[Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents Volume 29, Number 45 (Monday, November 15, 1993)]
[Pages 2310-2312]
[Online from the Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]

<R04>
Remarks in a Telephone Conversation With the Vice President on the NAFTA 
Debate

 November 10, 1993

    The President. Hey, how are you?

    The Vice President. I'm doing great, thank you.

    The President. Well, you were great last night.

    The Vice President. Well, I appreciate that.

    The President. It was really wonderful. I was so proud not only of 
what you said but of how you said it, kind of appealing to people's 
hopes instead of their fears. It was terrific, and of course all the 
results today

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show that you really can make these arguments to the American people and 
tell the truth and prevail. I'm just elated.

    The Vice President. Well thank you, Mr. President. We've got a few 
days left now as you well know, and your voice is being heard by 
hundreds of people here at Storage Technology who have been working in 
behalf of NAFTA because they're trying to sell products into Mexico, and 
they have a 20 percent tariff they have to overcome now, which would go 
down to zero if NAFTA passes. It's already zero coming in the opposite 
direction, and if NAFTA doesn't pass, these folks have to worry about a 
Japanese company coming in to locate in Mexico to serve that growing 
market and then use it as an export platform to compete right here in 
the United States. They want to base these jobs here in the United 
States instead. So you're talking to the right audience here, Mr. 
President. We're trying to get the message out all over the country. So 
thank you so much for your call.

    The President. Well I want to say to all the people who are there, 
first, thank you for receiving the Vice President and Tim Wirth today, 
and thank you for your support of this. I urge you to do what you can in 
the next few days to communicate your feelings to as many Members of 
Congress as you can reach, because there is a lot of justifiable fear 
and anxiety and insecurity in this country about the changing economy. 
And we have to show the Members of Congress that Americans can compete 
and win in this global economy if we're given half a chance and that 
this agreement is the beginning of our reach for the rest of the world 
in a way that will create jobs.
    There is no evidence that the United States or any other rich 
country can create a lot of new jobs without expanding trade. NAFTA is a 
big first step for us, and you know that very well. And if you know it 
and you believe it, I ask you not only to cheer for the Vice President 
today--he deserves it, he was terrific last night--but help us to win 
this fight next week. Tell the Members of Congress that this means 
American jobs and a better and brighter future for our country. We need 
your help. We need your help. We've got to have hope win out over fear 
next week in this NAFTA vote. We can do it with people like you. I thank 
you, and I thank you, Vice President Gore.

    The Vice President. Thank you, Mr. President.

    The President. See you when you get home.

    The Vice President. See you back in the office tomorrow.

    The President. Bye-bye. Thanks

[At this point, the telephone conversation ended, and the President 
answered a reporter's question.]

Ross Perot

    Q. Mr. President, what was Perot's big mistake?

    The President. Well, I just think that the Vice President appealed 
to the hopes of the American people and also talked about the facts and 
also cited specific examples. He called the names of people who worked 
in factories, who were in small businesses, who would specifically 
benefit from this expansion of trade. And he also appealed to the 
Members of the Congress to do what was right for the country and to make 
this straightforward argument to the people.
    Mr. Perot basically said anybody that didn't agree with him, no 
matter how deep their conscience was, they were going to try to get rid 
of them out of the Congress. One appealed to hope and reasoning, the 
other appealed to fear and threat. And I think you can see what the 
results were in the public opinion polls. The American people said, 
``This makes sense to us.'' And I think the more people who hear it, the 
more sense it will make.

Note: The President spoke at 1:08 p.m. in the Oval Office at the White 
House. In his remarks, he referred to Tim Wirth, Under Secretary of 
State for Global Affairs. The exchange portion of this item could not be 
verified because the tape was incomplete.

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