George H.W. Bush: “Yes. That's all I'll tell you about. I'd rather talk about swimming and these champions that we have here. I take great…”

“Yes. That's all I'll tell you about. I'd rather talk about swimming and these champions that we have here. I take great pride in the accomplishments of my fellow Texans and what they stand for in sports the example they've set for the rest of the country--not only in competitive sports, but in fitness generally, something that we are trying to emphasize. And I might say to you all that the famous Arnold Schwarzenegger is doing a first-class job. He's taken this Fitness Council thing very seriously and goes all over the country. He's been, I think, in 26 of the States now. But I do mean it. You all set a wonderful example. Congratulations on the competitive side, too. Just a word, then, on the Primakov visit. In the first place, it's the kind of thing that is extraordinarily helpful to international relations and to improved relations between the Soviet Union and the United States. This visit comes on the heels of a visit by our experts, among them Ed Hewett right here in the White House, to the Soviet Union where they were very cordially and courteously received by President Gorbachev. The emphasis on our delegation was primarily agriculture. And I will have an opportunity to get more detail within the next day or two from them as to their recommendations and their views. But they come back leaning forward, and I think that's good. We want to try to be helpful where we can. The Primakov visit came at the suggestion of President Gorbachev. And what he wanted to do is send this very high-level visit, three distinguished individuals to explain to us the reforms that are being undertaken in the Soviet Union and their commitment in the future to reform. And I was very impressed with Mr. Primakov's presentation. Mr. Yavlinsky fleshed it out a little bit on the economic side. And I told them what I've told the American people, and that is that we want to be helpful, that we will study in detail the presentation they made. They've had an opportunity to go into much more detail, incidentally, with our experts in State and Treasury; here at the White House, Dr. Boskin. So, I liked what I heard, and we have some decisions ahead of us, and I'm not going to prejudge those decisions. I'm not going to suggest that my mind is made up, nor is the administration position yet firmed up on a wide array of matters with the Soviets. But I can say this to all those interested, not only here but abroad, that this visit by Mr. Primakov was extraordinarily helpful, and we talked about almost every subject that has been on the front pages over the last few days. So, I'll have more to say about this later on when I get a chance to visit with our experts and see what they feel in terms of some of the detail. In a meeting that lasts 45 minutes you cannot go into the detail that's necessary to reach firm conclusions. But I'd have to say preliminarily that I view this as a very positive, positive meeting.”