Today, Senate Democrats and Republicans, working together, have increased the security of the American people by ratifying the START II Nuclear Arms Reduction Treaty with Russia. I applaud this historic step. As I stated in my State of the Union address this week, it will make every American, every Russian, and people all over the world more secure.

Minister Kono, Minister Hashimoto, Excellencies, colleagues, and friends: It is a pleasure to join you at this year's ministerial meeting of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation forum. Let me take this opportunity to express my deep appreciation to our Japanese hosts. Prime Minister Murayama, Minister Kono, Minister Hashimoto, and their colleagues have worked hard to make our meetings in Osaka a success. After six years of progress and vision, APEC now faces a crucial seventh year of decision. As the guiding force for economic growth and integration in the world's most dynamic region, APEC must not only sustain the momentum it has achieved over the last two years. It must begin to take concrete and far­reaching actions to open up trade and investment in the Asia­Pacific region. If APEC is truly to make history, it must produce results.

The Special Rapporteur on the human rights situation in Burundi has called on the international community to exert the greatest possible pressure on belligerents there to put an end to spiralling violence.

Good afternoon. I appear before you today at one of the bleakest moments in Liberia's history. Monrovia, once a safe haven for more than 1 million civilians, lies in ruins, the result of fierce fighting by Charles Taylor's National Patriotic Front of Liberia— NPFL— and Alhaji Kromah's United Liberation Movement for Democracy— ULIMO-K— rebels against Roosevelt Johnson's break-away faction of ULIMO— ULIMO-J, comprised primarily of ethnic Krahns. More than 80,000 Liberians have been left homeless. Thousands have fled or are trying to flee the fighting in the capital. At least 100 peacekeepers have lost their lives attempting to restore security in the city and its environs. At this point we do not know how many Liberian fighters and civilians have been killed.

This evening I announce to you the definite ending of the French nuclear tests. Thanks to the final series which has just been carried out, France will have on a long-term basis a reliable and modern defense. The security of our children has been assured. I know that the decision I took last June, provoked in France and elsewhere, disquiet and emotion.

I think the Secretary of State is going to set the all-time distance record for any American Secretary of State on this trip. He has been busy over the last three years, circumnavigating the globe on a variety of issues.

Excerpts from Joint Press Conference by Secretary of State Christopher and Japanese Foreign Minister Ikeda, January 19, 19961

Secretary Christopher. Good morning, I am very pleased to welcome Foreign Minister Ikeda on this stormy morning to Washington, DC, for his first visit. I had a close relationship with his predecessor, Mr. Kono, and I expect to have an equally effective and useful relationship with the new Foreign Minister.

Human development is the end—economic growth a means. So, the purpose of growth should be to enrich people's lives. But far too often it does not. The recent decades show all too clearly that there is no automatic link between growth and human development. And even when links are established, they may gradually be eroded—unless regularly fortified by skillful and intelligent policy management.

We are reaching the end of a journey of more than 40 years—to a truly comprehensive ban on all nuclear explosive testing.

Q. President Jiang, are you still hoping for a promise from President Clinton that the Taiwan President will not be allowed to visit America again?

Honorable Deputy Chairperson of the Constitutional Assembly; Honorable Members; Distinguished Guests.

The end of the cold war and the political and economic reforms in Russia have opened a new era in our relationship and have provided the international community with real possibilities for cooperation in the fields of nuclear safety and security. The Moscow meeting is an important step in the realization of these objectives. We are determined, at this summit and beyond, to work together to ensure the safety of nuclear power and to promote greater security for nuclear materials.

Pursuant to the Security Council Resolution 1031 of 15 December 1995, which endorsed my appointment as High Representative to “monitor the implementation of the Peace Agreement and mobilize and, as appropriate, give guidance to, and coordinate the activities of, the civilian organizations and agencies involved” in the implementation of the Peace Agreement on Bosnia and Herzegovina, I submit hereby my second report envisaged by Annex 10 of the Peace Agreement and the Conclusions of the London Peace Implementation Conference of 8–9 December 1995.

Mr. McCurry.…we have been doing a considerable amount of work here at the White House on the subject of the Bosnian election scheduled for September 14th. That's a very difficult haul. It has not been easy structuring the elections, but a lot of very—people, particularly those at the OSCE are working on it. There will be about 1200 international monitors there for the elections, and they will not necessarily be pristine examples of democracy at work, but it will be an important transformation as Bosnia begins to recover from the effects of the war.

President's Letter to Congress, February 9, 19961

On December 11, 1995, Secretary of Commerce Ronald Brown certified under section 8 of the Fishermen's Protective Act of 1967, as amended (the |Pelly Amendment|) (22 U.S.C. 1978), that Japan has conducted research whaling activities that diminish the effectiveness of the International Whaling Commission (IWC) conservation program. This message constitutes my report to the Congress pursuant to subsection (b) of the Pelly Amendment.

President Clinton. We don't have prepared statements, but we will each make a very brief statement and then we'll take a couple of questions.