[Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States: William J. Clinton (1993, Book II)]
[November 13, 1993]
[Pages 1980-1981]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office www.gpo.gov]



[[Page 1980]]


Remarks on Arrival in Memphis
November 13, 1993

    Thank you very much for coming out here in the wind and rain and 
braving the elements. It's kind of like what we have to do to get things 
done in Washington. I'm glad to see you here.
    I want to thank my good friend Governor McWherter, Mayor Morris, 
Mayor Herenton. Thank you all for being here today. I want to thank 
these fine Members of Congress who are here. Harold Ford made a great 
statement in support of the North American Free Trade Agreement. I'm 
very grateful to him and to Bob Clement and to Jim Cooper for their 
support. I also want to introduce some other Members of Congress who are 
here: first of all, from our neighboring State of Louisiana, two Members 
who have expressed their support today, Representative Bill Jefferson 
and Representative Jimmy Hayes. I want to thank your Congresswoman 
Marilyn Lloyd for her support for NAFTA. And I want to introduce two 
Members of my congressional delegation from Arkansas, Blanche Lambert 
and Ray Thornton, and thank them for their support.
    Let me ask you something. Were you proud of Al Gore the other night 
in his debate? I mean, was he great or what? I want to tell you 
something, folks. This vote over the North American Free Trade Agreement 
has brought out a lot of feelings and emotions in this country that I 
think probably need to be brought out. We've seen in the opposition to 
NAFTA a lot of the legitimate fears that the American people have 
developed because so many hard-working Americans have worked and worked 
and worked, and they've still lost their jobs. Or they worked harder 
year-in and year-out, and they never got a pay raise. And the global 
economy has been pretty tough on a lot of people in the States 
represented here today, on people in Tennessee and Louisiana and 
Arkansas, and all of us know that.
    Let me tell you, when I was Governor of my State, I saw plants shut 
down and move to Mexico or just disappear altogether or move production 
all the way to Asia. I understand that very well. I want you to know 
that there's not a person on this platform today, including the 
President, who would be supporting this agreement if we weren't 
convinced that it will bring more jobs to Tennessee and Louisiana and 
Arkansas. That's why we're for it.
    I came here today to make a point. I'm wearing a tie that was made 
in Little Rock, Arkansas, and shoes that were made in Nashville, 
Tennessee. I believe we can compete and win in the global economy. You 
heard the Governor say that since 1987, exports to Mexico from Tennessee 
have increased by 300 percent. That's 10,000 jobs due to exports for 
Mexico. In our State, exports have also tripled in the same time period. 
We have 5,000 jobs now based on exports to Mexico. In Louisiana, exports 
have doubled since 1987. Louisiana will be a big winner if all those 
trade barriers come down because of the increased activity around the 
Port of New Orleans. We know that this will mean more jobs for this 
country. Why? Because when the trade barriers come down--their trade 
barriers are 2\1/2\ times as high as ours--as they earn more money and 
make more money, they'll spend more money on American products. Seventy 
cents of every dollar Mexico spends on foreign products is spent on 
American products.
    Why will it also make a difference? Because if we make this 
agreement with Mexico, we'll be able to use it as a basis for similar 
agreements with all the other Latin American countries. Someday we'll 
have a trade bloc going from Canada to the United States to Mexico to 
the rest of Latin America, over 700 million people buying from each 
other, selling to each other, helping each other to grow.
    My fellow Americans, I worked my heart out in this country right 
here for the last 12 years to bring more jobs to the people of my State. 
And one thing I know: You cannot put more people to work at a time when 
productivity is increasing--which means that fewer people can produce 
more things--you can't put more people to work unless you've got more 
people who will buy your products and services. Without expanding your 
customer base, there is no way to create more jobs. It cannot be done. 
And we have got to learn that in America. We cannot let other people 
outtrade us. We can outwork anybody in the world. We still have the most 
productive workers in the world. We've learned

[[Page 1981]]

a lot of hard lessons in the last 12 years, but we've got to have more 
customers. And that's what this is about.
    So I ask all of you, all of you, to support the members of the 
Tennessee congressional delegation that have come out for NAFTA, to 
support the members of the delegations from Arkansas and Louisiana and 
from the other States that are supporting this, to give our country a 
chance to compete and win.
    On the day after Congress votes on this agreement, I have to fly out 
to Washington State to meet with the President of China, the world's 
largest country; with the Prime Minister of Japan, the country that had 
the largest growth rate in the 1980's; with 13 other leaders of Asian 
nations. That's the fastest growing part of the world. I'm going to say 
to them, ``We want to be your partner. We will buy your products, but 
we'd like for you to buy ours.'' If we adopt NAFTA, it will be a lot 
easier for me to make that case.
    I want the American people to be confident about the future. I want 
them to believe we can do better. In the last 10 months we've seen 
interest rates come down, inflation down, the deficit's come down. 
Millions and millions of Americans have refinanced their homes and their 
businesses, and this economy has produced more jobs in the last 10 
months than in the previous 4 years. But I'm telling you, you and I know 
there are not near enough jobs, and incomes are not going up near 
enough. And the reason is we don't yet have enough people who will buy 
our products and services.
    We need more growth in the world economy, and we need more 
customers. And Wednesday we're going to take a big first step with 
NAFTA, thanks to the people of Tennessee, your Vice President, your 
congressional delegation, and the other Members who are here.
    Thank you very much.

Note: The President spoke at 10 a.m. at the Air National Guard Ramp, 
Memphis International Airport. In his remarks, the President referred to 
Mayor William N. Morris, Jr., of Shelby County and Mayor W.W. Herenton 
of Memphis.