Active Clinton Foreign Policy Expected : Transition: Aide says despite emphasis on rebuilding economy, President-elect will immerse himself in world affairs ‘from day one.’

LITTLE ROCK, Ark. —  While reviving the economy is President-elect Bill Clinton’s top priority, he intends to conduct “an active, even pro-active foreign policy from day one,” Samuel Berger, the Democrat’s national security adviser during the transition, said Saturday.

Clinton is stressing that message to world leaders during his get-acquainted telephone conversations with them, Berger added.

“Even as we rebuild our economy, America remains the leader of the world,” Berger said on CNN’s “Newsmaker Saturday.” “This is something . . . Clinton clearly understands and intends to abide by.”

Berger’s comments seemed intended to head off concern that the Arkansas governor’s focus on domestic economic issues might come at the expense of foreign affairs.

Clinton did little to allay that concern in his first post-election press conference Thursday, talking about defense cuts in answer to a question on foreign policy. He did, however, say that he intended to work on non-proliferation of nuclear arsenals and other weapons of mass destruction around the world.

Berger said Clinton is looking forward to meeting with various world leaders, including Russian President Boris N. Yeltsin, who has invited him to Moscow. But Berger said Clinton will delay such meetings until after he takes office.

“It’s very important to recognize, as Gov. Clinton has said both publicly and privately . . . that America has one President at a time,” Berger said. Clinton and his transition team “intend to be as supportive as possible of President Bush during this period.”

Clinton emphasized that point Saturday when asked by a reporter if Bush should send former Secretary of State James A. Baker III back to the Middle East in an attempt to boost that region’s peace talks. “That is President Bush’s decision . . . ,” Clinton said as he was coming off a golf course in Little Rock. “I will support everything they do to keep it going, but it is President Bush’s call.”

In other brief comments, Clinton also indicated that he is willing to consider compromising on his request for a line-item veto over items in the federal budget. “It’s got a possibility,” Clinton said when asked about a proposal suggested Friday by House Speaker Thomas S. Foley (D-Wash.).

Foley, who opposes the line-item veto, suggested that the President should instead be granted “enhanced recision authority,” which would let him delete individual items, but enable Congress to reinstate them with a simple majority vote--rather than a two-thirds vote. Such a measure was passed by the House in the last Congress, but died in the Senate.

After his golf round Saturday, Clinton returned to the governor’s mansion to continue transition work and prepare for a dinner here tonight with Foley, Senate Majority Leader George J. Mitchell (D-Me.) and House Majority Leader Richard A. Gephardt (D-Mo.).

On Monday morning, Clinton is to hold his second post-election news conference, joined by the three congressional leaders. Clinton is scheduled to go to Washington on Wednesday to meet with President Bush at the White House before holding more meetings with congressional leaders.

Berger’s appearance on CNN Saturday served to spotlight questions about a possible conflict between his work as a Washington trade lawyer and Clinton’s stated desire to restrict from government service lobbyists who represent foreign interests.

Berger is on leave from the Washington firm of Hogan & Hartson, whose clientele includes foreign governments and businesses. Berger benefits from the business the firm conducts, but he said the only time he has directly lobbied for a foreign interest is when he volunteered his services for two weeks on behalf of the new Solidarity government in Poland.

Asked about Berger’s situation, transition spokeswoman Dee Dee Myers said, “There is no problem.”

A stringent ethics code Clinton unveiled late last week says that transition team staffers, as well as volunteers, are barred for six months after the inauguration from lobbying federal agencies with which they had “substantial” involvement during the transition. Penalties for violations of the code are still being written.