clinton am press briefing by dee dee myers the white house office of the press secretary for immediate release april press briefing by dee dee myers the briefing room a m edt ms myers at p m we re having a press conference bill in the east room and then saturday the president will leave here at roughly a m and fly down to jamestown he will spend the day there overnight at camp david on sunday it s unclear exactly what time he ll leave camp david and fly to boston he ll leave from hagerstown the press plane will leave from washington he will meet with some q what kind of a plane is that he s taking ms myers that he s taking he ll probably take a c q from hagerstown ms myers from hagerstown air force one doesn t fly out of hagerstown apparently q how will the pool travel ms myers the pool will have to meet him ahead of time so i guess the pool will travel with the press plane and wait for him at the airport there is currently no provision and i ll double check because there s currently no provision i think that s standard operating practice q the pool is not going to meet him and watch him get on the plane at hagerstown ms myers i don t believe so q what time does he have to be in boston ms myers he s going to meet there with a group of citizens mostly people who supported us during the campaign at around p m we re still working out the final times q at the airport ms myers no it will be at the boston harbor hotel and then he will also meet with some a youth group that authored something called project the speech to the publishers is actually at p m it will be followed by q a and then after the speech and q a he ll attend a reception with the publishers and then return to washington from boston and that s it for the weekend q has the president seen the report from or the letter communication from the foreign service officers also obviously the communication from madeleine albright and what is his reaction to their call on him ms myers well obviously the letter was written to secretary christopher i believe secretary christopher received the letter on saturday he reviewed it and met with the authors on monday to discuss their views he believes it s an important part of the policy making process and is taking their views into account as we go forward in the development of the bosnia policy q what is the president s reaction ms myers the president hasn t seen the letter it was something that was directed towards secretary christopher in terms of he hasn t seen specifically the letter but in terms of their concerns generally what the president has said is that there are a lot of options on the table now including ones that weren t there before and i think he s as is everybody gravely concerned about the situation in bosnia q is he influenced by that i mean how does he feel about the fact that all of the specialists in that area those desk officers ms myers many of the specialists in that area i think that that is clearly part of the process it s something their views will clearly be considered i think secretary christopher met with the group immediately to discuss their views i think he believes that there ought to be room for opinions and that those opinions ought to be considered particularly from people who work closely on the issues q what do you mean there are options on the table that weren t there before ms myers i think the president said last week that there were options such as lifting the arms embargo to the bosnian muslims that had been previously off the table that are now being considered q dee dee in terms of those options madeleine albright is saying that potentially there could be unilateral action by the u s if the europeans did not go along is that on the table ms myers well i can t discuss anything that would any conversations that would have happened between ambassador albright and the president but i think the president has said he would certainly is working with our european allies he s had a number of conversations with european leaders and is trying to build some consensus there q will he reach a decision will he have anything specific to say today ms myers no i mean in term of there will be no new announcement of policy today q does your statement mean he has ruled out unilateral action ms myers he s continuing to consult with our allies at this point he has said i think he s been fairly clear about it that the he believes that the u s needs to act in concert with its allies on this q on that point does he believe that the u s though does have built in authority from the united nations already to take unilateral action ms myers well i think the u n resolution makes it clear that you can act unilaterally in support of any humanitarian relief effort i think the broader point is that anything we do any options that we decide to pursue we will make sure that it is consistent with u n authority and if it s not we ll work with our allies to make sure that we get it q dee dee then how does the white house someone as distinguished as elie wiesel who says that not enough is being done to stop the atrocities going on in bosnia ms myers i think that that s why we re considering additional options i think that mr wiesel s comments yesterday were quite compelling the situation in bosnia is tragic the president is very concerned about it he has i think president clinton has worked very hard to take further actions to continue to isolate serbia in the world community clearly we re considering other options because the president is concerned that perhaps it s not enough q in terms of what you were just talking about it sounds like resolution justifies unilateral action by the u s to protect humanitarian ms myers i don t think it i wouldn t use the word justify it permits unilateral action by any country in protecting the delivery of humanitarian relief but i think that s just an explanation of the resolution i think any action that we take will be consistent with u n resolutions or we ll work with our allies to make sure that it is permissible or we ll get further action q the president and other officials have ruled out unilateral u s action in bosnia in the past you re declining to do that this morning ms myers no i said the president has said repeatedly that he wants to act in concert with our allies on this q that doesn t mean that he won t act alone which has been said before explicitly ms myers i don t mean to imply a change in policy the president has said all along that he wants to act in concert with our allies on this q one other little question did he know about this letter from the foreign service officers before it hit the papers ms myers i don t believe so secretary christopher they may have had a private conversation about it the president has not seen it q they met on monday right christopher met surely he must have brought that up ms myers again they may have talked privately about it but q dee dee what you re saying is that the albright recommendation has been rejected is that correct ms myers no i didn t say that at all i said i won t i said i wouldn t comment on any conversations or communications q she s advocating unilateral action and you re saying in effect that we will not take unilateral action ms myers i am not confirming anything that madeleine albright may or may not have recommended q given the sometimes delicate complicated and frustrating nature of negotiations with the allies on this issue does the president find this kind of letter from foreign service officers of the state department helpful to that process hurtful to that ms myers i think that their views are obviously being considered the secretary received that memo on saturday and two days later he met with them in order to have a more thorough airing of their views of the basis for their views to discuss in greater detail the options that they had presented in the letter q doesn t it put some kind of pressure on additional pressure on him now from within his own administration to act regardless of what the allies may or may not do ms myers i think clearly there s a broad policy review underway now and the president and his advisors are considering a number of options including some of those outlined in the letter from the folks over at the state department now no decisions have been made on that yet but i think that there is a through review underway and that their opinions are being very seriously considered q if i can just follow up i guess what i m looking for is what was his reaction to this letter did he say good this bolsters my position or did he say damn this is just what i don t need right now ms myers i think he said this helps contribute substantively to the debate it s important that all views be considered and aired thoroughly that before he makes a decision he wants to have the best possible advice and information possible and this i think in many ways furthers that goal q so internal advice to a cabinet official or the president it s all open now and you wouldn t take any umbrage or say that they were out of line ms myers i think that the fact that secretary christopher met with them to discuss their views and make sure they had an opportunity to have a more complete conversation about it is conclusive evidence that their views are welcome q does the policy review include what madeleine albright has suggested and what joe biden and others have suggested which is that the previous u n resolutions authorize unilateral action military action for the delivery of humanitarian ms myers i think all options are on the table q the unilateral option is on the table ms myers i think all options are on the table q we ve had two different q isn t that a change dee dee q that would be a change of policy q particularly if it includes ground troops which has been specifically ruled out ms myers i think the president has been well no i don t that is not q are you talking about all options ms myers all options i think the president has been fairly clear about that so let me just review again what he has said he has said that the president has said all options are on the table with the exception of the introduction of ground troops which he has never suggested he has ruled that out from the beginning q hasn t he ruled out unilateral action of any sort ms myers he has said that he doesn t believe the u s can solve the problems in the former yugoslavia by itself i think that there are a number of very complicated options on the table right now i don t think that again i don t want to comment on specific options that are being considered other than in the broad categories that we ve already said things like lifting the arms embargo against the bosnian muslims things that i think we ve talked about in broad terms this is a very complicated situation the options being presented and considered are very complicated q air strikes on the table ms myers again i think that s been fairly clearly pointed out that that s something that s being discussed q dee dee are ground troops on the ms myers no ground troops are not being considered q you said there was not going to be you said you were not announcing a change of policy then you said everything is on the table we re confused are unilateral actions on the table ms myers all i can tell you is what the president has said that he doesn t believe that he wants to act in concert with the allies on this q wants to but he s willing to i mean if they don t go along ms myers he s continuing to consult with our allies on this he s continuing to have discussions he s continuing to press them for further action and i think that s clear the conversation is ongoing we re going to continue to work with them to find the best possible solution and next step on this q dee dee the allies have taken the position that to conduct any kind of air strikes in bosnia would have the opposite effect of ensuring the delivery of humanitarian aid that they feel that their troops on the ground monitoring the delivery of that aid would become vulnerable and the bosnians ms myers i m not sure that s the consistent i mean i m not sure who you re referring to q the british and the french q yes the british and french they ve taken the position that the delivery of humanitarian aid would be jeopardized by any kind of air strikes against the bosnian military does the u s believe differently from that ms myers the president has had conversations with both mitterrand and major as you know i think that there is a thorough review of policy going on in those countries as well and i don t want to comment on the nature of the president s discussions other than to say that he s continuing to consult with our allies as we move forward and he s continuing to press them for further action and i think that process is ongoing q the other day voted against any military intervention yesterday does the president regard that as the end of the line or does he does still hold out some possibility of unilateral action the allies have been very very plain that they do not want to do anything ms myers the consultations are ongoing that s all i can tell you at this point q are you saying that there won t be any announcement on bosnia today in the press conference ms myers no that is not the intention of the press conference q what is the intention ms myers it s an opportunity to take questions he may have a brief i m sure he ll have a brief opening statement but it is not an opportunity to outline a new policy on bosnia that will not happen q can you tell us what the subject of the opening statement is ms myers it s sort of a general statement of where we are q after the first hundred days you mean ms myers it s not a long statement i mean this is just generally don t look for any major policy pronouncements q do you know what the opening statement is ms myers but it s perhaps later today i ll be able to tell you with more certainty i think that s still under review but the overriding purpose of this it s not a mystery it s not meant to be it s just to take questions q it would be helpful to know whether what the opening statement is on ms myers since the major purpose here is just to take questions it s not completely resolved yet q dee dee one policy that was expected last week and that the white house you and george seemed to indicate we might get would be an aids czar will he announce that today and what s the delay on that ms myers i don t think we meant to imply i think we said it would happen soon i don t think we meant to imply with any certainty that it would be this week it is coming soon i don t anticipate that happening today q what s the delay isn t this the perfect time to announce an aids czar ms myers i don t know that it s a delay i think the process is ongoing to find the best possible person and to go through the necessary background checks and to make sure that we ve crossed the t s and dotted the i s before we make an announcement q dee dee what are zoe baird s qualifications for the foreign intelligence advisory board and why wasn t her appointment announced here ms myers the qualifications i don t know if there s a specific list i ll have to check and see i think there are a number of people there on the board with different backgrounds many of them have long histories in intelligence or other government service i think there s a broad variety of views across political spectrum and across backgrounds that are represented there we never made a formal announcement other than the chairman of the board which is admiral william crowe q why would he appoint her though if the american people and many in the senate rejected her for another government job ms myers i don t believe that the american people ever had voted on her and i certainly she was never rejected in the senate she never went up there for a hearing but the president believes she s a very competent person he s said that zoe baird do you understand what the question is zoe baird is on the president s foreign intelligence q you said she never went up there for a hearing q her nomination was withdrawn after public outrage over violating federal laws ms myers right she never she was never but you said she was rejected by the senate i was just simply trying to point out that she was never voted on by the senate q so you don t think that is any problem ms myers i don t think there s any problem q she has been appointed to this board is that a fact ms myers yes q does she need confirmation for this does she need confirmation to be a member of the ms myers no it s a presidential appointment q usually announcements are made here at the white house was there a decision not to announce her publicly ms myers we didn t make an announcement people who asked were told who the members of the board were we didn t make an official announcement if anybody s interested in that we can certainly put out the list of names q i d like to know q don t such board members don t you normally as a matter of routinely put out releases on all these boards and presidential appointment regardless of their dimension ms myers not always but again i m happy to put this out q isn t that the standard practice q that was past practice ms myers again i m happy to put it out we ll put out a list of the members of the board today q dee dee i don t want to try to fail to let you get out of this swamp but laughter all i really want to know is hasn t it been the practice in this administration for such announcements to be made routinely ms myers i think generally but not always and we re happy to put that out today q what is the board what is her title what is the size of the board ms myers there is roughly a dozen members on the board it is a civilian board although their are some obviously retired military personnel on the board that provide input into intelligence policy for the president again the chairman of that board is admiral william crowe q and did he recommend baird q what s the name of the board ms myers it s the president s foreign intelligence advisory board pfiab q what s her qualification that she had employed an illegal alien is that laughter ms myers do you want an answer to the question or you just want to make a joke q let me phrase it another way why shouldn t this appointment be viewed as a pay back for the difficulty she had a couple of months ago ms myers because it s not q what s her experience in foreign intelligence ms myers she s an experienced attorney someone who the president believes is very competent and qualified and i think part of the mission of this board is to provide civilian input not everybody on the board is supposed to be an intelligence expert that is not the board s mission it is to provide civilian input for the president as he makes decisions regarding intelligence matters he believes she s very qualified very competent person enormously talented and has said that throughout q is this just a figment of my overactive imagination or was there discussion early on about abolishing the president s foreign intelligence advisory board ms myers i don t think so on december th when he announced all of his foreign policy advisors he announced that he would had appointed admiral crowe as the head of the board so i don t believe there s ever been any q earlier than that during the transition ms myers no i don t believe so it was announced again on december th admiral crowe couldn t be there but it was announced q are members paid ms myers i don t believe so but i ll double check q on another subject on waco how do you explain the discrepancy between the federal reports of the autopsies of the bodies that are coming out of waco and the state i guess it s the texas ranger reports ms myers most of the information is coming the federal information is coming from the site clearly there s been some discrepancies and the justice department is looking into it officials in the justice department were told i believe the day before yesterday that there were several bodies found with bullet holes i think there s some discrepancy about that and the justice department is looking into it q is the president going to get involved in trying to sort out what seems to be becoming a jurisdictional morass down there with some people withdrawing others saying they re in charge but others justice fbi texas rangers all grabbing a piece of this ms myers i don t know that he s going to try to mediate the dispute i mean i ll let you know if there s anything he intends to do about it but as you know there are several levels of investigation ongoing and we re hopeful that they can work together q is there any one agency or official down there in charge of everything ms myers i don t know i ll have to get back to you on that q what is the subject matter of sunday s speech ms myers it s going to be fairly general i don t think it s going to be any specific announcements i think it s going to be sort of a q does he have a topic that he s going to talk about ms myers we re still working on it but i wouldn t look for any announcements of like the drug czar or something like that q is it sort of a days speech sort of my excellent adventure for days laughter ms myers not exactly but i think he ll take a little bit broader look about what s happened in the last q foreign domestic ms myers a little bit of both but i think a lot of domestic q and overview ms myers yes more of an overview than a specific policy announcement q has there been an agreement yet on a forum by which the president will address the gay rights march on sunday ms myers it will be a letter read to the crowd by congresswoman nancy pelosi q is that available ms myers not yet but it will be sure q are you going to put it out here or ms myers we ll probably put it out here on sunday q travel next week ms myers unclear q what was the question q likely ms myers i don t q likely possible ms myers possible q what s possible ms myers travel q george mentioned yesterday campaign finance reform and national service legislative proposals next week do you have days yet for them ms myers not yet q can you tell us which order ms myers campaign finance reform first national service later in the week q is there any coverage tomorrow in williamsburg ms myers no q and any report in the aftermath of the day ms myers any readout from the day q readout ms myers it s possible jeff eller will be down there i think he can go through what the president did during the day we don t expect any photo op or anything other than departure here in the morning q dee dee the president has not made a regular practice as some of his predecessors have of going to camp david in fact he s been there what once or twice ms myers twice q why this weekend ms myers he went two weekends ago as you know on the way home from his father in law s funeral i think that they found it to be a good experience and a nice way for them to spend some time together as a family and this is just an opportunity to do the same q there s no march there q it has nothing to do with the march here ms myers no q since he s going to be in town sunday morning now instead of in jamestown have you thought about him making a quick pass by fly over laughter ms myers he ll fly straight to boston q flying straight did you say laughter q george took a question yesterday on waco the president had said on tuesday in the rose garden that there was a minor disagreement on tactics between the military advisors and the fbi and the question was whether you knew exactly what that was and whether it related to the use of the particular kind of tear gas do you have an answer on that ms myers i don t i ll check the press thank you end a m edt
