[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

[[Page 2010]]

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

[[Page 2011]]

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.