President Clinton celebrated an oh-so-sweet victory Wednesday as he signed legislation to implement the North American Free Trade Agreement, calling it "a defining moment for our nation."
"I believe we have made a decision now that will permit us to create an economic order in the world that will create more growth, more equality, better preservation of the environment and the greater possibility of world peace," Clinton declared.The trade agreement, scheduled to take effect Jan. 1, over the next 15 years eliminates tariffs and other barriers to the movement of goods, services and investment among the United States, Canada and Mexico. It creates the world's largest and richest trading bloc, covering 360 million people.
Taking note of other negotiations in Geneva to wrap up a long-sought world trade deal, Clinton called on countries to "seize this moment and close the deal."
Clinton's enthusiastic audience at a government auditorium included members of Congress, governors, mayors, business leaders and other supporters of the three-nation trade pact. A handful of union members who bucked the labor tide to back NAFTA were among the invited guests.
"This whole issue turned out to be a defining moment for our nation," Clinton told them. "We are ready to compete, and we can win."
The president was preceded to the dais by Vice President Al Gore, who called passage of NAFTA "a moment when our country has chosen to take the lead in shaping a new world of expanded trade and expanded opportunity."
Gore struck a conciliatory tone after the hard-fought battle, saying "good men and women fought on both sides of this issue."
Clinton, too, reached out to NAFTA critics, particularly those worried about their jobs, saying, "the gains from this agreement will be your gains, too."