[Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States: George H. W. Bush (1991, Book I)]
[April 8, 1991]
[Pages 345-348]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office www.gpo.gov]



Remarks at a Meeting With Hispanic Business Leaders in Houston, Texas
April 8, 1991

    Thank you all very much. And Miguel, thank you for your leadership 
for the Greater Houston Partnership. And to all of you who managed to 
get through security and struggle in here, why--[laughter]--apologies 
for the delay, but I'm sure glad to see you.
    Even though these lights are bright, I can see many, many friendly 
faces out there, people with whom I've worked for one cause or another 
over the years. You have this wonderful way of making a guy feel at 
home. So, thank you for coming. Lionel Sosa, I love those ads. They're 
terrific. I believe they're going to be very effective. And I thank you 
for your energy and your expertise and also would thank all of those who 
were helping you on this project.
    To my old friend Bob Mosbacher, our able Secretary of Commerce, I'm 
glad to see him. He's slightly jet lagged out, having just returned from 
Japan on yet another

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mission to try to encourage our exports, a mission in favor of free and 
fair trade--something we must continue to press for, whether it's 
halfway across the world or whether it's in relation to our own 
neighbors to the south. And Bob is doing a great job, a leadership role 
in fighting for free trade because he knows as I do, and as all of you 
do, that the freer the trade is, the more job opportunities there are 
for the people of the United States of America, say nothing of our 
trading partners. And so, I'm glad to see him back from his mission.
    I've been looking forward to this meeting today. We've had a series 
of these, as some of you know. Some have attended one in Washington, 
then we had one out in California, and now this. Because I do want to 
discuss with you two issues that are vitally important to all of us: 
America's ability to compete in the global marketplace and our ability 
to negotiate with our trading partners. That's what's at stake right 
now. I've said many times that the hard work of freedom awaits us. And 
now, I'm asking for your help in that challenge.
    I love the way that Mexico's very able President Carlos Salinas 
talked yesterday about the vision--the vision of free and fair trade 
between the two countries. It's a vision that we share. Last month, I 
asked Congress to support this Fast Track authority in trade 
negotiations. You see, Fast Track is a way of assuring our trading 
counterparts that the agreements that they reach with us at that 
bargaining table, the one they reach with our negotiators will be the 
same ones that Congress has a chance to vote on, up or down.
    Some are alleging Congress has no say. And that's simply not true. 
Fast Track doesn't affect Congress' power to accept or reject trade 
agreements. But it does prevent these 11th-hour changes to agreements 
that have been hammered out, changes that force everyone to start all 
over again.
    We need Fast Track authority to pursue vital trade objectives: the 
North American free-trade agreement, the Uruguay round, and the 
Enterprise for the Americas Initiative. If we lose our Fast Track 
authority, we lose any hope of achieving these three vital agreements, 
the North American free-trade agreement, the Uruguay round, and the 
Enterprise for the Americas Initiative. We lose trade, we lose jobs, and 
we jeopardize economic growth.
    Here's the key: A vote against Fast Track is a vote against things 
that we all hold dear, prosperity at home and growth in other lands. It 
ignores the dramatic and wonderful changes in the world economy. We want 
to play a leading role in that emerging, exciting world, and we don't 
want to hide from it. We want to join in the thrilling business of 
innovation, and we do not want to chain people to outmoded technologies 
and ideas.
    Right now, we have the chance to expand opportunity and economic 
growth from the Yukon to the Yucatan. Think of it. The North American 
free-trade agreement would link us with our largest trading partner, 
Canada, and our third-largest trading partner, Mexico. It would create 
the largest, richest trade zone on Earth: 360 million consumers in a 
market that generates $6 trillion in output in a single year.
    A unified North American market would let each of our countries 
build on our own strengths. It would provide more and better jobs for 
U.S. workers. Let me repeat that one: It would provide more and better 
jobs for U.S. workers. It would stimulate price competition, lower 
consumer prices, improve product quality. The agreement would make 
necessities such as food and clothing more affordable, more available to 
our poorest citizens. It would raise productivity and produce a higher 
standard of living throughout the continent.
    Let me illustrate the stakes involved in the Fast Track debate by 
discussing the Mexican component of the North American free-trade 
agreement. Trade with Mexico has helped both our countries.
    Just 4 years ago, we had a $4.9 billion trade deficit with Mexico. 
Since then, we've cut that deficit by two-thirds, to $1.8 billion. This 
turnaround took place in part because Mexico's President believes in 
free trade. He's slashed tariff rates for some goods from 100 percent to 
10 percent. One result: our exports to Mexico have increased 130 percent 
in the past 4 years. This export boom has created more than 300,000 new 
jobs

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here in the United States of America. And each additional billion 
dollars in exports creates 20,000 new jobs here in the United States.
    I don't have to tell anyone in this room about Mexico's market 
potential: 85 million consumers who want to buy our goods. Nor do I have 
to tell you that as Mexico grows and prospers, it will need even more of 
the goods we're best at producing: computers, manufacturing equipment, 
high-tech and high-value products.
    Unfortunately, we've got a tough fight ahead of us. Some Members of 
Congress are concerned about the potential impact that any agreement may 
have on American jobs, American companies, American exports. Other 
Members of Congress say that they worry about wage rates or 
environmental quality, health and safety issues. I believe, I firmly 
believe, that concern about those very same issues is the strongest 
argument for support for Fast Track.
    Let me just talk about those concerns. We've already seen what the 
reduction in Mexican tariffs has done for our exports, American exports 
to Mexico. A free-trade agreement would eliminate the remaining tariffs 
entirely. And that would stimulate exports, create new jobs, generate 
wealth, and hope, I might add, on both sides of the border.
    Let's take a look at the impact on American companies. When trade 
barriers vanish, goods flow freely across borders. And everybody--
businessmen and workers, to farmers and consumers--reaps the benefits of 
growth.
    Consider the environment. The North American free-trade agreement 
fits into a winning strategy of improving environmental quality. 
Opponents of Fast Track and the trade pacts forget that prosperity 
offers the surest road to worker safety, public health, and indeed, 
environmental quality.
    This administration wants to ensure that Mexican economic growth 
goes hand in hand with the environmental protection. Our EPA is already 
assisting the Salinas government with its environmental programs. 
President Salinas has shown that he's serious about cleaning up the 
environment by requiring all new cars to have catalytic converters. And 
recently I'm sure all of us noticed with pride and pleasure the fact 
that he shut down Mexico's largest oil refinery because, frankly, it was 
just too much pollution into the air. I know that President Salinas 
cares deeply about his nation and its people and that he means business 
when he says he wants to clean up Mexico's air and water.
    And finally, consider the matter of working conditions in Mexico. As 
our trade with Mexico has grown, so have the wages of Mexican workers. 
Indeed, Mexican wages have risen very quickly in recent years, with no 
tangible impact on America's pay scales. That being the case, someone 
ought to ask the opponents of Fast Track why they oppose prosperity in 
Mexico.
    Someone should ask why they oppose letting our neighbors enjoy the 
benefits of progress. These are our friends. These are our neighbors. 
Ask them what's wrong with increased productivity throughout the whole 
continent. We benefit when others in this continent prosper. And ask 
them what's wrong with a more stable Mexico. A free-trade pact would 
encourage investment, would create jobs, would lift wages, and give 
talented Mexican citizens opportunities that they don't enjoy today. A 
stronger Mexico, in turn, means a stronger United States; it means a 
stronger North American alliance.
    So, you see, we have much to gain from extending Fast Track: a new 
era of open, free and fair trade, a future of unprecedented economic 
growth and regional harmony. As with most good things in life, 
competition involves risk. But we always have been a nation of 
risktakers, of adventurers. Our forefathers transformed a rough 
wilderness into an industrial superpower. We've created technologies and 
products unlike any others produced in human history. We've placed the 
wisdom of the ages within reach of anyone who can operate a computer.
    The vote on Fast Track is really a vote on what kind of America we 
want to build. A ``yes'' vote expresses confidence in American know-how 
and ingenuity. I say we believe in ourselves.
    I want to make clear that this isn't a partisan political issue. I 
want to salute those Democratic leaders in the United States

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Congress, including our own Senator Lloyd Bentsen, who's a key player in 
this debate, and others in the House--Speaker Foley--who have the vision 
to say this is good for the United States and it's good for Mexico. I'm 
going to approach this strictly in a nonpartisan, nonpolitical manner. 
It is too important to get it bogged down in partisan politics. I take 
great pride in the fact that the relationship between Mexico and the 
United States has never been better. But it is my view that we owe 
Mexicans the opportunity that they will get from Fast Track. And when 
they get that opportunity it is going to benefit the United States of 
America.
    And so, I will be fighting my heart out to win passage of this. I 
was very privileged to receive for the second time in Houston the able 
President of Mexico yesterday. He's doing a first-class job. He's moved 
that country in ways that some of his critics would never dared dream 
possible. And I think that it is in our interest now to build on this 
improved and strengthened relationship to give them and give ourselves 
the benefit of free and fair trade.
    So, as we join a world that is linked primarily by economic--not 
military--competition, we have nothing to fear except the fearmongers 
themselves. They seem to be the only ones who haven't learned lately 
that defeatism produces defeat, while confidence and self-reliance 
produce greatness. We've got to seize the opportunities that this new 
world economy offers us. And with your help, I am absolutely convinced 
that we will do it.
    So, once again, thank you for coming. And I pledge to each and every 
one of you that this goal is so important to the United States that it 
will be priority with me, with Secretary Mosbacher, with every other 
member of the Bush administration in Washington, DC. We are going to win 
this fight. But we need your help. Thank you all very, very much.

                    Note: The President spoke at 8:30 a.m. in the 
                        Evergreen Room at the Houstonian Hotel. In his 
                        remarks, he referred to Miguel San Juan, vice 
                        president, world trade division, Greater Houston 
                        Partnership; Lionel Sosa, who produced a video 
                        shown prior to the President's remarks; 
                        Secretary of Commerce Robert A. Mosbacher; 
                        President Carlos Salinas de Gortari of Mexico; 
                        Senator Lloyd Bentsen; and Thomas S. Foley, 
                        Speaker of the House of Representatives.