Bill Clinton: “No, because there will be a lot of people from other countries there demonstrating against it, too. [Laughter] I mean…”

“No, because there will be a lot of people from other countries there demonstrating against it, too. [Laughter] I mean, you're going to have--there will be a lot of people there against it. And I think--I want to say two things. First of all, I am committed to launching a new trade round which will expand opportunities for us and for others on a fair basis. For example, if we stop export subsidies to agriculture, 85 percent of which are in Europe today, it would benefit farmers in my home State of Arkansas, but it would also benefit farmers in Argentina and farmers in Africa. And I would like to see that done. I would like to see us make a commitment that electronic commerce would continue to be tax free. And I would like to see us continue to make progress in other areas, because 3 out of 10--30 percent of our growth came from trade-related growth, until the Asian financial crisis, and because I think it's the best way to lift labor standards and to give countries the money they need to protect their environment. So I will continue to push for this. Now, having said that, I don't think it's such a bad thing that all these people are coming to Seattle to demonstrate. Why? Because I went to Geneva to speak to the WTO, and then I went back to Geneva to speak to the International Labor Organizations to say that particularly those of us in the wealthier countries have a heavy responsibility to try to put a more human face on the global economy. And that means you have to bring labor interests and environmental interests into these deliberations, that not only do these factors have to be considered but the people themselves have to be heard. I think it is very important. And so we have proposed, for example, a trade and labor group, coming out of the WTO. We want to see more work done in the environmental area. But the point I'd like to make is--if you'll just let me get off on this one little area in which I have an obsession--I think that, while I'm all for big ideas--you asked me about what the next campaign should be about; I'm all for big ideas--the world is still largely in the grip of a big idea that isn't true anymore. And that big idea is that in order for any country that's not rich to get rich, they have to burn more fossil fuels and put more greenhouse gases in the atmosphere, because that's the way we got rich, and that's the way the British got rich, and that's the way other countries got rich. And that's not true anymore. The whole economics of energy and the economy have changed. And we could have a revolution in the environment with more trade and investment in available, presently available, environmental technologies and alternative energy sources. That's just one example. But it won't necessarily happen automatically. And just as--look at the domestic market in America. We have about the freest markets you can imagine here. It's easier for--if any of you folks could leave what you're doing, if you weren't so devoted to it, and go make more money probably doing something else, you could get venture capital; you could come up with some idea; you'd fooled around with your computer so much you could probably start some new Internet company and be worth a couple hundred million dollars in no time. And that happens all the time. [Laughter] You know, those of you who are over 25 may be too old to do it, now. That's where all the money--[laughter]. But you know, we have an open economy. But what makes it work? We've got a Federal Reserve that works. We've got a Securities and Exchange Commission that works. We've got protections for consumers. We've got protections against monopolies. We have intermediate institutions. The trading system and the financial system, the global financial markets and the global trading system, are creating a global economy. We need some intermediate involvement from labor and environment, just to name two, to make sure that we build an economy that benefits everybody and that literally has a more human face on it. And so I'm actually not all that upset those folks are coming to Seattle. I welcome them. But if their fundamental view is, if we had less trade instead of more, that every economy could be self-sustaining and the environment would be better and people would make more money, I think that is simply not true. And I think you can demonstrate that's not true. So I want an expansive trade round that helps America and helps them, too. Let me just make one final point. I have done everything I could to get the wealthy countries to do more for the poor countries. We're trying to pass an Africa trade initiative here, and a Caribbean Basin initiative. And it does have bipartisan support. Let me say that I'm grateful for the Republicans that are helping us with it. And I think we've got a chance to pass it this year. We're trying to get debt relief for the poorest countries in the world. So I'm sympathetic with all these negative feelings. But one of the things that spawns these kind of negative feelings is, these folks feel like they've been shut out. They think the WTO is some rich guys' club where people get in and talk in funny language and use words nobody understands and make a bunch of rules that help the people that already have and stick it to the people that have not. That's what they think. And so if we're going to change their perception, we've got to listen to their protests and bring them into the tent and go forward taking these concerns into account. Gun Buy-Back Program”