[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.