Bill Clinton

Trade-related jobs pay, on the average, higher wages than jobs not related to trade.

Ladies and gentlemen, may I have your attention please. The microphone's not on, so I'll just speak. First, let me welcome you all to the White House and thank you all for being part of a great and promising day for the United States and…

Thank you very much. I never thought I would enter what may well be the first meeting of its kind in the history of our country-- [applause]--that I would enter this meeting hearing our erudite Vice President quote Lao Tse. But today, I…

I would like to tell them that this is a great day for the Israelis, for the Palestinians, for the Middle East, but it must be followed up. We must make good the promises of this agreement. And the United States has a terrific…

I think we have to keep the talks going, but I think first we need to focus on implementing this agreement. And if you look at what happened in Norway--I mean, I think it was quite important. But if you go back and look at how it fit with…

Well again, let me say the first step there is for Israel and Jordan to make peace and to reach an agreement. And I think a general agreement is forthcoming very soon. Then the three of them can get together, and they can discuss those…

No. Our position on that has not changed. That is something that the parties are going to have to discuss and agree to. The United States is not going to change its position. That is something to be left to the parties to make and discuss.

Absolutely. Absolutely, I would be willing to help him do that. And I think that is very much in Israel's interest. And my clear impression from the Prime Minister and from the Foreign Minister and from our contacts back and forth is that…

Well, I think we may have to do some more different things. We may wind up doing more in terms of economic development; we may wind up doing more in terms of shared technology. I think we've agreed already, the Prime Minister and I have…

Very involved. I spent about 10 minutes with Mr. Arafat today after the occasion and made it clear to him that I was prepared to take a the lead in trying to organize the finances necessary to carry this through and to try to build the…

Well, I suppose it's like beauty, it may be in the eyes of the beholder. But from the point of view of the United States, there are clear definitions of terrorism, and one of them clearly is the willful killing of innocent civilians who…

And so--that's right--but what I was asked about were those incidents, those particular instances. So I expect both sides to keep the commitments they made in this peace agreement. But one of the things that Mr. Arafat did, to his credit…

Well, the countries that get on that list are put on the list under American laws based on factual inquiries and evidence in certain particular cases. That is an issue which has to be resolved in the course of our common negotiations. I…

I think if we carry through the peace process in good faith and we give the Palestinian people a chance to enjoy a normal life with a sense of place, that it will remove one of the great causes of fundamentalism and political extremism…

Well, our dialog has just begun. And presumably that's one of the things we'll be discussing. The Russian aid program I expect to be successfully concluded. But we have, because our budget deficit has gotten so large, we have now very…

Well, for us, I think, two things will make it possible for us to contribute. First, as a practical matter, we'd been given so many assurances by other nations that they wish to contribute that ours will probably be a minority contribution…

Well, I expect Secretary Christopher to be in the region aggressively on a whole range of issues. He's already been there twice, and I expect him to be there quite a lot more.

Oh, I felt it was quite genuine. Just before we walked out--you know, they had never spoken before--and they looked at one another and immediately got down to business, no pleasantries. One said, you know, ``We have a lot of work to do to…

Well, first of all, let's get this agreement implemented. Let's start on that. And let's see what the Israelis and the Lebanese and the Syrians decide to do in their continuing discussions. I think we should focus on and savor this moment…

Well, I think that that's not the question. The real question is not whether we should divert from our support for Israel. Keep in mind, all the progress yet to be made depends upon the conviction of the people of Israel that they are…

No. But I didn't ask for them in this conversation. I told them I would be back to them on that. I have discussed it obviously with many of the leaders in the past. I do believe it is a logical step to take in the fairly near future. But I…

Well, I think it's quite critical not only because the Saudis are willing to contribute financially but because they have been friends of the United States. They have been somewhat estranged from the PLO in the aftermath of the Gulf war. I…

So far, I'm eminently satisfied. But we have to work out the details, you know, how much money do we need when, for what purposes, who's going to give in what order. I mean, all these details still have to be worked out.

Well, first of all, there has to be an economic committee established under the agreement. And they will presumably be able to give us all some guidance about exactly how we should channel funds. But I have spoken and my Secretary of State…

Of course. As a practical matter, I think it's easier now for a breakthrough on the Jordanian track. And I would hope that would come quickly. But I believe we'll have continued and very serious negotiations with Syria coming out of this…