[Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States: George H. W. Bush (1992-1993, Book II)]
[December 17, 1992]
[Pages 2200-2203]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office www.gpo.gov]



[[Page 2200]]


Remarks on Signing the North American Free Trade Agreement
December 17, 1992

    Thank you, Mr. Secretary General. And let me say at the outset how 
very pleased I am to be here. May I thank you for permitting us to have 
this ceremony here and welcoming us. I'm delighted to be back here. I've 
been privileged as Vice President and President over the past 12 years 
to be here on quite a few occasions, and I am so thrilled that this, the 
final one, is to sign the NAFTA agreement.
    I want to salute so many people here today. I see so many members of 
our Cabinet that worked diligently on this agreement, whether it was 
Commerce under Bob Mosbacher; or Labor, Lynn Martin; or the 
Environmental Protection Agency under Bill Reilly; the Interior with 
Manuel Lujan. We're all represented here today. And the list should be 
inclusive, not exclusive, because this has been a massive team effort on 
the part of the Canadian Government, the Mexican Government, and 
certainly the U.S. side as well. But I do want to single out Ambassador 
Jules Katz, who is the Deputy to Carla Hills sitting over here, who 
worked tirelessly on this agreement, and then, of course, our special 
representative, the U.S. Trade Representative, Carla Hills, herself, 
sitting in the middle, who made this a labor of love and put everything 
she had into it. We owe her a great vote of thanks from the U.S. side.
    Many others at the State Department, from Jim Baker on, were 
extraordinarily interested in this, kept the diplomacy alive and moving 
forward, and I salute them. Bernie Aronson is with us today. I'm 
delighted to see him here. He, too, has taken this on as a very special 
project. Arnold Kanter, our Acting Secretary, today Acting Secretary of 
State, is with us, and as I say, Bernie Aronson. And of course, I would 
be remiss if I singled out Americans if I didn't mention one who came in 
with me here, General Brent Scowcroft, who's done an awful lot to see 
that the White House was fully involved in these proceedings. So, there 
we are. And again I salute two more: the Mexican Ambassador to the 
United States, Gustavo Petricioli, who's over here, and of course, Derek 
Burney, over here.
    I know we have many representatives from other nations here, and I 
don't want to bore you with how things work in this country, but we have 
tried since the beginning of these negotiations to keep the various 
Members of Congress, the key Members of Congress, fully engaged in this, 
having them understand the gives and the takes that go with any 
complicated negotiation. And I'm very pleased to see several of the key 
Members of Congress, Members of the United States Senate here today. So, 
that's the American side.
    Let me just now get on with some comments about this agreement and 
about the common business that brings us all together, the affairs of 
this hemisphere. Throughout history, the destiny of nations has often 
been shaped by change and by chance and by the things--when I say 
chance, I'm talking about things that happen to them. And 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. And by signing the North American free trade agreement, 
we've 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 of the globe and 
link the United States in a permanent partnership of growth with our 
first and third largest trading partners.
    The peace and friendship that we've 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, two special and valued friends without 
whose courage and leadership and vision this day could not have possibly 

come about. And when the history of

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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, 
two proud people, were led by President Carlos Salinas and Prime 
Minister Brian Mulroney. For Mexico particularly, especially, the NAFTA 
is a bold undertaking, made possible by President Salinas' brave reforms 
to reinvigorate, to invigorate the Mexican economy.
    It's especially fitting that an American President sign this 
agreement in this great Hall of the Americas, the home of the 
Organization of American States. You see, 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, other worthy partners in South America and 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. And 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 just offer a brief aside about the Brady plan if I might. I 
remember telling my good friend Nick Brady, our Secretary of the 
Treasury, ``Okay, we'll call it the Brady plan, but if it's successful 
we're going to call it the Bush plan.'' [Laughter] And he reluctantly 
accepted that guidance.
    I think history will show that the leadership of our distinguished 
Secretary of the Treasury did pay off and the plan has been highly 
successful. And by the way, the name will always be, appropriately, the 
Brady plan. And that's the way it's going to stay.
    Now, under the Enterprise for the Americas, many nations, Jamaica, 
Bolivia, Chile, Colombia, El Salvador, Uruguay, have reduced or shortly 
will reduce their official debt with the United States. The Enterprise 
for the Americas Initiative is working. 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, a more fundamental change in relations 
between the United States and the nations of this hemisphere. For many 
decades, we've 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. And those goals now are 
rapidly becoming a reality.
    My talks with the hemisphere's leaders in recent weeks show a strong 
consensus that relations between the United States and its neighbors 
have never in our history been better, and that this development is 
working to benefit all of our peoples. And I take great pride in the 
fact that, working with those leaders, we've been a part of all of that.
    I believe that in the future, America's re- lations with Latin 
America and the Caribbean will grow even stronger. I was pleased to hear 
our new President-elect, Bill Clinton,

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affirm that same goal in his remarks recently, both to the Rio group and 
to the Caribbean Latin America Action Conference.
    This century's epic struggle between totalitarianism and democracy 
is over. It's dead. Democracy has prevailed. And 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, you know, sitting atop of the wall, chipping away with his 
hammer and chisel; Boris Yeltsin and his followers waving the flag of 
free Russia and defying the tanks and coup plotters. And 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.
    And 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. And in this hemisphere, the weapons 
of mass destruction, strategic missiles, as well as nuclear, chemical, 
and biological weapons, have been rejected voluntarily. And in this 
hemisphere, we've created new models of multilateral cooperation and 
success in resolving the conflicts that have tormented Central America.
    As recent proof of the progress we've made, just 2 days ago we 
celebrated--and I'm sure everyone did--celebrated the end of the war in 
El Salvador. In this hemisphere, we have forged a new partnership to 
defeat the global menace of narco-trafficking, and we must succeed in 
that effort. And still we're not satisfied. The birth of democracy has 
raised expectations throughout the Americas, and now democracy must 
deliver. The communications revolution has opened the eyes of this 
hemisphere's citizens to the wider world. We're 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, and 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 must be modernized. To defend democracy successfully, 
the OAS must strengthen the tools at its disposal, and I commend the new 
steps that you took this week to suspend nondemocratic regimes. Together 
we must also create new means to end historic border disputes and to 
control the competition in conventional weaponry.
    In all of this, I believe my country, the United States of America, 
bears a special responsibility. We face a moment of maximum opportunity 
but also, let's face it, continued risk. And we must remain engaged, for 
more than ever before our future, our future, is bound up with the 
future of the Americas.
    This is the fastest growing region in the world for U.S. products. 
And 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, not just by history but by who we are as 
a people. And 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. And 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. Just think about 
that. Think of the importance. Think of the significance. Think of the 
ex-

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ample for the rest of the world.
    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, 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 Simon Bolivar's dream. 
And today with the signing of the North American Free Trade Agreement, 
we take another giant step towards making the dream a reality.
    Thank you all very much for coming. And now I have the high honor of 
signing this agreement. Thank you.

[At this point, the President signed the North American Free Trade 
Agreement.]

    Good luck to all of you now in the future. God bless you.

                    Note: The President spoke at 2:32 p.m. at the 
                        Organization of American States. In his remarks, 
                        he referred to Joao Clemente Baena Soares, 
                        Secretary General of the Organization of 
                        American States; Bernard Aronson, Assistant 
                        Secretary of State for Inter-American Affairs; 
                        and Derek H. Burney, Canadian Ambassador to the 
                        United States.