We've had a very interesting morning here and a very interesting phone call with President Gorbachev.

I hereby authorize you to ascertain whether the printed enrollment of H.R. 5835 is a correct printing of the hand enrollment.

I am pleased that the Secretary-General is undertaking this mission for peace.

Well, I had a good meeting with certain Members of Congress. I've talked to all four leaders this afternoon--Senator Mitchell, Senator Dole, Speaker Foley, Congressman Michel--I talked to him in person here. And I'm not sure where it…

I have a brief opening statement, and then I will take a few questions. I have spoken with Secretary of State Jim Baker, who reported to me on his nearly 7 hours of conversation with Iraqi Foreign Minister Tariq `Aziz. Secretary Baker made…

I can't misrepresent this to the American people. I am discouraged. I watched much of the `Aziz press conference, and there was no discussion of withdrawal from Kuwait. The United Nations resolutions are about the aggression against…

I have not made up my decision on what and when to do. I am more determined than ever that the United Nations resolutions including 678 is implemented fully. Yes, Helen [Helen Thomas, United Press International]?

And I think it enhances the peace. I really believe, John [John Cochran, NBC News], that he is living under a delusion. I think he doesn't think that force will be used against him. I think he's misinterpreted the debate. I also think he's…

Well, let me first describe why I wanted to send a letter. It has been alleged, fairly or unfairly, that those around Saddam Hussein refuse to bring him bad news or refuse to tell it to him straight. And so, I made the determination that I…

----so when he talked about his allies there, I don't know who stood up at the General Assembly of the United Nations and stood against the resolution that so overwhelmingly passed condemning Iraq. So, there will be no linkage, put it that…

There have been 200--I'll just repeat for the record that there have been a lot of uses of force in our history and very few declarations of war. But I have tried. I have done more consultation with the Congress than any other President…

The foreign ministers of the EC have been very solid, and so has President Francois Mitterrand, that there will be no linkage. So you're asking me a hypothetical question that I won't have to answer because he's not going to do that.

I'm not sure. What would a mission of Jim Baker have been? It might have been to convince the man that he is up against an immovable force. He's up against something that is not going to yield. He is up against a situation under which…

I think it was after he had made that--I think it was after the letter had been rejected at the table there in Geneva. Just one more effort to try to get this direct communication to him. I'm not sure on that, but I believe that's correct.

I don't think I need it. I think Secretary Cheney expressed it very well the other day. There are different opinions on either side of this question, but Saddam Hussein should be under no question on this: I feel that I have the authority…

The French Government and the United States Government over the years have had some differences on how the best way to bring peace to the Middle East is. We had a very active initiative underway by Jim Baker. But that doesn't have anything…

I think he's wrong on all of his assumptions about what would happen if it came to war--God forbid. In the middle, and back here. And then we've got three more, and then I've got to go. These--Ellen [Ellen Warren, Knight-Ridder]?

No, you missed what I said, ma'am--Ellen, about the Secretary-General, possibly. The EC has tried--I'll get back to you. Let me finish this one train of thought and then I'll come to your question--the EC has tried, and, indeed, we see…

I'm not sure I have great hope for it. But I think when human life is at stake, you go the extra mile for peace. And that's what we have tried to do. And I will continue to think of reasons--I told President Mitterrand, I said, look, if…

I'm not going to use that phrase. I am going to say, if Saddam doesn't move, we are going to fully implement Resolution 678. And it will be fully complied with. But I wish I could tell you I'm more hopeful. There is no back channel. We've…

And it has since August 2d--exactly. Because this aggression is not going to stand. And there's an awful lot at stake in terms of the new world order that it doesn't stand. And there's a lot at stake in terms of a lot of human life in…

Because he's had every opportunity. We finally said this is the last step. We tried 15 dates in Baghdad. We tried to set up these meetings. And now we tried this one, and there wasn't one single reason to make me think that another meeting…

Well, I did listen carefully to Mr. `Aziz, who I thought spoke quite well. I didn't agree with what he was trying to do, obviously, to confuse the issue by refusing to discuss the point at hand, which is the invasion of Kuwait, but I…

A followup question. I'm sorry, I'm going to have one more, and then Charles [Charles Bierbauer, Cable News Network]--I told him, and then I'm leaving. Thank you very much, though.

No, I didn't. I thought it was a very rational presentation, but wrong. I must say, I thought his style was good. From talking to Jim Baker, I thought he--I mean, when I talked to Jim, he said, look, the man presented his case. Clearly, we…