The White House Briefing Room
March 3, 1999
PRESS BRIEFING BY BARRY TOIV AND DAVID LEAVY
1:25 P.M. EST
THE WHITE HOUSE Office of the Press Secretary ______________________________________________________________ For Immediate Release March 3, 1999 PRESS BRIEFING BY BARRY TOIV AND DAVID LEAVY The Briefing Room 1:25 P.M. EST ........... Q Friday, the President said if Milosevic didn't show restraint, NATO would be prepared to act. Over the weekend, there are many reports Milosevic is certainly not showing restraint in that -- escalation on his side of attacks. Will NATO act? MR. LEAVY: Well, Sam, I think as the President said on Friday, one, NATO has all the authority it needs to act. The Secretary General has the authority. The ACTORD remains in effect, all the military planning is in place. What we're focused on now is moving both sides to sign a political agreement. Clearly, the best way to get into compliance, to end the conflict, to move forward is to have both sides sign onto the agreement; that's what we're focused on now. Ambassador Chris Hill was in Pristina and Belgrade over the last several days. He's making important progress. As I said earlier today, former Senator Dole is traveling out as a private citizen. He'll meet with key members of the Albanian delegation to make clear that this agreement's in their interest. We believe it's in the interest of both parties and we'll be making that case as we move forward. Q Isn't there a problem if a President of the United States suggests that action will take place unless something happens or doesn't happen, then that thing happens or doesn't happen and nothing happens? (Laughter.) MR. LEAVY: There's a lot of happening going on in that question. No, but -- Q In the old days -- excuse me -- when the President of the United States warned a foreign power, they followed through on that warning. MR. LEAVY: And as I said earlier, the option of force is not taken off the table. The Secretary General has the authority to act. We'll make a determination at what point military force should be used. As I said, our effort is focused on achieving a political settlement. Everybody wants a peaceful resolution to this. Q -- everyone except the parties. MR. LEAVY: Well, that's not true, Helen. Actually, we've had important progress the last several days on the Albanian side. As I said this morning, Chris Hill has had encouraging talks, and we're hopeful we can get to a political settlement. Q Why didn't they say so at Rambouillet? Q Senator Jeffords, when asked by radio station WKDR in Burlington, Vermont, if he thinks rape is a private issue replied -- and this is an AP quote -- "I don't know why it wouldn't be a private matter. If something that happened 21 years ago with a woman who invited, at least under her story, the President to her hotel room, and she was not happy with what happened, I don't know why that's not a private matter." Question: Does the White House believe that this statement by Senator Jeffords was right or wrong, or will you dismiss this defender of the President with a cold "no comment"? MR. TOIV: I believe you're asking me to comment on something that Mr. Kendall has already commented on. I could be wrong, but I think you are -- Q Has he commented on this? What did he say? MR. TOIV: -- and I will -- Q I don't recall anything that he -- MR. TOIV: Mr. Kendall has commented on this matter, and I don't have anything further to add. Q No, no, no. I mean, comment on Senator Jeffords. I want to know -- do you believe that Jeffords was wrong or right? MR. TOIV: You can keep trying, but that's my answer. Q Will the President veto the Ed-flex bill if it doesn't have the 100,000 teachers amendment in it? MR. TOIV: Well, look -- I think that's a hypothetical that hopefully we won't have to address because that is an issue that I think is going to come up in the Senate next week. I think a vote on that is likely to come next week. We're going to be working very hard to encourage members of the Senate to support that amendment. We believe that putting 100,000 additional teachers in our classrooms, reducing class size, is the highest priority right now for education, and we believe that the Senate ought to take that up now while they have the opportunity and enact that legislation. And so, hopefully, we will not have to face that issue. .................. Q Can you hold for one more Kosovo question? One of the leading opponents of the peace agreement quit. So if there is an agreement reached, what concerns does the administration have that you have this leader of the KLA now not signing on? MR. LEAVY: Well, I think it was clear from the talks in France that there was disagreement within the Kosovar delegation and one of the interesting things that has happened has been a jelling of their own position. Helen remarked as I walked off that, well, why didn't they sign on when they were in France? The problem is, they didn't have a mandate, there wasn't an official delegation, per se. They represented all spectrums of the Albanian population, from the insurgents on one side to the moderates on the other. So they needed to go back, sell this agreement to their constituencies, get the public support, the grass-root support, and then come back. That's what we're seeing now. There is, I think, a normal political process of sorting out, and we're hopeful that the team will come back and embrace this agreement in full and we can move forward on it. Q But are you concerned that -- when you talked about a consensus coming together -- if one of the leading opponents has walked away from all of these talks, then the consensus has a voice that isn't in the mix. MR. LEAVY: I don't know if you can ever get 100 percent consensus on issues as momentous and historic as this, but I think we're very confident that the team that will represent the Albanians will embrace this agreement, will be representative of a cross-section and we can have the support that we need to implement it. Q Sorry, just one more shot at this. But if they are not signed on with this peace agreement, is there concern in the administration that they would continue hostilities from the outside, on the edges of all -- MR. LEAVY: I guess my point is that the group that is formed or jells after this process of seeking support back home will be representative, will have the broad mandate that is necessary to implement this agreement. Of course, there is always the option of people beyond the sidelines, but we're hopeful that the vast majority will support this. We think it's in the best interests of the Kosovars and that the group that will eventually move forward will have the support they need. .................... Q David, on Kosovo again, there are civilians now left out in the cold because of this heavy artillery fire by the Serbs in this southern area, similar to what we saw last October when the cease-fire was agreed and threats to use force were issued. Define why it's different now, why we've got civilians again, like we had in October, who are outside in the cold and there is heavy shelling of Albanians by the Serbs -- what's so different now from then? MR. LEAVY: Well, a couple of elements. One, back in October we had over 200,000 Albanians in the mountains at the precipice of winter, which was a very dangerous situation. That is why we worked so hard, Ambassador Holbrooke and others brought an end to that. We are in a different situation now because we have a peace agreement on the table that has been blessed by the Contact Group, that has been blessed by the Russian Federation, that has, in principle, the support of the Kosovars. And so we're moving very closely here to a situation where it's going to be up to President Milosevic to accept this agreement, both the political and the military annexes. And we're very close to that. I think, in terms of the people that are displaced currently, there are NGOs and other voluntary organizations who are working on the ground to make sure that they have the humanitarian -- food and medical supplies they need. But as we move closer to March 15, it's going to be up to both sides, but primarily President Milosevic to choose one of the two paths -- a path of peace that we can move forward and end this crisis, or a path of more conflict and more violence. And we're going to be making it very clear to him in the coming days that we believe that the path of peace is the best way to move forward. Q Did I hear you right when you said you're very close to getting him to agree? MR. LEAVY: No, I think I said we're very close to locking in the Kosovar Albanians. As I said earlier, they agreed in principle. We've had positive developments in the last several days. But as we move forward, as we move toward March 15, we're going to be making it very clear to both sides, including President Milosevic, that this deal is in his best interest. Q How do you plan to do that? MR. LEAVY: Well, there are several options on the table as we try to communicate that message, but I don't have anything to announce today. Q How can you make it more clear than having Madeleine Albright get on the phone with him and tell him it's it, or it's bombs? MR. LEAVY: I think there are a number of ways to convey a message, and there will be, I'm sure, discussions as we move forward in the coming days if we should deliver that message. But I don't have any specific details today. ................ Q Thank you. END 1:55 P.M. EST