    [Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States: William J. Clinton (1997, Book II)]
    [September 16, 1997]
    [Pages 1173-1174]
    [From the U.S. Government Publishing Office www.gpo.gov]

    [[Page 1173]]

    Message to the Congress Transmitting Proposed Fast-Track Trade Authority
    Legislation
    September 16, 1997

    To the Congress of the United States:
        I am pleased to transmit a legislative proposal entitled the
    ``Export Expansion and Reciprocal Trade Agreements Act of 1997.'' Also
    transmitted is a section-by-section analysis.
        This proposal would renew over 60 years of cooperation between the
    Congress and the executive branch in the negotiation and implementation
    of market-opening trade agreements for the benefit of American workers
    and companies.
        The sustained, robust performance of our economy over the past 5
    years is powerful proof that congressional-executive cooperation works.
    We have made great strides together. We have invested in education and
    in health care for the American people. We have achieved an historic
    balanced budget agreement. At the same time, we have put in place trade
    agreements that have lowered barriers to American products and services
    around the world.
        Our companies, farms, and working people have responded. Our economy
    has produced more jobs, more growth, and greater economic stability than
    at any time in decades. It has also generated more exports than ever
    before. Indeed, America's remarkable economic performance over the past
    5 years has been fueled in significant part by the strength of our
    dynamic export sector. Fully 96 percent of the world's consumers live
    outside the United States. Many of our greatest economic opportunities
    today lie beyond our borders. The future promises still greater
    opportunities.
        Many foreign markets, especially in the developing world, are
    growing at tremendous rates. Latin American and Asian economies, for
    example, are expected to expand at three times the rate of the U.S.
    economy over the coming years. Consumers and industries in these
    countries prize American goods, farm products, services, and the many
    expressions of American inventiveness and culture. While America is the
    world's greatest exporting nation, we need to do more if we want to
    continue to expand our own economy and produce good, high-wage jobs.
        We have made real progress in breaking down barriers to American
    products around the world. But many of the nations with the highest
    growth rates almost invariably impose far higher trade barriers than we
    do. We need to level the playing field with those countries. They are
    the nations whose markets hold the greatest potential for American
    workers, firms, and agricultural producers.
        Today, the United States is the world's strongest competitor. The
    strength of the U.S. economy over the past several years is testimony to
    the creativity, productivity, and ingenuity of American firms and
    workers. We cannot afford to squander our great advantages by retreating
    to the sidelines and watching other countries conclude preferential
    trade deals that shut out our goods and services. Over 20 such
    agreements have been concluded in Latin America and Asia alone since
    1992. The United States must continue to shape and direct world trading
    rules that are in America's interest and that foster democracy and
    stability around the globe.
        I have pledged my Administration to this task, but I cannot fully
    succeed without the Congress at my side. We must work in partnership,
    together with the American people, in securing our country's future. The
    United States must be united when we sit down at the negotiating table.
    Our trading partners will only negotiate with one America--not first
    with an American President and next with an American Congress.
        The proposal I am sending you today ensures that the Congress will
    be a full partner in setting negotiating objectives, establishing trade
    priorities, and in gaining the greatest possible benefits through our
    trade agreements. The proposal expands upon previous fast-track
    legislation to ensure that the Congress is fully apprised and actively
    consulted throughout the negotiating process. I am convinced that this
    collaboration will strengthen both America's effectiveness and leverage
    at the bargaining table.
        Widening the scope of consultations will also help ensure that we
    will take all of America's vital interests into account. That is
    particularly important because today our trade agreements address a
    wider range of activities than they once did. As we move forward with
    our trade agenda, we must continue to honor and reinforce the other
    values that make America an

    [[Page 1174]]

    example for the world. I count chief among these values America's
    longstanding concern for the rights of workers and for protection of the
    environment. The proposal I am transmitting to you recognizes the
    importance of those concerns. It makes clear that the agreements we
    conclude should complement and reinforce those values.
        Ever since President Franklin Roosevelt proposed and the Congress
    enacted America's first reciprocal trade act in the depths of the Great
    Depression, the Congress and the President have been united, on a
    bipartisan basis, in supporting a fair and open trading system. Our
    predecessors learned from direct experience the path to America's
    prosperity. We owe much of our own prosperity to their wisdom. I urge
    the Congress to renew our longstanding partnership by approving the
    proposal I have transmitted today.

                                                          William J. Clinton

    The White House,

    September 16, 1997.