[Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents Volume 37, Number 25 (Monday, June 25, 2001)]
[Pages 933-935]
[Online from the Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]

<R04>
Remarks Following a Meeting With Secretary of State Colin L. Powell and 
an Exchange With Reporters

June 18, 2001

    The President. Good morning. The Secretary and I were following up 
on our recent trip to Europe. I had some conversations today with the 
President of Spain, the Prime Minister of Britain, the President of 
Poland, to brief them on my conversations with President Putin.
    The conversation with President Putin was positive. It indicated to 
me that we can have a very frank and honest relationship, that there are 
areas where we can work together. And I shared with those three leaders 
the summary of my discussions with him.
    They were most pleased that the conversation went well. They were 
pleased to hear that the United States welcomes Russia to look westward 
and will help Russia do so. And they were pleased to hear we're going to 
send some delegations over to Russia to have economic dialog.
    So the Secretary is here today, where we can follow up and put an 
action plan in place to take advantage of the cooperation that I'm 
confident can exist.

Senior Adviser on Strategic Initiatives Karl Rove

    Q. Mr. President, I was wondering what your level of confidence is, 
sir, in one of your senior political advisers, Mr. Rove? It seems that 
some Republicans have voiced displeasure about some of the issues and 
decisions he was involved in recently--Vieques

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among them--as well as the calls for investigation of him, sir, in the 
House. I'm just wondering what your level of confidence is.
    The President. My level of confidence with Karl Rove has never been 
higher. He's a man of--he gives me sound advice. He adheres to the 
ethical rules of our Government, and he's doing a great job on behalf of 
the American people.

Situation in Macedonia

    Q. Mr. President, President Putin is now warning that the situation 
in Macedonia shows signs of becoming another, sort of, Kosovo, and in 
particular, he's called for closing the border between Kosovo and 
Macedonia, Albania and Macedonia. Are those steps that you would 
support? And what do you think can be done to avoid having the, sort of, 
U.S.-Russian tensions that occurred during the Kosovo crisis?
    The President. Well, we strongly believe we need to shut off the 
border between Kosovo and Macedonia. As a matter of fact, our troops 
that participate in KFOR are doing just that.
    President Putin also believes that we ought to all work together to 
achieve a political solution. And the Secretary of State--he'll be glad 
to comment on that--has worked very closely with Mr. Trajkovski, as well 
as the legitimate Albanians, those who aren't extremists, those who want 
the Government to work. We are--as you know, there was a meeting over 
the weekend, right before the weekend, where democratically-elected 
officials in Macedonia met to determine how best to fashion a 
constitution that meets minority needs. We strongly support that 
process.
    I believe we can work with the Russians. We share the same 
interests, which is a stable Macedonia. Our Governments understand that 
a Macedonia that is fractured, where extremists are able to make headway 
is a--it will create instability in the region.

U.S.S. Cole Investigation

    Q. Mr. President, can you comment, sir, on reports out of Yemen that 
the FBI investigators that are looking into the bombing of the U.S.S. 
Cole are leaving the area?
    The President. I'm not in a position to make comments on that right 
now. Once we finish our full investigation, our Government will be 
willing to discuss that.
    Q. Are you pleased with the pace of the investigation, sir?
    The President. I'd rather not comment about ongoing investigations, 
particularly in regards to the security of the country.

Energy Price Controls

    Q. With the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission meeting on the 
California power crisis--price crisis today, are you still as firmly 
opposed, as you've said in the past, to mandatory, strict price 
controls?
    The President. I am, because price controls do not create additional 
supply, nor do they reduce demand. I think price controls would not 
benefit the California consumer. It wouldn't help solve the problem. I'm 
interested in seeing what FERC comes up with. They're not talking about 
firm price controls. They're talking about a mechanism to--as I 
understand it--a mechanism to mitigate any severe price spike that may 
occur, which is completely different from price controls.
    Q. Do you like that idea?
    The President. I want to see what they have to say. I haven't had a 
chance to fully look at what their proposal is. As you know, it's an 
independent organization. And although I've had the opportunity of 
naming two members, I believe, to the FERC, they are independent. They 
know full well my administration's belief that price controls will not 
solve the problem. And a lot of folks in California understand that, as 
well.
    Again, I repeat, price controls do not increase supply nor reduce 
demand, and that's precisely what is needed in the State of California.

Note: The President spoke at 9:20 a.m. in the Oval Office at the White 
House. In his remarks, he referred to President Jose Maria Aznar of 
Spain; Prime Minister Tony Blair of the United Kingdom; President 
Aleksander Kwasnieski of Poland; President Vladimir Putin of Russia; and 
President Boris Trajkovski of the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia. 
A tape was not available for verification of the content of these 
remarks.

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