    [Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States: William J. Clinton (1993, Book II)]
    [August 19, 1993]
    [Pages 1389-1391]
    [From the U.S. Government Publishing Office www.gpo.gov]

    Remarks on Naming William M. Daley as NAFTA Task Force Chairman and an
    Exchange With Reporters
    August 19, 1993

        The President. Good afternoon, everyone.
        Audience member. Happy birthday!
        The President. Well, thank you very much. Thank you, Helen [Helen
    Thomas, United Press International].
        Ladies and gentlemen, I am pleased to announce that my good friend,
    Bill Daley of Chicago, has agreed to be the Chair of the
    administration's Task Force on the North American Free Trade Agreement.
    This agreement means more trade, more exports, and more jobs for the
    United States. I think it is very much in our national interest.
        I also think it means the opportunity to go not only to Mexico but
    beyond Mexico into other nations in Latin America to develop stronger
    trading relationships that will boost our economy, the jobs, and the
    incomes of the American people well into the 21st century.
        Thanks to the hard work done by Ambassador Mickey Kantor and the
    other members of the U.S. Trade Representative's staff, we have now seen
    in the last several days the conclusion of a remarkable set of side
    agreements to guarantee real investments in environmental cleanup and a
    dramatic and unprecedented commitment by the Government of Mexico to tie
    their minimum wage structure to increases in productivity and growth in
    the Mexican economy and to make that a part of the trade agreement, so
    that failure to do that could result in fines and ultimately trade
    sanctions, meaning that Mexico is serious about making this a trade
    agreement that benefits Mexican workers, raises wage levels, increases
    their ability to buy American products, and decreases the impetus for
    continued illegal immigration across the Mexican border. I am very, very
    encouraged by this.
        I also want to say that as we move into this campaign vigorously
    now--and it's something that we've not been able to do because we didn't
    have an agreement until just a few days ago--Mr. Daley will be working
    with Ambassador Kantor, with the Secretary of Treasury, with the
    Director of EPA, with the Labor Secretary, and with other members of the
    Cabinet, including the Commerce Secretary, to present a strongly united
    front. Furthermore, we will be reaching out to involve in the national
    leadership of this task force prominent Republicans,

    [[Page 1390]]

    Democrats, and independents who have a common interest in promoting the
    NAFTA and what it can do for our economy.
        I believe, as I said repeatedly, that if we could get these side
    agreements which have now been concluded, this trade agreement means a
    better future for America's workers, for American industry, for the
    American economy. I think it is very much in our interest to adopt it. I
    believe the fact that Bill Daley has agreed to take a leadership role
    enhances the chances of its adoption, and I know that the Vice
    President, Mr. McLarty, and others in our administration join me in
    expressing our thanks to Bill Daley. And he'll be here soon, and we'll
    be going to work.
        Would you like to say a few words?

    [At this point, Mr. Daley made brief remarks.]

    NAFTA and Job Creation

        Q. Mr. President, how can you convince American workers that NAFTA
    is good for them when major corporations are laying off thousands of
    people? Where are the jobs going to come from?
        The President. Well, major corporations are laying off thousands of
    people in part because they don't have enough work for them. Part of
    this downsizing is an inevitable part of the reorganization of some of
    those big employers. But what has happened is that for the last 12
    years--for a long time--we had more jobs created in small business, in
    medium-sized businesses than were being lost in large businesses. The
    Fortune 500 laid off more than 100,000 people a year every year of the
    1980's.
        So, this trend is something that has been going on for some time.
    Whether we gain jobs or not, and gain good jobs, depends on whether
    there is more demand for American products and services. And there is
    ample evidence that the only way a wealthy country grows wealthier in a
    global economy is to increase the volume of trade. And it is a clear,
    elemental principle of economics that if you want more people to go to
    work in a competitive economy, you have to have more people to sell to.
    So that's what we're trying to do. I feel very strongly about it.
        I also believe that by raising the incomes of Mexicans, which this
    will do, they will be able to buy more of our products, and there will
    be much less pressure on them to come to this country in the form of
    illegal immigration. So I think this will be a very stabilizing,
    economically healthy agreement.
        I believe, to be fair, that a lot of the people who are against this
    agreement were against the original agreement and may not have had the
    chance to evaluate the side agreements that we've worked so hard since
    January to conclude with the Mexican Government. And I think that that
    will make a difference.
        I also think that it's important that this Government, our
    Government, make a good-faith effort to make sure that we provide
    adequate retraining and other opportunities for people who fear they
    will be subject to dislocation under this agreement. In my mind, there
    is no question that this agreement is a significant net plus for the
    American economy.

    Justice Department Reorganization

        Q.  Mr. President, what do you think about this proposal to merge
    the DEA with the FBI? And what kind of signal would that send about U.S.
    commitment to drug interdiction?
        The President. Well, first of all, I've not had a chance to view the
    proposal. The Vice President's task force has under review a number of
    proposals. I'm not sure they've even finalized their own decisions. You
    might want to ask him about that. But he'll be making a presentation to
    me early in September. And when and if that recommendation comes to me,
    I'll evaluate it. I'll talk to him, and I'll talk to the Attorney
    General about it. But I will say this: Anything we do will be designed
    to enhance our efforts to combat drugs, not to weaken it. And any
    decision I make will be made with that in mind.

    NAFTA

        Q. Do you and Mr. Daley have any idea how you are going to overcome
    or circumvent the leadership of the House, the majority leader and the
    chief whip, both of whom are opposed to NAFTA?
        The President. Well, the chief whip is clearly opposed to it, and I
    think he and I--I admire him immensely, but we just have an honest
    disagreement about this. And I might say, since he's from Michigan, I
    would just point out to you not very long ago General Motors announced
    that they were moving 1,000 jobs back from Mexico to the United States
    to be closer to the market and because of the higher productivity of the
    American worker.

    [[Page 1391]]

        I'd like to make one point about that, and then I'll say something
    about the majority leader. I have governed a State where people shut
    their plants down and went to Mexico for low wages. I have been there.
    And my belief is that if we defeat NAFTA, nothing will stop. NAFTA won't
    stop people. If you beat NAFTA, it will not stop people who want to go
    to Mexico for lower wages from going there. But more and more, smart
    manufacturers are deciding that they should locate where they're going
    to have a highly productive work force and where they'll be reasonably
    close to the market and where they'll be very flexible to change product
    lines on a rapid basis. I think that this will help the American
    economy.
        I also think that the kinds of investments you'll see in Mexico, if
    NAFTA passes, are not those investments along the American border that
    produce more products to come back into America but investments further
    down into Mexico to put Mexican people to work to produce products for
    their own market, which, again, will stabilize their incomes, stabilize
    their population movement, increase their ability to buy American
    products. So that's the argument I'm going to make to others. I don't
    think I can change Mr. Bonior's mind, but I think perhaps I can change
    others.
        Mr. Gephardt has a different set of concerns. He wants to make sure
    that we're going to adequately fund the training programs, that we're
    going to adequately fund the environmental programs, and that the
    Mexican commitment to raise minimum wages means that manufacturing wages
    will in fact go up as their incomes go up. And I still have high hopes
    that things that will happen between now and the time the implementing
    legislation is presented to Congress in several weeks will persuade him
    to support this. I do believe it will be difficult for us to prevail if
    both of them are opposed. But Mr. Gephardt has some high standards for
    this agreement, but I'm not sure they can't be met.
        And I also say, I want the Members of Congress who have not
    announced their positions to review these agreements. There has never
    been a trade agreement with this kind of environmental protection in it.
    There has certainly never been a trade agreement where one country
    committed to raise its wages when its productivity increases and to make
    that wage increase a subject of the trade agreement so that they can be
    subject to fines for trade sanctions that they don't keep. This has
    never happened before. Mexico was serious about trying to raise the
    living standards of its own people in ways that help stabilize American
    wages and American jobs.
        Thank you.

    Note: The President spoke at 12:57 p.m. in the Oval Office at the White
    House. A tape was not available for verification of the content of these
    remarks.