Political Quotes

Bill Clinton: “You know, first of all, I'll look and see what the possibility of that is. That's a good idea. NAFTA was the first trade…”

On the recordFebruary 3, 1996
You know, first of all, I'll look and see what the possibility of that is. That's a good idea. NAFTA was the first trade agreement ever that actually required any country to meet certain labor standards or environmental standards. And one of the--we have slowed down some of the compliance with NAFTA, like on truck safety and all, because we think it's so important to see that these standards are met. And in fairness, they are very difficult to impose and enforce, as you know. I honestly believe that it's a good idea. I don't think we should be subsidizing people to live substandard lives there. What we want them to do is to raise--lift our standard of living. [A participant asked that the American workers get a fair share under NAFTA.]
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Bill Clinton
Democratic · Arkansas

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