Political Quotes

“Well, Dwayne, I don't want to give up on the GATT round. I go from optimistic to sometimes pessimistic. I still believe that we have an opportunity to get a successful conclusion of the GATT round. Whether it will be done by the time our fast-track authority runs out, I'm not sure. But I believe that we can get the kind of conclusion that will avoid making the situation that you've described even worse. Because I don't want to see us resort to the kind of government-mandated targeting and the government controls that go with the kind of economies that you have described. So, I am still hopeful that we can get the successful conclusion. The major hang-up on the GATT round involves agriculture. And we have had a great deal of difficulty getting some of our friends in Europe, and to some degree the Japanese, fully on board in terms of agriculture. Carla Hills is tough as nails, and she will continue to work hard to get this done. But I think we ought to--before we start going down the road of managed economies and targeted products like some of the others that we compete with do, I think we ought to go all-out to see that we can successfully resolve that round. At the same time--I was talking to David at dinner and to Rand--we are working hard on this new North American free trade zone. And I believe that, even if GATT gets hung up for a while, we should keep pushing hard for a free trade zone with these three countries--Canada, Mexico, and the United States. And that would lead, I think, inextricably to a hemisphere that is free and fair. So, I want to keep pushing on that. I worry about the problems that you throw out there, but I'm not prepared to give up yet on GATT. And we are weighing in heavily with the EC, with France, with Germany, and with Japan so we can reach a successful conclusion. Japan and Germany”