Bill Clinton: “I don't know. That's the straight and honest answer. But let me tell you what I have tried to do, and I think the…”

“I don't know. That's the straight and honest answer. But let me tell you what I have tried to do, and I think the American business community would support me in this assertion. Our administration has really tried to do two things in the area of trade. We've tried to open up more trade, recognizing it would subject our people to more competition, but we'd be able to sell more things abroad, because we know that's what we have to do, at the same time enforcing our trade laws more vigorously. And I've gotten a lot of criticism for it. I've gotten criticized for enforcing our trade laws against Japan, for example, the disputes we've had there, and some of the other countries we've had disputes with. But I think that is very important. The second thing I think we have to do is to move to a situation where, over a period of years, these international trade rules begin to take into account our obligations to the environment and our obligations to the working people of each of our countries. Now, we can't immediately rewrite the rules for all other countries. And we shouldn't tell other people how to live and what rules they ought to have. But we all do ultimately breathe the same air and share a common environment. And if the United States or, for example, there are other countries that may do more on the environment than we do, if these countries are to do well in the global economy, we must at least be moving toward some common accords on environmental standards and ultimately on labor standards. The United States has begun to put these issues in the national debate. When we made the trade agreement with Mexico, the first trade agreement ever, ever in history that had environmental standards in it, it had never been done before. So we are beginning to do that. Meanwhile, we are going to try to firmly enforce our own trade laws. The reason I said I don't know is, I don't know enough about your industry, I'm sorry to say, to make a comment. But I will look into that. Thank you. Ms. Casey. Mr. President, when there are other countries that underprice what it costs for people to manufacture an item here in the United States, countries that don't have to pay health insurance or any other kind of benefits or meet any OSHA requirements or EPA standards, won't business naturally go to where the cheapest widget is?”