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        "Records of the Domestic Policy Council (Clinton Administration)",
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    "ocrText": "would be no sacrifice for Mexico: in the natural course of events, Mexican authorities would use\na percentage of new revenues for water treatment and other environmental programs. Financial\nand tax incentives from Mexico could also steer retirees and the associated development to needy\nparts of the country; lease arrangements could give poor farming communities a substantial new\nsource of income, even as retirees brought new investment and new jobs to local communities.\nIn both Mexico and the United States, this program will be seen as addressing key problems in\nthe current relationship.\nFinally. the US needs to find ways to make serious, sustained investment in Mexican\ninfrastructure possible - to organize a NAFTA development program that can work as effectively\nas the EU cohesion funds did in transforming Spain and Portugal. Clearly, this can't be done by\ndirect transfers of public funds. Instead, ways need to be found to make Mexican infrastructure\ninvestment more attractive to private capital.\nA successful regional retirement program would help get the ball rolling; tax revenues from\nretirees would sustain substantial levels of investment in roads, airports, water purification,\npower generation and waste management facilities.\nBeyond this, it would be useful to identify ways in which a tripartite NAFTA authority could\npromote infrastructure development. NAFTA governments could jointly guarantee bond issues\nin some cases - with project management under NAFTA supervision to lessen any problems\nwith corruption. Perhaps the three governments jointly set up a development agency which like\nFannie Mae enjoys a sort of moral guarantee for its authorized business.\nWith long term finance, it might be possible to build highways using the development rights to\nadjacent land as the revenue source to offset construction and finance costs - reducing or\neliminating the high tolls that have limited the usefulness of many private sector development\nprojects. Port authorities similar to the New York system under tripartite NAFTA management\nmight, with even limited guarantees, access long term finance. With regional retirement, it\nbecomes possible to finance a major expansion in the Mexican health care system; US Medicare\nreimbursements provide a dollar denominated cash flow.\nTo make these programs more popular in the United States and Canada, the NAFTA\ndevelopment programs could and should come with labor and environmental requirements, but\nthey should also have purchasing requirements. Perhaps 50% of the raw materials used in a\nNAFTA project should come from the United States and Canada. In this way, the program\nwould be seen as a job creation and protection program.\nThe overall strategy would be clear and compelling. The United States wants to help Mexico get\nrich on the basis of balanced growth. We are doing this to stop illegal immigration, to enhance\npolitical and social stability in Mexico, to reduce Mexico's vulnerability to narco-trafficking and\ncorruption and above all, because a rich Mexico will be good for the United States. In Europe,\ncountries like France and Germany benefit because the core member states of the EU are all rich\ncountries. We want to live in a rich neighborhood too, so that Mexicans can buy more goods\nfrom us - and clean up their environment and do all the other good things that rich countries do."
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