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North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) Signing 12/17/92 [OA 8485]
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North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) Signing 12/17/92 [OA 8485]
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Originally Processed With FOIA(s):
FOIA Number:
S; 1999-0062-F
S
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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
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Speechwriting, White House Office of
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Speech File Draft Files
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Chron File, 1989-1993
OA/ID Number:
13649
Folder ID Number:
13649-010
Folder Title:
North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) Signing 12/17/92 [OA 8485]
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26
18
6
1
NAFTA SIGNING / THURSDAY, DECEMBER 17, 1992
ORGANIZATION OF THE AMERICAN STATES
the
U. S. TRADE REPRESENTATIVE, CARLA HILLS.
THE HONORABLE JULIUS KATZ. JAMES BAKER.
ACTING SECRETARY OF STATE, ARNOLD KANTER.
ASSISTANT SECRETARY OF STATE, BERNIE ARONSON.
GENERAL SCOWCROFT. SECRETARY GENERAL BAENA-
SOARES [BENA SOR EHZ].
- 2 -
MEXICAN AMBASSADOR TO THE UNITED STATES,
GUSTAVO PETRICIOLI. CANADIAN AMBASSADOR TO
THE UNITED STATES, DEREK H. BURNEY. CURRENT
AND FORMER MEMBERS OF THE CABINET. MEMBERS
OF CONGRESS AND THE SENATE.
THROUGHOUT HISTORY, THE DESTINY OF
NATIONS HAS OFTEN BEEN SHAPED BY CHANCE -- BY
THE THINGS THAT HAPPEN TO THEM.
- 3 -
THEN THERE ARE THOSE UNIQUE NATIONS WHO SHAPE
THEIR DESTINIES BY CHOICE -- BY THE THINGS
THAT THEY MAKE HAPPEN. THREE SUCH NATIONS
COME TOGETHER TODAY: MEXICO, CANADA, AND THE
UNITED STATES OF AMERICA.
BY SIGNING THE NORTH AMERICAN FREE TRADE
AGREEMENT, WE HAVE COMMITTED OURSELVES TO A
BETTER FUTURE -- FOR OUR CHILDREN AND FOR
GENERATIONS YET UNBORN.
- 4 -
THIS AGREEMENT WILL REMOVE BARRIERS TO TRADE
AND INVESTMENT ACROSS THE TWO LARGEST
UNDEFENDED BORDERS ON THE GLOBE -- AND LINK
THE U.S. IN A PERMANENT PARTNERSHIP OF GROWTH
WITH OUR FIRST AND THIRD LARGEST TRADE
PARTNERS.
- 5 -
THE PEACE AND FRIENDSHIP WE HAVE LONG ENJOYED
AS NEIGHBORS WILL NOW BE STRENGTHENED BY THE
EXPLOSION OF GROWTH AND TRADE LET LOOSE BY
THE COMBINED ENERGIES OF OUR 360 MILLION
CITIZENS TRADING FREELY ACROSS OUR BORDERS.
- 6 -
I WANT TO PAY A PERSONAL TRIBUTE TO MY
PARTNERS IN THIS ENDEAVOR -- TWO RARE AND
GIFTED LEADERS, AND TWO SPECIAL, VALUED
FRIENDS -- WITHOUT WHOSE COURAGE, LEADERSHIP,
AND VISION THIS DAY WOULD NOT HAVE COME.
- 7 -
WHEN THE HISTORY OF OUR ERA IS WRITTEN, IT
WILL BE SAID THAT THE CITIZENS OF ALL THE
AMERICAS WERE TRULY FORTUNATE THAT MEXICO AND
CANADA -- TWO GREAT NATIONS AND TWO PROUD
PEOPLES -- WERE LED BY PRESIDENT CARLOS
SALINAS AND PRIME MINISTER BRIAN MULRONEY.
- 8 -
FOR MEXICO ESPECIALLY, THE NAFTA IS A BOLD
UNDERTAKING, MADE POSSIBLE BY PRESIDENT
SALINAS' BRAVE REFORMS TO INVIGORATE THE
MEXICAN ECONOMY.
IT IS ESPECIALLY FITTING THAT AN AMERICAN
PRESIDENT SIGN THIS AGREEMENT IN THIS GREAT
HALL OF THE AMERICAS, THE HOME OF THE
ORGANIZATION OF AMERICAN STATES.
9
FOR THE NAFTA REPRESENTS THE FIRST GIANT STEP
TOWARDS FULFILLMENT OF A DREAM THAT HAS LONG
INSPIRED US ALL -- THE DREAM OF A HEMISPHERE
UNITED BY ECONOMIC COOPERATION AND FREE
COMPETITION.
10
BECAUSE OF WHAT WE HAVE BEGUN HERE TODAY, I
BELIEVE THE TIME WILL SOON COME WHEN TRADE IS
FREE FROM ALASKA TO ARGENTINA, WHEN EVERY
CITIZEN OF THE AMERICAS HAS THE OPPORTUNITY
To SHARE IN NEW GROWTH AND EXPANDING
PROSPERITY. I HOPE AND TRUST THAT THE NORTH
AMERICAN FREE TRADE AREA CAN BE EXTENDED TO
CHILE AND OTHER WORTHY PARTNERS IN SOUTH
AMERICA, CENTRAL AMERICA, AND THE CARIBBEAN.
11
FREE TRADE THROUGHOUT THE AMERICAS IS AN
IDEA WHOSE TIME HAS COME. A NEW GENERATION
OF DEMOCRATIC LEADERS HAS STAKED ITS FUTURE
ON THAT PROMISE. UNDER THEIR LEADERSHIP, A
TIDE OF ECONOMIC REFORM AND TRADE
LIBERALIZATION IS TRANSFORMING THE
HEMISPHERE.
TODAY, AS A RESULT, THE HEMISPHERE IS
GROWING AGAIN.
12
FOR THE FIRST TIME IN YEARS MORE CAPITAL IS
FLOWING INTO THE AMERICAS FOR NEW INVESTMENT
THAN IS FLOWING OUT. EVERY MAJOR DEBTOR
NATION, FROM MEXICO To ARGENTINA, HAS
NEGOTIATED A SUCCESSFUL AGREEMENT TO REDUCE
AND RESTRUCTURE ITS COMMERCIAL BANK DEBT
UNDER THE BRADY PLAN.
LET ME OFFER A BRIEF ASIDE ABOUT THE
BRADY PLAN.
13
I REMEMBER TELLING MY GOOD FRIEND, SECRETARY
NICK BRADY -- OKAY, WE'LL CALL IT THE BRADY
PLAN. BUT IF IT'S SUCCESSFUL, WE'RE GOING To
CALL IT THE BUSH PLAN. I THINK HISTORY WILL
SHOW THAT THE LEADERSHIP OF OUR DISTINGUISHED
TREASURY SECRETARY DID PAY OFF -- THE PLAN
HAS BEEN HIGHLY SUCCESSFUL. AND BY THE WAY,
THE NAME WILL ALWAYS BE -- AND SHOULD ALWAYS
BE -- THE BRADY PLAN.
14
UNDER THE ENTERPRISE FOR THE AMERICAS
INITIATIVE, MANY NATIONS -- JAMAICA, BOLIVIA,
CHILE, COLOMBIA, EL SALVADOR, URUGUAY -- HAVE
REDUCED, OR SHORTLY WILL REDUCE, THEIR
OFFICIAL DEBT WITH THE UNITED STATES.
THE INITIATIVE ALLOWS INTEREST PAYMENTS ON
OFFICIAL DEBT TO BE CHANNELED INTO TRUST
FUNDS THAT PROTECT THE ENVIRONMENT AND
SUPPORT PROGRAMS FOR CHILD SURVIVAL.
15
To THOSE IN OTHER REGIONS STRUGGLING TO
REFORM STATIST ECONOMIES, LATIN AMERICA
SHINES AS A SOLID EXAMPLE OF HOPE THAT
HYPERINFLATION CAN BE TAMED, GROWTH CAN BE
REVITALIZED, AND NEW INVESTMENT AND TRADE CAN
ACCELERATE IF DEVELOPING NATIONS STAY THE
COURSE THROUGH THE DIFFICULT CHALLENGE OF
ECONOMIC RESTRUCTURING.
16
THESE PROFOUND ECONOMIC CHANGES ARE A
TRIBUTE TO A COURAGEOUS GROUP OF DEMOCRATIC
LEADERS IN LATIN AMERICA AND THE CARIBBEAN.
THEIR REVOLUTIONARY VISION HAS ALTERED
FOREVER THE FACE OF THE AMERICAS.
17
THEIR FRIENDSHIP AND COUNSEL HAVE BEEN
ENORMOUSLY GRATIFYING TO ME AS PRESIDENT.
BUT THESE PROFOUND CHANGES, ALONG WITH THE
NAFTA ITSELF, REFLECT A BROADER AND, I
BELIEVE, MORE FUNDAMENTAL CHANGE IN RELATIONS
BETWEEN THE UNITED STATES AND THE NATIONS OF
THIS HEMISPHERE.
18
FOR MANY DECADES, WE HAVE PROCLAIMED
AMBITIOUS GOALS FOR OURSELVES -- OF A GOOD
NEIGHBOR POLICY, OF AN ALLIANCE FOR PROGRESS,
OF A PARTNERSHIP BUILT ON MUTUAL RESPECT AND
SHARED RESPONSIBILITY. THOSE GOALS ARE
RAPIDLY BECOMING A REALITY.
19
MY TALKS WITH THE HEMISPHERE'S LEADERS IN
RECENT WEEKS SHOW A STRONG CONSENSUS THAT
RELATIONS BETWEEN THE U.S. AND ITS NEIGHBORS
HAVE NEVER BEEN BETTER -- AND THAT THIS
DEVELOPMENT IS WORKING TO BENEFIT ALL OF OUR
PEOPLES.
I BELIEVE THAT IN THE FUTURE AMERICA'S
RELATIONS WITH LATIN AMERICA AND THE
CARIBBEAN WILL GROW EVEN STRONGER.
20
I WAS PLEASED TO HEAR PRESIDENT-ELECT CLINTON
AFFIRM THAT GOAL IN HIS REMARKS RECENTLY TO
BOTH THE RIO GROUP AND TO THE CARIBBEAN-LATIN
AMERICA ACTION CONFERENCE.
THIS CENTURY'S EPIC STRUGGLE BETWEEN
TOTALITARIANISM AND DEMOCRACY IS OVER;
DEMOCRACY HAS PREVAILED.
21
TODAY, WE SEE UNFOLDING AROUND THE WORLD A
REVOLUTION OF HOPE AND COURAGE, PROPELLED BY
THE ASPIRATION OF ORDINARY PEOPLE FOR FREEDOM
AND A BETTER LIFE.
22
THE WORLD WILL LONG REMEMBER THE IMAGES OF
THAT STRUGGLE -- A CITIZEN OF BERLIN, SITTING
ATOP THE WALL, CHIPPING AWAY WITH HIS HAMMER
AND CHISEL; BORIS YELTSIN AND HIS FOLLOWERS
WAVING THE FLAG OF FREE RUSSIA, DEFYING THE
TANKS AND COUP PLOTTERS.
23
HERE, IN THIS HALL, IT IS WORTH
REMEMBERING THAT THOSE IMAGES WERE PRECEDED
BY A DEMOCRATIC REVOLUTION IN LATIN AMERICA.
No PEOPLE STRUGGLED FOR FREEDOM AGAINST
OPPRESSION MORE BRAVELY THAN THE PEOPLE OF
THIS HEMISPHERE. HERE, Too, IN THE AMERICAS
WE ARE CONSTRUCTING A HOPEFUL MODEL OF THE
NEW POST-COLD WAR WORLD OF WHICH WE DREAM.
24
THIS IS THE FIRST HEMISPHERE -- AND THE
OAS IS THE FIRST REGIONAL ORGANIZATION IN THE
WORLD -- TO TAKE ON, THROUGH THE SANTIAGO
DECLARATION, THE FORMAL, COLLECTIVE
RESPONSIBILITY TO DEFEND DEMOCRACY.
IN THIS HEMISPHERE, THE WEAPONS OF MASS
DESTRUCTION -- STRATEGIC MISSILES AS WELL AS
NUCLEAR, CHEMICAL AND BIOLOGICAL WEAPONS --
HAVE BEEN REJECTED VOLUNTARILY.
25
IN THIS HEMISPHERE, WE HAVE CREATED NEW
MODELS OF MULTILATERAL COOPERATION AND
SUCCESS IN RESOLVING THE CONFLICTS THAT HAVE
TORMENTED CENTRAL AMERICA. AND AS RECENT
PROOF OF THE PROGRESS WE'VE MADE, JUST TWO
DAYS AGO, WE CELEBRATED THE END OF WAR IN EL
SALVADOR.
26
IN THIS HEMISPHERE, WE HAVE FORGED A NEW
PARTNERSHIP TO DEFEAT THE GLOBAL MENACE OF
NARCO-TRAFFICKING.
STILL, WE ARE NOT SATISFIED. THE BIRTH
OF DEMOCRACY HAS RAISED EXPECTATIONS
THROUGHOUT THE AMERICAS; NOW DEMOCRACY MUST
DELIVER.
27
THE COMMUNICATIONS REVOLUTION HAS OPENED THE
EYES OF THIS HEMISPHERE'S CITIZENS TO THE
WIDER WORLD; WE ARE NO LONGER BLIND TO LIMITS
ON LEGITIMATE POLITICAL PARTICIPATION, To
OFFICIAL CORRUPTION, OR TO ECONOMIC
FAVORITISM.
28
IF DEMOCRACY IS TO BE CONSOLIDATED, THE
GULFS THAT SEPARATE THE FEW WHO ARE VERY RICH
FROM THE MANY WHO ARE VERY POOR, THAT DIVIDE
CIVILIAN FROM MILITARY INSTITUTIONS, THAT
SPLIT CITIZENS OF EUROPEAN HERITAGE FROM
INDIGENOUS PEOPLES -- THESE GULFS MUST BE
BRIDGED. ECONOMIC REFORM MUST ENSURE UPWARD
MOBILITY AND NEW OPPORTUNITIES FOR A BETTER
LIFE FOR ALL CITIZENS OF THE AMERICAS.
29
To FULFILL ITS PROMISE, DEMOCRATIC GOVERNMENT
MUST GUARANTEE NOT ONLY THE RIGHT TO REGULAR
ELECTIONS, BUT HUMAN RIGHTS AND PROPERTY
RIGHTS, SWIFT AND IMPARTIAL JUSTICE, AND THE
RULE OF LAW. DEMOCRATIC GOVERNMENTS MUST
DELIVER BASIC SERVICES; THEIR INSTITUTIONS
MUST BE STRENGTHENED AND MODERNIZED. To
DEFEND DEMOCRACY SUCCESSFULLY, THE OAS MUST
STRENGTHEN THE TOOLS AT ITS DISPOSAL.
30
I COMMEND THE NEW STEPS YOU TOOK THIS WEEK TO
SUSPEND NON-DEMOCRATIC REGIMES. TOGETHER WE
MUST ALSO CREATE NEW MEANS TO END HISTORIC
BORDER DISPUTES AND TO CONTROL THE
COMPETITION IN CONVENTIONAL WEAPONRY.
IN ALL THIS, THE UNITED STATES BEARS A
SPECIAL RESPONSIBILITY.
31
WE FACE A MOMENT OF MAXIMUM OPPORTUNITY --
BUT ALSO CONTINUED RISK. WE MUST REMAIN
ENGAGED -- FOR MORE THAN EVER BEFORE, OUR
FUTURE IS BOUND UP WITH THE FUTURE OF THE
AMERICAS. THIS IS THE FASTEST GROWING REGION
IN THE WORLD FOR U.S. PRODUCTS. IN THE
STRUGGLE TO DEFEND DEMOCRACY, OUR MOST
CHERISHED VALUES ARE AT STAKE.
32
TRAVEL TO MIAMI OR EL PASO, Los ANGELES
OR CHICAGO OR NEW YORK -- AND LISTEN TO THE
LANGUAGE OF OUR NEIGHBORHOODS. WE ARE TIED
TO THE AMERICAS, NOT JUST BY GEOGRAPHY OR
HISTORY, BUT BY WHO WE ARE AS A PEOPLE. No
ONE KNOWS THAT MORE PROFOUNDLY THAN THIS
PROUD GRANDFATHER.
THIS YEAR MARKS THE 500TH ANNIVERSARY OF
A VOYAGE OF DISCOVERY TO THE NEW WORLD.
33
LET THIS ALSO BE A TIME OF REDISCOVERY FOR MY
COUNTRY, THE UNITED STATES, OF THE IMPORTANCE
OF OUR OWN HEMISPHERE.
IF WE ARE EQUAL TO THE CHALLENGES BEFORE
US, WE CAN BUILD IN THE AMERICAS THE WORLD'S
FIRST COMPLETELY DEMOCRATIC HEMISPHERE.
34
THIS HEMISPHERE CAN BE, AS WELL, A ZONE OF
PEACE, WHERE TRADE FLOWS FREELY, PROSPERITY
IS SHARED, THE RULE OF LAW IS RESPECTED, AND
THE GIFTS OF HUMAN KNOWLEDGE ARE HARNESSED
FOR ALL.
35
MORE THAN 150 YEARS AGO, SIMON BOLIVAR,
(SEE-MONE-Bo-LEE-vAR) THE LIBERATOR WHOSE
STATUE STANDS OUTSIDE THIS HALL, SPOKE ABOUT
"AN AMERICA UNITED IN HEART, SUBJECT TO ONE
LAW, AND GUIDED BY THE TORCH OF LIBERTY."
MY FRIENDS: HERE IN THIS HEMISPHERE WE ARE
ON THE WAY TO REALIZING BOLIVAR'S DREAM.
36
TODAY, WITH THE SIGNING OF THE NORTH AMERICAN
FREE TRADE AGREEMENT, WE TAKE ANOTHER GIANT
STEP TOWARDS MAKING THE DREAM A REALITY.
THANK YOU VERY MUCH.
#
#
#
THE PRESIDENT HAS SEEN
THE WHITE house
12.14.92
2
December 11, 1992
MEMORANDUM FOR THE PRESIDENT
THROUGH:
ROBERT ZOELLICK RBZ
FROM:
ANDY FERGUSON at
SUBJECT:
NAFTA SIGNING
On Thursday, December 17, at 2:30 p.m., you will address an
audience of 300 people in the OAS Building's Hall of the
Americas. This is one of three signing ceremonies taking place
simultaneously in Washington, Ottawa, and Mexico City.
Your remarks (12 minutes, prompter) discuss the importance
of the NAFTA and its place in the democratic revolution underway
in the Americas. The remarks are meant to convey a broader
message about the new approach to the hemisphere established
through your policies. As such, we believe it is an important
"baseline" of achievement and a complement to your Texas A & M
speech on Tuesday.
/
TREDERSIDENT P6: 18
Brent
Recalling our dicussion how about language
like the attached for an add on on page 2.
The rest of this all looks fine to me No
changes.
GB
"ok" The to
Presidents result
8976
December 11, 1992
DRAFT
PRESIDENTIAL REMARKS:
NAFTA SIGNING
ORGANIZATION OF THE AMERICAN STATES
THURSDAY, DECEMBER 17, 1992
(Acknowledgements) Throughout history, the destiny of
nations has often been shaped by chance -- by the things that
happen to them. Then there are those unique nations who shape
their destinies by choice -- by the things that they make happen.
Three such nations come together today: Mexico, Canada, and the
United States of America.
By signing the North American Free Trade Agreement, we have
committed ourselves to a better future -- for our children and
for generations yet unborn. This agreement will remove barriers
to trade and investment across the two largest undefended borders
on the globe. We can scarcely imagine today the economic energy
we will release tomorrow, when 360 million citizens are set free
to build and buy and invest in the biggest free market the world
has ever seen.
I want to pay a personal tribute to my partners in this
endeavor, two rare and gifted leaders, and two special, valued
friends, without whose courage, leadership, and vision this day
would not have come. When the history of this era is written, it
will be said that the citizens of all the Americas were truly
fortunate that Mexico and Canada, two great nations and two proud
peoples, were led by President Carlos Salinas and Prime Minister
Brian Mulroney. Especially for Mexico, the NAFTA is a bold new
experiment, made possible by President Salinas' brave reforms to
invigorate the Mexican economy.
It is especially fitting that an American President sign
this agreement in this great Hall of the Americas, the home of
insert An at
/
THE president
Let me tell you a little aside about the
Brady Plan. I remember telling my good
friend Secretary Nick Brady- OK we'll call
it the Brady Plan, but when we see that it
is successful let's call it the Bush
plan
Well history will show that the
leadership of our distinguished sec
treasury Nick Brady did pay off; the plan
has been highly successful ;and, oh yes, the
name will always be and should always be
the Brady plan.
2
the Organization of American States. For the NAFTA represents
the first giant step towards fulfillment of a dream that has long
transfixed us all, the dream of a hemisphere united by economic
cooperation and free competition. Because of what we have begun
here today, I believe the time will come when trade is free from
Alaska to Argentina, when every citizen of the Americas has the
opportunity to share in new growth and expanding prosperity. I
hope and trust that the North American Free Trade area can be
extended to Chile and other worthy partners in South America,
Central America, and in the Caribbean Basin.
Free trade throughout the Americas is an idea whose time has
come. A new generation of democratic leaders has staked its
future on that promise. Under that generation's leadership, a
tide of economic reform and trade liberalization is transforming
the hemisphere.
Today, as a result, the hemisphere is growing again. For
the first time in years more capital is flowing into the Americas
for new investment than is flowing out to repay old debt. Every
major debtor nation, from Mexico to Argentina, has negotiated a
successful agreement to reduce and restructure its commercial
bank debt under the Brady Plan. Nearly a dozen other nations --
Guyana, Jamaica, Haiti, Nicaragua, Bolivia, Honduras, Chile,
Colombia, Paraguay, Argentina -- have, or shortly will, reduce
their official debt with the United States under the Enterprise
for the Americas Initiative. Interest payments on the remaining
debt will go into local trust funds to protect the environment.
To those in other regions struggling to reform statist
economies, Latin America shines as a solid example of hope that
hyperinflation can be tamed, growth can be revitalized, and new
investment and trade can accelerate if developing nations stay
the course through the difficult challenge of economic
restructuring.
These profound economic changes are a tribute to a
courageous group of democratic leaders in Latin America and the
Caribbean. Their revolutionary vision has changed permanently
the face of the Americas. Their friendship and counsel have been
enormously gratifying to me as President. But these profound
changes, along with the NAFTA itself, reflect a broader and, I
believe, more fundamental change in relations between the United
States and the nations of this hemisphere.
For many decades, we have proclaimed ambitious goals for
ourselves -- of a good neighbor policy, of an alliance for
progress, of a partnership built on mutual respect and shared
responsibility. Those goals are rapidly becoming a reality. I
believe that in the future America's relations with Latin America
and the Caribbean will grow even stronger. I was pleased to see
President-elect Clinton affirm that goal in his remarks recently
to both the Rio Group and to the Caribbean-Latin America Action
Conference.
This century's epic struggle between totalitarianism and
democracy is over; democracy has prevailed. Today, we see
unfolding around the world a revolution of hope and courage,
propelled by the aspiration of ordinary people for freedom and a
better life. The world will long remember the images of that
struggle -- a citizen of Berlin, sitting atop the Berlin Wall
with a hammer and chisel chipping the wall away; Boris Yeltsin
and his followers waving the flag of free Russia, defying the
tanks and coup plotters.
Here, in this hall, it is worth remembering that the global
democratic revolution surged forward in Latin America. No people
4
struggled for freedom against oppression more bravely than the
people of this hemisphere. No people sacrificed more to create a
new life. Here in the Americas we are constructing a hopeful
model of the new post-cold war world of which we dream.
This is the first hemisphere -- and the OAS is the first
regional organization in the world -- to take on, through the
Santiago Declaration, the formal, collective responsibility to
defend democracy.
In this hemisphere, the weapons of mass destruction --
strategic missiles as well as nuclear, chemical and biological
weapons --- have been rejected voluntarily.
In this hemisphere, we have created new models of
multilateral cooperation to help resolve the conflicts that
tormented Central America.
In this hemisphere, we have forged a new partnership to
defeat the global menace of narco-trafficking.
Still, we are not satisfied. The birth of democracy has
raised expectations throughout the Americas; now democracy must
deliver. The communications revolution has opened our eyes to
the wider world; we cannot close them to limits on legitimate
political participation, to official corruption, or to economic
protection for the favored few.
If democracy is to be consolidated, the gulfs that separate
the few who are very rich from the many who are very poor, that
divide civilian from military institutions, that split citizens
of Spanish heritage from indigenous peoples -- these gulfs must
be narrowed. Economic reform must ensure upward mobility and
new opportunities for a better life for ordinary citizens.
Enterprise and initiative, imagination and energy -- all are
required to create the conditions for that better life.
5
To fulfill its promise, democratic government must guarantee
not only the right to regular elections, but human rights and
property rights, swift and impartial justice, and the rule of
law. Democratic governments must deliver basic services, and
democratic institutions must be strengthened and modernized. To
defend democracy successfully, the OAS must strengthen the tools
at its disposal. I commend the new steps you took this week to
suspend non-democratic regimes. Together we must also create new
means to end historic border disputes and construct new regimes
to control the competition in conventional weaponry.
In all this, the United States bears a special
responsibility. It is a moment of maximum opportunity -- but
also continued risk. We must remain engaged -- for, more than
ever before, our future is bound up with the future of the
Americas. In the struggle to defend democracy, our deepest
values are at stake.
This year marks the 500th anniversary of a voyage of
discovery to the new world. Let this also be a time of
rediscovery for my country, the United States, of the importance
of our own hemisphere. Travel to Miami or El Paso, Los Angeles
or Chicago or New York -- and listen to the language of our
neighborhoods. We are tied to the Americas, not just by
geography or history, but by who we are as a people. No one
knows that more profoundly than this proud grandfather.
If we are equal to the challenges before us, we can build in
the Americas the world's first completely democratic hemisphere.
This hemisphere can be, as well, a zone of peace, where trade
flows freely, prosperity is shared, the rule of law is respected,
and the gifts of technology are harnessed for all.
6
More then 150 years ago, Simon Bolivar, (see-MONE-bo-LEE-
var) the liberator whose statue stands outside this hall, spoke
about "an America united in heart, subject to one law, and guided
by the torch of liberty." My friends: here in this hemisphere
we are on the way to realizing Bolivar's dream. Today, with the
signing of the North American Free Trade Agreement, we took
another giant step towards making it a reality.
Thank you very much.
#
Document No. 367274
WHITE HOUSE STAFFING MEMORANDUM
DATE: 12/12/92
ACTION/CONCURRENCE/COMMENT DUE BY: 5:00 pm / MON. / 12-14
PROPOSED PRESIDENTIAL REMARKS: NAFTA SIGNING
ORGANIZATION OF THE AMERICAN STATES
SUBJECT:
THURSDAY, DECEMBER 17, 1992
ACTION FYI
ACTION FYI
VICE PRESIDENT
MCBRIDE
BAKER
MOORE
SCOWCROFT
MULLINS
DARMAN
PETERSMEYER
BATES
PORTER
BRADY
SMITH
BROMLEY
TUTWILER
CALIO
ZOELLICK
DEMAREST
MCGROARTY
FITZWATER
BOSKIN
GRAY
\
DELAND
HOLIDAY
HORNER
REMARKS:
Please provide your comments on the attached directly to
Dan McGroarty, Rm 122, x2930, with a copy to this office
NO LATER THAN 5:00 p.m., MONDAY, DECEMBER 14. Thank you.
MASTER
RESPONSE:
Seccomments - also
PHILLIP D. BRADY
P.I
Assistant to the President
and Staff Secretary
USTR
Ext. 2702
THE WHITE HOUSE
WASHINGTON
December 11, 1992
202012 A12: 24
MEMORANDUM FOR THE PRESIDENT
THROUGH:
ROBERT ZOELLICK RBZ
FROM:
ANDY FERGUSON
at
SUBJECT:
NAFTA SIGNING
On Thursday, December 17, at 2:30 p.m., you will address an
audience of 300 people in the OAS Building's Hall of the
Americas. This is one of three signing ceremonies taking place
simultaneously in Washington, Ottawa, and Mexico City.
Your remarks (12 minutes, prompter) discuss the importance
of the NAFTA and its place in the democratic revolution underway
in the Americas. The remarks are meant to convey a broader
message about the new approach to the hemisphere established
through your policies. As such, we believe it is an important
"baseline" of achievement and a complement to your Texas A & M
speech on Tuesday.
8976
December 11, 1992
DRAFT
PRESIDENTIAL REMARKS:
NAFTA SIGNING
ORGANIZATION OF THE AMERICAN STATES
THURSDAY, DECEMBER 17, 1992
(Acknowledgements) Throughout history, the destiny of
nations has often been shaped by chance -- by the things that
happen to them. Then there are those unique nations who shape
their destinies by choice -- by the things that they make happen.
Three such nations come together today: Mexico, Canada, and the
United States of America.
By signing the North American Free Trade Agreement, we have
committed ourselves to a better future -- for our children and
for generations yet unborn. This agreement will remove barriers
to trade and investment across the two largest undefended borders
on the globe. We can scarcely imagine today the economic energy
we will release tomorrow, when 360 million citizens are set free
to build and buy and invest in the biggest free market the world
has ever seen.
I want to pay a personal tribute to my partners in this
endeavor, two rare and gifted leaders, and two special, valued
friends, without whose courage, leadership, and vision this day
would not have come. When the history of this era is written, it
will be said that the citizens of all the Americas were truly
fortunate that Mexico and Canada, two great nations and two proud
peoples, were led by President Carlos Salinas and Prime Minister
Brian Mulroney. Especially for Mexico, the NAFTA is a bold new
USTR
experiment undertaghing made possible by President Salinas' brave reforms to openans
invigorate the Mexican economy.
It is especially fitting that an American President sign
this agreement in this great Hall of the Americas, the home of
2
the Organization of American States. For the NAFTA represents
the first giant step towards fulfillment of a dream that has long
transfixed us all, the dream of a hemisphere united by economic
cooperation and free competition. Because of what we have begun
here today, I believe the time will come when trade is free from
Alaska to Argentina, when every citizen of the Americas has the
opportunity to share in new growth and expanding prosperity. I
hope and trust that the North American Free Trade area can be
extended to Chile and other worthy partners in South America,
Central America, and in the Caribbean Basin.
Free trade throughout the Americas is an idea whose time has
come. A new generation of democratic leaders has staked its
future on that promise. Under that generation's leadership, a
tide of economic reform and trade liberalization is transforming
the hemisphere.
Today, as a result, the hemisphere is growing again. For
the first time in years more capital is flowing into the Americas
Howard
for new investment than is flowing out to repay old debt Every
major debtor nation, from Mexico to Argentina, has negotiated a
164657
successful agreement to reduce and restructure its commercial
POTUS INSETT Many
bank debt under the Brady Plan. Nearly a dozen other nations --
see
Guyana, Jamaica, Haiti, Nicaragua, Bolivia, Honduras, Chile,
Treas.
+
Colombia, Paraguay, Argentina have, or shortly will, reduce
BOSKING
their official debt with the United States under the Enterprise
Fix-
WHICH
for the Americas Initiative. Interest payments on the remaining
FACTURE
is
debt will go into local trust funds to protect the environment.
To those in other regions struggling to reform statist
economies, Latin America shines as a solid example of hope that
hyperinflation can be tamed, growth can be revitalized, and new
investment and trade can accelerate if developing nations stay
3
the course through the difficult challenge of economic
restructuring.
These profound economic changes are a tribute to a
courageous group of democratic leaders in Latin America and the
Caribbean. Their revolutionary vision has changed permanently
the face of the Americas. Their friendship and counsel have been
enormously gratifying to me as President. But these profound
changes, along with the NAFTA itself, reflect a broader and, I
believe, more fundamental change in relations between the United
States and the nations of this hemisphere.
For many decades, we have proclaimed ambitious goals for
ourselves -- of a good neighbor policy, of an alliance for
progress, of a partnership built on mutual respect and shared
responsibility. Those goals are rapidly becoming a reality. I
believe that in the future America's relations with Latin America
and the Caribbean will grow even stronger. I was pleased to see
hear
President-elect Clinton affirm that goal in his remarks recently
to both the Rio Group and to the Caribbean-Latin America Action
Conference.
This century's epic struggle between totalitarianism and
democracy is over; democracy has prevailed. Today, we see
unfolding around the world a revolution of hope and courage,
propelled by the aspiration of ordinary people for freedom and a
better life. The world will long remember the images of that
struggle -- a citizen of Berlin, sitting atop the Berlin Wall
with a hammer and chisel chipping the wall away; Boris Yeltsin
and his followers waving the flag of free Russia, defying the
tanks and coup plotters.
Here, in this hall, it is worth remembering that the global
democratic revolution surged forward in Latin America. No people
4
struggled for freedom against oppression more bravely than the
people of this hemisphere. No people sacrificed more to create a
new life. Here in the Americas we are constructing a hopeful
model of the new post-cold war world of which we dream.
DuSault
This is the first hemisphere and the OAS is the first
+4770 regional organization in the world -- to take on, through the
Santiago Declaration, the formal, collective responsibility to
defend democracy.
Latin America and the Carribear area
DeSault
In this hemisphere, the weapons of mass destruction --
44770
strategic missiles as well as nuclear, chemical and biological
weapons -- have been rejected voluntarily.
In this hemisphere, we have created new models of
multilateral cooperation to help resolve the conflicts that have
tormented Central America.
In this hemisphere, we have forged a new partnership to
defeat the global menace of narco-trafficking.
Still, we are not satisfied. The birth of democracy has
raised expectations throughout the Americas; now democracy must
deliver. The communications revolution has opened our eyes to
the wider world; we cannot close them to limits on legitimate
political participation, to official corruption, or to economic
protection for the favored few.
throughout our hemophere,
If democracy is to be consolidated the gulfs that separate
the few who are very rich from the many who are very poor, that
divide civilian from military institutions, that split citizens
DuSault
European
X4770
of Spanish heritage from indigenous peoples -- these gulfs must
be narrowed. Economic reform must ensure upward mobility and
all
new opportunities for a better life for ordinary citizens.
required Enterprise to and create initiative, the conditions imagination for that and energy better life. all are
5
To fulfill its promise, democratic government must guarantee
not only the right to regular elections, but human rights and
property rights, swift and impartial justice, and the rule of
law. Democratic governments must deliver basic services, and
democratic institutions must be strengthened and modernized. To
defend democracy successfully, the OAS must strengthen the tools
at its disposal. I commend the new steps you took this week to
suspend non-democratic regimes. Together we must also create new
means to end historic border disputes and construct new regimes
to control the competition in conventional weaponry.
In all this, the United States bears a special
responsibility. It is a moment of maximum opportunity -- but
Dusault
also continued risk. We must remain engaged -- because for, more than
X4770
ever before, our future is bound up with the future of the
Americas. In the struggle to defend democracy, our deepest
values are at stake.
This year marks the 500th anniversary of a voyage of
discovery to the new world. Let this also be a time of
rediscovery for my country, the United States, of the importance
of our own hemisphere. Travel to Miami or El Paso, Los Angeles
or Chicago or New York -- and listen to the language of our
neighborhoods. We are tied to the Americas, not just by
geography or history, but by who we are as a people. No one
knows that more profoundly than this proud grandfather.
If we are equal to the challenges before us, we can build in
the Americas the world's first completely democratic hemisphere.
This hemisphere can be, as well, a zone of peace, where trade
flows freely, prosperity is shared, the rule of law is respected,
nature
and the gifts of technology are harnessed for all.
6
More then 150 years ago, Simon Bolivar, (see-MONE-bo-LEE-
var) the liberator whose statue stands outside this hall, spoke
about "an America united in heart, subject to one law, and guided
by the torch of liberty." My friends: here in this hemisphere
we are on the way to realizing Bolivar's dream. Today, with the
signing of the North American Free Trade Agreement, we took
another giant step towards making it a reality.
Thank you very much.
#
#
#
SENT BY:CEQ Jackson PI.
:12-14-92 ; 7:30PM ;
2023953744-
2024566218:# 1
SEAL STATE THE
EXECUTIVE OFFICE OF THE PRESIDENT
COUNCIL ON ENVIRONMENTAL QUALITY
WASHINGTON, D.C. 20500
Michael R. Deland
Chairman
(202) 395-5080
December 14, 1992
MEMORANDUM
a few small inserts
TO:
DAN McGROARTY
FR:
DALE CURTIS Anlel.
and three marked-up
RE:
NAFTA SIGNING REMARKS
pages - D
President Bush has expanded environmental cooperation with Mexico
and Canada through NAFTA and other initiatives. Mentioning the
environment would be unexpected, memorable, and upbeat. We
suggest a few small insertions to reflect this on pages 2, 4, and
5, and have indicated a few other comments in the markup.
INSERT A: page 2, second full pgh, delete the last sentence and
insert the following new paragraph:
Economic cooperation is growing in parallel with
environmental cooperation, showing that a vibrant economy
can be an ally of environmental quality. For the first time
in history, we've made environmental protection an explicit
goal of a trade agreement. We've established new
partnerships to improve conditions along our common borders.
The Enterprise for the Americas plan allows interest
payments on official debt to be channeled into trust funds
ADD
that support environmental projects--a feature that has been
THIS-
called one of the most promising initiatives ever taken for
environmental protection in Latin America.
INSERT B: page 4:
In this hemisphere, we have forged partnerships to protect
our natural heritage from the Great Lakes to the treasure
troves of the rainforests. We are working to defeat the
global menace of narco-trafficking.
INSERT C: page 4: last pgh starts awkwardly and negatively.
Suggest deleting the remainder of that sentence and substituting:
If democracy is to be consolidated, we need to give freedom
its full meaning, including freedom from want, freedom from
fear, and freedom from an unsafe environment.
Thanks for your consideration of our ideas.
Recycled Paper
8976
December 15, 1992
2:00 p.m. draft
PRESIDENTIAL REMARKS:
NAFTA SIGNING
ORGANIZATION OF THE AMERICAN STATES
THURSDAY, DECEMBER 17, 1992
(Acknowledgements) Throughout history, the destiny of
nations has often been shaped by chance -- by the things that
happen to them. Then there are those unique nations who shape
their destinies by choice -- by the things that they make happen.
Three such nations come together today: Mexico, Canada, and the
United States of America.
By signing the North American Free Trade Agreement, we have
committed ourselves to a better future -- for our children and
for generations yet unborn. This agreement will remove barriers
to trade and investment across the two largest undefended borders
on the globe -- and link the U.S. in a permanent partnership of
growth with our first and third largest trade partners. The
peace and friendship we have long enjoyed as neighbors will now
be strengthened by the explosion of growth and trade let loose by
the combined energies of our 360 million citizens trading freely
across our borders.
I want to pay a personal tribute to my partners in this
endeavor -- two rare and gifted leaders, and two special, valued
friends -- without whose courage, leadership, and vision this day
would not have come. When the history of our era is written, it
will be said that the citizens of all the Americas were truly
fortunate that Mexico and Canada -- two great nations and two
proud peoples -- were led by President Carlos Salinas and Prime
Minister Brian Mulroney. For Mexico especially, the NAFTA is a
bold undertaking, made possible by President Salinas' brave
reforms to invigorate the Mexican economy.
2
It is especially fitting that an American President sign
this agreement in this great Hall of the Americas, the home of
the Organization of American States. For the NAFTA represents
the first giant step towards fulfillment of a dream that has long
inspired us all -- the dream of a hemisphere united by economic
cooperation and free competition. Because of what we have begun
here today, I believe the time will soon come when trade is free
from Alaska to Argentina, when every citizen of the Americas has
the opportunity to share in new growth and expanding prosperity.
I hope and trust that the North American Free Trade area can be
extended to Chile and other worthy partners in South America,
Central America, and the Caribbean.
Free trade throughout the Americas is an idea whose time has
come. A new generation of democratic leaders has staked its
future on that promise. Under their leadership, a tide of
economic reform and trade liberalization is transforming the
hemisphere.
Today, as a result, the hemisphere is growing again. For
the first time in years more capital is flowing into the Americas
for new investment than is flowing out. Every major debtor
nation, from Mexico to Argentina, has negotiated a successful
agreement to reduce and restructure its commercial bank debt
under the Brady Plan.
Let me offer a brief aside about the Brady Plan. I remember
telling my good friend, Secretary Nick Brady -- okay, we'll call
it the Brady Plan. But if it's successful, we're going to call
it the Bush Plan. I think history will show that the leadership
of our distinguished Treasury Secretary did pay off -- the Plan
has been highly successful. And by the way, the name will always
be -- and should always be -- the Brady Plan.
No Varaguay Y Argentina we nave not made a accision
publicley mention Delete other programs
as to whether the 2 countries are eligible X should I not
Under the Enterprise for the Americas Initiative and other
programs many nations [[-- Jamaica, Bolivia, Chile, Colombia,
Treasury Mary
Paraguay, Argentina, El Salvador, Uruguay --]] have reduced, or
Chaves
shortly will reduce, their official debt with the United States.
Dir office
The Initiative allows interest payments on official debt to be
Int'll Debt Police
channeled into trust funds that protect the environment and
@ 622 -1850
support programs for child survival.
To those in other regions struggling to reform statist
economies, Latin America shines as a solid example of hope that
hyperinflation can be tamed, growth can be revitalized, and new
investment and trade can accelerate if developing nations stay
the course through the difficult challenge of economic
restructuring.
These profound economic changes are a tribute to a
courageous group of democratic leaders in Latin America and the
Caribbean. Their revolutionary vision has altered forever the
face of the Americas. Their friendship and counsel have been
enormously gratifying to me as President. But these profound
changes, along with the NAFTA itself, reflect a broader and, I
believe, more fundamental change in relations between the United
States and the nations of this hemisphere.
For many decades, we have proclaimed ambitious goals for
ourselves -- of a good neighbor policy, of an alliance for
progress, of a partnership built on mutual respect and shared
responsibility. Those goals are rapidly becoming a reality. I
believe that in the future America's relations with Latin America
and the Caribbean will grow even stronger. I was pleased to hear
President-elect Clinton affirm that goal in his remarks recently
to both the Rio Group and to the Caribbean-Latin America Action
Conference.
4
This century's epic struggle between totalitarianism and
democracy is over; democracy has prevailed. Today, we see
unfolding around the world a revolution of hope and courage,
propelled by the aspiration of ordinary people for freedom and a
better life. The world will long remember the images of that
struggle -- a citizen of Berlin, sitting atop the Wall, chipping
away with his hammer and chisel; Boris Yeltsin and his followers
waving the flag of free Russia, defying the tanks and coup
plotters.
Here, in this hall, it is worth remembering that those
images were preceded by a democratic revolution in Latin America.
No people struggled for freedom against oppression more bravely
than the people of this hemisphere. Here, too, in the Americas
we are constructing a hopeful model of the new post-cold war
world of which we dream.
This is the first hemisphere -- and the OAS is the first
regional organization in the world -- to take on, through the
Santiago Declaration, the formal, collective responsibility to
defend democracy.
In this hemisphere, the weapons of mass destruction --
strategic missiles as well as nuclear, chemical and biological
weapons -- have been rejected voluntarily.
In this hemisphere, we have created new models of
multilateral cooperation and success in resolving the conflicts
that have tormented Central America. And as recent proof of the
progress we've made, just two days ago, we celebrated the end of
war in El Salvador.
In this hemisphere, we have forged a new partnership to
defeat the global menace of narco-trafficking.
5
Still, we are not satisfied. The birth of democracy has
raised expectations throughout the Americas; now democracy must
deliver. The communications revolution has opened the eyes of
this hemisphere's citizens to the wider world; we are no longer
blind to limits on legitimate political participation, to
official corruption, or to economic favoritism.
If democracy is to be consolidated, the gulfs that separate
the few who are very rich from the many who are very poor, that
divide civilian from military institutions, that split citizens
of European heritage from indigenous peoples -- these gulfs must
be bridged. Economic reform must ensure upward mobility and new
opportunities for a better life for all citizens of the Americas.
To fulfill its promise, democratic government must guarantee
not only the right to regular elections, but human rights and
property rights, swift and impartial justice, and the rule of
law. Democratic governments must deliver basic services; their
institutions must be strengthened and modernized. To defend
democracy successfully, the OAS must strengthen the tools at its
disposal. I commend the new steps you took this week to suspend
non-democratic regimes. Together we must also create new means
to end historic border disputes and to control the competition in
conventional weaponry.
In all this, the United States bears a special
responsibility. We face a moment of maximum opportunity -- but
also continued risk. We must remain engaged -- for more than
ever before, our future is bound up with the future of the
Americas. This is the fastest growing region in the world for
U.S. products. In the struggle to defend democracy, our most
cherished values are at stake.
6
Travel to Miami or El Paso, Los Angeles or Chicago or New
York -- and listen to the language of our neighborhoods. We are
tied to the Americas, not just by geography or history, but by
who we are as a people. No one knows that more profoundly than
this proud grandfather.
This year marks the 500th anniversary of a voyage of
discovery to the new world. Let this also be a time of
rediscovery for my country, the United States, of the importance
of our own hemisphere.
If we are equal to the challenges before us, we can build in
the Americas the world's first completely democratic hemisphere.
This hemisphere can be, as well, a zone of peace, where trade
flows freely, prosperity is shared, the rule of law is respected,
and the gifts of human knowledge are harnessed for all.
More
then 150 years ago, Simon Bolivar, (see-MONE-bo-LEE-
var) the liberator whose statue stands outside this hall, spoke
about "an America united in heart, subject to one law, and guided
by the torch of liberty." My friends: here in this hemisphere
we are on the way to realizing Bolivar's dream. Today, with the
signing of the North American Free Trade Agreement, we take
another giant step towards making the dream a reality.
Thank you very much.
#
#
#
8976
December 15, 1992
2:00 p.m. draft
PRESIDENTIAL REMARKS:
NAFTA SIGNING
ORGANIZATION OF THE AMERICAN STATES
THURSDAY, DECEMBER 17, 1992
U.S. Trade Representatives, Carla Hills. The Honorable
Julius Katz. James Baker. Acting Secretary of State, Arnold
Kanter. Assistant Secretary of State, Bernie Aronson. General
Scowcroft. Secretary General Baena-Soares [bena SOR enz].
Mexican Ambassador to the United States, Gustavo Petricioli.
Canadian Ambassador to the United States, Derek H. Burney.
Current and Former Members of the Cabinet. Members of Congress
and the Senate. Throughout history, the destiny of nations has
often been shaped by chance -- by the things that happen to them.
Then there are those unique nations who shape their destinies by
choice -- by the things that they make happen. Three such
nations come together today: Mexico, Canada, and the United
States of America.
By signing the North American Free Trade Agreement, we have
committed ourselves to a better future -- for our children and
for generations yet unborn. This agreement will remove barriers
to trade and investment across the two largest undefended borders
on the globe -- and link the U.S. in a permanent partnership of
growth with our first and third largest trade partners. The
peace and friendship we have long enjoyed as neighbors will now
be strengthened by the explosion of growth and trade let loose by
the com bined energies of our 360 million citizens trading freely
across our borders.
I want to pay a personal tribute to my partners in this
endeavor -- two rare and gifted leaders, and two special, valued
friends -- without whose courage, leadership, and vision this day
2
would not have come. When the history of our era is written, it
will be said that the citizens of all the Americas were truly
fortunate that Mexico and Canada -- two great nations and two
proud peoples -- were led by President Carlos Salinas and Prime
Minister Brian Mulroney. For Mexico especially, the NAFTA is a
bold undertaking, made possible by President Salinas' brave
reforms to invigorate the Mexican economy.
It is especially fitting that an American President sign
this agreement in this great Hall of the Americas, the home of
the Organization of American States. For the NAFTA represents
the first giant step towards fulfillment of a dream that has long
inspired us all -- the dream of a hemisphere united by economic
cooperation and free competition. Because of what we have begun
here today, I believe the time will soon come when trade is free
from Alaska to Argentina, when every citizen of the Americas has
the opportunity to share in new growth and expanding prosperity.
I hope and trust that the North American Free Trade area can be
extended to Chile and other worthy partners in South America,
Central America, and the Caribbean.
Free trade throughout the Americas is an idea whose time has
come. A new generation of democratic leaders has staked its
future on that promise. Under their leadership, a tide of
economic reform and trade liberalization is transforming the
hemisphere.
Today, as a result, the hemisphere is growing again. For
the first time in years more capital is flowing into the Americas
for new investment than is flowing out. Every major debtor
nation, from Mexico to Argentina, has negotiated a successful
agreement to reduce and restructure its commercial bank debt
under the Brady Plan.
3
Let me offer a brief aside about the Brady Plan. I remember
telling my good friend, Secretary Nick Brady -- okay, we'll call
it the Brady Plan. But if it's successful, we're going to call
it the Bush Plan. I think history will show that the leadership
of our distinguished Treasury Secretary did pay off -- the Plan
has been highly successful. And by the way, the name will always
be -- and should always be -- the Brady Plan.
Under the Enterprise for the Americas Initiative, many
nations [[-- Jamaica, Bolivia, Chile, Colombia, El Salvador,
Uruguay ]] have reduced, or shortly will reduce, their official
debt with the United States. The Initiative allows interest
payments on official debt to be channeled into trust funds that
protect the environment and support programs for child survival.
To those in other regions struggling to reform statist
economies, Latin America shines as a solid example of hope that
hyperinflation can be tamed, growth can be revitalized, and new
investment and trade can accelerate if developing nations stay
the course through the difficult challenge of economic
restructuring.
These profound economic changes are a tribute to a
courageous group of democratic leaders in Latin America and the
Caribbean. Their revolutionary vision has altered forever the
face of the Americas. Their friendship and counsel have been
enormously gratifying to me as President. But these profound
changes, along with the NAFTA itself, reflect a broader and, I
believe, more fundamental change in relations between the United
States and the nations of this hemisphere.
For many decades, we have proclaimed ambitious goals for
ourselves -- of a good neighbor policy, of an alliance for
progress, of a partnership built on mutual respect and shared
4
responsibility. Those goals are rapidly becoming a reality. I
believe that in the future America's relations with Latin America
and the Caribbean will grow even stronger. I was pleased to hear
President-elect Clinton affirm that goal in his remarks recently
to both the Rio Group and to the Caribbean-Latin America Action
Conference.
This century's epic struggle between totalitarianism and
democracy is over; democracy has prevailed. Today, we see
unfolding around the world a revolution of hope and courage,
propelled by the aspiration of ordinary people for freedom and a
better life. The world will long remember the images of that
struggle -- a citizen of Berlin, sitting atop the Wall, chipping
away with his hammer and chisel; Boris Yeltsin and his followers
waving the flag of free Russia, defying the tanks and coup
plotters.
Here, in this hall, it is worth remembering that those
images were preceded by a democratic revolution in Latin America.
No people struggled for freedom against oppression more bravely
than the people of this hemisphere. Here, too, in the Americas
we are constructing a hopeful model of the new post-Cold War
world of which we dream.
This is the first hemisphere -- and the OAS is the first
regional organization in the world -- to take on, through the
Santiago Declaration, the formal, collective responsibility to
defend democracy.
In this hemisphere, the weapons of mass destruction --
strategic missiles as well as nuclear, chemical and biological
weapons -- have been rejected voluntarily.
In this hemisphere, we have created new models of
multilateral cooperation and success in resolving the conflicts
5
that have tormented Central America. And as recent proof of the
progress we've made, just two days ago, we celebrated the end of
war in El Salvador.
In this hemisphere, we have forged a new partnership to
defeat the global menace of narco-trafficking.
still, we are not satisfied. The birth of democracy has
raised expectations throughout the Americas; now democracy must
deliver. The communications revolution has opened the eyes of
this hemisphere's citizens to the wider world; we are no longer
blind to limits on legitimate political participation, to
official corruption, or to economic favoritism.
If democracy is to be consolidated, the gulfs that separate
the few who are very rich from the many who are very poor, that
divide civilian from military institutions, that split citizens
of European heritage from indigenous peoples -- these gulfs must
be bridged. Economic reform must ensure upward mobility and new
opportunities for a better life for all citizens of the Americas.
To fulfill its promise, democratic government must guarantee
not only the right to regular elections, but human rights and
property rights, swift and impartial justice, and the rule of
law. Democratic governments must deliver basic services; their
institutions must be strengthened and modernized. To defend
democracy successfully, the OAS must strengthen the tools at its
disposal. I commend the new steps you took this week to suspend
non-democratic regimes. Together we must also create new means
to end historic border disputes and to control the competition in
conventional weaponry.
In all this, the United States bears a special
responsibility. We face a moment of maximum opportunity -- but
also continued risk. We must remain engaged -- for more than
6
ever before, our future is bound up with the future of the
Americas. This is the fastest growing region in the world for
U.S. products. In the struggle to defend democracy, our most
cherished values are at stake.
Travel to Miami or El Paso, Los Angeles or Chicago or New
York -- and listen to the language of our neighborhoods. We are
tied to the Americas, not just by geography or history, but by
who we are as a people. No one knows that more profoundly than
this proud grandfather.
This year marks the 500th anniversary of a voyage of
discovery to the new world. Let this also be a time of
rediscovery for my country, the United States, of the importance
of our own hemisphere.
If we are equal to the challenges before us, we can build in
the Americas the world's first completely democratic hemisphere.
This hemisphere can be, as well, a zone of peace, where trade
flows freely, prosperity is shared, the rule of law is respected,
and the gifts of human knowledge are harnessed for all.
More than 150 years ago, Simon Bolivar, (see-MONE-bo-LEE-
var) the liberator whose statue stands outside this hall, spoke
about "an America united in heart, subject to one law, and guided
by the torch of liberty." My friends: here in this hemisphere
we are on the way to realizing Bolivar's dream. Today, with the
signing of the North American Free Trade Agreement, we take
another giant step towards making the dream a reality.
Thank you very much.
#
#
#
8976
December 15, 1992
2:00 p.m. draft
PRESIDENTIAL REMARKS:
NAFTA SIGNING
ORGANIZATION OF THE AMERICAN STATES
THURSDAY, DECEMBER 17, 1992
(Acknowledgements) Throughout history, the destiny of
nations has often been shaped by chance -- by the things that
happen to them. Then there are those unique nations who shape
their destinies by choice -- by the things that they make happen.
Three such nations come together today: Mexico, Canada, and the
United States of America.
By signing the North American Free Trade Agreement, we have
committed ourselves to a better future -- for our children and
for generations yet unborn. This agreement will remove barriers
to trade and investment across the two largest undefended borders
on the globe -- and link the U.S. in a permanent partnership of
growth with our first and third largest trade partners. The
peace and friendship we have long enjoyed as neighbors will now
be strengthened by the explosion of growth and trade let loose by
the com bined energies of our 360 million citizens trading freely
across our borders.
I want to pay a personal tribute to my partners in this
endeavor -- two rare and gifted leaders, and two special, valued
friends -- without whose courage, leadership, and vision this day
would not have come. When the history of our era is written, it
will be said that the citizens of all the Americas were truly
fortunate that Mexico and Canada -- two great nations and two
proud peoples -- were led by President Carlos Salinas and Prime
Minister Brian Mulroney. For Mexico especially, the NAFTA is a
bold undertaking, made possible by President Salinas' brave
reforms to invigorate the Mexican economy.
2
It is especially fitting that an American President sign
this agreement in this great Hall of the Americas, the home of
the Organization of American States. For the NAFTA represents
the first giant step towards fulfillment of a dream that has long
inspired us all -- the dream of a hemisphere united by economic
cooperation and free competition. Because of what we have begun
here today, I believe the time will soon come when trade is free
from Alaska to Argentina, when every citizen of the Americas has
the opportunity to share in new growth and expanding prosperity.
I hope and trust that the North American Free Trade area can be
extended to Chile and other worthy partners in South America,
Central America, and the Caribbean.
Free trade throughout the Americas is an idea whose time has
come. A new generation of democratic leaders has staked its
future on that promise. Under their leadership, a tide of
economic reform and trade liberalization is transforming the
hemisphere.
Today, as a result, the hemisphere is growing again. For
the first time in years more capital is flowing into the Americas
for new investment than is flowing out. Every major debtor
nation, from Mexico to Argentina, has negotiated a successful
agreement to reduce and restructure its commercial bank debt
under the Brady Plan.
Let me offer a brief aside about the Brady Plan. I remember
telling my good friend, Secretary Nick Brady -- okay, we'll call
it the Brady Plan. But if it's successful, we're going to call
it the Bush Plan. I think history will show that the leadership
of our distinguished Treasury Secretary did pay off -- the Plan
has been highly successful. And by the way, the name will always
be -- and should always be -- the Brady Plan.
3
Under the Enterprise for the Americas Initiative and other
programs, many nations [[-- Jamaica, Bolivia, Chile, Colombia,
Paraguay, Argentina, El Salvador, Uruguay --]] have reduced, or
shortly will reduce, their official debt with the United States.
The Initiative allows interest payments on official debt to be
channeled into trust funds that protect the environment and
support programs for child survival.
To those in other regions struggling to reform statist
economies, Latin America shines as a solid example of hope that
hyperinflation can be tamed, growth can be revitalized, and new
investment and trade can accelerate if developing nations stay
the course through the difficult challenge of economic
restructuring.
These profound economic changes are a tribute to a
courageous group of democratic leaders in Latin America and the
Caribbean. Their revolutionary vision has altered forever the
face of the Americas. Their friendship and counsel have been
enormously gratifying to me as President. But these profound
changes, along with the NAFTA itself, reflect a broader and, I
believe, more fundamental change in relations between the United
States and the nations of this hemisphere.
For many decades, we have proclaimed ambitious goals for
ourselves -- of a good neighbor policy, of an alliance for
progress, of a partnership built on mutual respect and shared
responsibility. Those goals are rapidly becoming a reality. I
believe that in the future America's relations with Latin America
and the Caribbean will grow even stronger. I was pleased to hear
President-elect Clinton affirm that goal in his remarks recently
to both the Rio Group and to the Caribbean-Latin America Action
Conference.
4
This century's epic struggle between totalitarianism and
democracy is over; democracy has prevailed. Today, we see
unfolding around the world a revolution of hope and courage,
propelled by the aspiration of ordinary people for freedom and a
better life. The world will long remember the images of that
struggle -- a citizen of Berlin, sitting atop the Wall, chipping
away with his hammer and chisel; Boris Yeltsin and his followers
waving the flag of free Russia, defying the tanks and coup
plotters.
Here, in this hall, it is worth remembering that those
images were preceded by a democratic revolution in Latin America.
No people struggled for freedom against oppression more bravely
than the people of this hemisphere. Here, too, in the Americas
we are constructing a hopeful model of the new post-Cold War
world of which we dream.
This is the first hemisphere -- and the OAS is the first
regional organization in the world -- to take on, through the
Santiago Declaration, the formal, collective responsibility to
defend democracy.
In this hemisphere, the weapons of mass destruction --
strategic missiles as well as nuclear, chemical and biological
weapons -- have been rejected voluntarily.
In this hemisphere, we have created new models of
multilateral cooperation and success in resolving the conflicts
that have tormented Central America. And as recent proof of the
progress we've made, just two days ago, we celebrated the end of
war in El Salvador.
In this hemisphere, we have forged a new partnership to
defeat the global menace of narco-trafficking.
5
Still, we are not satisfied. The birth of democracy has
raised expectations throughout the Americas; now democracy must
deliver. The communications revolution has opened the eyes of
this hemisphere's citizens to the wider world; we are no longer
blind to limits on legitimate political participation, to
official corruption, or to economic favoritism.
If democracy is to be consolidated, the gulfs that separate
the few who are very rich from the many who are very poor, that
divide civilian from military institutions, that split citizens
of European heritage from indigenous peoples -- these gulfs must
be bridged. Economic reform must ensure upward mobility and new
opportunities for a better life for all citizens of the Americas.
To fulfill its promise, democratic government must guarantee
not only the right to regular elections, but human rights and
property rights, swift and impartial justice, and the rule of
law. Democratic governments must deliver basic services; their
institutions must be strengthened and modernized. To defend
democracy successfully, the OAS must strengthen the tools at its
disposal. I commend the new steps you took this week to suspend
non-democratic regimes. Together we must also create new means
to end historic border disputes and to control the competition in
conventional weaponry.
In all this, the United States bears a special
responsibility. We face a moment of maximum opportunity -- but
also continued risk. We must remain engaged -- for more than
ever before, our future is bound up with the future of the
Americas. This is the fastest growing region in the world for
U.S. products. In the struggle to defend democracy, our most
cherished values are at stake.
6
Travel to Miami or El Paso, Los Angeles or Chicago or New
York -- and listen to the language of our neighborhoods. We are
tied to the Americas, not just by geography or history, but by
who we are as a people. No one knows that more profoundly than
this proud grandfather.
This year marks the 500th anniversary of a voyage of
discovery to the new world. Let this also be a time of
rediscovery for my country, the United States, of the importance
of our own hemisphere.
If we are equal to the challenges before us, we can build in
the Americas the world's first completely democratic hemisphere.
This hemisphere can be, as well, a zone of peace, where trade
flows freely, prosperity is shared, the rule of law is respected,
and the gifts of human knowledge are harnessed for all.
More than 150 years ago, Simon Bolivar, (see-MONE-bo-LEE-
var) the liberator whose statue stands outside this hall, spoke
about "an America united in heart, subject to one law, and guided
by the torch of liberty." My friends: here in this hemisphere
we are on the way to realizing Bolivar's dream. Today, with the
signing of the North American Free Trade Agreement, we take
another giant step towards making the dream a reality.
Thank you very much.
#
#
#
WASHFAX RECEIPT
DEPARTMENT OF STATE
0
C
B
S/S #
090537
MESSAGE NO.
CLASSIFICATION Unclass
No. Pages 1
FROM: WILL ITOH
S/S
202-647-8448
7225
(Officer name)
(Office symbol)
(Extension)
(Room number)
MESSAGE DESCRIPTION WHITE HOUSE STATEMENT ON NAFTA
TO: (Agency)
DELIVER TO:
Extension
Room No.
CABINET
AFFAIRS
PAUL KORFONTA
456-6630
FOR:
CLEARANCE
INFORMATION
PER REQUEST
X
COMMENT
REMARKS: STATE COMMENTS on NAFTA STATEMENT
ATTACHED.
S/S
Officer:
FORM
OS-1760
7-77
The Department concurs in the proposed White House
statement on NAFTA, with four minor modifications on page 2:
In the paragraph on EAI debt:
"El Salvador" and "Uruguay" should be added to the list of
countries;
"or other debt reduction programs." should be added to the
end of the same sentence after " for the Americas
Initiative";
Insert "EAI" before "debt" in the last sentence and add
"and enhance child survival" at the end, so that the full
sentence would read: "Interest payments on the remaining
EAI debt will go into local trust funds to protect the
environment and to enhance child survival."
Document No. 367274
action KC
J
MJB
DFB WHITE HOUSE STAFFING MEMORANDUM
PW, JDF
DATE: 12/12/92
ACTION/CONCURRENCE/COMMENT DUE BY: 5:00 pm / MON. / 12-14
PROPOSED PRESIDENTIAL REMARKS: NAFTA SIGNING
ORGANIZATION OF THE AMERICAN STATES
SUBJECT:
THURSDAY, DECEMBER 17, 1992
ACTION FYI
ACTION FYI
VICE PRESIDENT
MCBRIDE
BAKER
MOORE
SCOWCROFT
MULLINS
>
DARMAN
PETERSMEYER
BATES
PORTER
>
BRADY
SMITH
>
BROMLEY
TUTWILER
CALIO
ZOELLICK
DEMAREST
MCGROARTY
FITZWATER
BOSKIN
GRAY
DELAND
HOLIDAY
HORNER
REMARKS:
Please provide your comments on the attached directly to
Dan McGroarty, Rm 122, x2930, with a copy to this office
NO LATER THAN 5:00 p.m., MONDAY, DECEMBER 14. Thank you.
RESPONSE:
Cannents P2
PHILLIP D. BRADY
KC 7ung
Assistant to the President
and Staff Secretary
12/14/92
Ext. 2702
THE WHITE HOUSE
WASHINGTON
December 11, 1992
12 A12: 24
MEMORANDUM FOR THE PRESIDENT
THROUGH:
ROBERT ZOELLICK RBZ
FROM:
ANDY FERGUSON at
SUBJECT:
NAFTA SIGNING
On Thursday, December 17, at 2:30 p.m., you will address an
audience of 300 people in the OAS Building's Hall of the
Americas. This is one of three signing ceremonies taking place
simultaneously in Washington, Ottawa, and Mexico City.
Your remarks (12 minutes, prompter) discuss the importance
of the NAFTA and its place in the democratic revolution underway
in the Americas. The remarks are meant to convey a broader
message about the new approach to the hemisphere established
through your policies. As such, we believe it is an important
"baseline" of achievement and a complement to your Texas A & M
speech on Tuesday.
8976
December 11, 1992
DRAFT
PRESIDENTIAL REMARKS:
NAFTA SIGNING
ORGANIZATION OF THE AMERICAN STATES
THURSDAY, DECEMBER 17, 1992
(Acknowledgements) Throughout history, the destiny of
nations has often been shaped by chance -- by the things that
happen to them. Then there are those unique nations who shape
their destinies by choice -- by the things that they make happen.
Three such nations come together today: Mexico, Canada, and the
United States of America.
By signing the North American Free Trade Agreement, we have
committed ourselves to a better future -- for our children and
for generations yet unborn. This agreement will remove barriers
to trade and investment across the two largest undefended borders
on the globe. We can scarcely imagine today the economic energy
we will release tomorrow, when 360 million citizens are set free
to build and buy and invest in the biggest free market the world
has ever seen.
I want to pay a personal tribute to my partners in this
endeavor, two rare and gifted leaders, and two special, valued
friends, without whose courage, leadership, and vision this day
would not have come. When the history of this era is written, it
will be said that the citizens of all the Americas were truly
fortunate that Mexico and Canada, two great nations and two proud
peoples, were led by President Carlos Salinas and Prime Minister
Brian Mulroney. Especially for Mexico, the NAFTA is a bold new
experiment, made possible by President Salinas' brave reforms to
invigorate the Mexican economy.
It is especially fitting that an American President sign
this agreement in this great Hall of the Americas, the home of
2
the Organization of American States. For the NAFTA represents
the first giant step towards fulfillment of a dream that has long
transfixed us all, the dream of a hemisphere united by economic
cooperation and free competition. Because of what we have begun
here today, I believe the time will come when trade is free from
Alaska to Argentina, when every citizen of the Americas has the
opportunity to share in new growth and expanding prosperity. I
hope and trust that the North American Free Trade area can be
extended to Chile and other worthy partners in South America,
Central America, and in the Caribbean Basin.
Free trade throughout the Americas is an idea whose time has
come. A new generation of democratic leaders has staked its
future on that promise. Under that generation's leadership, a
tide of economic reform and trade liberalization is transforming
the hemisphere.
Today, as a result, the hemisphere is growing again. For
the first time in years more capital is flowing into the Americas
for new investment than is flowing out to repay old debt. Every
major debtor nation, from Mexico to Argentina, has negotiated a
successful agreement to reduce and restructure its commercial
bank debt under the Brady Plan. Nearly a dozen Eight other nations --
Guyana, Jamaica, Haiti, Nicaragua, Bolivia, Honduras, Chile,
Uruguay,
El
Colombia, Paraguay, Argentina -- have, or shortly will, reduce salvador
Upon completion of a subsequent America's fund agreement, the
their official debt with the United States under Enterprise
for the Americas Initiative. Interest payments on the remaining
debt will go into local trust funds to protect the and to environment
and
1 children.
To those in other regions struggling to reform statist
economies, Latin America shines as a solid example of hope that
hyperinflation can be tamed, growth can be revitalized, and new
investment and trade can accelerate if developing nations stay
3
the course through the difficult challenge of economic
restructuring.
These profound economic changes are a tribute to a
courageous group of democratic leaders in Latin America and the
Caribbean. Their revolutionary vision has changed permanently
the face of the Americas. Their friendship and counsel have been
enormously gratifying to me as President. But these profound
changes, along with the NAFTA itself, reflect a broader and, I
believe, more fundamental change in relations between the United
States and the nations of this hemisphere.
For many decades, we have proclaimed ambitious goals for
ourselves -- of a good neighbor policy, of an alliance for
progress, of a partnership built on mutual respect and shared
responsibility. Those goals are rapidly becoming a reality. I
believe that in the future America's relations with Latin America
and the Caribbean will grow even stronger. I was pleased to see
President-elect Clinton affirm that goal in his remarks recently
to both the Rio Group and to the Caribbean-Latin America Action
Conference.
This century's epic struggle between totalitarianism and
democracy is over; democracy has prevailed. Today, we see
unfolding around the world a revolution of hope and courage,
propelled by the aspiration of ordinary people for freedom and a
better life. The world will long remember the images of that
struggle -- a citizen of Berlin, sitting atop the Berlin Wall
with a hammer and chisel chipping the wall away; Boris Yeltsin
and his followers waving the flag of free Russia, defying the
tanks and coup plotters.
Here, in this hall, it is worth remembering that the global
democratic revolution surged forward in Latin America. No people
4
struggled for freedom against oppression more bravely than the
people of this hemisphere. No people sacrificed more to create a
new life. Here in the Americas we are constructing a hopeful
model of the new post-cold war world of which we dream.
This is the first hemisphere -- and the OAS is the first
regional organization in the world -- to take on, through the
Santiago Declaration, the formal, collective responsibility to
defend democracy.
In this hemisphere, the weapons of mass destruction --
strategic missiles as well as nuclear, chemical and biological
weapons -- have been rejected voluntarily.
In this hemisphere, we have created new models of
multilateral cooperation to help resolve the conflicts that
tormented Central America.
In this hemisphere, we have forged a new partnership to
defeat the global menace of narco-trafficking.
still, we are not satisfied. The birth of democracy has
raised expectations throughout the Americas; now democracy must
deliver. The communications revolution has opened our eyes to
the wider world; we cannot close them to limits on legitimate
political participation, to official corruption, or to economic
protection for the favored few.
If democracy is to be consolidated, the gulfs that separate
the few who are very rich from the many who are very poor, that
divide civilian from military institutions, that split citizens
of Spanish heritage from indigenous peoples -- these gulfs must
be narrowed. Economic reform must ensure upward mobility and
new opportunities for a better life for ordinary citizens.
Enterprise and initiative, imagination and energy -- all are
required to create the conditions for that better life.
5
To fulfill its promise, democratic government must guarantee
not only the right to regular elections, but human rights and
property rights, swift and impartial justice, and the rule of
law. Democratic governments must deliver basic services, and
democratic institutions must be strengthened and modernized. To
defend democracy successfully, the OAS must strengthen the tools
at its disposal. I commend the new steps you took this week to
suspend non-democratic regimes. Together we must also create new
means to end historic border disputes and construct new regimes
to control the competition in conventional weaponry.
In all this, the United States bears a special
responsibility. It is a moment of maximum opportunity -- but
also continued risk. We must remain engaged -- for, more than
ever before, our future is bound up with the future of the
Americas. In the struggle to defend democracy, our deepest
values are at stake.
This year marks the 500th anniversary of a voyage of
discovery to the new world. Let this also be a time of
rediscovery for my country, the United States, of the importance
of our own hemisphere. Travel to Miami or El Paso, Los Angeles
or Chicago or New York -- and listen to the language of our
neighborhoods. We are tied to the Americas, not just by
geography or history, but by who we are as a people. No one
knows that more profoundly than this proud grandfather.
If we are equal to the challenges before us, we can build in
the Americas the world's first completely democratic hemisphere.
This hemisphere can be, as well, a zone of peace, where trade
flows freely, prosperity is shared, the rule of law is respected,
and the gifts of technology are harnessed for all.
6
More then 150 years ago, Simon Bolivar, (see-MONE-bo-LEE-
var) the liberator whose statue stands outside this hall, spoke
about "an America united in heart, subject to one law, and guided
by the torch of liberty." My friends: here in this hemisphere
we are on the way to realizing Bolivar's dream. Today, with the
signing of the North American Free Trade Agreement, we took
another giant step towards making it a reality.
Thank you very much.
#
#
#
United States Trade Representative, Carla Hills
the Honorable Julius Katz (deputy to Carla Hills)
James Baker
Arnold Kanter (acting Secretary of State)
Bernie Aronson, Assistant Secretary of State
General Scowcroft
Secretary General Baena-Soares [bena SOR ehz]
Mexican Ambassador to the United States, Gustavo Petricioli
Canadian Derek H. Burney
OAS Chief of Protocol Anna Colomar 0 Brian
US Ambassador to OAS Luis Einaudi
Current and Former Members of the Cabinet
Labor Sec. Lynn Martin
Secretary of the Interior Manuel Lujan
EPA Administrator Bill Reilly
former Secretary of Commerce Bob Mosbacher
Secretary of Energy Admiral Watkins
Secretary of Commerce, Barbara Franklin
- Members of Congress and the Senate
contact Cathy Lydon 3350
NSC
3
E
Under the Enterprise for the Americas Initiative, many
nations [[-- Jamaica, Bolivia, Chile, Colombia, El Salvador,
Uruguay --]] have reduced, or shortly will reduce, their official
debt with the United States. The Initiative allows interest
payments on official debt to be channeled into trust funds that
protect the environment and support programs for child survival.
To those in other regions struggling to reform statist
economies, Latin America shines as a solid example of hope that
hyperinflation can be tamed, growth can be revitalized, and new
investment and trade can accelerate if developing nations stay
the course through the difficult challenge of economic
restructuring.
These profound economic changes are a tribute to a
courageous group of democratic leaders in Latin America and the
Caribbean. Their revolutionary vision has altered forever the
face of the Americas. Their friendship and counsel have been
enormously gratifying to me as President. But these profound
changes, along with the NAFTA itself, reflect a broader and, I
believe, more fundamental change in relations between the United
My talks with the hemisphere
States and the nations of this hemisphere.
For many decades, we have proclaimed ambitious goals for
ourselves -- of a good neighbor policy, of an alliance for
Goder is recent weeks show a story consivous that
responsibility. Those goals are rapidly becoming a reality.
relation between its u.s. and the better
neighbors have never been
progress, of a partnership built on mutual respect and shared
I
believe that in the future America's relations with Latin America
and the Caribbean will grow even stronger. I was pleased to hear
President-elect Clinton affirm that goal in his remarks recently
to both the Rio Group and to the Caribbean-Latin America Action
Conference.
12/16/92 13:55
001
United States Department of State
Washington, D.C. 20520
FAX COVER SHEET
DEPARTMENT OF STATE
BUREAU OF INTER-AMERICAN AFFAIRS
WASHINGTON, D.C.
Fax # 202-647-0791
Date
12/16
TO:
Dana mc Groasty
FROM:
Bernie aronson
Number of pages including this cover:
8
REMARKS:
If there are problems with this fax transmission, pls call
ARA 202-647-9227.
12/16/92
13:55
002
SENT BY:Xorox Telecopier 7020 :12-18-92 12:55PM ; West Wing (1st Fir)-
96470781:# 1.
456-6218
8976
Dana
December 15, 1992
Mc groanty
DRAFT
PRESIDENTIAL REMARKS:
NAFTA SIGNING
ORGANIZATION OF THE AMERICAN STATES
THURSDAY, DECEMBER 17, 1992
(Acknowledgements) Throughout history, the destiny of
nations has often been shaped by chance -- by the things that
happen to them. Then there are those unique nations who shape
their destinies by choice -- by the things that they make happen.
Three such nations come together today: Mexico, Canada, and the
United States of America.
By signing the North American Free Trade Agreement, we have
committed ourselves to a better future -- for our children and
for generations yet unborn. This agreement will remove barriers
to trade and investment across the two largest undefended borders
It will link joining the United tates in a permanent Partner, fn
on the globa, Wercan scarcely imagine today the economic energy
we will release tomorrow when 360 million citizens are set free
grawth
with
the
to build and buy and invest in the biggest froe market the world
(see other draft)
has ever seen.
(4)
and
dirst
I want to pay a personal tribute to my partners in this
third
endeavor a- two rare and gifted leaders, and two special, valued
jest
friends -- without whose courage, leadership, and vision this day
would not have come. When the history of our era is written, it
parting
will be said that the citizens of all the Americas were truly
mexics
a
fortunate that Mexico and Canada -- two great nations and two
4
proud peoples -- vere led by President Carlos Salinas and Prime
Minister Brian Mulroney. For Mexico especially, the NAFTA is a
bold undertaking, made possible by President Salinas' brave
reforms to invigorate the Mexican economy.
It is especially fitting that an American President sign
this agreement in this great Hall of the Americas, the home of
12/16/92 13:56
003
SENT BY:Xcrox Telecopier 7020 :12-16-92 :12:56PM : West Wing (1st Fir)-
96470781:# 2
2
the Organization of American States. For the NAFTA represents
the first giant step towards fulfillment of a dream that has long
inspired us all -- the dream of a hemisphere united by economic
cooperation and free competition. Because of what we have begun
soon
here today, I believe the time will come A when trade 1s free from
Alaska to Argentina, when every citizen of the Americas has the
opportunity to share in new growth and expanding presperity. I
hope and trust that the North American Free Trade area can be
extended to chile and other worthy partners in South America,
Central America, and the caribbean.
Free trade throughout the Americas is an idea whose time has
come. A new generation of democratic leaders has staked its
future on that promise. Under their. leadership, a tide of
economic reform and trade liberalization is transforming the
hemisphere.
Today, as a result, the hemisphere is growing again. For
the first time in years more capital is flowing into the Americas
for new investment than is flowing out. Every major debtor
nation, from Mexico to Argentina, has negotiated a successful
agreement to reduce and restructure its commercial bank debt
under the Brady Plan.
Let me offer a brief aside about the Brady Plan. I remember
telling my good friend, Secretary Nick Brady -- okay, we'll call
it the Brady Plan. But if it's successful, we're going to call
it the Bush Plan. I think history will show that the leadership
of our distinguished Treasury Secretary did pay off -- the Plan
has been highly successful. And by the way, the name will always
be -- and should always be -- the Brady Plan.
Under the Enterprise for the Americas Initiative and other
programs, many nations [[-- Jamaica, Bolivia, Chile, Colombia,
12/16/92 13:56
004
SENT BY:Xcrox Telecopier 7020 :12-16-92 :12:56PM ; West Wing (lot Fir)-
96470791:# 3
3
Paraguay, Argentina, El Salvador, Uruguay --1] have reduced, or
shortly will reduce, their official debt with the United States.
The Initiative allows interest payments on official debt to be
channeled into trust funds that support environments. and child surretal
to motest the
support programs
Jeal
deve Topment projects
To those in other regions struggling to reform statist
economies, Latin America shines as a solid example of hope that
hyperinflation can be tamed, growth can be revitalized, and new
investment and trade can accelerate if developing nations stay
the course through the difficult challenge of economic
restructuring.
These profound economic changes are a tribute to a
courageous group of democratic leaders in Latin America and the
Caribbean. Their revolutionary vision has altered forever the
face of the Americas, Their friendship and counsel have been
enormously gratifying to me as President. But these profound
changes, along with the NAFTA itself, reflect a broader and, I
believe, more fundamental change in relations between the United
States and the nations of this hemisphere.
For many decades, we have proclaimed ambitious goals for
ourselves - of a good neighbor policy, of an alliance for
progress, of a partnership built on mutual respect and shared
responsibility. Those goals are rapidly becoming a reality. I
believe that in the future America's relations with Latin America
and the Caribbean will grow even stronger. I was pleased to hear
Preaident-elect Clinton affirm that goal in his remarks recently
to both the Rio Group and to the Caribbean-Latin America Action
Conference.
This century's epic struggle between totalitarianism and
democracy is over; democracy has prevailed. Today, we see
12/16/92 13:57
SENT BY:Xcrox Telecopior 7020 :12-16-92 :12:57PM : West Wing (1st Fir)-
005
96470791:# 4
4
unfolding around the world a revolution of hope and courage,
propelled by the aspiration of ordinary people for freedom and a
better life. The world will long remember the images of that
struggle -- a citizen of Berlin, sitting atop the Wall, chipping
away with his hammer and chisel; Boris Yeltsin and his followers
waving the flag of free Russia, defying the tanks and coup
plotters.
Here, in this hall, it is worth remember ed that the global
there ourines
were meedal can -
democratic revolution surged began forward in Latin America. No people
struggled for freedom against oppression more bravely than the
people of this hemisphere. Ne people sacrificed more to create a
two
new life. Here in the Americas we are constructing a hopeful
model of the new post-cold war world of which we dream.
This is the first hemisphere -- and the OAS is the first
regional organization in the world -- to take on, through the
Santiago Declaration, the formal, collective responsibility to
defend democracy.
In this hemisphere, the weapons of mass destruction --
otrategic missiles as well as nuclear, chemical and biological
weapons -- have been rejected voluntarily.
In this hemisphere, we have created new models of
and success in
multilateral cooperation to help resolve/the conflicts that have
tormented Central America. Just two days ago, we celebrated
the end as the was in E1 Salvador. where buth the United
In this hemisphere, we have forged a new partnership to
WD
among consumeral
defeat the global menace of narco-trafficking.
0
anyther
caunt net an our land
&
still, we are not satisfied. The birth of democracy has
mode
raised expectations throughout the Americas; now democracy must
3
d.
new
the
of
Totente
[non]
plants
deliver. The communications revolution has opened our eyes to
this
citizens to
the wider world; we are no longer blind to limite on legitimate
they will, the w longer
3 The
and
elefend
me.
12/16/92 13:57
006
SENT BY:Xerex Telecopier 7020 :12-16-92 :12:57PM : West Wing (1ot Fir)-
96470781:# 5
being shut out of closed political as
Closed physeconomic stems or
political participation, to official corruption, or
favorities.
If democracy is to be consolidated, the gulfs that separate
the few who are very rich from the many who are very poor, that
divide civilian from military institutions, that split citizens
of Spanish heritage from indigenous peoples -- these gulfs must
be bridged. Economic reform must ensure upward mobility and new
opportunities for a better life for all citizens of the Americas.
To fulfill its promise, democratic government must guarantee
not only the right to regular elections, but human rights and
property rights, swift and impartial justice, and the rule of
law. Democratic governments must deliver basic services; their
institutions must be strengthened and modernized. To defend
democracy successfully, the OAS must strengthen the tools at its
disposal. I commend the new steps you took this week to suspend
non-democratic regimes. Together we must also create new means
to end historic border disputes and to control the competition in
conventional weaponry.
In all this, the United States bears a special
responsibility. We face a moment of maximum opportunity -- but
also continued risk. We must remain engaged -- for more than
ever before, our future is bound up with the future of the
This is the fas test growing regional market 14
Americas. In the struggle to defend democracy; our most
charished values are at stake.
wind the for
This year marks the 500th anniversary of a voyage of
products U.S.
discovery to the new world. Let this also be a time of
rediscovery for my country, the United States, of the importance
of our own hemisphere.
Travel to Miami or El Paso, Los Angeles
or Chicago or New York and listen to the language of our
neighborhoods. We are tied to the Americas, not just by
12/16/92 13:58
007
SENT BY:Xcrox Telecopier 7020 112-16-82 :12:58PM : Weet wing (1st Flr) 1
964707911# 6
6
geography or history, but by who we are as a people. No one
knows that more profoundly than this proud grandfather.
If we are equal to the challenges before us, we can build in
the Americas the world's first completely democratic hemisphere.
This hemisphere can be, as well, a zone of peace, where trade
flows freely, prosperity is shared, the rule of law is respected,
and the gifts of human knowledge are harnessed for all.
More then 150 years ago, Simon Bolivar, (ses-MONE-bo-LEE-
var) the liberator whose statue stands outside this hall, spoke
about "an America united in healt, subject to one law, and guided
by the torch of liberty." MY friends: here in this hemisphere
we are on the way to realizing Bolivar's dream. Today, with the
signing of the North American Free Trade Agreement, we take
another giant step towards making the dream a reality.
Thank you very much.
12/16/92
13:58
008
12/9/92
DRAFT
NAFTA SIGNING REMARKS
In every era there are certain defining moments. Such
moments chart a path towards a new, more hopeful future.
They give concrete shape to a vision that once appeared to
be a dream.
The signing today of the North American Free Trade
Agreement, in Washington, Ottawa, and Mexico City, is such a
defining moment. This agreement, once fully implemented,
will remove the barriers to trade, commerce, and investment
throughout North America. It will create the largest free
trade regime the world has ever known.
For the citizens of the United States, this agreement
represents an historic opportunity to join in a permanent
partnership for growth with our first and third largest
trading partners, Canada and Mexico. The two longest
undefended borders in the world today are those which join
our three countries.
The peace and friendship we have long
enjoyed as neighbors will now be strengthened by the
K
explosion of growth and trade let loose by the combined
energies of our 360 million citizens trading freely across
our borders.
SENT BY:Xerox Telecopier 7020 12-14-92 ; 5:45PM ;
OPD->
2024566218:# 1
SENT BY:Xerox Telecopier 7020 12-14-92 ; 14:38
;
The White House-
OPD:# 1
Decument No. 367274
WHITE HOUSE STAFFING MEMORANDUM
DATE: 12/12/92
ACTION/CONCURRENCE/COMMENT DUE BY: 5:00 pm / MON. / 12-14
PROPOSED PRESIDENTIAL REMARKS: NAFTA SIGNING
ORGANIZATION OF THE AMERICAN STATES
SUBJECT:
THURSDAY, DECEMBER 17, 1992
ACTION FYI
ACTION FYI
VICE PRESIDENT
MCBRIDE
BAKER
MOORE
SCOWCROFT
MULLINS
DARMAN
PETERSMEYER
BATES
PORTER
BRADY
SMITH
BROMLEY
TUTWILER
CALIO
DEMAREST
MCGRCARTY
FITZWATER
BOSKIN
GRAY
DELAND
HOLIDAY
HORNER
REMARKS:
Please provide your comments on the attached directly to
Dan McCroarty, Rm 122, x2930, with a copy to this office
NO LATER THAN 5:00 n.m., MONDAY, DECEMBER 14. Thank you.
RESPONSE:
see Treasury insert Paul DOC comments. PHILLIP D.
BRADY
SENT BY:Xerox Telecopier 7020 12-14-92 ; 5:46PM ;
OPD->
2024566218:# 2
SENT BY:Xerox Telecopier 7020 12-14-92 : 14:38
;
The White House+
OPD:# 2
THE WHITE HOUSE
WASHINGTON
December 11, 1992
A12: 24
MEMORANDUM FOR THE PRESIDENT
THROUGH:
ROBERT SOELLICK 282
FROM:
ANDY FERGUSON
at
SUBJECT:
NAFTA SIGNING
On Thursday, December 17, at 2:30 p.m., you will address an
audience of 300 people in the OAS Building's Hall of the
Americas. This is one of three signing ceremonies taking place
simultaneously in Washington, Ottawa, and Mexico City.
Your remarks (12 minutes, prompter) discuss the importance
of the NAFTA and its place in the democratic revolution underway
in the Americas, The remarks are meant to convey a broader
message about the new approach to the hemisphere established
through your policies. As such, we believe it is an important
"baseline" of achievement and & complement to your Texas A & M
speech on Tuesday.
SENT BY:Xerox Telecopier 7020 12-14-92 ; 5:46PM ;
OPD->
2024566218;# 3
SENT BY:Xerox Telecopier 7020 12-14-92 ; 14:39 ;
The White House-
OPD:# 3
8976
December 11, 1992
DRAFT
PRESIDENTIAL REMARKS:
NAFTA SIGNING
ORGANIZATION OF THE AMERICAN STATES
THURSDAY, DECEMBER 17, 1992
(Acknowledgements) Throughout history, the destiny of
nations has often been shaped by change -- by the things that
happen to them. Then there are those unique nations who shape
their destinies by choice -- by the things that they make happen.
Three such nations come together today: Mexico, Canada, and the
United States of America.
By signing the North American Free Trade Agreement, we have
committed ourselves to a better future -- for our children and
for generations yet unborn. This agreement will remove barriers
to trade and investment across the two largest undefended borders
on the globa. We can scarcely imagine today the economic energy
we will release tomorrow, when 360 million citizens are set free
to build and buy and invest in the biggest free market the world
has ever seen.
Ande (DOC)
I want to pay a personal tribute to my partners in this
endeavor, two rare and gifted leaders, and two special, valued
friends, without whose courage, leadership, and vision this day
would not have come. When the history of this era is written, it
will be said that the citizens of all the Americas ware truly
fortunate that Mexico and Canada, two great nations and two proud
peoples, were led by President Carlos Salinas and Prime Minister
Brian Mulroney. Especially for Mexico, the NAFTA is a bold new
experiment, made possible by President Salinas' brave reforms to
invigorate the Mexican economy.
Extended Page
3.1
It is especially fitting that an American President sign
this agreement in this great Hall of the Americas, the home of
SENT BY:Xerox Telecopier 7020 12-14-92 ; 5:47PM ;
OPD->
2024566218:# 4
SENT. BY:Xerox Telecopier 7020 :12-14-92 : 14:40 ;
The White House-
OPD:# 4
a
the Organization of American States. For the NAFTA represents
the first giant step towards fulfillment of a dream that has long
transfixed us all, the dream of a hemisphere united by economic
cooperation and free competition. Because of what We have begun
here today, I believe the time will come when trade is free from
Alaska to Argentina, when every citizen of the Americas has the
opportunity to share in new growth and expanding prosperity. I
hope and trust that the North American Free Trade area can be
extended to Chile and other worthy partners in South America,
Central America, and in the Caribbaan
1 oc
Free trade throughout the Americas is an idea whose time has
come. A new generation of democratic leaders has staked its
future on that promise. Under that generation's leadership, a
tide of economic reform and trade liberalisation is transforming
the hemisphere.
Today, as a result, the hemisphere is growing again. For
bee
Treasury
the first time in years more capital is flowing into the Americas
for new investment than is flowing out to repay old debt. Every
major debtor nation, from Mexico to Argentina, has negotiated a
successful agreement to reduce and restructure its commercial
bank debt under the Brady Plan. Nearly a dozen other nations --
Guyana, Jamaica, Haiti, Nicaragua, Bolivia, Honduras, Chile,
Colombia, Paraguay, Argentina -- have, or shortly will, reduce
their official debt with the United States under the Enterprise
for the Americas Initiative. Interest payments on the remaining
debt will go into local trust funds to protect the environment.
To those in other regions struggling to reform statist
aconomies, Latin America Shines
Extended Page
4.1
- ----- example or hope that
hyperinflation can be tamed, growth can be revitalised, and new
investment and trade can accelerate if developing nations stay
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OPD->
2024566218:# 5
DEC 14 '92 10:02
P.2/2
Trousury
Inskit
Comments on President's NAFTA Speech
Paragraph 2 ("Today, as a result, the hemisphere
.);
rewrite
third, fourth, and fifth sentences to read as follows:
Eight major Latin American debtor nations, from Mexico to
Argentina, have negotiated agreements to reduce and
restructure their commercial bank debt under the Brady Plan.
Half a dozen other nations -- Bolivia, Chile, Colombia, El
Salvador, Jamaica, and Uruguay -- have reduced their
official debt with the United States under the Enterprise
for the Americas Initiative. Interest payments on the
remaining debt will go into local trust funds to support
environmental and child development projects.
Ask PaterBarlow Barlow
622-0042
Geithner
622-0070
EAL 1850
622
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OPD->
2024566218:# 6
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The White House-
OPD:# 5
3
the course through the difficult challange of economic
restructuring.
These profound economic changes are a tribute to a
courageous group of democratic leaders in Latin America and the
Caribbean. Their revelutionary vision has changed permanently
the face of the Americas. Their friendship and counsel have been
enermeusly gratifying to me as President. But these profound
changes, along with the NAFTA itself, reflect a breader and, I
balieve, more fundamental change in relations between the United
States and the nations of this hemisphere.
For many decades, we have proclaimed ambitious goals for
ourselves -- of a good neighbor policy, of an alliance for
progress, of a partnership built on mutual respect and shared
responsibility. Those goals are rapidly becoming a reality. I
believe that in the future America's relations with Latin America
and the Caribbean will grow even stronger. I was pleased to
hear
President-elect Clinton affirm that goal in his remarks recently
to both the Rio Group and to the Caribbean-Latin America Action
Conference.
This century's epic struggle between totalitarianism and
democracy is ever; democracy has prevailed. Today, we see
unfolding around the world & revolution of hope and courage,
propelled by the aspiration of ordinary people for freedom and a
better life. The world will long remember the images of that
struggle -- a citizen of Berlin, sitting atop the Berlin Wall
with a hummer and chisel chipping the wall away) Boris Yeltsin
and his followers waving the flag of free Russia, defying the
tanks and coup plotters.
Extended Page
6.1
Here, in this hall, it is worth remembering that the global
democratic revelution surged forward in Latin America. No people
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OPD->
2024566218:# 7
SENT BY:Xerox Telecopier 7020 :12-14-92 14:41
The White House->
OPD:# 6
4
struggled for freedom against oppression more bravely than the
people of this hemisphere. No people sacrificed more to create a
new life. Here in the Americas we are constructing a hopeful
model of the new post-cold war world of which we dream.
This is the first hemisphere -- and the OAS is the first
regional organization in the world may to take on, through the
Santiago Declaration, the formal, collective responsibility to
defend democracy.
In this hemisphere, the weapons of mass destruction --
strategic missiles as well as nuclear, chemical and biological
weapons -- have been rejected voluntarily.
( DOC)
In this hemisphere, we have created new models of
regional cooperation to help resolve the conflicts that
have tormented Central America.
In this hemisphere, we have forged a new partnership to
defeat the global menace of naroo-trafficking.
still, we are not satisfied. The birth of democracy has
raised expectations throughout the Americas; now democracy must
daliver. The communications revolution has opened our eyes to
the wider world, we cannot close them to limits on legitimate
political participation, to official corruption, or to economic
protection for the favored few.
If democracy is to be consolidated, the gulfs that separate
the few who are very rich from the many who are very poor, that
divide civilian from military institutions, that split citizens
of Spanish heritage from indigenous peoples -- these gulfs must
be narrowed. Economic reform must ensure upward all mobility and
new opportunities for a better life for citizens.
EXVENUES raye
1.1
.
Enterprise and initiative, imagination and energy Mag
all are
required to create the conditions for that better life.
SENT BY:Xerox Telecopier 7020 12-14-92 ; 5:50PM ;
OPD->
2024566218:# 8
SENT BY:Xerox Telecopier 7020 12-14-92 i 14:41
;
The White House-
OPD:# 7
5
To fulfill its promise, democratic government must guarantee
not only the right to regular elections, but human rights and
property rights, swift and impartial justice, and the rule of
law. Democratic governments must deliver basic services, and
democratic institutions must be strengthened and modernized. To
defend democracy successfully, the OAS must strengthen the tools
at its disposal. X commend the new steps you took this week to
suspand non-democratic regimes. Together we must also create new
means to end historic border disputes and construct new regimes
to control the competition in conventional weaponry.
In all this, the United States bears a special
responsibility. It is a moment of maximum opportunity -- but
also continued risk. We must remain engaged -- for, more than
over before, our future is bound up with the future of the
Americas. In the struggle to defend democracy, our despest
values are at stake.
This year marks the 500th anniversary of & voyage of
discovery to the new world. Let this also be a time of
rediscovery for my country, the United States, of the importance
of our own hemisphere. Travel to Miami or El Paso, Los Angeles
or Chicago or New York - and listen to the language of our
neighborhoods. We are tied to the Americas, not just by
geography or history, but by who we are as a people. No one
knows that more profoundly than this proud grandfather.
If we are equal to the challenges before um, we can build in
the Americas the world's first completely democratic hemisphere.
This hemisphere can be, as well, a zone of peace, where trade
flows freely, prosperity is shared, the rule of law is respected,
SENT BY:Xerox Telecopier 7020 12-14-92 ; 5:50PM ;
OPD->
2024566218:# 9
SENT BY:Xerox Telecopier 7020 12-14-92 ; 14:42 ;
The White House-
OPD:# 8
6
More then 150 years ago, Simon Bolivar, (see-MONE-bo-LEE-
var) the liberator whose statue stands outside this hall, spoke
about "an America united in heart, subject to one law, and guided
by the torch of liberty." My friends: here in this hemisphere
we are on the way to realizing Bolivar's dream. Today, with the
signing of the North American Free Trade Agreement, we took.
another giant step towards making it a reality.
Thank you very much.
Extended Page
9.1
THE WHITE HOUSE
WASHINGTON
December 11, 1992
MEMORANDUM FOR THE PRESIDENT
THROUGH:
ROBERT ZOELLICK RBZ
FROM:
ANDY FERGUSON at
SUBJECT:
NAFTA SIGNING
On Thursday, December 17, at 2:30 p.m., you will address an
audience of 300 people in the OAS Building's Hall of the
Americas. This is one of three signing ceremonies taking place
simultaneously in Washington, Ottawa, and Mexico City.
Your remarks (12 minutes, prompter) discuss the importance
of the NAFTA and its place in the democratic revolution underway
in the Americas. The remarks are meant to convey a broader
message about the new approach to the hemisphere established
through your policies. As such, we believe it is an important
"baseline" of achievement and a complement to your Texas A & M
speech on Tuesday.
Anda- These from D's Bobz. senior
at stoff
Disin my
marger.
our
8976
December 11, 1992
DRAFT
PRESIDENTIAL REMARKS:
NAFTA SIGNING
ORGANIZATION OF THE AMERICAN STATES
THURSDAY, DECEMBER 17, 1992
(Acknowledgements) Throughout history, the destiny of
nations has often been shaped by chance -- by the things that
happen to them. Then there are those unique nations who shape
their destinies by choice -- by the things that they make happen.
Three such nations come together today: Mexico, Canada, and the
United States of America.
By signing the North American Free Trade Agreement, we have
committed ourselves to a better future -- for our children and
for generations yet unborn. This agreement will remove barriers
to trade and investment across the two largest undefended borders
on the globe. We can scarcely imagine today the economic energy
we will release tomorrow, when 360 million citizens are set free
to build and buy and invest in the biggest free market the world
has ever seen.
I want to pay a personal tribute to my partners in this
endeavor, two rare and gifted leaders, and two special, valued
friends, without whose courage, leadership, and vision this day
would not have come. When the history of this era is written, it
will be said that the citizens of all the Americas were truly
fortunate that Mexico and Canada, two great nations and two proud
peoples, were led by President Carlos Salinas and Prime Minister
Brian Mulroney. Especially for Mexico, the NAFTA is a bold new
experiment, made possible by President Salinas' brave reforms to
invigorate the Mexican economy.
It is especially fitting that an American President sign
this agreement in this great Hall of the Americas, the home of
2
the Organization of American States. For the NAFTA represents
the first giant step towards fulfillment of a dream that has long
inspired
transfixed us all, the dream of a hemisphere united by economic
(transfixed
cooperation and free competition. Because of what we have begun
ists
here today, I believe the time will come when trade is free from
hold. place)
Alaska to Argentina, when every citizen of the Americas has the
opportunity to share in new growth and expanding prosperity. I
hope and trust that the North American Free Trade area can be
extended to Chile and other worthy partners in South America,
Central America, and in the Caribbean Basin.
Free trade throughout the Americas is an idea whose time has
come. A new generation of democratic leaders has staked its
future on that promise. Under that generation's leadership, a
tide of economic reform and trade liberalization is transforming
the hemisphere.
Today, as a result, the hemisphere is growing again. For
the first time in years more capital is flowing into the Americas
for new investment than is flowing out to repay old debt. Every
major debtor nation, from Mexico to Argentina, has negotiated a
successful agreement to reduce and restructure its commercial
bank debt under the Brady Plan. Nearly a dozen other nations --
Guyana, Jamaica, Haiti, Nicaragua, Bolivia, Honduras, Chile,
reduced,
Colombia, Paraguay, Argentina -- have or shortly will reduce
their official debt with the United States under the Enterprise
for the Americas Initiative. Interest payments on the remaining
debt will go into local trust funds to protect the environment.
To those in other regions struggling to reform statist
economies, Latin America shines as a solid example of hope that
hyperinflation can be tamed, growth can be revitalized, and new
investment and trade can accelerate if developing nations stay
3
the course through the difficult challenge of economic
restructuring.
These profound economic changes are a tribute to a
courageous group of democratic leaders in Latin America and the
Caribbean. Their revolutionary vision has changed permanently
the face of the Americas. Their friendship and counsel have been
enormously gratifying to me as President. But these profound
changes, along with the NAFTA itself, reflect a broader and, I
believe, more fundamental change in relations between the United
States and the nations of this hemisphere.
For many decades, we have proclaimed ambitious goals for
ourselves -- of a good neighbor policy, of an alliance for
progress, of a partnership built on mutual respect and shared
responsibility. Those goals are rapidly becoming a reality. I
believe that in the future America's relations with Latin America
and the Caribbean will grow even stronger. I was pleased to see
President-elect Clinton affirm that goal in his remarks recently
to both the Rio Group and to the Caribbean-Latin America Action
Conference.
This century's epic struggle between totalitarianism and
democracy is over; democracy has prevailed. Today, we see
unfolding around the world a revolution of hope and courage,
propelled by the aspiration of ordinary people for freedom and a
better life. The world will long remember the images of that
struggle -- a citizen of Berlin, sitting atop the Berlin Wall
and
with a hammer and chisel chipping the wall away; Boris Yeltsin
and his followers waving the flag of free Russia, defying the
tanks and coup plotters.
Here, in this hall, it is worth remembering that the global
democratic revolution surged forward in Latin America. No people
4
insultanias
struggled for freedom against oppression more bravely than the
(zechs?
people of this hemisphere. No people sacrificed more to create a
new life. Here in the Americas we are constructing a hopeful
model of the new post-cold war world of which we dream.
This is the first hemisphere -- and the OAS is the first
regional organization in the world -- to take on, through the
Santiago Declaration, the formal, collective responsibility to
defend democracy.
In this hemisphere, the weapons of mass destruction --
strategic missiles as well as nuclear, chemical and biological
weapons -- have been rejected voluntarily.
In this hemisphere, we have created new models of
multilateral cooperation to help resolve the conflicts that
tormented Central America.
In this hemisphere, we have forged a new partnership to
defeat the global menace of narco-trafficking.
Still, we are not satisfied. The birth of democracy has
raised expectations throughout the Americas; now democracy must
deliver. The communications revolution has opened our eyes to
are longer blind
the wider world; we cannot close them to limits on legitimate
political faventism participation, to official corruption, or to economic
an elite
protection for the favored few.
If democracy is to be consolidated, the gulfs that separate
the few who are very rich from the many who are very poor, that
divide civilian from military institutions, that split citizens
of Spanish bridged? heritage from indigenous peoples -- these gulfs must
be narrowed. Economic reform must ensure upward mobility and
new opportunities for a better life for ordinary citizens.
Enterprise and initiative, imagination and energy -- all are
required to create the conditions for that better life.
5
To fulfill its promise, democratic government must guarantee
not only the right to regular elections, but human rights and
property rights, swift and impartial justice, and the rule of
law. Democratic governments must deliver basic services, and
democratic institutions must be strengthened and modernized. To
defend democracy successfully, the OAS must strengthen the tools
at its disposal. I commend the new steps you took this week to
suspend non-democratic regimes. Together we must also create new
effective
means to end historic border disputes and construct new regimes
to control the competition in conventional weaponry.
In all this, the United States bears a special
faces
responsibility. It is a moment of maximum opportunity -- but
also continued risk. We must remain engaged -- for, more than
ever before, our future is bound up with the future of the
Americas. In the struggle to defend democracy, our deepest
values are at stake.
This year marks the 500th anniversary of a voyage of
discovery to the new world. Let this also be a time of
rediscovery for my country, the United States, of the importance
of our own hemisphere. Travel to Miami or El Paso, Los Angeles
or Chicago or New York -- and listen to the language of our
neighborhoods. We are tied to the Americas, not just by
geography or history, but by who we are as a people. No one
knows that more profoundly than this proud grandfather.
If we are equal to the challenges before us, we can build in
the Americas the world's first completely democratic hemisphere.
goods 7 searices,
This hemisphere can be, as well, a zone of peace, where trade
flows freely, prosperity is shared, the rule of law is respected,
and the gifts of technology are harnessed for all.
OR innovation
6
More then 150 years ago, Simon Bolivar, (see-MONE-bo-LEE-
var) the liberator whose statue stands outside this hall, spoke
about "an America united in heart, subject to one law, and guided
by the torch of liberty." My friends: here in this hemisphere
we are on the way to realizing Bolivar's dream. Today, with the
signing of the North American Free Trade Agreement, we took
another giant step towards making it a reality.
Thank you very much.
#
#
#
Document No. 36727458
WHITE HOUSE STAFFING MEMORANDUM
DATE:
12/15/92
ACTION/CONCURRENCE/COMMENT DUE BY:
---
PRESIDENTIAL REMARKS: NAFTA SIGNING CEREMONY
SUBJECT:
THURSDAY, DEC. 17 - 2:30 p.m. OAS BLDG.
ACTION FYI
ACTION FYI
VICE PRESIDENT
MCBRIDE
BAKER
MOORE
SCOWCROFT
MULLINS
DARMAN
PETERSMEYER
BATES
PORTER
BRADY
SMITH
BROMLEY
TUTWILER
CALIO
ZOELLICK
DEMAREST
BOSKIN
FITZWATER
DELAND
GRAY
MCGROARTY
HOLIDAY
HORNER
REMARKS:
The attached has been forwarded to the President.
RESPONSE:
PHILLIP D. BRADY
Assistant to the President
and Staff Secretary
Ext. 2702
THE WHITE HOUSE
WASHINGTON
2/2/2015 P2:22
15 December 1992
MEMORANDUM FOR THE PRESIDENT
THROUGH:
DAN MCGROARTY Duer
FROM:
ANDREW FERGUSON as
SUBJECT:
NAFTA SIGNING CEREMONY
On Thursday, December 17, at 2:30 p.m., you will address an
audience of 300 people in the OAS Building's Hall of the
Americas. This is one of three signing ceremonies taking place
simultaneously in Washington, Ottawa, and Mexico city.
This draft includes your paragraph on the Brady Plan (p. 2)
and reflects staff comments as well.
8976
December 15, 1992
DRAFT
PRESIDENTIAL REMARKS:
wow NAFTA SIGNING
ORGANIZATION OF THE AMERICAN STATES
THURSDAY, DECEMBER 17, 1992
(Acknowledgements) Throughout history, the destiny of
nations has often been shaped by chance -- by the things that
happen to them. Then there are those unique nations who shape
their destinies by choice -- by the things that they make happen.
Three such nations come together today: Mexico, Canada, and the
In
United States of America.
VS
By signing the North American Free Trade Agreement, we have
committed ourselves to a better future -- for our children and
first
for generations yet unborn. This agreement will remove barriers
fund your
trade and investment across the two largest undefended borders
The peacess (Rustore)
on the globe We can scarcely imagine today the economic energy
we will release tomorrow, when 360 million citizens are set free
to build and buy and invest in the biggest free market the world
has ever seen.
I want to pay a personal tribute to my partners in this
endeavor -- two rare and gifted leaders, and two special, valued
friends -- without whose courage, leadership, and vision this day
would not have come. When the history of our era is written, it
will be said that the citizens of all the Americas were truly
fortunate that Mexico and Canada -- two great nations and two
proud peoples -- were led by President Carlos Salinas and Prime
Minister Brian Mulroney. For Mexico especially, the NAFTA is a
bold undertaking, made possible by President Salinas' brave
reforms to invigorate the Mexican economy.
It is especially fitting that an American President sign
this agreement in this great Hall of the Americas, the home of
2
the Organization of American States. For the NAFTA represents
the first giant step towards fulfillment of a dream that has long
inspired us all -- the dream of a hemisphere united by economic
cooperation and free competition. Because of what we have begun
here today, I believe the time will come, when trade is free from
Alaska to Argentina, when every citizen of the Americas has the
opportunity to share in new growth and expanding prosperity. I
hope and trust that the North American Free Trade area can be
extended to Chile and other worthy partners in South America,
Central America, and the Caribbean.
Free trade throughout the Americas is an idea whose time has
come. A new generation of democratic leaders has staked its
future on that promise. Under their leadership, a tide of
economic reform and trade liberalization is transforming the
hemisphere.
Today, as a result, the hemisphere is growing again. For
the first time in years more capital is flowing into the Americas
for new investment than is flowing out. Every major debtor
nation, from Mexico to Argentina, has negotiated a successful
agreement to reduce and restructure its commercial bank debt
under the Brady Plan.
Let me offer a brief aside about the Brady Plan. I remember
telling my good friend, Secretary Nick Brady -- okay, we'll call
it the Brady Plan. But if it's successful, we're going to call
it the Bush Plan. I think history will show that the leadership
of our distinguished Treasury Secretary did pay off -- the Plan
has been highly successful. And by the way, the name will always
be and should always be -- the Brady Plan.
Under the Enterprise for the Americas Initiative and other
programs, many nations [[-- Jamaica, Bolivia, Chile, Colombia,
3
Paraguay, Argentina, El Salvador, Uruguay --]] have reduced, or
shortly will reduce, their official debt with the United States.
The Initiative allows interest payments on official debt to be
protect the
channeled into trust funds that support environmental and child
deve lopment projects
forcheld
programs
To those in other regions struggling to reform statist
survice.
economies, Latin America shines as a solid example of hope that
hyperinflation can be tamed, growth can be revitalized, and new
investment and trade can accelerate if developing nations stay
the course through the difficult challenge of economic
restructuring.
These profound economic changes are a tribute to a
courageous group of democratic leaders in Latin America and the
Caribbean. Their revolutionary vision has altered forever the
face of the Americas. Their friendship and counsel have been
enormously gratifying to me as President. But these profound
changes, along with the NAFTA itself, reflect a broader and, I
believe, more fundamental change in relations between the United
States and the nations of this hemisphere.
For many decades, we have proclaimed ambitious goals for
ourselves -- of a good neighbor policy, of an alliance for
progress, of a partnership built on mutual respect and shared
responsibility. Those goals are rapidly becoming a reality. I
believe that in the future America's relations with Latin America
and the Caribbean will grow even stronger. I was pleased to hear
President-elect Clinton affirm that goal in his remarks recently
to both the Rio Group and to the Caribbean-Latin America Action
Conference.
This century's epic struggle between totalitarianism and
democracy is over; democracy has prevailed. Today, we see
4
unfolding around the world a revolution of hope and courage,
propelled by the aspiration of ordinary people for freedom and a
better life. The world will long remember the images of that
struggle -- a citizen of Berlin, sitting atop the Wall, chipping
away with his hammer and chisel; Boris Yeltsin and his followers
waving the flag of free Russia, defying the tanks and coup
the
then
global
plotters.
Those ups
Here, were in this hall it is worth remembering that the -global
procededby
Negron
has
gone whose fee, victorya
democratic revolution surged in Latin America. No people
struggled for freedom against oppression more bravely than the
people of this hemisphere. No people sacrificed more to create a
new life. Here, too, in the Americas we are constructing a hopeful
model of the new post-cold war world of which we dream.
Shape
This is the first hemisphere -- and the OAS is the first
regional organization in the world -- to take on, through the
Santiago Declaration, the formal, collective responsibility to
defend democracy.
In this hemisphere, the weapons of mass destruction --
strategic missiles as well as nuclear, chemical and biological
weapons -- have been rejected voluntarily.
In this hemisphere, we have created new models of
multilateral cooperation to help resolvé in the conflicts that have
+
success in
tormented Central America. just 2 Juyo ago, we a Whrabed
In this hemisphere, we have forged a new partnership to The
end
defeat the global menace of narco-trafficking.
of the
still, we are not satisfied. The birth of democracy has
was
raised expectations throughout the Americas; now democracy must
citylus other Reserisphere this
El
on
deliver.
The communications revolution has opened our eyes to
they will
Calo.
the wider world; we-are no 'longer blind to limits on legitimate
5
political participation, to official corruption, or to economic
favoritism.
If democracy is to be consolidated, the gulfs that separate
the few who are very rich from the many who are very poor, that
divide civilian from military institutions, that split citizens
of Spanish European) heritage from indigenous peoples -- these gulfs must
be bridged. Economic reform must ensure upward mobility and new
opportunities for a better life for all citizens of the Americas.
To fulfill its promise, democratic government must guarantee
not only the right to regular elections, but human rights and
property rights, swift and impartial justice, and the rule of
law. Democratic governments must deliver basic services; their
institutions must be strengthened and modernized. To defend
democracy successfully, the OAS must strengthen the tools at its
disposal. I commend the new steps you took this week to suspend
non-democratic regimes. Together we must also create new means
to end historic border disputes and to control the competition in
conventional weaponry.
wor
In all this, the United States bears a special
responsibility. We face a moment of maximum opportunity -- but
also continued risk. We must remain engaged -- for more than
The
ever before, our future is bound up with the future of the
Americas In the struggle to defend democracy, our most
cherished values are at stake.
This year marks the 500th anniversary of a voyage of
discovery to the new world. Let this also be a time of
rediscovery for my country, the United States, of the importance
of our own hemisphere.
Travel to Miami or El Paso, Los Angeles
or Chicago or New York -- and listen to the language of our
neighborhoods. We are tied to the Americas, not just by
6
geography or history, but by who we are as a people. No one
knows that more profoundly than this proud grandfather.
If we are equal to the challenges before us, we can build in
the Americas the world's first completely democratic hemisphere.
This hemisphere can be, as well, a zone of peace, where trade
flows freely, prosperity is shared, the rule of law is respected,
and the gifts of human knowledge are harnessed for all.
More then 150 years ago, Simon Bolivar, (see-MONE-bo-LEE-
var) the liberator whose statue stands outside this hall, spoke
about "an America united in heart, subject to one law, and guided
by the torch of liberty." My friends: here in this hemisphere
we are on the way to realizing Bolivar's dream. Today, with the
signing of the North American Free Trade Agreement, we take
another giant step towards making the dream a reality.
Thank you very much.
#
#
#
Document No. 367274
WHITE HOUSE STAFFING MEMORANDUM
DATE: 12/12/92
ACTION/CONCURRENCE/COMMENT DUE BY: 5:00 pm / MON. / 12-14
PROPOSED PRESIDENTIAL REMARKS: NAFTA SIGNING
ORGANIZATION OF THE AMERICAN STATES
SUBJECT:
THURSDAY, DECEMBER 17, 1992
ACTION FYI
ACTION FYI
VICE PRESIDENT
X
MCBRIDE
BAKER
MOORE
SCOWCROFT
MULLINS
DARMAN
PETERSMEYER
BATES
PORTER N/C
BRADY
SMITH N/C
BROMLEY
TUTWILER
CALIO
X
ZOELLICK
DEMAREST NK
MCGROARTY
FITZWATER
A
BOSKIN
GRAY
\
DELAND
HOLIDAY
HORNER
REMARKS:
Please provide your comments on the attached directly to
Dan McGroarty, Rm 122, x2930, with a copy to this office
NO LATER THAN 5:00 p.m., MONDAY, DECEMBER 14. Thank you.
RESPONSE:
called 4:30
PHILLIP D. BRADY
5:45
Assistant to the President
and Staff Secretary
Ext. 2702
THE WHITE HOUSE
WASHINGTON
December 11, 1992
400012 A12:24
MEMORANDUM FOR THE PRESIDENT
THROUGH:
ROBERT ZOELLICK RBZ
FROM:
ANDY FERGUSON at
SUBJECT:
NAFTA SIGNING
On Thursday, December 17, at 2:30 p.m., you will address an
audience of 300 people in the OAS Building's Hall of the
Americas. This is one of three signing ceremonies taking place
simultaneously in Washington, Ottawa, and Mexico City.
Your remarks (12 minutes, prompter) discuss the importance
of the NAFTA and its place in the democratic revolution underway
in the Americas. The remarks are meant to convey a broader
message about the new approach to the hemisphere established
through your policies. As such, we believe it is an important
"baseline" of achievement and a complement to your Texas A & M
speech on Tuesday.
8976
December 11, 1992
DRAFT
PRESIDENTIAL REMARKS:
NAFTA SIGNING
ORGANIZATION OF THE AMERICAN STATES
THURSDAY, DECEMBER 17, 1992
(Acknowledgements) Throughout history, the destiny of
nations has often been shaped by chance -- by the things that
happen to them. Then there are those unique nations who shape
their destinies by choice -- by the things that they make happen.
Three such nations come together today: Mexico, Canada, and the
United States of America.
By signing the North American Free Trade Agreement, we have
committed ourselves to a better future -- for our children and
for generations yet unborn. This agreement will remove barriers
to trade and investment across the two largest undefended borders
on the globe. We can scarcely imagine today the economic energy
we will release tomorrow, when 360 million citizens are set free
to build and buy and invest in the biggest free market the world
has ever seen.
I want to pay a personal tribute to my partners in this
endeavor, two rare and gifted leaders, and two special, valued
friends, without whose courage, leadership, and vision this day
would not have come. When the history of this era is written, it
will be said that the citizens of all the Americas were truly
fortunate that Mexico and Canada, two great nations and two proud
peoples, were led by President Carlos Salinas and Prime Minister
Brian Mulroney. Especially for Mexico, the NAFTA is a bold new
experiment, made possible by President Salinas' brave reforms to
invigorate the Mexican economy.
It is especially fitting that an American President sign
this agreement in this great Hall of the Americas, the home of
2
the Organization of American States. For the NAFTA represents
the first giant step towards fulfillment of a dream that has long
transfixed us all, the dream of a hemisphere united by economic
cooperation and free competition. Because of what we have begun
here today, I believe the time will come when trade is free from
Alaska to Argentina, when every citizen of the Americas has the
opportunity to share in new growth and expanding prosperity. I
hope and trust that the North American Free Trade area can be
extended to Chile and other worthy partners in South America,
Central America, and in the Caribbean Basin.
Free trade throughout the Americas is an idea whose time has
come. A new generation of democratic leaders has staked its
future on that promise. Under that generation's leadership, a
tide of economic reform and trade liberalization is transforming
the hemisphere.
Today, as a result, the hemisphere is growing again. For
the first time in years more capital is flowing into the Americas
for new investment than is flowing out to repay old debt. Every
major debtor nation, from Mexico to Argentina, has negotiated a
successful agreement to reduce and restructure its commercial
bank debt under the Brady Plan. Nearly a dozen other nations --
Guyana, Jamaica, Haiti, Nicaragua, Bolivia, Honduras, Chile,
Colombia, Paraguay, Argentina -- have, or shortly will, reduce
their official debt with the United States under the Enterprise
for the Americas Initiative. Interest payments on the remaining
debt will go into local trust funds to protect the environment.
To those in other regions struggling to reform statist
economies, Latin America shines as a solid example of hope that
hyperinflation can be tamed, growth can be revitalized, and new
investment and trade can accelerate if developing nations stay
3
the course through the difficult challenge of economic
restructuring.
These profound economic changes are a tribute to a
courageous group of democratic leaders in Latin America and the
Caribbean. Their revolutionary vision has changed permanently
the face of the Americas. Their friendship and counsel have been
enormously gratifying to me as President. But these profound
changes, along with the NAFTA itself, reflect a broader and, I
believe, more fundamental change in relations between the United
States and the nations of this hemisphere.
For many decades, we have proclaimed ambitious goals for
ourselves -- of a good neighbor policy, of an alliance for
progress, of a partnership built on mutual respect and shared
responsibility. Those goals are rapidly becoming a reality. I
believe that in the future America's relations with Latin America
and the Caribbean will grow even stronger. I was pleased to see
President-elect Clinton affirm that goal in his remarks recently
to both the Rio Group and to the Caribbean-Latin America Action
Conference.
This century's epic struggle between totalitarianism and
democracy is over; democracy has prevailed. Today, we see
unfolding around the world a revolution of hope and courage,
propelled by the aspiration of ordinary people for freedom and a
better life. The world will long remember the images of that
struggle -- a citizen of Berlin, sitting atop the Berlin Wall
with a hammer and chisel chipping the wall away; Boris Yeltsin
and his followers waving the flag of free Russia, defying the
tanks and coup plotters.
Here, in this hall, it is worth remembering that the global
democratic revolution surged forward in Latin America. No people
4
struggled for freedom against oppression more bravely than the
people of this hemisphere. No people sacrificed more to create a
new life. Here in the Americas we are constructing a hopeful
model of the new post-cold war world of which we dream.
This is the first hemisphere -- and the OAS is the first
regional organization in the world -- to take on, through the
Santiago Declaration, the formal, collective responsibility to
defend democracy.
In this hemisphere, the weapons of mass destruction --
strategic missiles as well as nuclear, chemical and biological
weapons -- have been rejected voluntarily.
In this hemisphere, we have created new models of
multilateral cooperation to help resolve the conflicts that
tormented Central America.
In this hemisphere, we have forged a new partnership to
defeat the global menace of narco-trafficking.
Still, we are not satisfied. The birth of democracy has
raised expectations throughout the Americas; now democracy must
deliver. The communications revolution has opened our eyes to
the wider world; we cannot close them to limits on legitimate
political participation, to official corruption, or to economic
protection for the favored few.
If democracy is to be consolidated, the gulfs that separate
the few who are very rich from the many who are very poor, that
divide civilian from military institutions, that split citizens
of Spanish heritage from indigenous peoples -- these gulfs must
be narrowed. Economic reform must ensure upward mobility and
new opportunities for a better life for ordinary citizens.
Enterprise and initiative, imagination and energy -- all are
required to create the conditions for that better life.
5
To fulfill its promise, democratic government must guarantee
not only the right to regular elections, but human rights and
property rights, swift and impartial justice, and the rule of
law. Democratic governments must deliver basic services, and
democratic institutions must be strengthened and modernized. To
defend democracy successfully, the OAS must strengthen the tools
at its disposal. I commend the new steps you took this week to
suspend non-democratic regimes. Together we must also create new
means to end historic border disputes and construct new regimes
to control the competition in conventional weaponry.
In all this, the United States bears a special
responsibility. It is a moment of maximum opportunity -- but
also continued risk. We must remain engaged -- for, more than
ever before, our future is bound up with the future of the
Americas. In the struggle to defend democracy, our deepest
values are at stake.
This year marks the 500th anniversary of a voyage of
discovery to the new world. Let this also be a time of
rediscovery for my country, the United States, of the importance
of our own hemisphere. Travel to Miami or El Paso, Los Angeles
or Chicago or New York -- and listen to the language of our
neighborhoods. We are tied to the Americas, not just by
geography or history, but by who we are as a people. No one
knows that more profoundly than this proud grandfather.
If we are equal to the challenges before us, we can build in
the Americas the world's first completely democratic hemisphere.
This hemisphere can be, as well, a zone of peace, where trade
flows freely, prosperity is shared, the rule of law is respected,
and the gifts of technology are harnessed for all.
6
More then 150 years ago, Simon Bolivar, (see-MONE-bo-LEE-
var) the liberator whose statue stands outside this hall, spoke
about "an America united in heart, subject to one law, and guided
by the torch of liberty." My friends: here in this hemisphere
we are on the way to realizing Bolivar's dream. Today, with the
signing of the North American Free Trade Agreement, we took
another giant step towards making it a reality.
Thank you very much.
#
#
#
DEC 15 '92 9:56
PAGE. 001
Instructions to Sender: Please be certain all shaded areas are completed and no staples.
FACSIMILE COVER SHEET
OFFICE OF THE UNITED STATES TRADE REPRESENTATIVE
Executive Office of the President
Washington, D.C. 20506
Section #
8
Date
Time Sent
12/15/92
C.D. Log Number
Number of Pages Excluding Cover
TO: NAME:
AGENCY:
PHONE #:
FAX #:
PAUL KDRfooT, CABINET A
( )
( )
( )
( )
( )
( )
( )
( )
( )
( )
( )
( )
POLICY COORDINATION
...
FROM:
FRed montgomery
PHONE:
202-395-7210
FAX #:
(202) 395-3640
CONTACT:
If There are any problems please call: (202)395-7210
SUBJECT:
NAFTA signing Changes
/
DE/C 15 '92 9:57
PAGE. 003
SENT BY:Xerox Telecopier 7020 12-14-92 ; 2:34PM ;
OPD-3953640
:# 2
SENT BY:Xerox Telecopier 7020 12-14-92 ; 14:39 :
The White House-
OPD:# 3
8976
December 11, 1992
DRAFT
PRESIDENTIAL REMARKS:
NAFTA SIGNING
ORGANIZATION OF TME AMERICAN STATES
THURSDAY, DECEMBER 17, 1992
(Acknowledgements) Throughout history, the destiny of
nations has often been shaped by chance -- by the things that
happen to them. Then there are those unique nations who shape
their destinies by choice -- by the things that they make happen.
Three such nations come together today: Mexico, Canada, and the
United states of America.
By signing the North American Free Trade Agreement, we have
committed ourselves to a better future -- for our children and
for generations yet unborn. This agreement will remove barriers
to trade and investment across the two largest undefended borders
on the globa. We can scarcely imagine today the economic energy
we will release tomorrow, when 360 million citizens are set free
to build and buy and invest in the biggest free market the world
has ever seen.
I want to pay a personal tribute to my partners in this
endeavor, two rare and gifted leaders, and two special, valued
friends, without whose courage, leadership, and vision this day
would not have come. When the history of this era is written, it
will be said that the citizens of all the Americas ware truly
fortunate that Mexico and Canada, two great nations and two proud
peoples, were led by President Carles salinas and Prime Minister
Brian Mulroney. Especially for Mexico, the NAFTA is a bold new
undertating made possible by President Salinas' brave reforms to open $
invigorate the Mexican economy.
Extended Page
3.1
It is especially fitting that an American President sign
this agreement in this great Hall of the Americas, the home of
2024567739 PAGE.002
DEC 14 '92 14:20
DEC 15 '92 9:58
PAGE. 004
SENT BY:Xerox Telecopier 7020 12-14-92 ; 2:35PM ;
OPD-3953640
;# 3
SENT BY:Xerox Telecopier 7020 :12-14-92 : 14:40 ;
The White House-
OPD:# 4
2
the Organisation of American States. For the NAFTA represents
the first giant step towards fulfillment of a dream that has long
transfixed us all, the dream of a hemisphere united by economic
cooperation and free competition. Because of what we have begun
here today, I believe the time will come when trade is free from
Alaska to Argentina, when every citizen of the Americas has the
opportunity to share in new growth and expanding prosperity. I
hope and trust that the North American Free Trade area can be
extended to Chile and other worthy partners in South America,
Central America, and in the Caribbean Basin.
Free trade throughout the Americas is an idea whose time has
come. A new generation of democratic leaders has staked its
future on that promise. Under that generation's leadership, a
tide of economic reform and trade liberalisation is transforming
the hemisphere.
Today, as a result, the hemisphere is growing again. For
the first time in years more capital is flowing into the Americas
for new investment than is flowing out to repay old debt. Every
majer debtor nation, from Mexico to Argentina, has negotiated a
successful agreement to reduce and restructure its commercial
bank debt under the Brady Plan. Nearly a dozen other nations --
Guyana, Jamaioa, Haiti, Nicaragua, Bolivia, reduced Honduras, Chile, (USTR)
Colombia, Paraguay, Argentina -- have, or shertly will, reduce reduce
their official debt with the United States under the Enterprise
for the Americas Initiative. Interest payments on the remaining
debt will go into local trust funds to protect the environment.
To those in other regions struggling to reform statist
aconomies, Latin America shines as a solid example of hope that
Extended Page 4.1
hyperinflation can be taxed, growth can be revitalised, and new
investment and trade san ascelerate if developing nations stay
2024567739 PAGE.003
DEC 14 '92 14:21
DEC 15 '92 9:58
PAGE. 005
SENT BY:Xerox Telecopier 7020 112-14-92 ; 2:36PM :
OPD-3953640
# 4
SENT BY:Xerox Telecopier 7020 112-14-92 ; 14:40
:
The White House->
OPD:# 6
3
the course through the difficult challenge of economic
restructuring.
These profound economic changes are a tribute to 2
courageous group of democratic leaders in Latin America and the
Caribbean. Their revelutionary vision has changed permanently
the face of the Americas. Their friendship and counsel have been
enermously gratifying to me as President. But these profound
changes, along with the NAFTA itself, reflect a broader and, I
balieve, more fundamental change in relations between the United
States and the nations of this hemisphere.
For many decades, we have proclaimed ambitious goals for
curselves - of good neighbor policy, of an alliance for
progress, of a partnership built on mutual respect and shared
responsibility. Those goals are rapidly becoming a reality. I
believe that in the future America's relations with Latin America
and the Caribbean will grow even stronger. I was pleased to see
President-elect Clinton affirm that goal in his remarks recently
to both the Rio Group and to the Caribbean-Latin America Action
Conference.
This century's apic struggle between totalitarianism and
democracy is ever; democracy has prevailed. Today, we see
unfolding around the world à revolution of hope and courage,
propelled by the aspiration of ordinary people for freedom and a
better life. The world will long remember the images of that
struggle -- at citizen of Berlin, sitting stop the Berlin Wall
with a hammer and chisel chipping the wall away, Boris Yeltsin
and his followers waving the flag of free Russia, defying the
tanks and cente eletters.
Extended Page 5.1
Here, in this hall, it is worth remembering that the global
democratic revolution surged forward in Latin America. No people
2024567739 PAGE 004
DFC 14 '92 14:21
DEC 15 '92 9:59
PAGE. 006
SENT BY:Xerox Telecopier 7020 112-14-82 ; 2:36PM ;
OPD-3953640
:# 5
SENT BY:Xerox Telecopier 7020 112-14-92 i 14:41
The White House*
OPD:# 6
4
struggled for freedom against oppression more bravely than the
people of this hamisphere. No people sacrificed more to create a
new life. Here in the Americas we are constructing a hopeful
model of the new post-cold war world of which we dream.
This is the first hemisphere -- and the OAS is the first
regional organization in the world - to take on, through the
Santiago Declaration, the fermal, collective responsibility to
defend democracy.
In this hemisphere, the weapons of mass destruction --
strategic missiles as well as nuclear, chemical and biological
weapons - have been rejected voluntarily.
In this hemisphere, we have created new models of
multilateral cosperation to help resolve the conflicts that
tormented Central America.
In this hemisphere, we have forged a new partnership to
defeat the global menage of narco-trafficking.
still, we are not satisfied. The birth of democracy has
raised expectations throughout the Americas, now democracy must
deliver. The communications revolution has opened our eyes to
the wider world; we cannot close them to limits on legitimate
political participation, to official corruption, or to economic
protection for the fevored few.
If democracy is to be consolidated, the gulfs that separate
the few who are very rich from the many who are very poor, that
divide civilian from military institutions, that split citizens
of Spanish heritage from indigenous peoples -- these gulfs must
be harrowed. Economic reform must ensure upward mobility and
new opportunities for a better life for ordinary citizens.
Extended Page 6.1
Enterprise and initiative, imagination and energy Mm All are
required to create the conditions for that better life.
2024567739 PAGE. 005
DEC 14 '92 14:22
DEC 15 '92 10:00
PAGE. 007
SENT BY:Xerox Telecopier 7020 :12-14-92 ; 2:37PM ;
OPD-3953640
:# 6
SENT BY:Xerox Telecopier 7020 :12-14-92 ; 14:41 :
The White House++
OPD:# 7
5
To fulfill its premise, democratic government must guarantee
not only the right to regular elections, but human rights and
property rights, swift and impartial justice, and the rule of
law. Democratic governments must deliver basic services, and
democratic institutions must be strangthened and modernized. TO
defend democracy successfully, the OAS must strengthen the tools
at its disposal. I commend the new steps you took this week to
suspend non-democratic regimes. Together we must also create new
means to end historic border disputes and construct new regimes
to control the compatition in conventional weaponry.
In all this, the United States bears a special
responsibility. It is a moment of maximum opportunity -- but
also continued risk. We must remain engaged -- fer, more than
ever before, our future is bound up with the future of the
Americas. In the struggle to defend democracy, our despest
values are at stake.
This year marks the 500th anniversary of a voyage of
discovery to the new world. Let this also be a time of
rediscovery for my country, the United States, of the importance
of our own hemisphere. Travel to Miami or El Paso, Los Angeles
or Chicago or New York - and listen to the language of our
neighborhoods. We are tied to the Americas, not just by
geegraphy or history, but by who we are as a people. No one
knows that more profoundly than this proud grandfather.
If we are equal to the challenges before us, we can build in
the Americas the world's first completely democratic hemisphere.
This hemisphere can ba, as well, a sone of paace, where trade
Flowa freely. promority is shared. the rule of 1aw is respected.
Extended Page 7.1
and the gifts of technology are harnessed for mll,
2024567739 PAGE.006
DEC 14 '92 14:23
DEC 15 '92 10:01
PAGE. 008
SENT BY:Xerox Telecopier 7020 112-14-92 ; 2:37PM ;
OPD-3953640
:# 7
SENT BY:Xerox Telecopier 7020 112-14-82 ; 14:42 ;
The White House*
OPD:# 8
6
More then 150 years ago, Simon Boliver,
var) the liberator whose status stands outside this hall, spoke
about "an America united in heart, subject to one law, and guided
by the torch of liberty." MY friends: here in this hemisphere
we are on the way to realizing Bolivar's dream. Today, with the
signing of the North American Free Trade Agreement, we took.
another giant stop towards making it a reality.
Thank you very much.
andy --
I've done a master for NAFTA.
please note the factual question on p. 2. I'd prefer to go with
something close to what CEA and Treasury have.
CEQ has suggested several inserts. (See attached to master. )
I think we can use them to amplify what we've got, but I don't
want to add them in full. What do you think?
Also, Potus wants to add a Brady insert -- see folder.
We should plan on sending this up by Noon.
Amer
SENT BY:CEQ Jackson PI.
12-14-92 ; 7:30PM ;
2023953744-
2
CEQ 2024566218:# 2
the Organization of American States. For the NAFTA represents
the first giant step towards fulfillment of a dream that has long
transfixed us all, the dream of a hemisphere united by economic
cooperation and free competition. Because of what we have begun
here today, I believe the time will come when trade is free from
Alaska to Argentina, when every citizen of the Americas has the
opportunity to share in new growth and expanding prosperity. I
hope and trust that the North American Free Trade area can be
extended to Chile and other worthy partners in South America,
Central America, and in the Caribbean Basin.
Free trade throughout the Americas is an idea whose time has
come. A new generation of democratic leaders has staked its
future on that promise. Under that generation's leadership, a
tide of economic reform and trade liberalization is transforming
the hemisphere.
Today, as a result, the hemisphere is growing again. For
the first time in years more capital is flowing into the Americas
for new investment than is flowing out to repay old debt. Every
major debtor nation, from Mexico to Argentina, has negotiated a
successful agreement to reduce and restructure its commercial
bank debt under the Brady Plan. Nearly a dozen other nations --
Guyana, Jamaica, Haiti, Nicaragua, Bolivia, Honduras, Chile,
Colombia, Paraguay, Argentina -- have, or shortly will, reduce
their official debt with the United States under the Enterprise
for the Americas Initiative Interest payments A on the remaining
see INSERT
expand
no
debt will go into local trust funds to protect the environment.
envt
To those in other regions struggling to reform statist
here
economies, Latin America shines as a solid example of hope that
hyperinflation can be tamed, growth can be revitalized, and new
investment and trade can accelerate if developing nations stav
SENT BY:CEQ Jackson PI.
:12-14-92 ; 7:31PM ;
2023953744-
2024566218:# 3
4
struggled for freedom against oppression more bravely than the
people
of this hemisphere. No people sacrificed more to create a
?
new life.
Here in the Americas we are constructing a hopeful
model of the new post-cold war world of which we dream.
antward
phrasing
This is the first hemisphere -- and the OAS is the first
regional organization in the world -- to take on, through the
Santiago Declaration, the formal, collective responsibility to
defend democracy.
In this hemisphere, the weapons of mass destruction --
strategic missiles as well as nuclear, chemical and biological
weapons -- have been rejected voluntarily.
In this hemisphere, we have created new models of
multilateral cooperation to help resolve the conflicts that
tormented Central America.
INSERT B
In this hemisphere, we have forged a new partnership to
defeat the global menace of narco-trafficking.
Still, we are not satisfied. The birth of democracy has
raised expectations throughout the Americas; now democracy must
deliver. The communications revolution has opened our eyes to
the wider world; we cannot close them to limits on legitimate
political participation, to official corruption, or to economic
protection for the favored few.
we need to give freedom its full
meaning - including freedom from want,
If democracy is to be consolidated
the gulfs that separate Fredom
negative and
the few who are very rich from the many who are very poor, that from
divide civilian from military institutions, that split citizens
fear, and
unkward
Fredam
of Spanish heritage from indigenous peoples -- these gulfs must from an
be narrowed.
unsafe
Economic reform must ensure upward mobility and environment.
new opportunities for a better life for ordinary citizens.
Enterprise and initiative, imagination and energy -- all are
ankward
required to create the conditions for that better life.
phrasing
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To fulfill its promise, democratic government must guarantee
not only the right to regular elections, but human rights and
property rights, swift and impartial Justice, and the rule of
(and a better guality of life
law. Democratic governments must deliver basic services, and
reducidants ml above
democratic institutions must be strengthened and modernized. To
defend democracy successfully, the OAS must strengthen the tools
at its disposal. I commend the new steps you took this week to
suspend non-democratic regimes. Together we must also create new
means to end historic border disputes and construct new regimes
to control the competition in conventional weaponry.
In all this, the United States bears a special
responsibility. It is a moment of maximum opportunity -- but
also continued risk. We must remain engaged -- for, more than
ever before, our future is bound up with the future of the
Americas. In the struggle to defend democracy, our deepest
values are at stake.
This year marks the 500th anniversary of a voyage of
This is also
discovery to the new world. Let this also be] be a time of
rediscovery for my country, [the United States of the importance
of our own hemisphere. Travel to Miami or El Paso, Los Angeles
or Chicago or New York -- and listen to the language of our
neighborhoods. We are tied to the Americas, not just by
geography or history, but by who we are as a people. No one
knows that more profoundly than this proud grandfather.
If we are equal to the challenges before us, we can build in
the Americas the world's first completely democratic hemisphere.
This hemisphere can be, as well, a zone of peace, where trade
flows freely, prosperity is shared, the rule of law is respected,
nature and
and the gifts of technology are harnessed for all.
Bernie's comments:
Page 1:
He believes "especially" should be removed.
Would be unfortunate for the Canadians;
not really the way to start out for Mexico.
page 4:
Wd like to add the words "throughout our
hemisphere" where noted.
Wd like to delete the last sentence of
this same para. Perhaps too Pollyannaish.
Co per Andy Sens 647-5780
12/14
3:30 pm
Dan,
RBZ agrees w/Bernie Aronson's comments
as noted here. Pls incorporate them.
thanks Cozetta 12/14 5:30 PM
12/14/92 15:35
1
002
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December 11, 1992
DRAFT
PRESIDENTIAL REMARKS: NAFTA SIGNING
ORGANIZATION OF THE AMERICAN STATES
THURSDAY, DECEMBER 17, 1992
(Acknowladgements) Throughout history, the destiny of
nations has often been shaped by chance -- by the things that
happen to them. Then there are those unique nations who shape
their destinies by choice -- by the things that they make happen.
Three such nations come together today: Mexico, Canada, and the
United States of America.
By signing the North American Free Trade Agreement, we have
committed ourselves to a better future -- for our children and
for generations yet unborn. This agreement will remove barriers
to trade and investment across the two largest undefended borders
on the globe. We can scarcely imagine today the economic energy
we will release tomorrow, when 360 million citizens are set free
to build and buy and invest in the biggest free market the world
has ever seen.
I want to pay a personal tribute to my partners in this
endeavor, two rare and gifted leaders, and two special, valued
friends, without whose courage, leadership, and vision this day
would not have come. When the history of this era is written, it
will be said that the citizens of all the Americas were truly
fortunate that Mexico and Canada, two great nations and two proud
peoples, were led by President Carlos Salinas and Prime Minister
Brian Mulroney. X for Mexico, the NAFTA is a bold new
experiment, made possible by President Salinas' brave reforms to
invigorate the Mexican economy.
It is especially fitting that an American President sign
this agreement in this great Hall of the Americas, the home of
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struggled for freedom against oppression more bravely than the
people of this hemisphere. No people sacrificed more to create a
new life. Here in the Americas we are constructing A hopeful
model of the new post-cold war world of which we dream.
This is the first hemisphere -- and the OAS is the first
regional organization in the world -- to take on, through the
Santiago Declaration, the formal, collective responsibility to
defend democracy.
In this homisphere, the veapons of mass destruction --
strategic missiles as well as nuclear, chemical and biological
weapons have been rejected voluntarily.
In this hemisphere, we have created new models of
multilateral cooperation to help resolve the conflicts that
tormented Central America.
In this hemisphere, we have forged a new partnership to
defeat the global menace of narco-trafficking.
Still, we are not satisfied. The birth of democracy has
raised expectations throughout the Americas; now democracy must
deliver. The communications revolution has opened our eyes to
the wider world; we cannot close them to limits on legitimate
political participation, to official corruption, or to economic
protection for the favored few.
If democracy is to be consolidated, the gulfs that separate
throughout our hempsphere
the few who are very rich from the many who are vary poor, that
divide civilian from military institutions, that split citizens
of Spanish heritage from indigenous peoples -- these gulfs must
be narrowed. Economic reform must ensure upward mobility and
new opportunities for a better life for ordinary citizens.
required Enterprise to and create initiative, the conditions imagination for that and better energy life all are