BERNARD SHAW, CNN ANCHOR: Northern Ireland was one of several international subjects U.S. President Bill Clinton addressed Wednesday during a wide-ranging news conference. Our CNN State Department correspondent, Andrea Koppel, has this report.</s>ANDREA KOPPEL, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Mediating a permanent peace deal in Northern Ireland was supposed to be one of President Clinton's legacies. Even though the deal is unraveling, Mr. Clinton says it's a positive sign the Irish Republican Army has given no indication it will revert to violence.</s>WILLIAM J. CLINTON, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: So, that means that they still no think even -- no matter what the rhetoric says, is that all the parties really believe that they ought to find a way to work this out.</s>KOPPEL: Another deal Mr. Clinton hopes to close: convincing Congress to approve permanent normal trade relations between the U.S. and China. The president said he's pushing for an early vote.</s>CLINTON: This is not a political issue to me. This is a huge national security issue.</s>KOPPEL: Among the reasons offered, President Clinton said the United States' biggest trade deficit is with China.</s>CLINTON: So economically, from agriculture to high-tech products to automobiles to all things in between, I think this agreement is, you know, a clear hundred-to-nothing deal for us.</s>KOPPEL (on camera): Another dispute Mr. Clinton says he'd be willing to mediate, if both sides said yes, would be the conflict of the Himalayan territory of Kashmir, claimed by both India and Pakistan: a subject sure to grab headlines again next month when the president travels to India and Bangladesh. Mr. Clinton says he hasn't decided yet whether he'll visit Pakistan. Andrea Koppel, CNN, the State Department.
President Says Peace in Northern Ireland Still Possible Despite Recent Setbacks