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.

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.

Good morning. I've just come from a series of meetings with the key representatives on the Conference on Disarmament, which of course is the conference which is negotiating the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty.

The governments of the French Republic, the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, and the United States of America will sign on Monday, March 25, 1996 the three additional protocols to the South Pacific Nuclear Free Zone Treaty, which is also known as the Treaty of Rarotonga.

Prime Minister Hashimoto. Right in front of you, I and President Clinton signed two documents. One is the message to the peoples of Japan and the United States that lays down the direction in which the two countries should, together, proceed towards the 21st century. And the second is the Japan-U.S. Declaration on Security.

The People's Republic of China (PRC) is an authoritarian state in which the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) is the paramount source of power. At the national and regional levels, party members hold almost all top civilian, police, and military positions. Retired senior leaders retain considerable power, but the top leadership announced in mid-1995 that ultimate authority had been passed to the younger generation of Communist Party leaders that makes up the 21-member Politburo. Economic decentralization has increased the authority of regional officials. Socialism continues to provide the ideological underpinning of Chinese politics, but Marxist ideology has given way to pragmatism in recent years. The party's authority rests primarily on the success of economic reform, its ability to maintain stability, appeals to patriotism, and control of the security apparatus.

This afternoon I met with my senior national security team to review the situation in Bosnia. I received a report on this weekend's meeting in Rome with the Presidents of Bosnia-Herzegovina, Croatia and Serbia.

Europe's future will be shaped by one of two very different paths: either by the divisive intolerance that left Bosnia in ruins or by the democratic integration to which most nations in this region aspire. For the right choice to prevail, there is a challenge you must meet, a challenge the United States must meet, and a challenge we must meet together.

Ladies and gentlemen, I have just been briefed by the National Security Advisor on the shooting down today in broad daylight of two American civilian airplanes by Cuban military aircraft. We are continuing to investigate the circumstances of the incident, including the airplane's flight plan and the flight route and what, if any, warnings were given.

A little later this morning, President Preval will be meeting with the President. As the first democratically elected President to succeed an elected incumbent, his visit marks a turning point in Haitian history and in U.S.-Haitian relations. President Preval will also be talking to Members of Congress about the need for economic reform in Haiti, as well as his vision for the development of the rule of law and democratic institutions in Haiti, and the importance of continued U.S. support in these areas.