-Caveat Lector-
Clinton pitches WTO plan
November 10, 1999: 6:46 p.m. ET
YORK, Pa. (AP) - Visiting a Harley-Davidson factory Wednesday to pitch his
trade agenda, President Clinton donned a leather jacket and checked out a
yellow and black Softail Deuce as it rolled off the assembly line.
He told 2,000 cheering workers gathered under a tent in the parking lot
that he welcomed the expected crowds of protesters at the upcoming world
trade talks in Seattle for the same reason he traveled to Pennsylvania: to
spark a broad dialogue on the pros and cons of trade to the U.S. economy.
"Every group in the world with an ax to grind is going to Seattle to
demonstrate. I'll have more demonstrators against me than I've had in the
whole seven years I've been president," Clinton said. `I'm kind of looking
forward to it."
"I want all the consumer groups to come. I want everybody who thinks
this is a bad deal to come," the president said. "I want everybody to get
all this out of their system and say their peace of mind. And I want us to
have a huge debate about this."
Clinton credited the current economic expansion to his policies to pay
down the federal debt and to lowering barriers to trade. He argued that
environmentalists and labor groups who oppose greater engagement with the
World Trade Organization miss the point: Without expanding trade to keep the
economy humming, the country will lack the resources to clean up the
environment or continue creating jobs that pay well.
"Don't let this trade debate be the province of politicians and CEOs,"
the president said. "You embrace it. It's your future, and your children's
future."
The Harley-Davidson (HDI) event, coordinated with about 20 similar
discussions between executives and workers at other companies across the
country, kicked off an administration campaign leading up to the WTO talks
at month's end.
The Seattle meeting is supposed to draw up the ground rules for the
next round of negotiations to lower tariffs and other barriers to the sale
of farm products, manufactured goods and high-tech services.
The administration is urging the WTO to establish a working group on
trade and eliminate tariffs on the sale of environmental protection products
in hopes of ending opposition from labor and environmental groups to further
trade expansion.
While some labor and environmental groups plan to protests the talks
beginning in Seattle on Nov. 30, a broad cross section of corporate
representatives and the president of the AFL-CIO has signed onto the
administration's negotiating priorities.
Clinton found plenty of support at the motorcycle factory.
Harley-Davidson hit hard times because of cheap Japanese imports in the
1980s, and the company attributes its turnaround in part to tariffs levied
by the Reagan administration.
Union leaders were joining with company chiefs in trade discussion
events across the country, showing support for Clinton's overall agenda even
though labor groups were expected to join in the Seattle protests.
"What we see here today," Clinton told the cheering motorcycle plant
workers, "is how people feel when they have got a job that they do well,
that gives them not only a decent income but a full measure of dignity and
pride."
Samhain( All Hallows Eve ): The only time of year we can truly be
rselves. -- Shane A. Saylor, Eccentric Bard
DECLARATION & DISCLAIMER
==========
CTRL is a discussion and informational exchange list. Proselyzting propagandic
screeds are not allowed. Substance�not soapboxing! These are sordid matters
and 'conspiracy theory', with its many half-truths, misdirections and outright
frauds is used politically by different groups with major and minor effects
spread throughout the spectrum of time and thought. That being said, CTRL
gives no endorsement to the validity of posts, and always suggests to readers;
be wary of what you read. CTRL gives no credeence to Holocaust denial and
nazi's need not apply.
Let us please be civil and as always, Caveat Lector.
========================================================================
Archives Available at:
http://home.ease.lsoft.com/archives/CTRL.html
http:[EMAIL PROTECTED]/
========================================================================
To subscribe to Conspiracy Theory Research List[CTRL] send email:
SUBSCRIBE CTRL [to:] [EMAIL PROTECTED]
To UNsubscribe to Conspiracy Theory Research List[CTRL] send email:
SIGNOFF CTRL [to:] [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Om
