Remarks and an Exchange With Reporters Prior to Discussions With King Hussein of Jordan

Middle East Peace Process

The President. First, I would like to welcome King Hussein back to the White House and to say how very much I support his courage and vision in renewing his efforts to make peace with Israel. I want to reaffirm the support of the United States for a comprehensive settlement in the Middle East, including the Syrian track, and we will do whatever we can to keep those things going.

This remains a very important priority for me and for our administration. And I am very encouraged by where we are now in the whole process and especially by the efforts that King Hussein has made. And I'm looking forward to having the chance to discuss that with him.

So, sir.

Q. What are the chances, Mr. President and King Hussein, of a trilateral settlement between you two and Prime Minister Rabin? Your Majesty.

King Hussein. I don't think it is something that has been discussed as yet, but in the future, I suppose anything and everything is possible.

Decline of the Dollar

Q. Mr. President, are you at all concerned with the dollar's fall? Your administration is not intervening as it has in the past.

The President. Well, I talked to—I spent some time yesterday on it. I talked to Secretary Bentsen again today about it. And I think that I would let him speak for us today on it. We have agreed today on what he will say and what our course will be.

Let me just emphasize that the dollar, as you know, is traded in big multinational markets with other currencies, and they go up and down. But the fundamental economic realities in this country are very strong. This is the first time in 30 years when we have had a growth in the economy, with no inflation, led by investment that will create jobs. The unemployment rate has dropped dramatically in the last year and a half; we've just passed in the first quarter of this year—the first quarter in over 15 years when there was no bank failure.

So our fundamentals are quite good. We had a record number of new business incorporations, the largest number since World War II, in 1993. I think we just have to keep working on our fundamentals and know that, in the end, the markets will have to respond to the economic realities of the American economy.

Q. Well, what do you think is wrong?

Campaign Finance Reform

Q. Mr. President, speaking about dollars, Common Cause has accused you and your administration of betraying your campaign commitments on soft money for the DNC, raising a lot more over these past 18 months than the Republicans did when they were in office. How do you respond to Common Cause's accusations?

The President. First of all, my campaign commitment is to seek campaign finance reform legislation which will put both parties on an equal footing and will give the Government of this country back more to ordinary Americans. I have supported that legislation strongly from the beginning. I still believe we're going to get a good campaign finance reform bill out of the committee and onto my desk in this session of Congress.

In the meanwhile, as I have said all along, I don't believe in unilateral disarmament. And I believe, if you will look, I've had a lot more advertising and attacks against our administration and our policy than we have had the financial wherewithal to respond to.

So, we've done our best to defend ourselves in the system that now exists. But I agree with Common Cause, we need a campaign finance reform bill. I'm going to work hard for it.