    [Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States: William J. Clinton (1997, Book I)]
    [February 26, 1997]
    [Pages 208-213]
    [From the U.S. Government Publishing Office www.gpo.gov]

    The President's News Conference With President Eduardo Frei of Chile
    February 26, 1997

        President Clinton. Good afternoon. Please be seated. First, let me
    say it's been a great pleasure to welcome President Frei to the White
    House. We meet in an historic moment for our hemisphere, when the
    foundation of democracy and free markets is firmly in place. Now we must
    lead in building on that foundation to forge a future of peace and
    prosperity.
        Chile is the window through which we see the Americas of tomorrow, a
    multiparty democracy, a firm commitment to human rights, proven economic
    reform. President Frei is working hard to make sure that all Chileans
    benefit from Chile's economic growth, lifting people from poverty and
    raising their aspirations. Chile is also an active global citizen,
    promoting peace from El Salvador to Iraq, sending civilian police to
    Bosnia, ratifying the Chemical Weapons Convention.
        At the crossroads of trade among the world's most dynamic economies,
    Chile can be a cornerstone of the vibrant free trade area we are working
    to build in our hemisphere. Together, the United States and Chile are
    showing the promise of partnership in the Americas. Today President Frei
    and I reaffirmed our commitment to build on that partnership at the
    Summit of the Americas that Chile will host in March of 1998.
        At the summit in Miami in 1994, we charted a roadmap for collective
    action. Now we must set further milestones for progress that will
    benefit our people: deepening democracy, advancing trade, expanding
    opportunity, fighting drugs, and protecting the environment. I look
    forward to attending the Santiago summit and to working closely with
    President Frei to build on Miami's success.
        We also discussed the importance of open trade, both in boosting
    prosperity and in bolstering freedom and democracy. I repeated to the
    President what I told the Congress: I believe we must have fast-track
    authority to conclude new trade agreements that open markets to
    America's products and that advance our values. The United States simply
    cannot afford to sit on the sidelines while others share in the fruits
    of Latin America's remarkable growth.
        Chile's strong record of reform, good government, and sound fiscal
    policies make it an excellent candidate for the first use of such
    authority. Our administration remains committed to concluding a
    comprehensive free trade agreement with Chile. In that regard, I'm
    pleased to announce that I've asked the Secretary of Agriculture, Dan
    Glickman, to travel to Chile to inaugurate a new consultative process to
    promote our agricultural trade. Our countries have also agreed to launch
    negotiations on an open skies agreement.
        And finally, I want to mention something near to my heart, our
    Fulbright exchange program, the oldest in Latin America. Today Chile's
    decision to share this program's cost will help our people to build even
    stronger ties as we enter the 21st century.
        Over the next several months, as I visit Latin America and the
    Caribbean, I'll continue to advance the important agenda we focused on

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    today, consolidating the historic journey of the Americas toward
    democracy, open markets, mutual respect, and cooperation. We are weaving
    a fabric of an integrated hemisphere, a community where people live,
    work, and learn together as friends on behalf of peace and progress.
        Before I ask President Frei to speak, I'd like to say just a few
    words, if I might, to the American people and the American press about
    our continued determination and our ongoing efforts to get to the bottom
    of the question of Gulf war illnesses. This week, as a result of the
    ongoing review we instituted several months ago, new documents have come
    to light further suggesting that our troops could have been exposed to
    chemical agents during the Gulf war. As soon as we get any new
    information, we share it with our veterans and the American people, and
    we will act appropriately on any information we uncover.
        I want to caution everyone that it is important not to prejudge the
    actions or the developments that occurred in the previous
    administration. We simply have to get to the bottom of it. Today I've
    written to Dr. Joyce Lashof, the Chair of our action committee on Gulf
    war illnesses, and asked the PAC to focus on the documents that have
    come to light this week. It is essential that we get all the help we can
    from the PAC in understanding the full significance of the documents and
    any other new information that might come to light. We cannot stop until
    we get all the answers about Gulf war illnesses.
        And now I'd like to ask President Frei to make an opening statement.
    And we'll take your questions.
        Mr. President.
        President Frei. Thank you, Mr. President. I would like in the first
    place to reiterate our thanks for this invitation. Chile is a country
    that in the recent years has consolidated its democracy. It has had
    sustained growth in the last 14 years, with average development and
    growth rates of 7 percent a year. And that has strengthened and
    consolidated our economy.
        We have given a front battle against poverty, bringing down to half
    the level of poverty we had during the eighties. And at the same time,
    we've done it within the framework of a tremendous opening to foreign
    trade--international trade. Chile has today economic complementation
    agreements with more than 30 countries. We are members of MERCOSUR
    starting October of last year. We are members of APEC, as the only South
    American country. And we are negotiating an agreement with the European
    Union.
        For all these reasons, at this working meeting we have discussed all
    the items--hemispheric ideas, the Summit of the Americas to be held in
    March of '98 in Chile, what are the main items and subjects and what we
    will focus on during the year: consolidation of democracy, free trade,
    struggle against poverty, and also very preeminent subjects that we have
    agreed to include in that Summit of the Americas, and that is education,
    science, technology, and training as the essential and foremost tool to
    leave under development.
        We have talked also about our participation in the United Nations
    and in all those issues of world peace. We have representatives of our
    armed forces in Iraq, and we will take part with members of our police
    forces in Bosnia. And we are very active seeking in Latin America the
    peaceful settlement of disputes. And this has been proven by our
    participation in several conflicts we've had in Latin America and very
    recently in those difficulties between Peru and Ecuador, whereby we have
    actively participated to consolidate peace in the region.
        Also, we have reviewed our bilateral relation. In the last years of
    my government, the increase of bilateral trade between Chile and the
    U.S. has had an explosive increase; it has increased more than 50
    percent in the last 2 or 3 years. Only in 1996 we've had investments of
    American firms equivalent to all of the American investment we had in
    Chile in the previous 15 years. And so with an exchange of more than
    $6.2 billion--of course, there are sensitive issues, especially in
    agricultural sectors. And we have expressed our way of thinking and our
    ideas as to trade, the points of interest to Chile, to the United
    States. And as the President has stated, our Secretaries of Agriculture
    will meet so as to jointly look for a solution to these problems that we
    believe always can emerge in such a vast, broad, and diversified trade
    relation as the one we have.
        Also, we have spoken of politics. We are interested in the 1998
    summit to speak of politics as we did in the Iberia-American summit of
    Santiago. Usually we used to discuss environment, free trade, and
    education. This time we raised the subject of democratic governance,
    good government, how to make our democracies effective in Latin America,
    how to solve the

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    very specific and concrete problems of the people.
        And that item, that subject, we want to include it in the summit of
    next year. We know that democracy has to be built every single day with
    great effort and sacrifice, and that is why this conversation has been
    very open, candid. We are a small country. We are no power neither as to
    population nor are we an economic power. But with certain dignity we do
    have the capability of raising before the United States a very wealthy
    bilateral relation of great development and to work together in the
    hemisphere and in global policies.
        I believe that Chile, and this I say here solemnly, Chile is no
    example, nor model. What we've done is to build an experience based on
    our history. And of course, drawing upon the lessons and work of many,
    many generations, we have been able to consolidate this development
    model, this development process. And we have a historic opportunity.
    Never before has the country been in a position to view upon the future
    in a different manner.
        If we act in this way, I think that in the next years we can leave
    underdevelopment behind. That is what we want in Chile. That is what we
    want to build. And we feel partners with the United States in this major
    endeavor, that as a Latin American country I will be able to leave
    behind poverty, margination, and build a better future for our children.
    That is our task, the major project.
        And I feel today that, upon arrival to the United States, being
    received by the President and highest authorities, and when speaking
    tomorrow before the joint session of Congress--first time a Chilean
    President will have this honor--it's not an honor for the President,
    it's an honor to the country, for what we've been, for what we are, and
    what we are building.
        Thank you, Mr. President.

    1996 Campaign Financing

        Q. Sir, the documents yesterday show you raised a great deal of
    money from people you entertained at the White House. Did you pay for
    their food and such? And can you really say the White House was not used
    as a fundraising tool?
        President Clinton. Absolutely. Look at the list of the people. We
    put it out there. A vast majority, I think almost seven-eighths of them,
    were people that I had relationships with that were independent of my
    campaign for President in '92. But some people did come and stay with me
    who helped me, and I think that's entirely appropriate. I don't think
    people who support you and help you through tough times and who believe
    in what you're doing should be disqualified from being the President's
    guests at the White House. But any Presidential guest at the White
    House, whether they're family members or dignitaries or whatever, their
    costs are not borne by the taxpayers.
        Mr. President, would you like to call on someone?

    Free Trade and Fast-Track Authority

        Q.  A question for President Clinton. In Chile, your political will
    with regard to Chile's accession to NAFTA is well-known. However, at
    this point, with all the time that's gone by, we're asking for more
    concrete steps. Among those steps you are about to take, are you going
    to ask for fast-track authority from Congress?
        President Clinton. Yes. I am going to ask for fast-track authority
    from Congress. In my State of the Union Address I said that I would. And
    I want to reiterate today that I believe the first use of that authority
    should be to conclude a comprehensive trade agreement with Chile, and I
    would hope that the Congress would support that endeavor. I believe the
    President's speech to the Congress tomorrow will be very helpful in that
    regard. And I'm delighted that he came here; I'm delighted that this is
    my first state visit since I was reelected President.
        And I wish it had been done before, but it was simply not possible
    to pass through Congress. I do believe we'll get the fast-track
    authority, and I believe we'll conclude an agreement. But we have a lot
    of work to do. And as I said, the fact that the President is going to
    speak to Congress tomorrow to a joint session is a historic thing not
    only for Chile, but it's very important for the United States and for
    the future of this whole region.
        Terry [Terence Hunt, Associated Press].

    1996 Campaign Financing

        Q. Mr. President, in the documents that were released yesterday, two
    high-ranking White House officials, Harold Ickes and Evelyn Lieberman,
    refer to DNC coffees at the White House as fundraisers. That, of course,
    would be illegal. How do you explain their choice of

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    words, and do you think that any of the fundraising activities came
    close to skirting the line, going across the line into illegality?
        President Clinton. No. We got strict advice about--legal advice
    about what the rules were, and everyone involved knew what the rules
    were. Did we hope that the people that came there would support me,
    particularly after we got into a political season, when we were doing
    this? Of course we did. But there was no solicitation during the events.
    And the guidelines, which I believe were made available to you also
    yesterday in the documents, made it clear that there was to be no price
    tag on the events. Did the people hope that the folks that came to the
    events would subsequently support me? Yes, they did. And I think that
    was clear to everyone involved at the time. But there was no
    solicitation at the White House, and the guidelines made clear that
    there was to be no price tag on the events.
        Q. But the language in those memos?
        President Clinton. I think my own view is--and I haven't talked to
    the people, but that's how much they hoped would come out of their
    endeavors after the coffees were over. And I think, if you will ask
    them, you'll find that sometimes they did, and sometimes they didn't.

    Chile and NAFTA

        Q. President Clinton, Chile is a country with a small economy and a
    small population. Why do you think it deserves to be part of NAFTA?
        President Clinton. I think that Chile deserves to be part of NAFTA
    because it is the most successful democratic free market economy in
    Latin America, with high rates of growth, a deeply entrenched democracy,
    having overcome very well-documented, extreme difficulties in building
    that democracy over the last few decades. And really I think Chile is
    looked to as a leader in our hemisphere on political and economic
    matters. And I can't imagine how we could have a set of free trade
    agreements with our neighbors in Latin America that Chile was not a part
    of.
        And what I'm hoping is that others in our hemisphere who have now
    embraced democracy will see what Chile has done economically, not simply
    in having high rates of growth but also in reducing poverty, spreading
    the benefits of economic growth to more people. The commitments that the
    President has articulated in education, for example, that the First Lady
    saw so clearly when she was down there 2 years ago--I'm hoping that that
    will spread across our hemisphere and that when we come to Santiago next
    year there will be a deep feeling among all the other nations there
    represented that we should press on to create a free trade area of the
    Americas and that it should help more countries to bring the benefits to
    their people that the Chilean people are beginning to realize.
        So the symbolic significance of Chile is far beyond the size of the
    economy, although I wouldn't minimize the size of the economy and its
    potential for growth.
        Claire [Claire Shipman, CNN].

    1996 Campaign Financing

        Q. Mr. President, given all the public attention at this point on
    the fundraising issue, and the calls now from Capitol Hill from
    Democrats and Republicans for an independent counsel, don't you think it
    might make sense at this point to have an independent counsel to take
    some of the pressure off?
        President Clinton. Well, I think what I always think about that.
    There is a statute, and that is a decision for the Attorney General to
    make. It should not be a political decision. It's a legal decision; the
    Attorney General has to make it.
        Q. Would you be opposed to an independent counsel?
        President Clinton. I'm not going to comment. I never have. It is a
    decision that should be made strictly on the law, based--by the Attorney
    General, not based on any politics. But the evidence that we made clear
    yesterday, I think is--I've answered the questions about that, and I
    don't think there is a legal issue there.

    Trade and Domestic Politics in Chile

        Q. President Frei, have you been told by President Clinton the
    strategy he will use in the months ahead to propose fast-track on
    Congress? And also, a domestic question--have you decided--are you close
    to a decision to who will be president of the Christian Democrats in
    Chile?
        President Clinton. I'm glad you asked him a domestic question. Thank
    you. [Laughter]
        President Frei. What we think as to free trade is to show exactly
    what our experience has been, more than taking part as to--or referring
    to the decisions that the U.S. Government or Congress have to make. We
    are interested; of course we are. Why? Because as I said before, we

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    have economic complementation agreements with more than 30 countries.
    Our foreign trade is highly diversified in Asia, Europe, and America.
    Our trade with Latin America is very similar to the one we have with the
    United States. That is why we have aggressively sought these agreements,
    allowing a small nation to consolidate those markets. Today if we had
    foreign trade--I mean, imports, exports, and related services--they
    account for practically 55 percent of our GDP. And so today at least 6
    or 7 out of 10 jobs in Chile depend on international trade.
        And that is why we believe that this has been beneficial for the
    country. And also, Chilean firms have gone abroad and invested more than
    $15 billion in the southern cone of America--unprecedented fact--
    practically 20 percent of our GDP. And this has meant the creation of an
    area not only of free trade but of integration. We are working in
    physical integration, energy integration, and we are contributing to
    improve our quality of life in the continent and particularly in our
    country.
        That is why we've grown in recent years at rates--permanent rates
    about 6 or 7 percent, I would say. The last 14 years, we have a savings
    and investment rate that reaches unprecedented figures. Last year we had
    a saving investment rate of 28 percent, 28.5 of our GDP. And domestic
    savings, there the state contributes with 5 percent to domestic savings.
    And for 5 years we've had fiscal surplus.
        Our accounts are in order, and thus we are firmly convinced that
    free trade not only is a pillar and foundation for Chile's development
    but an essential condition to consolidate our political, social, and
    economic project. And that is why, of course, we are interested, and we
    are certainly interested in the agreement with the United States. We
    signed with Canada in November an agreement following the guidelines of
    NAFTA, and that includes labor and environmental clauses that we are
    also ready and willing to accept.
        So this is our vision of the country, how is our country going to be
    in the 21st century, and we are working toward that. And that is why we
    expect and the U.S. Government and Congress to define this, which is a
    road for Chile, of course, but it is also a road to be followed by the
    Americas.
        And as to the Christian Democrat Party in Chile, the President of
    the Republic is President of all Chileans and does not take part in
    active politics. There in Chile, I am head of state and head of
    government, and the decisions of the parties are independent decisions.
    And the Christian Democratic Party, of which I've been a member for more
    than 35 years, elects its authorities democratically, universal suffrage
    process which is underway, and at the end of March they will hold that
    election. All the members will vote, and they will democratically elect
    their authorities.

    Consumer Price Index

        Q. Mr. President, are you ready to endorse Senator Lott's call for a
    commission of economists to once and for all settle this issue of
    whether the CPI overstates inflation?
        President Clinton. Let me say, first of all, I support a cost of
    living increase that is appropriate. I think it's important that it be
    accurate. There have been questions raised and opinions offered about
    that. And I think it's important that we agree to a procedure that will
    have credibility not only among both parties and their leaders in
    Congress but even more importantly out there among the American people.
    This is not a question for the budget; this is a question about the
    long-term viability of our systems and whether the CPI is an accurate
    reflection of how much the cost of living of Americans goes up every
    year.
        I appreciate Senator Lott's suggestion and I have--it is one of the
    things that I have considered, and I think we'll have some sort of an
    announcement on that in the not too distant future. But I think it's
    important for me to make sure that whatever we do has not only the
    confidence of Senator Lott, Senator Daschle, Speaker Gingrich, and
    Leader Gephardt and the members of their caucuses but also of the people
    out there in the country that will be living with whatever decision is
    made on this.
        So I think he made a good, constructive suggestion. I think we ought
    to take that under advisement. And we need to see what other options
    there are out there, and then we need to go forward, and I expect to do
    that.

    Free Trade and Fast-Track Authority

        Q. President Clinton, since the Miami summit, not much progress has
    been done with regard to the free trade areas of the Americas. Do you
    think that the various regional processes in Latin America have been
    making much more

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    headway, and do you think that the next summit is going to concentrate
    more on that than the FTAA?
        President Clinton. Well, I think the answer to your question is it
    depends in large measure on what we do here. Since the United States did
    not renew fast-track authority, there was not much more we could do. But
    a lot of progress has been made within South America, for example. Chile
    reached an agreement with the MERCOSUR countries, and a lot of other
    things have been going on there. And then we've been working on some
    specific issues with a lot of nations in our hemisphere.
        But I believe that our ability to get a free trade area of the
    Americas--Chile also, I think, made separate agreements with both Canada
    and Mexico. So our ability to get a free trade area of the Americas and
    to build what I think is potentially the most powerful economic unit in
    the early part of the next century now rests with the willingness of
    Congress to approve the fast-track authority and our ability to get back
    on track and try to be a constructive, cooperative part of this process.
    And I intend to do whatever I can to achieve that.
        And as I said, I'm delighted that the President is going to address
    Congress tomorrow. There's an enormous amount of admiration for Chile in
    the United States Congress, across party lines, for all kinds of
    reasons. And I think his words will be heard, and I think they will be
    exceedingly helpful.
        Thank you very much.

    Note: The President's 136th news conference began at 1:16 p.m. in Room
    450 of the Old Executive Office Building. In his remarks, he referred to
    the President's Advisory Committee on Gulf War Veterans' Illnesses
    (PAC). President Frei spoke in Spanish, and his remarks were translated
    by an interpreter.