Bill Clinton: “I reiterated my position, and I'll be glad to say it again. The United States is concerned about the welfare of the…”

“I reiterated my position, and I'll be glad to say it again. The United States is concerned about the welfare of the people of Iraq; we don't want to see them suffer unnecessarily. We took the lead in putting in place a policy in the United Nations that permits us to expand humanitarian assistance there. But the most important thing is that those inspectors need to be back at work, and they need to work without impediment. Mr. Butler gave a report today to the United Nations Security Council which points out that there are still impediments to their work, and he recommends a more robust inspection regime. That is what we need to focus on. I understand President Yeltsin's position, and I thank him for the work they did to end the crisis, at least temporarily--we hope it's ended permanently, but we're not sure. But keep in mind, it is more difficult for these inspectors to do their work with regard to biological and chemical weapons than it is with regard to missile and nuclear issues under their jurisdiction. And we have to do more. And again I say, I want to compliment the members of the press. We sometimes have our differences, but I think there has been a real effort to make the public aware of the storage of chemical and biological agents that Iraq admitted having in 1989 and now has no records, cannot produce records proving it destroyed--and then the admitted stores that were there in 1995, just 2 years ago. So I just want to--what I emphasized to President Yeltsin is we have come a long way by working together, and we have to continue to work together. And the decisions about what to do with the inspections should be made based on the evidence, the facts, and the professional judgment of the inspectors. Neither the political inclinations of the United States nor of our allies should control those decisions. This is about the future safety not only of the people in Iran and on its borders but indeed of the whole world. It's not hard to carry this stuff around in small amounts once it's developed. So it was a very good conversation, a very forthright one, and I thought a constructive one, and I believe it will enable us to take the next steps by working together. Thank you very much.”