 Ladies and gentlemen, the President of the United States and Ambassador Habid. All right. And Ambassador Schlautermann, Secretary Habermann. Well, good morning, ladies and gentlemen. I am pleased to announce this morning the appointment of Philip Habid as a special envoy for Central America, succeeding Ambassador Harry Schlautermann. And I want to make it clear that in this change of assignments, we're trading strength for strength. Ambassador Schlautermann has combined his knowledge of Latin America with his extraordinary skills as a diplomat and has performed outstanding service for this nation. And Harry Schlautermann has worked closely with Secretary Schulz and Assistant Secretary Abrams in this mission. And so will Philip Habid. I'm personally grateful for Harry's efforts and look forward to announcing very soon a new and important position for him. Ambassador Habid has just returned to Washington this morning after his successful mission to the Philippines. He is still in a different time zone, I'm sure. He played a key role in maintaining effective communications between the United States and the Philippines at a critical turning point in Philippine history. Phil, as many of you know, is wise and patient and shrewd. Now, there's another difficult job before us. We believe that the Nicaraguan people, just like the Filipino people, have the right to self-determination through democracy. And we in this administration and in Congress must now decide whether Nicaragua is to be the next staging ground for subversion, terrorism, and Soviet communist expansion on our doorstep. And I want to emphasize today that there can be a diplomatic solution for Central America. It is the solution that will come when the Nicaraguan communists finally agree to sit down and talk with their opposition, both armed and unarmed, to bring an end to the strife and the repression in their country. Three days ago, President Duarte of El Salvador came forward with a bold and promising new proposal. In a letter to Daniel Ortega, President Duarte offered to resume talk with the guerrillas in El Salvador if the Nicaraguan communist regime will begin simultaneous talks with the democratic resistance in that country. Yesterday, the three leaders of the United Nicaraguan opposition gave their full endorsement to this proposal. They are ready and willing to seek a political solution. So is the United States. On February 10th, I sent a letter to the eight heads of state of the Contadora and Support Group nations. In that letter, I said that the United States is prepared to begin simultaneous talks with the regime in Nicaragua when that regime sits down with the democratic resistance. I'm asking Ambassador Habib to meet next week with President Duarte to discuss his peace initiative. And our task is to ensure that democracy can succeed. We'll continue to make every effort, as we have in the past, to pursue change through diplomatic means. But let there be no misunderstanding, Ambassador Habib's efforts to achieve a diplomatic solution must be accompanied by an increasing level of pressure on the Nicaraguan communists. The legislative proposal for aid to the unified Nicaraguan democratic opposition must be approved. What we're asking Congress for is the tools so that Ambassador Habib can do the job. President, do you still believe that those who oppose you and oppose this on the Hill are supporting communists? I have never believed that if you're meaning that I was assigning any motive to them. I was only talking facts as to what would be the inevitable result. Either we do what I've just talked about doing, or we have a communist state here. Isn't that getting close to what some of the people in your own party, such as Senator Casablan, believe is rebating? There's no intent on my part to do that at all. I have not assailed anyone's motives in this. And again, as I say, simply stating facts. By saying that they're dupes of the communists? No, I'm simply stating a fact. Is it unpatriotic to vote against this one, Mr. President? No, once again, you ask a question that I'm sure the answer could be taken any way that the questioners want to take it. But the simple answer is, as I say, we're faced with a choice. We're either going to keep on bringing along the wave of democracy that has been sweeping over Latin America, or we're going to sit back and allow a communist base to be established here on the mainland. Mr. President, would you go along with Marcos' efforts to become an American citizen? Would you aid in badminton in that respect? Do you think you should be? I haven't heard anything about that. I didn't know that there was any thought on his part of that. So I haven't had any time to think about it. I want you to meet Ambassador Huppey. I've got all the money he brought out of the Philippines. Were we aware of that? No. I can talk about that later. I'm going to leave that to Ambassador Huppey. Thank you, Mr. President. I returned to Washington just this morning, and I have given the President my report on the current situation in the Philippines. I'm honored that the President has asked me to take this new assignment. I have no substantial statement on Central America at this time, except to note that the President and the Secretary of State have emphasized to me their commitment to seeking a negotiated settlement in Nicaragua and elsewhere in Central America. They've asked me to meet with President Duarte to discuss his peace initiative. I have no illusions about the complexity of the issues in Central America and the difficulties in reaching a negotiated solution. Nevertheless, I pledge my efforts to work with our Democratic friends and neighbors in the region toward a peaceful and democratic outcome. Thank you, Mr. President. Thank you very much. Thank you. I think he's going to leave me to... That's right. That's my reward to you. I'm leaving you here with these nice people. They want something to view you. Mr. President, is there a proposal to put some of the money in escrow rather than to put it out directly? Mr. President, would you go along with the plan to put the contra-aid money in the escrow for six months and then, if they didn't come to the negotiating table, release it? No, I think six months is too long a time with what we're facing down there. But it's compromised possible, Mr. President? I think so, yes. On your legislation? What? Compromise on the package? Oh, no, I was talking about compromise between the Contras and the Sandinista government. But compromise on the six-month period that we've had? That is too long. It is too long. Time is now. Are you shocked by 7.3% unemployment? Are we going to have to start talking about Reaganomics again? Either way, it's a big jump. I think it is a high-conquering amount given to the great part of this, and the weather that we've had. We've noticed that two-thirds of it is still occurring, just the attempt to deliver more against California. So will it go back down again to unemployment right next month? Mr. Ambassador? When you go back to the Middle East? I've got a shorter trip and within fairly limited time zones this time, which is going to be an improvement over the last trip.