Bill Clinton: “Well, let me first of all take issue with you--I mean, not the perception. The other nations of the world have asked the…”

“Well, let me first of all take issue with you--I mean, not the perception. The other nations of the world have asked the United States for years and years and years internally to do one thing. The only thing they ever asked of us internally was to do something about our budget deficit, which caused a significant imbalance in the global economic relations. I read about it for years before I became President. And we're doing that, and it is very tough to do in tough economic times. And we're going to wind up with a very tough deficit reduction plan that we believe is good for our economy over the long run. And it's not been easy to do, but we are doing that. Secondly, the major crisis this world has faced since I've been President, I think, was what would happen to democracy in Russia. And when it became apparent that democracy was in trouble in Russia because of what was happening with President Yeltsin, I immediately publicly supported him. I called every other leader in the G-7 and many others around the world and asked for people to support him. We all did. And I think that we had something to do with the outcome of events there. I announced a $1.6 billion aid package to Russia, and we have now, by the way, obligated well over half of that money. And then I announced another $1.8 billion bilateral aid package to Russia which passed the House of Representatives with 75 percent of the vote almost last week, bipartisan support. It's going to fly through the Senate. The IMF gave their first installment, $1.5 billion, to Russia the day before yesterday, and we're going to discuss that at the G-7 summit. I think--and that's a huge potential market for all of us and a major political issue. And I think that is the big issue we have faced, and I think we've done it very, very well. Now, the only point of contention between us that I can see--we'll come back to the Japanese issue; you asked that and I haven't forgotten--but the only--in Europe is that we have not agreed entirely on how to handle Bosnia, although we've done a lot of work together. The United States has spent almost $300 million in humanitarian assistance. We have strongly enforced and pushed for tougher sanctions and embargoes on Serbia. We believe and the Germans believe the arms embargo ought to be lifted on Bosnia. France and Britain and Russia disagree. I understand that. But that doesn't mean we can't do anything together. We are trying to work together. And this, I think everyone would admit, is the most difficult international problem that we face. I'm still hopeful that something humane, decent, and politically reasonable will emerge from this process before it's too late. But we all have a disagreement on that, and I'm sorry we do. But we can't agree on everything. And this is a very difficult problem. I still think I was right about what was the best course. I think events subsequent to the Athens meeting prove that beyond question. But nonetheless, I don't think that's a reason for us to give up on the European alliance, give up on NATO, give up on the G-7. This is a tough problem. With regard to Japan, I think everyone who has looked at the problem seriously thought there would have to be some realignment in our trade relations. And I think we're going to work that out. But there are lots of other things we have in common. Japan has supported the United States, and the United States has supported Japan in the things we've done to support democracy all over the world. Our security relationship is very strong. I intend to reaffirm my commitment to that when I'm in Japan, and my commitment to Korea and to Asia generally when I'm in Korea. So I think a lot of this--let me--if I might, a lot of this uncertainty in Europe, particularly, is a function of two things. One is the economic problems that we all have which make people always just more insecure. And two is, I've only been President 5 months. And we have a new Government in France. We have a new Government in Italy. We have a new Government in Canada. And so a lot of these folks, we don't all know each other. And I think when people don't know each other, there is always a--but you're trying to get to know one another--there is the temptation to take whatever incident is in the moment and reach some huge encyclopedia of meaning in it, which may or may not be accurate. So I think a lot of these things that you're talking about will be taken care of by meetings like this, by trips like this, and by constant working together. I will say--but every opportunity I've had to work with the other European leaders has been satisfactory. I had good cooperation between the United States and Italy, for example, when we were trying to reinforce the security of the U.N. forces within Bosnia, because the U.S. is committed to defend them if they're attacked, and everybody knows that. So I'm just a lot more hopeful about this than I think some are. I think a lot of this is just a function of economic difficulties and new players who don't really know each other thoroughly yet. GATT and Resolution of Trade Issues”