Bill Clinton: “Well, I think there are a lot of reasons. But I think one problem is, there is a lot of residual over NAFTA. The people…”

“Well, I think there are a lot of reasons. But I think one problem is, there is a lot of residual over NAFTA. The people who were against NAFTA are against this. But in the case of NAFTA, you had Mexico on our border with 100 million people and a set of very specific terms in the trade agreement, so that there were a lot of winners as well as people who thought they were going to lose. So the scales of the debate were more evenly balanced. Plus the other consequences--the political consequences, the immigration consequences, the drug consequences, as well as the economic benefits, were all much more stark and immediate with Mexico and NAFTA. The fast-track vote is a process vote to give the President the power to present other trade agreements to the Congress. Two categories of them have generally been very popular with both Democrats and Republicans; that is, anything that expands global trade under the WTO, which is good for us because we're competitive; and sector-specific agreements, like the information technology agreement we negotiated which is going to create tens of thousands, maybe even a couple hundred thousands good American jobs in the next few years. The third category is where the controversy is. It would give Ambassador Barshefsky the ability to try to negotiate an agreement with other individual countries. Except here, the people who weren't for NAFTA or the people who think that it didn't work or the people who were worried about something else, they have their worries out there, but we don't yet have the specific benefits out there except in a conjecture, because I don't have an agreement. NAFTA was a specific agreement. So, in a way, the opposition can burn a little whiter heat and show a little more intensity. And I think that that's a difficult thing for us. I also think, in fairness to the Democrats, we have raised the issue--all of us, I'm not using the Presidential ``we''--our party put the question on the agenda, really, about the role that labor standards and environmental standards should have in the trade equation. And we're having an in-house debate about what the best way to do that is. You know, Senator Moynihan, for example, who's got a very strong pro-labor record at home and abroad and a very strong trade record, thinks that there shouldn't be trade sanctions applied for specific environmental or labor issues, but we ought to be able to go at it in other ways. Mr. Gephardt believes we shouldn't have another trade agreement unless it contains trade sanctions for labor and environmental reasons, or at least that we ought to try to negotiate that. What I tried to do is to leave most of our options open there so that I could get the best agreement I can. But knowing that, regardless, I'm not going to negotiate an agreement that I do not believe is in the best interest of the United States. Congress will be able to review it and decide whether it helps create jobs and a better future for us. And I think that engaging these countries will increase our ability to influence them as they try to raise labor standards and deal with environmental issues. The Venezuelans--we were talking--they understand that they can't preserve their democracy in a free market economy unless they try to strengthen the social compact. They've got to figure out a way for more people to do well, and they've got to figure out an intergenerational strategy that not only supports education for children but protects the environment. So I think that we're going in the right direction, the direction that the opponents of fast track want to go in--that is, those that are really interested in the labor and environmental issues. There are some people who simply think that globalization always works to our disadvantage, and I just don't agree with that. And I think that it's not a realistic option. The global economy is on a fast track. The Europeans are reaching out to the MERCOSUR nations. Even though our exports have grown a great deal to Latin America, the European exports have grown even more and now outpace ours. And their trade union movements in their country, for example, and other people like--they seem to understand that, because of what they have to sell and because of the trade relationships, they're going to come out, net, ahead. That's what I believe is the case in America and why I'm pushing this so hard.”