referred to his golf opponents, club pro John 
Griffin and publisher Mike Robson. Burton Shipley is the husband of 
Prime Minister Jennifer Shipley of New Zealand. A tape was not available 
for verification of the content of this exchange.