Exchange with reporters prior to discussions with Prime Minister Bertie Ahern of Ireland in Dublin

Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents, Sept 7, 1998

Senator Lieberman's Remarks

Q. Mr. President, do you have any comments on Senator Lieberman's remarks?

The President. I've been briefed on them, and basically I agree with what he said. I've already said that I made a bad mistake, it was indefensible, and I'm sorry about it. So I have nothing else to say except that I can't disagree with anyone else who wants to be critical of what I have already acknowledged was indefensible.

Q. Do you think the Senate is the right format for-----

The President. That's not for me to say. That's not for me to say. I don't - I've known Senator Lieberman a long time; we've worked together on a lot of things; and I'm not going to get into commenting on that one way or the other. That's not - it wouldn't be an appropriate thing for me to do.

Q. But do you think it's helpful for him to make that kind of-----

The President. It's not for me to say. But there's nothing that he or anyone else could say in a personally critical way that I - that I don't imagine that I would disagree with, since I have already said it myself, to myself. And I'm very sorry about it. There's nothing else I could say.

Q. Mr. President, do you think an official censure by the Senate would be inappropriate?

The President. I just don't want to comment on that. I shouldn't be commenting on that while I'm on this trip, and I don't think that - my understanding is that was not a decision that was made or advocated clearly yesterday. So I don't want to get into that. If that's not an issue, I don't want to make it, one way or the other. I don't think that's appropriate right now.

Northern Ireland Peace Process

Q. Mr. President, it usually seems to take a visit from you to give the peace process a boost. Will we need to see you again?

The President, Well, for the sake of the peace process, I hope not. For my own sake, I hope so. But I hope the next time I come it won't be in aid of the peace process, because I hope it will be institutionalized and off and going.

I do think that a lot of progress has been made. I give the Taoiseach a lot of credit, Prime Minister Blair, and the party leaders, I think the statements in the last few days by Gerry Adams and Mr. Trimble's response make me quite hopeful about next week. And then, after that we'll just have to see where we go from there.

Q. Mr. President, do you believe that from what you've heard from political leaders yesterday that David Trimble is now ready to sit down with Gerry Adams in government in Northern Ireland?

The President. Well, first of all, they talked about meeting, and I think they need - I expect that at some point there will be a meeting, and I think that's a good thing. And then, we'll have to take the next steps. I think that what you want is - what we all want is for the agreement to be fully implemented so that all parts of it - the decommissioning, the participation in government by everyone who qualifies by vote of the people - all parts of it will be fully implemented. And I think that eventually it will get there, and I hope it's sooner rather than later.

Q. Mr. President, what were your views of Omagh yesterday? It was a very emotional day. You seemed to work the crowd so well; you spent a lot of time meeting those people there yesterday. What were your feelings?

The President. Well, first of all, like everyone in the world that knew about it, I was just overwhelmed by the dimension of the tragedy and the random, cruel nature of the violence. And my experience has been, dealing with the families who have suffered a similar fate, is that they know there's nothing you can do to bring their loved ones back or bring their limbs back or give them sight or whatever else the problem may be, but sometimes just listening to people's story and letting them say what they hope will happen next - in many cases yesterday, letting them reaffirm their belief in the peace - sometimes that helps.

And what I was hoping to do yesterday was to bring the support of the people of the United States as well as my own and Hillary's to the families there, and just give them a chance to continue the healing process.

I must say I was very, very impressed with the people of the community, who turned out on the street where the bomb had exploded in large numbers to say hello to us and to encourage us. And I'm grateful for that. But it was an amazing experience talking to those families in the building there and just listening to them.

Q. You were clearly moved by it.

The President. Anyone would have been.

Q. Mr. President, where do you rank the Northern Ireland peace process among the policy initiatives you've pursued in office?

The President. Oh, I don't know about ranking. It was important to me. Once I realized that there was something the United States could do, which probably happened somewhere in late 1991, long before I was elected, I decided I would try. And I just hope it succeeds.

I believe that - at the end of the cold war, I think the United States has a particular responsibility that goes beyond my personal passion for the Irish question to do two things. One is to do whatever we can, wherever we can, to try to minimize the impact of ethnic and religious and tribal and racial conflicts. And we're in this position of responsibility there because of where we find ourselves at the end of the cold war.