    [Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States: William J. Clinton (1993, Book II)]
    [November 18, 1993]
    [Pages 2009-2011]
    [From the U.S. Government Publishing Office www.gpo.gov]

    [[Page 2009]]

    Remarks on Arrival in Seattle
    November 18, 1993

        Thank you very much. Thank you very much, Governor Lowry and Mayor
    Rice, Chairman Shrontz, ladies and gentlemen. I thought I ought to bring
    Air Force One home. And I'm glad to be back here myself, and I do love
    this town. Seattle has been wonderful to me. The State of Washington has
    been good to me. Without your support I would not have been able to take
    office as President and to work every day to keep the commitments I made
    to the American people to try to change this country for the better.
        I want to thank you especially today for all the work that you in
    this city have done and all the work people throughout this State have
    done to help this Asian-Pacific Economic Cooperation meeting come off as
    well as it has. Everyone says you've been a wonderful host. I thank you,
    and your Nation thanks you.
        Frank noted that a number of my Cabinet members came here with me
    today, along with Congressman Norm Dicks and Heather Foley, the wife of
    House Speaker Tom Foley. I wanted to say also that Senator Patty Murray
    had planned to come home with me today. I invited her here. And I want
    you to know why she's not here. She's not here because she is in
    Washington fighting to pass a crime bill that keeps in the ban on
    assault weapons to make our streets safer. I'm proud of her for doing
    that.
        You know, I've been to this wonderful city for many reasons. I came
    here as a Governor to a Governors' Conference. I've been here on
    vacation. I came here many times asking your help to become President.
    Today I come on a truly historic mission, for this is the first meeting
    ever of the leaders of the nations of the Asian-Pacific Economic
    Cooperation group. I'll have a chance to meet with the Prime Minister of
    Japan, the President of China, the leaders of the other nations in this
    group. We'll be able to talk about regional economics and political
    developments. We'll be focusing on what we can do to help our own
    people.
        Make no mistake about it: Ultimately, this meeting is about the
    jobs, the incomes, and the futures of the American people; about
    exerting American leadership in a world where there isn't a lot of
    growth now, so jobs are not secure, incomes are stagnant in every
    wealthy country on Earth. The only way we can turn this around now is to
    have more growth not only in America but throughout the world.
        With all of the difficulties we have today, our economy is growing
    more than Europe's economy. It is growing faster today than Japan's
    economy. Our problem in America today and Boeing's problem today is that
    there's not enough growth in the world economy, so people don't have
    enough money to buy these airplanes. And we're going to change that,
    beginning at this meeting for the Pacific region. I know we can do that.
        America's workers are still the world's most productive. America can
    compete and win all over the world in all markets, if only given a fair
    chance and if there are sensible partnerships to promote growth. People
    cannot spend money they do not have.
        So we come here today, hoping to drive down trade barriers, open up
    trade opportunities, and promote more growth. Seattle has long seen
    itself as the portal of the Pacific. Today, it is the portal to the
    Asian-Pacific region, the world's fastest growing economy, the largest
    region in our world in terms of population, with enormous potential for
    American prosperity and new partnerships for peace and freedom and
    democracy.
        Washington exports more per person than any other State in our
    Nation. And over 80 percent of those exports go to the Asian-Pacific
    region. You know that. You know also that Boeing is America's largest
    exporter, and that no company in the world better exemplifies the
    potential of worldwide economic partnerships to create opportunity for
    people right here at home in America.
        I'm proud that I've worked with the Transportation Secretary and the
    Commerce Secretary and others in my administration to see that your
    aircraft get full and fair consideration in the global market. Someone
    sort of made fun of me the other day. They said, ``You know, President
    Clinton is almost like a rug merchant out there selling American
    products.'' Well, I'm not ashamed that I've asked other countries to buy
    Boeing, and I'll do it again if given half the

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    chance.
        I was so pleased this week that Boeing reached an agreement with
    Gulf Air, based in Bahrain, to sell six of your new 777 wide-body planes
    with an option to purchase another six, an agreement that could be worth
    $2 billion. I was pleased to read in the paper today of Boeing's
    agreement with Southwest Airlines. I think you all know we're working on
    other sales in the Middle East. And I'm also proud to say that I am
    delighted that Boeing was selected as the prime contractor for America's
    space station, something I worked hard to save from the budget ax in the
    last session of Congress. That's another global partnership because now
    we're going to develop that space station in partnership with the
    Russians in further pursuit of peace and global economic prosperity.
        And finally, I want to say a special word of thanks to Congressman
    Norm Dicks for his initiative in getting Congress to initiate a new
    airlift initiative to supplement our present airlift capacity and
    replace some of our old planes by buying off-the-shelf commercial
    airlines, like the 747. I commend Norm Dicks for that initiative. It can
    save the Defense Department money and put people in Washington State to
    work.
        I ask you here to continue your resolve in the face of adversity, to
    be an example to the rest of our Nation that we can compete and win in
    this global economy.
        As Frank said, and as Governor Lowry and Mayor Rice noted, we've
    just come through a tough fight in the Congress where good people on
    both sides argued about what was best for the working families of
    America. I did everything I could for 12 years to advance the cause of
    working people as a Governor. I ran for President because I thought we
    could expand the horizons of young people and preserve the American
    dream and make a strength out of our diversity in the Nation as you have
    done in Seattle. That's why I ran.
        This debate over NAFTA was very profitable, very productive, but
    sometimes very painful because some of the best friends I ever had were
    on the other side of that debate. And they were on the other side
    because they were tired of seeing Americans work harder for lower wages
    to pay higher prices for health care, housing, and education to have
    less security in their basic lives. That was a genuine fear that should
    be honored by every person in public life today. Those are the fears we
    have to answer.
        I disagreed on the solution because I believe that the only way a
    rich country can grow richer is to find more customers for its products
    and services. In the absence of that we cannot continue to grow.
        We are getting more and more productive, as we have to do to
    compete. But what does that mean? That means fewer people can produce
    more things. If fewer people produce more things and you still want more
    jobs at higher incomes, there must be more customers. There is no
    alternative.
        But make no mistake about it, my fellow Americans, the fight over
    NAFTA shows us the best of both sides. The winning side was right. We
    ought to expand our trade. We've got to bring down trade barriers. We
    have to reach out to the rest of the world. We need a partnership, not
    only with Mexico but with all of Latin America, 700 million people plus,
    in a giant trading cooperative partnership. We need that. But we also
    need to guarantee every American working family the education and
    training they need, the investment in their communities they need, the
    security of health care that can never be taken away, and an economic
    policy dedicated to growing jobs and raising incomes and benefiting the
    ordinary citizens of this country. That is what we have to do.
        Our economic strategy is simple, direct, and I think correct: Put
    our own economic house in order, enable our people to compete and win in
    the global economy, and find more markets for our products and services.
    Just in the last 10 months the United States Congress has enacted an
    historic economic plan that has brought interest rates down to record
    lows, kept inflation down, increased investment, permitted millions of
    Americans to refinance their homes, and created more jobs in the private
    sector in the last 10 months than in the previous 4 years. It is not
    nearly enough, but it's a darn good beginning, and we're glad to have
    it.
        We must now move on to invest in education and training and new
    technologies, and helping us to win from downsizing defense by
    converting to domestic technologies and opening the world to those
    markets. We can do it, and that's what this meeting is all about. So I
    say to you, again, you have helped America to make history here in
    Seattle.
        The meeting of the leaders of the Asian-Pacific region, if we make
    wise decisions and if we begin a long-term, disciplined partnership

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    for growth and opportunity, can create jobs here and jobs across the
    Pacific, can raise incomes here and give hope to people who never had it
    all across the largest ocean on the globe. We can do this. And when we
    do, I hope you will always take pride in knowing that it began here in
    Washington, America's trading State, America's model for the future, in
    a town that's been awfully good to me and is now a wonderful example for
    the entire United States.
        Thank you very much, and God bless you all.

    Note: The President spoke at 2:50 p.m. at Boeing Field. In his remarks,
    he referred to Mayor Norman B. Rice of Seattle and Frank A. Shrontz,
    chairman and chief executive officer, Boeing Co.