[Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States: William J. Clinton (1993, Book II)]
[August 10, 1993]
[Pages 1354-1355]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office www.gpo.gov]



Remarks on the Swearing-In of James J. Blanchard as Ambassador to Canada 
and an Exchange With Reporters
August 10, 1993

    The President. Good morning, ladies and gentlemen. I'm delighted to 
have you here today at the White House for the swearing-in of my 
longtime friend and a very able public servant, Governor Jim Blanchard, 
to be our Nation's next Ambassador to Canada. I have known and respected 
Jim for many years now. We've worked on many things together both as 
Governors and as fellow partisans in political wars. I can tell you that 
he is one of the ablest Governors with whom I ever worked, one of the 
most creative and innovative people I have ever met in public life.
    As a Governor and earlier as a Member of Congress, Jim Blanchard was 
known as someone who would innovate, listen, and act. Those are 
capabilities which will be indispensable in his new assignment. His 
service in Ottawa will also benefit from his insights and his personal 
ties to Canadian leaders gained from being Governor of a State with a 
large border and close ties to Canada.
    When I nominated Jim Blanchard for this post, it was a sign to me, 
and I hope to the Canadians as well, of the immense importance I place 
on our relationships with Canada. For that relationship is 
unquestionably one of the most important in the world to us. Canada is 
our largest trading partner. Over $200 billion in goods and services 
cross our borders annually. That amount increased significantly after 
the passage of the free trade agreement. And I believe it will increase 
again after implementation of the North American Free Trade Agreement.

[[Page 1355]]

    Our relations with Canada are far more than economic, however. The 
fact that we share the world's longest undefended border is one of our 
greatest security assets. And Canada's cooperation on a host of 
international security efforts is absolutely invaluable. Canada has been 
our partner in efforts toward the former Soviet Union, Haiti, Somalia, 
and many other areas. With Canada we founded the United Nations and 
NATO. We work closely together today in the Group of Seven, in GATT, in 
international peacekeeping operations, just to name a few of the arenas 
that are important to us because of what we are able to do together.
    Today the United States and Canada share a challenging list of 
opportunities for mutual progress. We can work together to promote 
greater economic growth in our own hemisphere and throughout the world. 
We can work together to protect the air, the water, the environmental 
quality that is significantly shared by our two peoples. We can work 
together to improve the security of both our nations in this new era of 
world affairs.
    In all this I have greater confidence in the ability of Canada and 
the United States to make that kind of progress knowing that we will be 
represented in Ottawa by Jim Blanchard. I appreciate the fact that Jim 
and Janet are willing to accept this assignment. We all wish them great 
success.
    And now, Mr. Vice President, I would like to ask you to do something 
I cannot do, administer the oath of office.

[At this point, the Vice President administered the oath of office.]

NAFTA

    Q. Mr. President, have you given up on NAFTA?
    The President. That's ridiculous. No.
    Q. Some people say that the administration isn't fighting hard 
enough for it.
    The President. We don't have an agreement yet. We have to wait until 
we finish. The Trade Ambassador has not finished with the negotiations.

Note: The President spoke at 11:48 a.m. at the North Portico of the West 
Wing at the White House.