Ladies and gentlemen, thank you for having come to this press conference. I thank Madeleine Albright, the Secretary of State, for her second visit to Rwanda and her first as Secretary of State. Her successive visits reflect her personal commitment and that of the Government of the United States of America to help Rwanda's people come to terms with the aftermath of genocide.

I am very pleased today to be here with Secretary of Defense William Cohen, to announce a major new United States initiative on a subject of widespread concern in America and around the globe.

Ladies and Gentlemen: Welcome to Ottawa.

Many of you came to Ottawa last October for our previous landmines conference. Since then, it has been a year of frantic activity and full court press diplomacy. From Maputo to Tokyo, Vienna to Ashkabad, Kempton Park to Bonn, Manila to New Delhi, Saan'a to Brussels and Sydney to Oslo–the world's governments and peoples have been engaged in an extraordinary global effort to ban anti-personnel mines. And we have succeeded.

We, APEC's Economic Leaders, met today in Vancouver, Canada, to reaffirm our commitment to work together to meet the challenge of sustaining regional prosperity and stability. Certain of the dynamism and resilience of the region, we underline our resolve to achieve sustainable growth and equitable development and to unlock the full potential of the people who live here. We agree that the prospects for economic growth in the region are strong, and that Asia-Pacific will continue to play a leading role in the global economy. The goals we have set, including the achievement of free and open trade and investment in the region by the dates set out in the Bogor Declaration, are ambitious and unequivocal.

Good morning. I want to speak with you today about the progress we have made toward a lasting peace in Bosnia, and the challenges that still must be faced in order to finish the job.

Mr. Secretary-General, Mr. President d'Honneur, fellow foreign ministers, distinguished colleagues. I am very pleased to speak with you on behalf of the United States.

Yes, well, I spoke to Prime Minister Netanyahu this morning about the subject, and to talk with him about the necessity of moving this process forward and trying to make sure that we're able to proceed on a fairly rapid schedule here. We had hoped—as you know, Barry—to bring the people here. These were the meetings that we had worked out both when I was in the region, and then up in the United Nations.

I applaud Speaker Gingrich for scheduling a vote in the House of Representatives for next Friday, November 7, on the renewal of traditional trade negotiating authority. I am grateful for his commitment to move forward and work to secure passage of this legislation that is vital to our national interest.