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Arrival at Andrews Air Force Base 1/10/92 [OA 6095]
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323151806
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Arrival at Andrews Air Force Base 1/10/92 [OA 6095]
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Records of the White House Office of Speechwriting (George H. W. Bush Administration)
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FOIA Number:
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MARKER
This is not a textual record. This is used as an
administrative marker by the George Bush Presidential
Library Staff.
Record Group/Collection:
George H.W. Bush Presidential Records
Collection/Office of Origin:
Speechwriting, White House Office of
Series:
Speech File Draft Files
Subseries:
Chron File, 1989-1993
OA/ID Number:
13598
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13598-007
Folder Title:
Arrival at Andrews Air Force Base 1/10/92 [OA 6095]
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26
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THE WHITE HOUSE
Office of the Press Secretary
For Immediate Release
January 10, 1992
REMARKS BY THE PRESIDENT
UPON ARRIVAL AT ANDREWS AIR FORCE BASE
Andrews Air Force Base, Maryland
9:15 A.M. EST
THE PRESIDENT: Let me first say that it's great to be
home, and Barbara and I want to thank all those who made this
important trip a success. Secretary Brady is with us here, Secretary
Mosbacher, and then our first-ever presidential delegation of
business leaders. I want to thank also in addition to them our
ambassadors, their dedicated staffs and so many others. And I really
want to offer my heartfelt thanks to countless people at home and
abroad who so kindly offered prayers and good wishes when I had that
very brief but dramatic bout with the flu.
Our mission was uniquely American. America is a world
leader, not just because of our military or economic might, but
because we've always held the conviction that we're part of something
larger than ourselves. We now live in an entirely different economic
world than a generation ago, and in a completely different political
and security environment than just a year ago.
Foreign relations have never before been so important to
our well-being at home. When we foster democracy abroad, when we
strengthen our security engagements with our allies and friends, when
we work to open markets and expand trade, we make a priceless
investment in our own children's future.
The Tokyo meeting I concluded yesterday with Prime
Minister Miyazawa caps a successful series of talks with four of
America's most important friends in the Asia-Pacific region. With
each of these countries -- Australia, Singapore, Korea and Japan --
we're forging ever-stronger bonds of democratic values, of mutual
security and of economic growth through expanding trade. Each of the
four nations that I visited are robust democracies. With each we
confirmed the necessity of providing nourishment for the blossoming
of democracy throughout the region. At each stop on our journey, I
reaffirmed America's interest in fundamental commitment to Pacific
security.
We and our Pacific partners are determined to maintain
strong defenses, to protect our hard-won peace and stability during
this new era, and to provide a security umbrella under which
political pluralism and market economies can flourish.
In each country on this mission, we made progress on a
top priority of this trip -- renewing the strength of the American
economy and generating world economic growth. Now, while I'm
disappointed that the unemployment numbers went up in December here,
our work over the last few days will help open markets for American
companies and provide more jobs for our workers. Make no mistake
about it, our progress this week will translate into progress on jobs
and economic growth in America. The results will be clear and
measurable.
Everywhere we've been, I've sought urgent action on the
successful conclusion to the Uruguay Round of the GATT talks. The
best achievement we can offer our farmers, our manufacturers, and
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indeed our service industries is a GATT breakthrough in unprecedented
new accords for open. trade. With Australia, we reaffirmed our
alliance and announced plans to conclude a new trade and investment
framework agreement. With Singapore, we announced an agreement to
conclude a new bilateral investment treaty as well. Everywhere I
found support for strengthening APEC -- that is the new Asia Pacific
Economic Cooperation group -- as it promotes trade and economic
cooperation around the Pacific Rim. And I've carried our enthusiasm
for our North America Free Trade Agreement across the Pacific and
shown how it, too, can add to everyone's prosperity by reducing the
barriers to trade.
Our summit meeting in Tokyo was a turning point in our
relationship with Japan. And it highlighted the progress we've made
these last few years with that nation. Japan is our largest market
for agricultural exports -- our largest. Now some $8 billion a year.
Since 1987, the U.S. merchandise exports to Japan have increased more
than 70 percent, and they now account for 64 percent of our total
exports to Japan -- up nearly 10 percent since 1985. We
reinvigorated our commitment to the bilateral structural impediments
initiative talks, and we garnered new support for a successful
conclusion to the GATT round.
A substantial portion of our trade deficit with Japan is
in the auto sector. That is not going to change overnight, but here,
too, we made significant progress, not only in terms of selling
American cars and automobile parts in Japan, but also in raising the
percentage of American parts in Japanese-brand cars built in the
United States by U.S. workers. Japanese automakers agreed over the
next three years to increase their purchase of American-made parts
from $9 billion to $19 billion.
Our summit meeting this week accelerated the opening of
more Japanese markets to our exports. In addition to the Japanese
car manufacturers, 23 companies in the Japanese electronics,
automobile and machinery industries announced plans to increase
American imports into Japan by a total of $10 billion over the next
three years. Some of this will be to the automakers, and taken
together represents a welcome increase in exports made in the USA.
This week, we breached the wall that kept American
exports of computer products and services out of the $3 billion
Japanese government market. Our agreement will expand Japanese
public sector procurements of our quality computer goods and
services. Our leading edge computer industry employs millions of
technologically savvy Americans, and we can expect dramatic gains in
this market.
We made breakthroughs for access to Japan's huge markets
for our glass and paper products -- virtually untapped markets that
are billions of dollars in size. We reaffirmed goals for our higher
market shares for semiconductors and then resolved standards
problems. These are the invisible barriers to free trade in 49
different sectors of American industry, from processed foods and
cosmetics to industrial equipment and machinery.
Anybody who thinks that Americans cannot compete with
the Japanese haven't talked with these business executives who joined
me in Japan, some of whom made the trip all the way. And they
haven't seen the recent studies that show overall U.S. productivity
in the highest in the world -- far exceeding Japan. We must work
hard to keep that productivity growing. I know and these business
leaders know that as long as the playing field is level, American
workers can outcompete and outproduce anybody, anyplace, anytime.
Yes, we faced a turning point with Japan, and when the
time came, we took a major step forward. But it was only a step --
one in a long process to achieve markets as open as our own. We will
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build on these results. We will monitor the progress, and I will
keep pressing for jobs and market access when Prime Minister Miyazawa
comes to the United States, hopefully in a few months. That ongoing
effort includes the strategy for world growth which the Prime
Minister and I developed and which we are coordinating with the other
industrialized nations.
America and Japan are the two largest economies in the
world. Together, we comprise 40 percent of the total world economy.
And global growth is a top priority for both of us. Already our two
countries have made deep pro-growth cuts in interest rates. Japan
cut their discount rate to 4.5 percent, and as you know, our Federal
Reserve has just lowered interest rates a full percentage point --
both of which are keys to stimulating long-term growth here and
abroad.
But clearly, with December's unemployment figures, our
economy is not growing fast enough. In my State of the Union message
later this month, I will present to the American people my action
plan to get it growing faster. And I am looking forward to spelling
out our ambitious agenda for economic growth clearly and repeatedly
to the American people in this vigorous and exciting political year.
I am absolutely confident that the American people will join me in
this vision for a new era of expanded markets, of peace and
prosperity.
So thank you all very much, and thank you for being with
us on that trip. I appreciate it enormously. (Applause.)
Q
-- increase mean that the Federal Reserve system's
interest rate cuts aren't working?
THE PRESIDENT: No, I think it takes a while to work.
But certainly the Federal Reserve cuts will work their way through,
and they are very, very important to economic growth. But I think it
is a little too soon to expect them to have taken hold and turned
around the December unemployment figures.
Q
-- the pressure on Japan to open up its markets?
THE PRESIDENT: Well, in the first place, we're going to
monitor the agreements we've made, and then we'll see. I will resist
protectionist legislation, however, I don't view that as pressure.
Q
(Inaudible.)
THE PRESIDENT: Well, I think that we might have
achieved more. I am proud of what we did achieve, and I think there
is never -- there is nobody suggesting anyone here is totally
satisfied. What I am saying is, we made dramatic progress, and it
will result in jobs for the American workers.
Q
(Inaudible.)
THE PRESIDENT: Well, he is entitled to his opinion, and
I cannot say that we've gotten everything we want, so maybe we're not
very far apart. Who knows?
Q
That is short-term --
Q
-- trade --
THE PRESIDENT: Will you make up your mind. I'll go
with either one of you. You're both wonderful people. Jim, go
ahead. Men first, maybe. Woops, Michelle, sorry about that.
(Laughter.)
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Q
In the short-term, was this trip a political bust
for you personally?
THE PRESIDENT: I don't think collapsing with the flu
helped, but I think I can handle that one Jim. I feel fine, my
health is good and I don't think it's a bust at all. And I'll be
glad to debate any of the -- eventually. Maybe I'd better phrase
this properly -- be glad to take on those ideas that I hear, that the
way to handle this economy is through protection. Shrinking world
markets: that is the wrong answer. And I think we made progress and
so I think it was a successful trip.
Q
Let me ask you, why isn't this managed trade --
something you say you're very much against -- when you're pressuring
another government to force its companies to buy that which they
would not otherwise buy?
THE PRESIDENT: Well, I think because -- I don't think
we're forcing them to buy something that is noncompetitive and I
don't think we're forcing anybody to buy something that is
inadequate. What we're trying to do is get free and fair access to
markets and, indeed, as I mentioned, we broke down a lot of barriers.
We changed the standards procedures over there to some degree. We
still have a lot of work to do. So I don't view that as managed
trade where you set a number. I remember back when I was in China,
the people would come over and they'd say, alright, we're going to
buy X and you're going to buy Y. That's managed trade. That's not
what we've done here, at all. What we've done is expand markets, and
get more access for American workers to have their products go into
the Japanese market and others.
0
Mr. President, with regard to New Hampshire, do you
think you're in trouble there?
THE PRESIDENT: No, I think I'm going to win in New
Hampshire and I think New Hampshire has some serious economic
problems and I can identify with the hurt of those people. I can't
tell you how many times I've been in New Hampshire in the last --
well, since I was Vice President, and including being President, so I
have some feel for the hardship they're going through. And I think I
can identify with it and I think I can rally support for what I will
be proposing. I know that they, if they have it in focus, would be
supporting what I have been proposing. So I think we'll do fine
there.
Q
Mr. President, your own briefers and senior
administration officials in Tokyo were asked three times whether
Japan was onboard on the GATT negotiations. Then you say that they
were. Are they?
THE PRESIDENT: Well, what do you mean by "onboard" on
them?
Q
My question is, does Japan support your position
regarding the Dunkel letter?
THE PRESIDENT: Well, I think they agree to use the
Dunkel draft as a significant document from which to work. In other
words, I think they -- and they also agree we need to get that round
solved. I think they've probably got problems with the Dunkel draft
and so do we. But it's -- what we're trying to do is use that as the
basis now for hammering out differences. I think that's about the
way we left it with them.
Two more and then I've got to go. This nice gentlemen
over here.
talks with Li Q Peng encourage you to respond in any way, or could you
Did anything you heard from Mr. Miyazawa on his
tell us what you heard?
- 5 -
THE PRESIDENT: I talked with Li Peng on what?
Q
Mr. Miyazawa talked to you about his trip to China
and his talks there. Did he tell you anything that caused you to
respond or give you any message?
THE PRESIDENT: I believe it was Watanabe, wasn't it?
The foreign minister? No, he had a good trip to China. He talked a
little to them about the problems we're having with China. He gave
me some suggestions in terms of the problem of the people that are
held because of Tiananmen Square. But beyond that, I can't say much.
There wasn't too much specific as it relates to the U.S. -China
relation.
Q
Nothing --
THE PRESIDENT: Nothing at this juncture that caused us
to respond. We will keep pressing for fair treatment of people
there, and I will try to keep that important relationship on track
also. It is a big one and very important.
One more and then I've got to run.
Q
Mr. President, don't the unemployment figures show
you that -- (inaudible).
THE PRESIDENT: No I don't think that, but they are
certainly unsatisfactory, and what they show is, we need growth and
we need to stimulate growth in a sound, fiscally sound way, and not
through some way that will set the economy back by shooting interest
rates, long-term rates up through the roof. And by that I mean
things that are going to recklessly break this budget agreement.
They show that the economy has been sluggish. They show that people
are hurting and they show that we need to get going now with a growth
agenda that will do short-term that which it can do. A lot of the
suggestions are more long-term and I think they show that -- I hope
they show that wherever we can make progress on expanding markets
abroad, we ought to do it, and that's one reason I'm satisfied that
we have made real progress on this trip. I think it will help in
that situation.
Thank you all very much. (Applause.)
END
9:31 A.M. EST
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