THE WHITE HOUSE
Office of the Press Secretary
(Paris, France)
______________________________________________________________
For Immediate Release June 7, 1994
INTERVIEW OF PRESIDENT CLINTON AND PRESIDENT MITTERRAND
WITH FRENCH TELEVISION (TF1 AND FRANCEII)
The Elysee Palace
Paris, France
8:05 P.M. (L)
Q Are you disappointed with Europe today as
opposed to the kind of determination it showed 50 years ago?
PRESIDENT CLINTON: No. No, because I don't think
the two situations are easily comparable; it's not the same
thing. I think the real question is, how is Europe today as
compared with after the second world war or after the first world
war. And I think the answer is, we're doing much better than we
did after the first world war in a roughly similar time, with a
lot of uncertainty in the world, but where no one's security
seems to be immediately at risk.
I see Europe coming together politically,
economically, in terms of security. I see more cooperation with
the United States economically with GATT, in terms of security
with NATO and the Partnership for Peace. I see us working
together to try to deal with the problem of Bosnia. I know it
has not been solved, but, after all, some progress has been made.
The conflict has been limited. The Croatians and the Muslims
have made an agreement. We are on the verge of getting a
recommended territorial settlement from our Contact Group.
So I think that Europe is on the way to a better
situation in the 21st century. Have we solved all the problems?
No. But I'm optimistic, especially after this trip.
Q (Question posed in French, not translated)
PRESIDENT MITTERRAND: (Beginning of answer given in
French, not translated.) -- there is great interest in the
construction of Europe. A little while ago, you said, are we
disappointed, when you were asking the question to President
Clinton. I believe -- the fact that the -- unhappy. The polls,
yes, the polls are an indication, they're important. But I think
that Europe remains a major -- I think -- but those -- still
you're thinking of -- I'm not thinking of anybody special. I'm
not looking for a controversy, but I'm only thinking that we need
a lot more -- and much determination to succeed with Europe.
After the second world war in '45, a lot of
progress was made. The U.N., -- with the disappearance of the
Soviet Union -- that we haven't made -- there's still a lot of
problems. And this requires a lot of patience.
Q I'd like to ask President Clinton a question,
hoping that -- problem -- President of your country -- and he
said that after 1919 -- everything seems possible today. -- are
coming out of a long period of -- this is the best -- perhaps one
day he might ask your boys to intervene again, for instance, in
Bosnia?
PRESIDENT CLINTON: I do think the situation is
similar to 1919. Not the same, but similar. But the difference
is that in 1919, Europe did not unite and the United States
withdrew. In 1994, Europe is growing together in terms of the
economy and the political system and the security system, and the
United States is still actively engaged in Europe.
Are there circumstances under which we might commit
American troops? Absolutely, there are. First of all, we still
have a NATO commitment, which we intend to honor. Secondly, we
have already put our pilots at the disposal of NATO in Bosnia in
enforcing the no-fly zone and in having the airlift for
humanitarian reasons. We have troops in --
Q more on the ground?
PRESIDENT CLINTON: Well, we have troops in
Macedonia also to limit the conflict. We have said we would put
in troops to enforce an agreement if an agreement was made, but
that we did not believe the United States should go into Bosnia
to try to resolve the conflict in favor of one side or the other.
And I think if we were involved there now in the U.N. mission, it
would only make for more controversy and increase the likelihood
of the international community being pulled into the conflict.
If we can get the parties to agree -- and I think
President Mitterrand and I agree on this -- if we can get the
parties to agree to a settlement, then the United States is
prepared to work with our allies to make sure that settlement is
honored.
PRESIDENT MITTERRAND: (In French, not translated.)
Q (In French, not translated.)
PRESIDENT MITTERRAND: (In French, not translated.)
Q (In French, not translated.)
PRESIDENT MITTERRAND: (In French, not translated.)
Q (In French, not translated.)
PRESIDENT CLINTON: Let me make sure I understand
your question by restating our position. We have tried to
support the current government in working with France, for
example, to reschedule their debt. But we have also encouraged
this government to reach out to dissident groups who are not
involved in terrorism, who disavow terrorism. We have had some
very low-level contacts with people who, themselves, have not
been involved in terrorism. We don't support people who pursue
violent means like that anywhere, and we won't.
We hope that the present Algerian government will be
able to broaden its base and reach out and deal with those with
whom it has difficulties, who feel shut out, but who are
committed to a peaceful resolution of these problems.
We are very concerned about the rise of militant
fundamentalism in the Islamic states. And the potential is
enormous. There are 17 of the 22 Islamic states in the world
have declining incomes. Seventy percent of the Moslems in the
world today are young people. The potential for explosion is
great. And we have a great stake in promoting governments like
the Moroccan government, for example. King Hassan has run a very
responsible regime, has been helpful in peace in the Middle East
in many other ways. And we share the concern that the French
have for the potential of the situation in Algeria getting out of
hand.
But what the United States wants to do is to stand
up against terrorism and against destructive fundamentalism, but
to stand with the people of Islam who wish to be full members of
the world community, according to the rules that all civilized
people should follow.
Q (In French, not translated.)
PRESIDENT CLINTON: No, but we're willing to help.
We have already offered several million dollars in aid. And we
have discussed with our friends in Africa the prospect of an
African force, which we would help to finance and which we would
also support with personnel equipment and other armored equipment
and other transportation assistance. We are in a position to
help there and I think we should.
But I think many of the African nations are
interested in trying to provide troops and helping to provide the
manpower in that region. I think that is about all we can do at
this time when we have troops in Korea, troops in Europe, the
possibility of new commitments in Bosnia if we can achieve a
peace agreement, and also when we are working very hard to try to
put the U.N. agreement in Haiti back on track, which was broken.
However, we do want very much to try to help in
Rwanda. And we are prepared to help to finance it and to provide
the armored support necessary if the African nations will provide
the troops. I don't think it would take all that many troops to
stop a lot of this fighting if several African nations would go
in together and do it.
Q (In French, not translated.)
PRESIDENT MITTERRAND: (In French, not translated.)
PRESIDENT CLINTON: If I might make one point about
that. One of the things we learned in Somalia, where we were
able to save hundreds of thousands of lives, and where we lost
some of our people, most of them in one unfortunate incident, was
that even a humanitarian mission will inevitably be caught up in
the politics of a country unless people are starving and dying
because of a natural disaster. If there is not a natural
disaster causing all this human misery, then there is some
politics behind people dying.
So in this case, where it's even more obvious --that
is, Rwanda -- even more obvious what the political and military
problems are than in Somalia -- I think the U.N. was very wise in
asking the African countries to take the lead because they will
be there over the long run. That is where the partnerships must
be built. That is where the national territorial boundaries must
be respected. And countries like France and the United States
should support them. But I think this is an important test for
them. And if they can do it, it will mean much more over the
long run to Africa.
Q (In French, not translated.)
PRESIDENT CLINTON: Yes.
Q (In French, not translated.)
PRESIDENT MITTERRAND: (In French, not translated.)
Q (In French, not translated.)
PRESIDENT MITTERRAND: (In French, not translated.)
PRESIDENT CLINTON: I think this recommendation
grows out of the work Mr. Delors has been doing about the problem
of growth in Europe, in generating jobs. And this is a problem,
of course, that we will be taking up in another month when the G-
7 meets in Naples, discussing this. There are many people,
thoughtful people, who believe that there is a disconnection, if
you will, between the real economy -- that is, the economy in
which people get up and go to work every day -- and what happens
in the financial markets. And that, perhaps the financial
markets overreact to a little bit of growth, run the interest
rates up and then shut growth off before there is a real danger
of inflation.
So this is something which ought to be discussed.
Now, whether there could ever be an economic security council, I
don't know. Keep in mind the Security Council of the U.N. deals
with a whole range of different issues on a case-by-case basis.
We would have to think, what would the jurisdiction be; what
could be done?
But what Mr. Delors is doing, as he normally does,
is asking us to think hard about a real problem for which there
is presently no response in the global community. So I applaud
him, but I can't say I have thought it through enough to endorse
the idea.
Q (In French, not translated.)
PRESIDENT CLINTON: Well, we're prepared to invest
quite a lot in it. We have brought down our defense budget quite
a lot, from my point of view, as much as I think we should cut
it. So I'm having discussions with my Congress now, asking them
not to cut the defense budget any more.
And also to provide good increases in aid to many of
the states of the former Soviet Union -- not simply Russia, but
also Ukraine and other of those new countries. Now, we have a
big stake in their success; also Eastern Europe. A lot of what
needs to be done is in the way of assuring the success of their
private economies and getting more investment and trade going.
But I think we should -- all the countries of the
West need to be very concerned that now that communism is gone,
what rises up in its place succeeds. You don't want them to go
back to sort of a pre-communist state of almost hostility toward
the rest of the world. So the market economy has to begin to
take hold there and has to succeed for ordinary people. And we
should help it do that.
Q (In French, not translated.)
PRESIDENT MITTERRAND: (In French, not translated.)
Q (In French, not translated.)
PRESIDENT CLINTON: Well, first of all, let me say
that there is no simple answer to this. The United States has
somewhat more flexible labor markets than most European countries
inasmuch as the unemployment benefits, for example, are less
generous and the average payroll cost, over and above wages,
tends to be lower. That may be one of the reasons that even with
a relatively open economy, we have a lower unemployment rate.
But keep in mind, we pay a price for that. We have lower
unemployment, but we also have had very little growth in wages
over the last 20 years. And the inequality, the gap in earnings
between the richest Americans and the middle class has been
growing. And that's not a good thing for a democracy.
So I think what I hope we can do through the G-7,
and perhaps through the OECD, is to really look at what all of us
do individually about this problem, and see if we can reach the
best conclusion about how you can maximize employment and still
be fair to middle-income earners.
Let me also say that I think over the long run, we
will have to involve these labor questions and environmental
questions in our trade dealings with the developing nations.
That is, they should want not only investment from our countries
and us to buy their products, but also they should want the wage
base in their own countries to grow at a reasonable rate.
PRESIDENT MITTERRAND: (In French, not translated.)
Q (In French, not translated.)
PRESIDENT CLINTON: Well, let me say, every time I'm
in Paris, I love being here. And yesterday, when I heard
President Mitterrand make his wonderful speech, I envied the
French. But I love my country. I don't like everything about
our political system. And if you have a very broad range of
freedom of speech, sometimes that freedom is abused; not only in
getting into areas that shouldn't be gotten into, but sometimes
you don't even have the truth.
But that's just all part of it. I trust that, in
the end, that our democracy will work its way through this. And
all I can do is get up every day and do my job for the American
people. I do the very best I can every day, and I'll let them
worry about the attacks on me. If I weren't trying to change the
country, if I weren't trying to do things that I believe will
advance our country, then the people who oppose me wouldn't be
attacking me, personally or otherwise. So I take it as a
compliment and go on.
Q (In French, not translated.)
PRESIDENT CLINTON: Well, I have a pretty thick
hide. You have to have a high pain threshold to be in politics
in America today. But I say -- on the book there, if people
don't like my process -- I like to get people together around a
table and let everybody say what they want, and argue and debate
and fight. And I think that's the way ideas get fleshed out in a
new and difficult time. I don't think you can have a hide-bound
decision-making process when you're entering a world where no one
has the answers.
But I'll say this: Let my critics answer the
results. We have 3.3 million jobs in 16 months, the unemployment
rate is down over a point and a half. The growth rate is up.
Let them criticize my economic decision-making. We produce
results. That's all that matters. The American people are
better off, and we're going in the right direction. And so I can
stand criticism if the results are there.
Q (In French, not translated)
PRESIDENT CLINTON: I like that. (Laughter.)
Q (In French, not translated.)
PRESIDENT CLINTON: Well, perhaps. Although the
American people are more jealous of their executive power. I
think if they lengthen the term of the President, they would only
let them serve one term.
Four years has really normally has been enough.
Now, in my case, there was really no honeymoon; I mean, they
started campaigning immediately after I took office. But that's
all part of it. I still think the most important thing is to
keep sharply focused on achieving results for the people you
represent.
There are pluses and minuses to every system; there
is no perfect political system. The challenge of democracy today
is to mobilize people's energies enough to get things done. The
real problem is, everywhere in countries, there are so many
forces working against doing anything, when what we need to do is
to move on these problems -- not just to talk about them but to
do things. And that has been my whole orientation.
Q (In French, not translated.)
PRESIDENT CLINTON: Yes. Well, I want my country to
go into the 21st century still strong and healthy, not just
economically, but spiritually. I want us to have stronger
communities. I want us to be together, even though we're very
diverse. And I want us to be engaged in the world, leading,
playing a positive role. That is what I want. I think that's
what we all want. That's what democracy should be able to
produce in this time.
Q (In French, not translated.)
PRESIDENT CLINTON: I don't know. She's a very able
person. But she always told me, as long as we've been together,
that she never wanted to run for office herself, that that was
never one of the -- she loves many jobs. And she works like
crazy. She works very hard on things that she passionately
believes in. But from the first time I met her she always said
she never wanted to run for elected office. The more I do it,
the more I understand why. (Laughter.)
Q (In French, not translated.)
PRESIDENT MITTERRAND: (In French, not translated.)
Q (In French, not translated.)
PRESIDENT CLINTON: Thank you.
Q (In French, not translated.)
PRESIDENT CLINTON: Bill, Mr. President -- either
one.
Q (In French, not translated.)
PRESIDENT CLINTON: You know more about that than I
do.
Thank you.
END8:35 P.M. (L)
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