THE WHITE HOUSE Office of the Press Secretary _____________________________________________________________________ For Immediate Release April 25, 1994 PRESS BRIEFING BY DEE DEE MYERS The Briefing Room 1:15 P.M. EDT MS. MYERS: A couple of quick statements. First, on China, we welcome the decision of the Chinese government to release Wang Juntao so that he can seek medical treatment. The release of Wang is a positive step with respect to the President's executive order on MFN. We have raised with the Chinese several cases similar to Wang's imprisonment for the peaceful expression of political or religious views, and hope that other prisoners with medical problems will also be paroled. On Japan, President Clinton wants to extend his congratulations on behalf of the American people to Prime Minister Hata on his election early today as Japan's next Prime Minister. Prime Minister Hata is well known as a friend of the United States, building relationships with many administration officials while working on the important issues of trade and regional security. Just last week while Foreign Minister, he held productive talks with Secretary of Defense William Perry on the North Korea situation. Prime Minister Hata shares his predecessor's desire to implement reforms in Japan, and also expressed an interest in the economic framework talks. We hope his government will take steps to make that possible. We look forward to working with him on the wide range of issues that characterize our close bilateral relationship. That's it for announcements. Q Can I follow on -- real quick, Dee Dee? MS. MYERS: Sure. Q The Socialist Party, one of the largest contingents in the coalition there, just walked out. And it looks like Hata is going to be even less powerful -- in a less powerful position than Hosokawa was. Has that diminished your hopes for any more rapid movement on the framework? MS. MYERS: Well, obviously, we maintain an interest in seeing the framework move forward. We will work with Prime Minister Hata's new government. He's still in the process of appointing a cabinet and taking other steps. He was just elected this morning, so I think we'll have to wait and see how that situation shapes up domestically. But we do maintain hopes of a close and continued bilateral working relationship. Q Dee Dee, what are the President's plans for the Nixon funeral? MS. MYERS: The Nixon funeral -- a couple of quick points on that. First of all, the press plane sign-up for the trip to California is up. The deadline to sign up is 5:00 p.m. today, so if you haven't done that and are planning to go, please do so. Just a quick note, the deadline for Europe sign-up is May 4th. The schedule for the trip is, we'll leave here around noon. Q more about the European trip, in terms of the dates? MS. TERZANO: There's a whole packet -- MS. MYERS: Yes, there's a packet -- MS. TERZANO: -- that's going into the bins after this. Q You said May 4th for the June trip? MS. MYERS: May 4th for the June trip. We're a very efficient operation. Q Are the packets available now? MS. MYERS: What's that? Q Are the packets available now? MS. MYERS: They'll be available at 2:00 p.m. Okay, just to go over the details -- let me just give you some details on the -- first on the schedule. The President will leave here around noon, departing Andrews about 12:30 p.m. He arrives at El Toro Air Base at 3:30 p.m. Pacific Time. The press plane, of course, will leave somewhat ahead. The First Lady, who is in California today, will meet the President there. The President will then go to the Nixon Library, where he will meet with the family ahead of the services. At 4:00 p.m., the service begins. It's expected to last about an hour. Following the memorial service, there will be two private receptions the President will attend. And then he will leave California around 7:45 p.m. from El Toro and fly back to Washington. There will be a couple of planes. As you know, President Nixon's body will depart Stewart Air National Guard in Newburgh, New York, tomorrow. The military of the District of Washington Ceremonial Unit, which has taken care of most of the specific details, including issuing press credentials, which I am told they're doing today. President Nixon will be flown out on one of the planes that served as Air Force One during his presidency. It is a 707 with the tail number 27000. It is the same plane that flew Mrs. Nixon's body back to California when she passed away earlier this year. And at the family's request, we are letting President Nixon's family use the same plane for taking his body back there. Q Is that the same one -- JFK fly -- MS. MYERS: No, that was 26000. Q Twenty seven thousand is going to take the President and then -- going to take the body first, and then -- MS. MYERS: No. President Clinton will fly on the current Air Force One, which is -- I think it's -- is that 38000? Q No, it's 29000. MS. MYERS: Twenty nine thousand? Anyway, then there will be two other planes. President Clinton will fly out on Air Force One. He will be taking a delegation with him. There will be two planes. We'll take both planes -- Air Force One and the backup plane, which is the other 747. Q Who are you going to have on that? MS. MYERS: He's invited all of the Nixon former Cabinet members. President Clinton's invited the former presidents. It appears that President Carter will fly with us; the others will be traveling to California on their own. Q whole plane for Carter? MS. MYERS: Air Force One is President Carter and others; and then Senator Dole will lead a delegation of congressional leaders on a separate plane -- of congressional members, I should say. The congressional leadership will be flying out on Air Force One. So you have Air Force One with the President, President Carter, congressional leaders; the back-up plane with members of the Nixon Cabinet and others; and then the congressional delegation will be flying in another plane led by Senator Dole. Q Will there be spouses accompanying the former Cabinet members -- Q Is the President going to speak at the funeral? MS. MYERS: Yes, at the family's request, the President -- there are, I think, four people who will speak -- Reverend Graham, Governor Wilson, President Clinton, and there's one more -- Henry Kissinger. Q Dee Dee, could you give us a couple logistics? Is that open press? I mean, will be able to see him give that, or -- where's the filing center? MS. MYERS: The Military District of Washington is handling the results -- there will be a filing center. Our press advance people are on the ground. It will be on the grounds of the Nixon Library somewhere. There will be a pool in the service, I believe. Is that right? And I guess the audio and video -- or the video will be piped -- audio will be piped back to the filing center as always. But there will be a filing center for White House press on the grounds. I think they're building a tent. Q To go back just a second to the schedule -- depart for D.C. at 7:45 p.m. -- is that leave the Library at 7:45 p.m. or leave -- MS. MYERS: No, leave the library at 7:00 p.m.; wheels up scheduled for 7:45 p.m. Q In those receptions, Dee Dee, will be the only opportunity that Clinton has to talk with any foreign leaders that might attend? MS. MYERS: There is some flexibility in the schedule. I think we have to wait and see who can -- which foreign leaders confirm. We're still in the process of finding out. Q Can you tell us who you've got so far? MS. MYERS: I have nothing to add. What I said this morning was Edward Heath from the United Kingdom, former Prime Minister Hosokawa, and former Prime Minister Herzog of Israel. Q There are two separate receptions after the ceremony? MS. MYERS: Yes, and I think these are organized by the Nixon family. Q Okay, and who's he going to meet with before the funeral? MS. MYERS: The family. Q It's pretty tight, though -- I mean, if he was scheduled to land at 3:30 p.m., and it begins at 4:00 p.m. -- Q It'll be 2:30 p.m., won't it? If he leaves at 12:30 p.m., he'll land at 2:30 p.m., right? MS. MYERS: I did say 3:30 p.m. That's the information that I have here on the schedule. Q It sounds like it might be -- are you sure that doesn't have -- MS. MYERS: Six hours -- Q It's a five-hour flight -- always has been, anyway. Q Why is he coming back on Wednesday night instead of staying over? MS. MYERS: He just has business here. I don't know if it's anything in particular, but he just feels like he should come back. He has things he wants to do on Thursday. Q Is he going to LAX, or is he going to Orange County? MS. MYERS: No, El Toro. Q Could you start the briefing over? (Laughter.) MS. MYERS: I have a statement here about China that I would like to reread, Frank. Q Tell us about Bosnia. Q Could I ask about the funeral -- eulogies have a note of praise and fond memories, and the President has sort of been not spoken of Nixon in that way in his life. Has he discussed perhaps being torn about this? How's he going to reconcile his views in life with a eulogy? MS. MYERS: Well, I think if you've listened to what President Clinton has had to say about President Nixon over the course of the last four or five days, I think he's had many kind words to say about him, about his contribution, about the significant impact he had on the history of his time. And I think, as the President said the other night, there is something -- a shared bond among presidents and former presidents. There are very few people, I think, who really understand the experience in its totality. I think President Clinton believes that President Nixon was a statesman, both as President and beyond, and that he worked hard to create a lasting structure for peace. And there's many things about President Nixon's tenure both as President and beyond that President Clinton admires. Q Can we go on to Bosnia? Have you got any late details on what's going on over there? MS. MYERS: The best of our information was, the situation on the ground is fairly quiet. The shelling has stopped, although there continues to be some small arms fire. The Serbs met the 8:00 p.m. or midnight last night Greenwich Mean Time deadline to pull beyond the three-kilometer zone. They have until midnight Greenwich Time tomorrow to pull back beyond the 20-kilometer zone. They appear to be in the process of doing that, and we continue to monitor the situation on the ground. In the meantime, some U.N. personnel has been allowed in, medical supplies have been moved in, some wounded have been moved out. So we're continuing the monitor that. Q The President said at his news conference, if I got it right, that he had some sort of diplomatic initiative that he was going to unveil this week? MS. MYERS: Well, the diplomatic process is moving forward. As you know, Secretary Christopher is in London today. He's meeting, among other people, with Prime Minister Major. He's also having a trilateral meeting with Foreign Minister Juppe and Hurd. Then he goes on to Geneva tomorrow where he will meet with Russian Foreign Minister Kozyrev. Then, there will be a series of meetings in Geneva, I think, to start focusing on moving the diplomatic process forward. Q Does we have any new ideas? THE PRESIDENT: I think we're pursuing the same idea, which is a comprehensive settlement. I think the progress on the ground, assuming it continues to hold, will be a substantial step forward. The fact that the siege of Gorazde has, at least, for the moment been broken, the cease-fire for the most part appears to be holding. And I think what we'll try to do is resume discussions toward a comprehensive peace -- comprehensive settlement. Comprehensive peace may be a little hopeful at this point, but -- Q What about the other safe areas? MS. MYERS: The other safe areas -- basically there is -- there won't be exclusion zones per se unless there is some concentration of weapons toward those areas or they are shelled. The bottom line is that if the other safe areas are shelled, NATO and the U.N. will use air strikes. But there is no exclusion zone to the degree that there is a certain number of miles that they're supposed to pull back. Is that clear? Q Wait a minute -- I thought Sarajevo model was going to be recreated across the board in all those other places. MS. MYERS: The U.N., I believe in their meeting on Saturday night, decided that what they would do is just -- the order for air strikes stands for the other safe zones, the other safe areas. If shelling or weapons are used in those areas, NATO and the U.N. reserve the right to bomb. Q So the President's plan was rejected in the respect. MS. MYERS: I don't think it was -- I think it was worked out so that the areas are protected. Q Well, wait a minute, he made this long disposition up here at this lectern about -- or the other one, anyway -- about the distinction between what was done in Gorazde and what had been done in Sarajevo, and how you announced the safe zone, and you have people pull back, and that whole scenario; and the thrust of it was that that was now going to be applied to all these other safe areas. That was the whole idea of it. Now, I take it is not from what you've said. MS. MYERS: The idea is to have them pull back where there are a lot -- a concentration of heavy weapons, which is Gorazde. Obviously the exclusion zone has been initiated. And the Serbs have until midnight tomorrow to pull back 20 kilometers. As for the other safe areas, should the Serbs use weapons -- heavy weapons -- there, NATO and the U.N. will use air strikes. Should there be a concentration of weapons in those areas, I think you will see something more akin to the current exclusion zones. Q But, Dee Dee, the way this was explained to us Friday night by senior advisers here was that it did not take shelling from the other exclusion areas to prompt NATO strikes. And there was a two-part description: One, shelling or a concentration of weapons somewhere in any of those other zones; they don't have to be used, they just have to be concentrated. MS. MYERS: Right, and that's -- Q Has that changed? MS. MYERS: No, that's essentially what I was trying to say, that either shelling or a concentration of weapons in one of the other safe zones could trigger air strikes. Q So the concentration still holds? MS. MYERS: Right. If there was a movement of weapons to one of the safe zones, circumstances would change. Q Dee Dee, the President talked earlier this morning in a very brief answer that they've worked out the differences with the U.N. about how the authority would play out for air strikes. MS. MYERS: I think he was referring to Secretary General Boutros-Ghali's statement Saturday night, which says that if the Bosnian Serbs fail to meet the deadlines, that he will approve air strikes. Q So, it still needs U.N. authority before NATO can kick in and do anything. MS. MYERS: The U.N. and NATO have to coordinate, have to work together on the ground. The U.N. has troops there, NATO obviously controls the air power. But Secretary General Boutros- Ghali made it clear on Saturday night after the U.N. meeting that he would, in fact, approve air strikes should the Serbs fail to meet the deadlines. Q Did anyone in the U.S. government convey dissatisfaction over the way Akashi vetoed the request for air strikes by Manfred Woerner? MS. MYERS: Ambassador Albright and Secretary Christopher both spoke with Boutros-Ghali. I think our position on Saturday was that the Serbs had violated the cease-fire; and we therefore agreed with NATO in calling for air strikes. That obviously didn't happen. I think the Secretary General's clarification on Saturday night was helpful. Q But by then it was after the fact. Mark's question is whether or not there was any dissatisfaction expressed, and whether or not anything has been done to make sure this won't happen again in the future. I mean, it seems like it's possible, under the current situations, it could go forward again. MS. MYERS: Well, what happened -- in the aftermath of Saturday, both Secretary Christopher and Ambassador Albright spoke with Secretary General Boutros-Ghali. I think we made our position clear, and Secretary General Boutros-Ghali then issued a statement saying that again, if the Serbs fail to meet the deadlines, he will authorize air strikes. I think that's a change. Q Is our position that there should have been an air strike, or is it our position that when NATO calls an air strike, the U.N. shouldn't have the power -- the U.N. envoy shouldn't -- MS. MYERS: Our position on Saturday was that the Serbs had violated the cease-fire. NATO requested an air strike, and we supported that. That didn't happen. I think our position now is that if the Serbs do not comply with the deadlines that they should expect air strikes. And the Secretary General of the U.N. has said he will authorize them. So I think that eliminates any questions about whether the U.N. would authorize air strikes should the Serbs fail to meet the next deadline. Q But the U.N. still must authorize or -- MS. MYERS: Yes, but, in effect, Boutros-Ghali's given a preauthorization. If the Serbs fail to meet the deadline, he said he would authorize air strikes. Q But he still -- the appeal from the NATO commanders still must be made to the U.N. MS. MYERS: It's something that has to be worked out between the U.N. commanders and the NATO commanders on the ground. Q So it's not automatic. MS. MYERS: It's not exactly automatic, but I think the presumption is that if the Serbs fail to meet the deadline, that air strikes will be authorized. Q But even if there's a gray area about whether or not they're violating the cease-fire? MS. MYERS: Well, it would be if they fail to meet the deadline or violate the cease-fire. That's something that has to be worked out on the ground. That will have to be up to the judgment of the commanders on the ground. I don't think there's any way to avoid the necessity of judgment under those circumstances. However, I think Boutros-Ghali's statement from Saturday night moves it forward. Q Is it our understanding that he's -- his authorization is basically at level of the Sarajevo exclusion zone, which is the Serbs are in violation or thought to be violation by the NATO commander, he calls the U.N. for authorization and is basically expected to be given -- MS. MYERS: That's our hope, yes. Q But does this take Akashi out of the loop and it's just Boutros-Ghali? I don't really understand what happens to Akashi's veto, or the kind of double -- MS. MYERS: Boutros-Ghali had, in effect, delegated that authority to Akashi. But by saying that he would, in fact, authorize air strikes should the Serbs fail to comply, I think makes clear what the U.N.'s position will be. That's something that has to be worked out in the U.N. chain of command. But Boutros-Ghali is the Secretary General, and in effect, the final word. Q What happened to streamlining the command and control process. It sounds like it's just as confused -- more so than ever. MS. MYERS: Well, I think one of the major changes is that NATO can now call for air strikes, which is an authority that didn't exist before. It was up to the UNPROFOR commanders, if you recall. I think that was an important step forward. And now, I think again, Boutros-Ghali's statement from Saturday night, essentially saying he would authorize air strikes should the Serbs not meet the deadline, makes clear what the U.N.'s position will be under those circumstances. Hopefully that won't happen, but -- Q So you consider that to mean that the U.N. guy over there can't step in again as he did on Saturday? MS. MYERS: Well, again, the U.N. has to work out its own process, but the Secretary General is the final word. Q He couldn't be reached on the weekend; he was off flying to Barbados. MS. MYERS: He was eventually reached, and issued a statement, and I think that speaks for itself. Q Dee Dee, does the President consider Senator Dole's amendment to order a lifting, a unilateral lifting of the embargo, a helpful move? And what is he doing, if anything, at this point to continue to try to get somebody else to support that among the allies? MS. MYERS: I think the President's position on unilaterally lifting the arms embargo is clear. He believes that would have implications for other multilateral efforts, including the embargo against Haiti, and potentially an embargo against North Korea, an embargo against Iraq. He has, as you know, supported lifting the arms embargo, but doing it multilaterally through the U.N., since there is a U.N. resolution that implements a unilateral lifting. Our preferred position has always been to lift the arms embargo. But there, as you know, is not support among the allies in the other U.N. countries to do that. Q Is he trying to get Senator Dole to back off on this? MS. MYERS: I think he's made his position clear. Senator Dole's, I think, well aware of the President's view on this. Q Dee Dee, Senator Moynihan said yesterday, essentially, that the President's position is a misunderstanding of the U.N. charter, because the U.N. charter does not -- MS. MYERS: No one here has ever said that it's a legal question. I'm not answering it from a legal -- I don't -- haven't consulted with lawyers. But it's not something that we're making a legal case about. It's a political argument. Q But Senator Moynihan's argument yesterday was that, given that the U.N. charter guarantees every nation the right to self-defense, and given that Bosnia is recognized by the U.N. -- MS. MYERS: I don't think anybody here would dispute that. I don't -- Q -- it is our obligation to come to their aid if they seek our help in self-defense. Do we disagree with his view? MS. MYERS: I think we are very much coming to the aid in Bosnia. We've been engaged in a multilateral and quite vigorous effort here to aid the people and to resolve the conflict. Q But, Dee Dee, are you saying Moynihan's view -- you agree with Moynihan's view of the U.N. charter -- MS. MYERS: I don't think that we -- Q politically, we're not going to follow it? Or are you saying you disagree with -- MS. MYERS: I'm saying I'm not disagreeing with the notion that the U.N. charter does not preclude us from acting in our self-interest. I think what the President believes is that we have a lot of multilateral commitments on embargoes in other places around the world; and unilaterally withdrawing from the Bosnia embargo would have implications for other multilateral commitments that we've made. Q On another subject, what's your sense of the timing of the Supreme Court announcement? Do you think it will come this week? And has the President yet met with any of the possible candidates? MS. MYERS: I'm sure you will find this very helpful, but I'm not going to comment on who or whether he's met with anybody. That was the position I established earlier. The status of the Supreme Court -- the process continues. There will be more meetings on it this week; not today, but I think there will be a meeting tomorrow. There have been a number -- a couple of meetings so far. It's something that the President continues to work on. As to specifics of timing, as soon as the President makes a decision, we'll announce it. I don't have any good guidance for you on that. Q Have any good gossip for us? MS. MYERS: No, but if you have any for me, I'm all ears. Q How about average guidance? MS. MYERS: How about what? Q Average guidance as compared to good guidance. MS. MYERS: Average guidance. (Laughter.) Q We'll take anything. MS. MYERS: I don't have any even average words. How about some not very reliable -- I'll give you some not very reliable guidance. Q All right, we'll take that. MS. MYERS: It's not going to happen today. Q Is that good guidance? MS. MYERS: Yes, that's good guidance. Q On the election in El Salvador -- do you have a statement? MS. MYERS: I don't, and I'll check with NSC to see if we're putting out something on that later. Q There are some Cuban-Americans down in Havana, or were over the weekend; and some of them were talking about the possibility that maybe it's time for the U.S. to talk about easing the trade embargo against Cuba. Is there any -- is it within the realm of possibility that this government might be willing to do that so long as Fidel Castro is alive? MS. MYERS: At this point, we continue to support the Cuban Democracy Act, which, as you know, imposes tough sanctions. Q The President is doing a number of events this week about the assault rifle ban, which I think has been dropped from the legislation. Why does he continue to speak out on that particular element even though it's no longer a live issue up on the Hill? MS. MYERS: Well, I think it's an element, as you know, that he supports and feels strongly about and believes the Congress should include in a final version of the crime bill. That's obviously something that Congress is going to have to decide. But he believes that the Feinstein amendment was a good one and that the ban on assault weapons should be included. And he just feels strongly about it. THE PRESS: Thank you. END1:38 P.M. EDT