[Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States: George W. Bush (2002, Book II)]
[August 1, 2002]
[Pages 1333-1334]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office www.gpo.gov]



[[Page 1333]]


Remarks in a Telephone Conversation With Senate Leaders
August 1, 2002

[The conversation is joined in progress.]

Trade Promotion Authority Legislation

    The President. Chairman Baucus, and Grassley----
    Senator Charles E. Grassley. We're 
here.
    The President. And I understand Trent Lott is 
there as well.
    Senator Trent Lott. Yes, Mr. President.
    The President. Well, thank you three very much for your 
leadership. I want to congratulate you all for achieving an historic--
historic moment in our Nation, because what you all have done is, you've 
made it much more likely somebody is going to be able to find work, and 
some farmer is going to be able to sell his product, and some nation is 
going to be able to trade with us, which will help lift them out of 
poverty.
    I want to congratulate you very much for your fine work, on your 
bipartisan effort. Max and Chuck worked well together, and I'm just calling to 
congratulate you and thank you, for a grateful nation.
    Senator Lott. Mr. President, this is Trent. I 
want to thank you for your leadership. You came to town saying this is 
something we needed to do; we needed to give this authority back to our 
President. And because you continued to push for it and emphasize what 
it will mean to American families and workers and farmers and ranchers 
and business men and women, we got it done.
    And I want to say that I certainly agree when you give credit to 
Chairman Baucus and to Senator Grassley. They were very persistent. They 
worked with our House colleagues. Bill Thomas obviously did a great job. 
And your representatives here, Secretary Evans and Ambassador Zoellick, 
they were there, many times at all hours. Sometimes we were trying to 
bait them, but they did a great job. [Laughter] And I think this is a 
great moment for our country, and we can get back into promoting trade 
worldwide.
    The President. Well, we really can. Thanks for saying that, 
Trent. I appreciate--it's a team effort, and the 
House gets a lot of credit, and Max and Bill 
Thomas stayed up late one night and got it 
done.
    Senator Max Baucus. That's right, Mr. 
President, though I must say it was more than one night, regrettably. 
[Laughter]
    The President. Well, that's why they've got August breaks.
    Senator Baucus. Mr. President, you're our 
leader here. You got us going, and we all deeply appreciate that. I 
think this legislation is going to help restore American trade prestige 
worldwide, something we desperately needed. It also will help give the 
economy a boost. And third, it will help protect American workers 
displaced by trade and help build that consensus, for that is so needed 
for strong, aggressive trade legislation to open markets overseas for 
America.
    I want to thank you so much for your strong, bipartisan approach to 
this. And I might say, Mr. President, we've now given you the authority, 
so we're kind of expecting you to kind of help negotiate these really 
good, strong trade agreements.
    The President. Well, I----
     Senator Baucus. And when you do, we're going 
to be there backing you up to help to make them as strong as they can 
be.
    The President. Thanks, Max. I accept it. 
You've got Zoellick sitting right there. 
Of course, he's going to be our point man on trade, and he now--he's got 
his running shoes on. He's going to hit the ground running to bring us 
some good trade agreements, and I appreciate that very much.

[[Page 1334]]

    Senator Baucus. Mr. President, I'll give you 
time to think about this, but do you have a nickname for this trade 
bill?
    The President. Not yet. [Laughter]
    Senator Baucus. I'm sure you will a little 
later on.
    The President. Not yet, Maxie.
    Senator Baucus. Okay.
    Senator Lott. This is a jobs bill, isn't it?
    The President. It's a jobs bill.
    Senator Baucus. Okay.
    The President. It sure is. How's Senator Grassley doing? Are you there, Senator?
    Senator Grassley. Yes. Well, for 
sure, this is going to put America in the middle of all of the free 
trade agreements now that are being negotiated. And the United States 
won't be left out, as we have been so much of the 190 that have been 
approved. But most importantly, I appreciate your recognition--and I 
know you know it, but I'm glad you said it as well--the bipartisanship 
that you have to have to get anything done in the United States Senate. 
And that tradition is no stronger on any issue than on trade.
    And working with Senator Baucus to make this happen has been a real 
privilege, and working with you as well. So thanks to both of you for 
your leadership.
    The President. Well, thank you all very much. I'm proud of you. I 
look forward to signing the bill soon. And I look forward to bringing 
some trade agreements back to the Congress that will help workers and 
farmers and ranchers.
    So, good work. You did your jobs. Go on home and take a break now.
    Senator Grassley. You bet.
    Senator Baucus. Thank you, Mr. President.
    The President. Thank you all. Bye-bye.

Note: The President spoke at 5:05 p.m. from the Oval Office at the White 
House.