Weapons of Mass Destruction (WMD)

July 15, 1998

PRESS BRIEFING BY MIKE MCCURRY

                           THE WHITE HOUSE
                    Office of the Press Secretary
_____________________________________________________________________
For Immediate Release                                   July 15, 1998
                           PRESS BRIEFING
                           BY MIKE MCCURRY
                          The Briefing Room
................
	     Q	  Mike, regarding the allegation of Senator Lott 
yesterday, one of the things he mentioned was that three of the 
launches, Chinese launches, were not monitored by U.S. officials.  
And it seems that in fact three launches that had been authorized by 
the Bush administration, a policy which eventually was carried over 
by the Clinton administration before the policy review, there was no 
monitoring of these launches.
	     If this is the case, and the policy was changed, doesn't 
Trent Lott really have a bone to pick with George Bush rather than 
Bill Clinton? 
	     MR. MCCURRY:  Well, you're right that a lot of the 
satellite transactions that have been under discussion are pursuant 
to license waivers granted during the Bush administration.  That is a 
statement of fact.  The guidelines and safeguards in place for each 
of those projects as licensed include various levels of oversight by 
the United States government to assure that there is not any transfer 
of technology.  Now, the circumstances of each and every launch, I 
can't address to your satisfaction right now, although they have been 
addressed in the course of hearings on the Hill.  And I don't believe 
it was accurate to suggest that in any case was there transfer of 
technology contrary to statutory authorizations provided for the 
granting of the waivers in the first place. 
	     Q	  Mike, another thing Lott said yesterday that I 
don't think you addressed is that there is new information that the 
Chinese tried to influence the '96 election.  Is the White House 
aware of that information or of any information that would indicate 
that the Chinese did so illicitly?
	     MR. MCCURRY:  I have to check on that.  There is a 
process in place, but I want to do further checking on that. 
...........
             END                          2:08 P.M. EDT