as well as caring about AIDS, and you've promoted world peace. And through the people at MTV and others who have promoted the motor voter bill, you've really advanced the civil rights cause by opening up a franchise to young people and to many who would otherwise not have registered and voted. Now what we have are people who are vulnerable to cultural forces that the rest of us find entertaining, that are not in and of themselves bad when made part of a culture that is organized by work, by family, and by other institutions. I love television. I saw two or three of you tonight and quoted about some time I'd seen you on television recently. I love that. I am a movie-goer almost to the point of compulsion, have been since I was a small boy. But you think of it, all of us who love that. How is our life organized? We spend most of our time working. We spend a lot of our free time, most of us, with our families. We have other ties to a community which shape our values, our conduct, our priorities, what we do with our money, how we think about our obligations. But what might be entertaining to us—a violent, thrilling movie or television program, a torrid but fundamentally amoral use and manipulation of people in what may be for us just an entertaining 30 minutes or an hour-if it's 10 or 11 hours a day of relentless exposure into the minds of people who have never been taught to understand the consequences of their action, never had any kind of internal structure motivated and driven by seeing their parents go to work every day and having a regular relationship with family and having other institutions, then these things can unintentionally set forth a chain reaction of even more impulsive behavior, even more inability to deal with conflict in nonviolent ways and to pass up the aggressive influences and impulses that all of us feel but most of us learn at some point in our lives not to act on. And it all gets worse if the void left by the loss of family and work and other institutions is filled by gangs and guns and drugs. So, what I ask you for tonight is not to wear a hair shirt and say, "Mea culpa, I wish I hadn't done this, that, or the other thing," but to recognize that what may be one person's moment of entertainment, even exhila ration, the taking your mind off the pressures of the day, can, when multiplied by 1,000, have a cumulative impact that at the very least does not help to bring a whole generation of people back from the brink. I'm telling you, if we don't find a way to deal with this, the rest of these endeavors ultimately will fail. We will not be able to make a strength out of our diversity. We will not be able to restore the ladder from poverty to the middle class that can be climbed through work and education. We will not be able to put our people back together again and use our money on education and opportunity instead of crime and jail. So what I ask you to do is to join a partnership with me, not to stop entertaining or even titillating, not to stop frightening or thrilling the American public, but to examine what together you might do to simply face the reality that so many of our young people live with and help us as we seek to rebuild the frayed bonds of this community, as we seek to give children nonviolent ways to resolve their own frustrations, as we seek to restore some structure and some hope and some essential dignity and purpose to lives that have been dominated by chaos or worse. We must do this. Make no mistake about it. No society, no society can prosper allowing huge pockets of people to go on forever without the opportunity to work, allowing huge pockets of children to go on without the opportunity to get a decent education, allowing huge sections of cities to be no man's lands, where the law of the automatic assault weapon controls. We cannot do well if we permit that to happen. We need every last dollar we can to invest in growth and opportunity and positive good things. And we have to use every means at our command. There are few things more powerful in any time and place than culture. The ability of culture to elevate or debase is profound. You know it, and you sense it in the power you have when you do something you're really proud of. Does that mean we should never have any violent movies? Of course not. I think, to mention one, "Boyz N the Hood" was a great movie because it showed the truth about what happens when chaos is replaced with destruction. I know the young man who made the movie is here tonight, but I ask you to think about this. We have got to do this for our country. Together, so many of you have more influence over different kinds of people that you will never meet, that you're not aware of, than a President's speech can bring to bear. For 30 years the American family has been under assault. The assault attacked black families first because they were most vulnerable economically. The same thing is now happening to other families. More and more children are born out of wedlock; more and more children are being born without parents; more and more children being abandoned; more and more kids growing up in violent neighborhoods. The racial differences were largely determined by who got hit first because of economic vulnerability. But now it is happening to everybody. So 30 years of family assault, 20 years where most working people had stagnant wages, 20 years of developing huge pockets where no one had a job-there have always been poor people in this country, but most of them have always been able to work-12 years in which we exploded public debt by consuming in the present instead of investing more in the future, these things happened over a long period of time. Meanwhile, we want more and more entertainment, more and more instantaneously, as Michael said. We want more and more news, more and more instantaneously. Just give us the thing and let us focus on something else. For all of us who have highly structured, successful lives where our atten tion is diverted to the big fundamental things in our life, this works fine. For people living in chaos, it is a disaster. And so I ask you, while you entertain the rest of us, let us together do something to rebuild the bonds of community, to restore the spirit of these children, to give people a chance to build whole lives around solid values so that they, too, will have internal structures that will permit them the luxury of the diversion some of us call entertain Thank you, and God bless you all. NOTE: The President spoke at 6:48 p.m. at the Creative Artists Agency (CAA). In his remarks, he referred to CAA chairman Michael Ovitz and his wife, Judy; Bill Haber and Ron Meyer, CAA partners; David Wilhelm, chairman, Democratic National Committee; Kathleen Brown, California State treasurer; and Gray Davis, California State comptroller. Exchange With Reporters Prior to Discussions With Prime Minister Felipe Gonzalez of Spain December 6, 1993 North Korea Q. Mr. President, the IAEA has apparently rejected the North Korean response. Do you agree with that rejection? The President. Well, what the IAEA has said is that they didn't think it was entirely adequate. But we have to go back and respond to them and we-at least they came forward, they reacted to our initiative. And we're consulting with the South Koreans now. We'll have a conversation with them and see what happens. Q. Was it inadequate in your eyes The President. Well, obviously they didn't say, "We liked everything the United States said," and yes. So we were hoping that we could move more quickly, but I'm not entirely discouraged. We're talking to the South Koreans, and then we'll go back to the Q. Yeah. The President. Well, there are some, but I'm really looking forward to my conversation with the Prime Minister about it. All the countries, in Europe, Japan, and the United States, we're all having many of the same troubles. We're having troubles creating new jobs and growing the economy. I think Spain clearly would benefit from any initiative we can all take to increase economic growth throughout the world. It's hard for any of us to grow unless the overall world economy is growing. And I really admire the reforms the Prime Minister has pursued, and I'm going to do what I can to support a high rate of growth in the world which would drive the unemployment rate in Spain down. I think it's very important. Cuba Q. Mr. President, the embargo? Q. Do you bring that to your hand-something about the Cuban embargo? The President. I'm sure we'll talk about Cuba. Q. The end of the embargo, maybe? The President. Not today, no. NOTE: The exchange began at 11:37 a.m. in the Oval Office at the White House. A tape was not available for verification of the content of this exchange. The President's News Conference The President. Good afternoon, ladies and gentlemen. In April, I had the honor and the pleasure of welcoming King Juan Carlos and Queen Sofia of Spain to the White House. Today, on the 15th anniversary of Spain's constitutions, I'm delighted to welcome Prime Minister Gonzalez. When Spain hosted the Olympics last year, the world reveled in the modern bustle of Barcelona and the timeless beauty of the Iberian countryside. Spain's vibrant example inspires those around the world who are working to release market forces and political freedom from the shackles of the past. And few countries share as many rich cultural and historical ties to Spain as does America. The land on which I was born was once a part of the Spanish empire. Our two countries are friends and allies. For over a decade, Prime Minister Gonzalez has led Spain with vision and with purpose. In our discussions today, I praised the Prime Minister for Spain's achievements at home during his years in office and for the increasingly important role Spain has come to play in the international community. As a strong NATO ally, vigorous proponent of European integration, current member of the U.N. Security Council, and significant trading nation, Spain has earned and exercised positions of true global leadership. Spain is serving the cause of humanitarian relief through its admirable participation in the U.N. protective force in Bosnia. We were all deeply saddened to learn about the death of a Spanish officer and the wounding of another there over the weekend. In Central America, Spain continues to provide important support for the development of peaceful and prosperous democracies. And the Madrid Conference, organized by Spain in 1991, helped make possible a fundamental shift in the dynamics of the Middle East. Today, the seeds planted in the Madrid are beginning to bear fruit as the Middle East moves closer to a just and lasting peace. Spain and the United States share a strong interest in expanding global economic growth and job creation. We discussed today the recent enactment of NAFTA and its potential as a building block for free trade, not only throughout Latin America but around the world. And we agreed on the critical importance of a successful conclusion to the GATT Uruguay round. All trading nations must now redouble their efforts in these last few days to secure a good GATT agreement. The Prime Minister and I also discussed preparations underway for the NATO summit meeting in January. We both want to use that occasion to reaffirm the strength and the durability of the transatlantic relationship. We want to make concrete progress in adapting NATO, one of the most successful military alliances in all history, to the new realities and opportunities it faces. Five centuries ago, Spain reached across the Atlantic to discover a new world. Today as partners, Spain and America set sail for a new century. And in that spirit, I am proud and honored to welcome Prime Minister Gonzalez and to extend to him and to the Spanish people a warm greeting from all Americans. Mr. Prime Minister. Prime Minister Gonzalez. Thank you very much, Mr. President. Let me simply add to what President Clinton has said that it's been a great pleasure for me to make this official visit to the United States of America. This has been important to me. I have been following very closely the electoral program that led to the President's triumph and what he has been doing with them since then. And I think the Spanish press will understand quite a bit that when we talk about education, infrastructure, health reform, that we hear that talked about in the United States and we understand it; we feel it in our heart, too, because it's something we are doing. I'd like to thank President Clinton. This visit to Washington has allowed us to cordially exchange points of view in depth on our bilateral relations, European relations, the evolutions and changes taking place in Latin America, and certain different shared objectives we have in that part of the world. And it has allowed us to talk about the NATO summit in January, as the President mentioned. There are many problems, many challenges that we face after the Eastern bloc and the Iron Curtain fell. And obviously we face new challenges that NATO must meet. I think it's also worthy to mention that the GATT conversations may lead to success in the short term. As I said when I congratulated the President for the approval of NAFTA, I wasn't simply being courteous and diplomatic. I said that because I think that NAFTA has great importance for the U.S., for its relations with Mexico, and moreover, I think it's an axis for future developments with all of Latin America, in spite of the fact that it will be necessary to adapt to that new reality. So I think this has been an especially interesting visit. It's a very intense visit, I would add, and I think this is a good prolog. I have invited the President to visit Spain. I think he liked the idea, and I certainly hope that he gets a chance to do so. And I've mentioned that my government is especially interested to see him in Spain. We know that he has visited Spain in the past, that he has taken contact with our country, and I'm sure that would make it easier to explain our country to him now. And I'm sure he's interested. So I certainly hope to see Mr. Clinton, President Clinton, in Spain in the future. Thank you. North Korea Q. You mentioned today that the IAEA said that North Korea's proposal for nuclear inspections was not entirely adequate. What's the United States view of that? Do we accept it in part, in full, or not at all? The President. Well, as I said earlier, obviously we're not entirely satisfied with the response of the North Koreans to the proposal we put forward, but we're going to meet about it later today, and then we're going to consult with the South Koreans and our other allies in the area and formulate our next move. I think it's important for me to have the opportunity to meet and discuss this, and I will be doing so this afternoon. And then it's equally important for us to get back to the South Koreans and others, so I'll probably have more to say about it in the next day or two. But I think that, in fairness, I need to wait until I talk to my principal advisers and also talk to our allies. Q. Is there any part about it you like? The President. Well, what I liked most about it was there was some indication on their part that they understood that we needed to both start inspections and the dialog again between the South and the North; that was clear. And so it's like all these things in international diplomacy, the devil's in the details. But I'm hopeful that we can work something out, and I don't want to say more until I have a chance to meet with advisers my and also to talk to our allies. Global Economy Q. Would you share, for both of you, any ideas or differences about how to push the economy in the world? The President. Actually we did. I'd let the Prime Minister answer that, but we've talked a lot about how the United States, Japan, and Europe all have obligations to try to get the growth rate up and what each of us needs to do. And we talked about how that plus a system of expanded trade could reward Spain for all the changes that you have made and generate more jobs. Actually, the Spanish experience has been quite impressive in the growth you've had until the global recession of the last couple of years. So we've got to get out of that, and we have to do that, it seems to me, with a coordinated economic strategy. Mr. Prime Minister. Prime Minister Gonzalez. Well, first of all, let me stress that we fully agree on the need for coordination, coordination of the developed world, the countries of the developed world, in order to overcome an economic crisis and promote growth and create jobs. Coordination is even more important if you take into account that the economy is becoming globalized, so we need coordina tion. We agree that successful GATT negotiations leading to agreement will be positive, and I think we agree on certain specific current policies such as coordination for lowering interest rates in Europe in order to spur investment and thus contribute to restarting the European economy. I think we are well aware that growth, growth even in powerful, large countries like the U.S., if it isn't carried out in coordination and collaboration with other countries such as Europe and Japan, will encounter greater obstacles than it would with good coordination. So, that is quite clear, and I think that's the way out of a recession. Somalia Q. In Somalia last week, Americans saw the extraordinary scene of General Mohamed Farah Aideed being escorted out of Mogadishu in an American armored personnel carrier and flown to Ethiopia in an Army jet. How would you explain that to the families of those whose soldiers were killed in Somalia just 2 months ago? The President. I would tell them that they were over there fighting ultimately for a peace to take place. And as I have said many times before, that action was fundamentally successful. They achieved their objective. They arrested a lot of people. We still have under custody the people who we think are volved in the murder of the Pakistani soldiers the most likely to have been seriously in and to have caused difficulties for the Americans. We have started the process of having an independent commission look into that. I said back in August that we were in the business of trying to solve this thing politically. Everyone thought it was important that General Aideed go to that peace conference. And Ambassador Oakley, who had to make this decision on the spur of the moment without much time to consider whether there were any other options, knew that the only other conceivable option was not going to be accepted and that he had to get the peace conference going. And so he thought it was the right thing to do. And I will stand behind his decision. Summit of the Americas Q. I would like to ask Mr. Gonzalez whether he has any comments on the U.S. initiative regarding the summit of the Americas next year in this country. Prime Minister Gonzalez. If you allow a comment before that, first of all, we ourselves don't have troops in Somalia, but we do in the ex-Yugoslavia. If the President will |