Bill Clinton: “First of all, let me say that it is a great honor to welcome the Prime Minister back to the United States and especially…”

“First of all, let me say that it is a great honor to welcome the Prime Minister back to the United States and especially to have him here at the White House. The United States strongly supports the independence, the sovereignty, the territorial integrity of Lebanon. And we look forward to working with the Prime Minister to build a future in the Middle East with a comprehensive, lasting peace and Lebanon free of foreign forces. We also want to be supportive of the reconstruction efforts in Lebanon, and I'm looking forward to having a discussion with the Prime Minister about that. The other thing I feel I should say to the people of Lebanon is how deeply indebted the United States is for the contributions of Lebanese- Americans. My administration is especially indebted because of the presence of Donna Shalala in our Cabinet as Secretary of Health and Human Services, and former Senator George Mitchell, who is our envoy to the peace talks in Northern Ireland and who is leading them now, and General George Joulwan, who is the commander of all of our forces in Europe. So we have a lot of ties with Lebanon. We want to be as supportive of this Prime Minister in his vision for Lebanon's future, and I look forward to our discussions. Mr. Prime Minister, do you want to say anything? Prime Minister Hariri. Thank you very much, Mr. President. I am really honored and pleased to be here and to meet with President Clinton and Mr. Christopher. And I'm confident that President Clinton will help Lebanon in the next future to--and assist them to regain its independence and also will help them in the reconstruction effort. U.S. Sanctions on Lebanon”