 Ladies and gentlemen, the President of the United States. Thank you all, and let me just say in advance I'll be taking no questions because Secretary Schultz a little later today will be having a full press conference, so you can take everything up there with him. Ambassador Habib has informed me that a plan to resolve the West Beirut crisis has been agreed upon by all the parties involved. As part of this plan the government of Lebanon has requested and I have approved the deployment of United States forces to Beirut as part of a multinational force. The negotiations to develop this plan have been extremely complex and have been conducted in the most arduous circumstances. At times it was difficult to imagine how agreement could be reached and yet it has been reached. The statesmanship and the courage of President Sarkis and his colleagues in the Lebanese government deserve special recognition as does the magnificent work of Ambassador Habib. Phil never lost hope and in the end his spirit and determination carried the day and we all owe him a debt of gratitude. The parties who made this plan possible have a special responsibility for ensuring its successful completion or implementation. I expect its terms to be carried out in good faith and in accordance with the agreed timetable and this will require meticulous adherence to the ceasefire. Violations by any party would imperil the plan and bring renewed bloodshed and tragedy to the people of Beirut and under no circumstances must that be allowed to happen. As you know my agreement to include United States forces in a multinational force was essential for our success. In the days ahead they and forces from France and Italy will be playing an important but carefully limited non-combatant role. The parties to the plan have agreed to this role and have provided assurances on the safety of our forces. Our purpose will be to assist the Lebanese armed forces in carrying out their responsibility for ensuring the departure of PLO leaders, officers and combatants in Beirut from Lebanese territory under safe and orderly conditions. The presence of United States forces also will facilitate the restoration of the sovereignty and authority of the Lebanese government over the Beirut area. In no case will our troops stay longer than 30 days. The participation of France and Italy in this effort is further evidence of the sense of responsibility of these good friends of the United States. The federal resolution of the West Beirut crisis by responsible implementation of the plan now agreed will set the stage for the urgent international action required to restore Lebanon's full sovereignty, unity and territorial integrity, obtain the rapid withdrawal of all foreign forces from that country and help ensure the security of northern Israel. We must also move quickly in the context of Camp David to resolve the Palestinian issue in all its aspects as well as the other unresolved problems in the Arab-Israeli conflict. Only when all these steps are accomplished can true and lasting peace and security be achieved in the Middle East. End of statement. I said no questions because of the press conference that's coming later and that will be covered, and I assure you that every precaution is taken and your questions will be answered fully by the Secretary with regard to that and to their withdrawal if there is any violation of any of the provisions that have been agreed upon. Yes. The congressional leaders not want to hear from you. We said no questions, please. No, they said the Senate had to run because they were doing at nine o'clock in their session that began, so they broke up and decided to go back in the hill. I think they all want to go home, so do I.