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5:07 P.M. EDT

THE PRESIDENT: I wish to welcome Prime Minister Netanyahu, Chairman Arafat, and the members of the Israeli and Palestinian delegations here. As I said earlier today at the White House, there is hard work ahead if we are to reach an agreement here and get the peace process moving again. Secretary Albright and I and our entire team are ready to do whatever we can.

As the press contingent prepares to leave, let me say that all of us are determined to keep our energies focused on the talks themselves. Therefore, we have agreed to confine our dealings with the media on this subject to periodic briefings to be conducted by spokespersons. We have a lot of work to do, a limited amount of time to do it in, but we're ready to get to work.

Thank you very much.

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