Political Quotes

“Yes, we did discuss that. But his position is the same as mine. Gorbachev's--I mean, regarding Gorbachev, the Prime Minister and I are in exact sync on this. We both want to look at it and consider it and not leave the door closed nor open, but see what the proposals are. And if it will help, fine. I mean, Gorbachev, I am still convinced, is working the reform path, working the perestroika path. And I'm not going to pull the rug out from under him. On the other hand, we have limitations in what we can do. And when we do something, we want it to be meaningful. We don't want to just have it some gesture that doesn't help the struggling Soviet economy. So we're in a critical time here in terms of meetings, in terms of G-7 or summit. And I'm anxious to hear from Mr. Primakov, who is Gorbachev's special emissary. Just as he was anxious to hear from our agricultural specialists that went over there, come up with some good ideas. And this is the way you do it. You talk to each other and you keep going. And it's true for U.S.-Soviet, it's true for G-7, and it's true for the Middle East. Thank you all very much. Note: The President spoke at 3:30 p.m. at the North Portico of the White House. The President referred to Nicholas E. Calio, Deputy Assistant to the President for Legislative Affairs (House); Frederick D. McClure, Assistant to the President for Legislative Affairs; U.S. Trade Representative Carla A. Hills; Representatives Dan Rostenkowski and Richard A. Gephardt; Thomas S. Foley, Speaker of the House of Representatives; Prime Minister John Major of the United Kingdom; Marlin Fitzwater, Press Secretary to the President; Yevgeniy Primakov, Soviet Presidential Council member and envoy for Soviet President Mikhail Gorbachev; Supreme Court Associate Justice David Souter; Prime Minister Yitzhak Shamir of Israel; and Secretary of State James A. Baker III.”