Remarks Prior to a Meeting With Congressional Leaders and an Exchange With Reporters

Legislative Agenda

The President. Ladies and gentlemen, I want to welcome the congressional leadership back here today. There are many things that we will discuss today. We have a lot of work to do. This summer we are working on finishing the rescission bill, and I very much hope we can succeed in passing the terrorism legislation and welfare reform.

And I hope that we can begin as soon as possible the budget debate. We have major differences over how the budget ought to be balanced, and I think it would be in error to delay it and run the risk of having a crisis in Government. I think the quicker we can begin it and the fuller and more open it can be and the more the American people can hear of it, the better off we'll be.

So those are the things that I hope we can discuss today and I think are very important.

President Boris Yeltsin of Russia

Q. Mr. President, have you heard anything about the condition of Boris Yeltsin?

The President. No.

Q. Any reports on his health?

The President. No. Nothing other than the last time I saw him, he was in good health and seemed to be doing well.

Q. Well, he's been hospitalized this morning for heart problems.

The President. Yes, I know, but I have heard nothing this morning about the condition.

Bosnia

Q. Sir, the Bosnian Serbs are moving into Srebrenica fast, according to the reports. Is it time for NATO air strikes?

The President. We may have something to say on that later today. But let me say I'm concerned about the people who are there, and I'm also concerned about the UNPROFOR troops, the Dutch, who are there. And we may have something later today to say about that.

Vietnam

Q. [Inaudible]—the decision on Vietnam, how much more difficult is it for you personally and politically, given your failure to serve in Vietnam?

The President. None.

Q. Does it enter into your decision at all?

The President. No.

Base Closings

Q. Are you going to do base closings——

The President. I don't know yet. We're working very hard on that, worked on it yesterday and last night. We have some more work to do, and I'm waiting for some more information to come back this morning. We spent quite a bit of time on it. It won't be long, but I can't say for sure.