< Back to front page Text size – +

Clinton, Gore welcome home journalists

E-mail|Link|Comments () Posted by Foon Rhee, deputy national political editor August 5, 2009 12:27 PM

Bill Clinton and Al Gore reunited this morning for a happy occasion -- the return of two journalists, whose release was negotiated by the former president and who worked for his former vice president.

Gore praised Clinton for "performing so skillfully" during the high-stakes diplomatic mission to North Korea. He also thanked members of the Obama administration for their behind-the-scenes work in securing the release of Laura Ling and Euna Lee.

"It speaks well of our country" that so many put aside their daily responsibilities to help out, Gore said at the journalists' tearful reunion with their families at an airplane hangar in Burbank, Calif. after being held since March.

Clinton did not speak at the brief welcome home event, but issued a statement from his New York office. "I am very happy that after this long ordeal, Laura Ling and Euna Lee are now home and reunited with their loved ones. When their families, Vice President Gore and the White House asked that I undertake this humanitarian mission, I agreed. I share a deep sense of relief with Laura and Euna and their families that they are safely home."

President Obama, before departing for Indiana, told reporters on the White House South Lawn said the reunion is a source of happiness not only for the families, but for the nation.

"We are extraordinarily relieved," Obama said. "We are very pleased with the outcome."

The president also thanked Clinton and Gore for their "extraordinary work" in the release. His full remarks are below.

UPDATE: White House spokesman Robert Gibbs said that Obama talked briefly to Clinton just before making his brief remarks.

"The president thanked him for a great job and knew how much the families appreciated the President's trip and continued service to the country," Gibbs said, adding that he expected Clinton and Obama to meet soon.

Asked whether Obama will call on the former president again, Gibbs replied, "Well, you know, this was a private mission that President Clinton did, and I know the President is enormously thankful for his service. And look, I think if the President is ever looking for people to help, former Presidents are always a pretty good group to try.

Gibbs said the release does not necessarily change the tense US relationship with North Korea. "We view these as different events," he said, adding that "the best way to change our relationship with North Korea would be for the North Koreans to decide that it's time to live up to the responsibilities and the agreements that they themselves entered into. Our goal is a denuclearized Korean Peninsula. And the North Koreans can and should live up to those agreements."

He said that Obama and Clinton did not have time to talk about why North Korea released the journalists or about his conversation with Kim Jong-il.

"At some point, I think very soon, members of the team of the NSC will sit down with President Clinton and get a debrief on the events, just as the NSC guys sat down with President Clinton before he left over the weekend."

OBAMA'S REMARKS

Good morning, everybody. I want to just make a brief comment about the fact that the two young journalists, Euna Lee and Laura Ling, are safely back with their families. We are obviously extraordinarily relieved. I had an opportunity to speak with the families yesterday once we knew that they were on the plane.

The reunion that we've all seen on television I think is a source of happiness not only for the families but for the entire country.

I want to thank President Bill Clinton -- I had a chance to talk to him -- for the extraordinary humanitarian effort that resulted in the release of the two journalists. I want to thank Vice President Al Gore who worked tirelessly in order to achieve a positive outcome.

I think that not only is this White House obviously extraordinarily happy, but all Americans should be grateful to both former President Clinton and Vice President Gore for their extraordinary work. And my hope is, is that the families that have been reunited can enjoy the next several days and weeks, understanding that because of the efforts of President Clinton and Gore, they are able to be with each other once again.

So we are very pleased with the outcome, and I'm hopeful that the families are going to be able to get some good time together in the next few days.

Thank you very much.

» Back to front page

About Political Intelligence

Reports from Boston Globe reporters and editors about the Obama administration, the Massachusetts congressional delegation, and other national political happenings.

see all Globe blogs

Globe Political on Twitter

Loading from twitter...

Follow GlobePolitical on Twitter

News from the Washington Bureau

Senators voice optimism on public option

WASHINGTON - Buoyed by their weekend victory on a vote beginning the health care debate, several Senate Democrats expressed optimism yesterday they could find a way to keep a government-run insurance plan in the sweeping bill. (Globe Staff, 11/23/09)

Health overhaul narrowly advances

The Senate narrowly overcame the first of two critical hurdles to passing sweeping health care legislation last night, mustering the minimum of 60 votes required to begin debate on the bill and opening a volatile floor fight likely to last weeks. (Globe Staff 11/22/09)

Latinos, blacks take harder hit amid recession

Latinos and African-Americans in Massachusetts and across the country are facing high unemployment rates that could spiral to levels not seen in decades as the jobless economic recovery drags on, analysts and urban community advocates say. (Globe Staff, 11/21/09)

Some lawmakers push back Catholic church on health care bill

Representative Louise Slaughter has a consistent record advocating abortion rights. So the New York Democrat was stunned recently to receive, for the first time, a letter from a Catholic diocese in western New York, demanding that she explain her vote this month against a health care amendment prohibiting insurance companies from paying for abortions. (Globe Staff, 11/21/09)

Support wanes for curbs on credit-card interest rates

Efforts in Congress to cap credit-card interest rates are faltering because of opposition from Democrats and a lack of specific support from the White House, despite growing consumer outrage over a rush by banks to impose rates as high as 30 percent. (Globe Staff, 11/19/09)

Obama domestic agenda largely a one-party effort

Despite early pleas for bipartisanship, President Obama is forging ahead with his domestic agenda with a largely single-party strategy, unable to corral more than a handful of Republicans on a wide range of major legislation before Congress. (Globe Staff, 11/17/09)

Beirut attack victims’ families face new hurdle

On Veterans Day, Christine Devlin stood in the cold in Westwood for the unveiling of a new memorial to local soldiers lost overseas, including her son Michael, one of the 241 servicemen killed in the bombing of the US Marine barracks in Lebanon in 1983. (Globe Staff, 11/14/09)

Powerful health care groups offer optimism on overhaul

Two leading health care interest groups, representing insurers and big business, struck a more conciliatory, even optimistic tone on the health care overhaul yesterday, emphasizing their support of the overall goal of increasing coverage and containing costs even as they warned that the wrong bill could cause great harm. (Globe Staff, 11/13/09)

FHA runs low on cash, fueling bailout concerns

The Federal Housing Administration, which propped up the collapsing housing market last year, acknowledged yesterday that it has drained its cash reserves to dangerously low levels, heightening concerns that it might need a taxpayer bailout. (Globe Staff, 11/13/09)

Afghanistan wary of US plan to send more advisers

Afghan officials have begun to push back from the Obama administration's plans to send hundreds of advisers to the country, complaining the Americans are often overpaid, underqualified, and unfamiliar with the culture of the country. (Globe Staff, 11/12/09)