[Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States: William J. Clinton (1993, Book I)]
[June 21, 1993]
[Pages 910-912]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office www.gpo.gov]



Remarks to the United States-Mexico Binational Commission and an 
Exchange With Reporters
June 21, 1993

    The President. Please sit down, ladies and gentlemen. I want to 
welcome all of you here to the Roosevelt Room at the White House and say 
a special word of welcome to our distinguished guests from Mexico.
    Today the U.S.-Mexico Binational Commission is holding its 10th 
meeting at the State Department. I want to say how very proud I am as 
President to welcome all the participants here. There is no closer 
partnership between two nations than that which we have with our 
neighbor Mexico. We share strong ties of history. Our cultures are 
richly interwoven. Our people are strong in their bonds of kinship and 
friendship. And the peaceful cooperation of the communities along our 
2,000-mile border is not only important but is a real tribute to both 
our peoples.
    An important sign of this close relationship is the Binational 
Commission itself, which provides a forum for our Cabinets to meet 
annually to work on issues ranging from the environment to education to 
telecommunications. Another sign of that partnership is our increasingly 
close cooperation in world affairs and our commitment to support 
democracy here in this hemisphere. We worked together to help end the 
war in El Salvador. Mexico has contributed to the International Civilian 
Mission of Human Rights Observers in Haiti. Mexico's leadership in the 
OAS was critical to the successful collective defense of democracy in 
Guatemala. And President Salinas speaks with a special authority as one 
of the world's leading economic reformers when he calls for progress in 
the Uruguay round to expand world trade.
    Mexico and the United States agree that the movement toward open 
markets and free trade in Latin America is vital for the long term 
success and strengthening of democracy and human rights in this 
hemisphere. The countries of Latin American have already made tremendous 
strides. The emergence of democratically elected governments in this 
region has permitted Latin America to modernize and to develop. The 
Latin countries have made enormous progress restructuring and opening 
their economics, controlling inflation, and increasing the 
competitiveness of their own productive sectors. In the last 2 years, 
for the first time in a decade, Latin America has had real growth in per 
capita income.
    Democratic governments have achieved peace, strengthened freedoms, 
and accelerated the pace of economic integration. With the support of 
the OAS and the United Nations, internal conflicts in Nicaragua and El 
Salvador have ended and hopefully will soon end in Guatemala. The OAS 
routinely observes the freedom of elections across the region. 
Subregional free trade agreements have emerged throughout the

[[Page 911]]

hemisphere. These are points that were recently very well articulated by 
Foreign Minister Solana at the OAS and those which we in the United 
States enthusiastically embrace.
    Increasingly today, the line has blurred between domestic and 
foreign policies. What we do abroad directly affects us here at home. 
And our success at home directly impacts what we are able to do abroad. 
No relationship illustrates better the strong linkage between foreign 
and domestic policies than the relationship between the United States 
and Mexico. The interdependence of our societies and our people are 
stronger than ever, and they will continue to grow. Domestic policies 
affect the lives and prosperity of Mexicans, even if they are American 
domestic policies, in the same way that the domestic policies of Mexico 
profoundly affect us.
    You need only look at the scope and complexity of today's agenda in 
this meeting to understand how important Mexico and the United States 
are to each other. We will work to deepen and expand that partnership. 
One of the most productive areas in which we must work is on trade 
between our two nations. That has doubled in the last 5 years. This 
trade is vital to our economic future, to Mexico's economic future, and 
to our cooperation in every other area of endeavor. It is making both of 
our economies grow. It is making both of us more efficient and more 
competitive in global markets. And it adds to the resources we can use 
to address our common concerns such as the environment.
    That is why I am firmly committed to the North American Free Trade 
Agreement and why the American people and Congress will, I hope and 
believe, support the NAFTA this year. We are the world's number one 
exporter. Exports are creating more jobs for us in the last few years 
than any other source of economic activity. American workers and 
companies want to be able to compete fully and fairly in global markets. 
They seek no special advantage, only a level playing field. Mexico has 
already made important strides in labor rights and in protecting the 
environment. And when we conclude the side agreements which are now the 
subject of negotiations, we will have an even broader basis for 
cooperation and progress and a warmer embrace of the NAFTA here in the 
United States.
    By approving NAFTA, we can cement in place a new source of jobs and 
economic growth for workers in Canada, Mexico, and our own country. And 
we'll do more than that. We can send a signal to the nations of the 
Americas that are on their way to rebuilding their economies, that we 
are on our way to work with them to build a hemisphere of freer trade, 
more jobs, and higher growth.
    Once again, let me say how very grateful I am to see all of you 
here. And I know my administration is proud to be a part of these 
negotiations. I look forward to our continued successes, including the 
success of NAFTA. I believe that the future belongs to countries 
committed to democracy, to free markets, and to closer integration of 
their economies and more trade. That's where the jobs and the incomes 
are; that's where the hope of a better life lies.
    Thank you very much.

[At this point, Foreign Minister Fernando Solana Morales of Mexico made 
a statement.]

Haitian Refugees

    Q. Mr. President, what is your reaction to the Supreme Court ruling 
on Haitian refugees?
    The President. I haven't had a chance to review it. I'm sorry, I 
haven't had a chance to review it.

NAFTA

    Q. Are you frustrated by the fact that these negotiations, the 
bilateral negotiations, are taking so long and they don't seem to get 
anywhere yet?
    The President. No. I think that everything takes a little longer 
around here than I think it should. But I think we are getting 
somewhere, and I think that you will see these negotiations produce 
successful agreements. And I think we will go forward with the free 
trade agreement this year. I'm very hopeful.
    Q. Can I follow up on that, Mr. President? Don't you think with the 
full domestic agenda you have and the opposition to NAFTA in the United 
States, it's more likely to get a ratification, if at all, next year and 
not this year?
    The President. No. Because I think the issue has been, in effect, 
fully aired and debated before it comes up for ratification. And I think 
a lot of the questions that have been raised about it in the Congress 
are the very questions that are being debated and dealt with in the 
negotiations now going on between the countries. So I would expect that 
we can get successful consideration of it this year.
    And also, you know, I think this is another

[[Page 912]]

one of those battles of ideas in which we're engaged. But I believe very 
strongly that this will create jobs and increase incomes for people on 
both sides of the border. And I think if that argument is accepted, it's 
just as likely to be accepted this year as next year.

Henry Leon Ritzenthaler

    Q. [Inaudible]--about the half-brother, is this gentleman your half-
brother, do you know?
    The President. What did you say, Helen [Helen Thomas, United Press 
International]?
    Q. [Inaudible]--California. Same question, basically.
    The President. I placed a call today, but there was nobody home. I 
don't think I should say anything until after the call takes place.

NAFTA

    Q. You do not have the votes in the House right now. Are you 
planning on launching a campaign in order to push forward for 
ratification of NAFTA?
    The President. I try to win the things that I support. When we can 
bring it up, we'll bring it up and try to win it. And I have been 
discussing this quite a bit, actually, in personal conversations with 
various Members of the House and Senate and getting advice, beginning to 
plot strategy. But of course, we'll have a campaign to do it. We can't 
prevail without a campaign; we have to try to win it.
    Thank you very much. One person from the Mexican press, we'll take 
one question. That's only fair.

Drug Policy

    Q. Mr. President, do you have a new policy to fight drugs here, or 
do you have a new policy towards immigration?
    The President. We will, but I believe that the announcement of that 
should involve the drug czar, Mr. Brown, and others. And we will have 
something to say about that in the future.
    Thank you.

Note: The President spoke at 2:10 p.m. in the Roosevelt Room at the 
White House.