The White House
  
                   Office of the Press Secretary
  
  _______________________________________________________________
  
  For Immediate Release                               May 1, 1996
  
  
                Text Of A Letter From The President
           To The Speaker Of The House Of Representatives
                   And The Chairman Of The Senate
                    Foreign Relations Committee
  
  
                            May 1, 1996
  
  
  Dear Mr. Speaker:   (Dear Mr. Chairman:)
  
  In accordance with Public Law 95-384 (22 U.S.C. 2373(c)), 
  I submit to you this report on progress toward a negotiated 
  settlement of the Cyprus question.  The previous submission 
  covered progress through January 31, 1996.  The current 
  submission covers the period February 1, 1996, through 
  March 31, 1996.
  
  In support of the U.N. Secretary General's good office 
  mission on Cyprus, my Administration hopes to be able to 
  take an initiative on Cyprus this year.  If the two 
  communi-ties possess sufficient political will to make tradeoffs 
  required for an intercommunal agreement, we believe it should 
  be possible to arrive at a fair and just solution.  Attaining 
  this goal requires the active support of Turkey and Greece.  
  Although unavoidable events have delayed the launching of 
  our Cyprus initiative, we have been preparing its groundwork.  
  In this respect, in March I had a useful session on Cyprus with 
  Turkish President Demirel who expressed his government's desire 
  to be helpful.  I plan on engaging other visitors similarly in 
  the lead-up to our Cyprus effort.
  
                                Sincerely,
  
  
  
                                William J. Clinton
  
  
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