Here Comes Ross
"Ross Perot regretted not running for President in 1992. When he saw Clinton's campaign implode he figured he would have posed an obvious alternative. He immediately decided to run for President in 1996, and so he began to get his name back in the public eye. At an Anti-NAFTA rally in New Hampshire, Perot showed up as the Keynote and scolded the Bush Administration for throwing away real American jobs. He led the Anti-NAFTA movement, spearheading operations to block the ratification of the treaty. This produced a cold relationship between him and President Bush, as Bush fought overtime to get the treaty ratified as soon as possible. Perot was his roadblock, lobbying legislators and turning public opinion."
-Excerpt from H. Ross Perot and His Times by Bob Woodward published 1998
"Now I wish I had run for President last year so I could have told you about the dangers of this treaty! What you're going to have is a giant sucking sound - the sound of American jobs being pulled into Mexico. Now, the simple truth is: NAFTA is not a two-way street. There are no environmental controls, no pollution controls, none of that. Let's make sure that your Senators and Congressmen read the bill! Not only do they have to read it, now, but they've gotta make sense of it. I read it - couldn't understand all of it - so I brought in the people who know what its consequences will be. You're going to see American jobs lost. You're going to see the end of this economy, and you're going to see the destruction of the nation. Now these are - it's very serious, very serious down there in Washington. What y'all gotta do is call your Senators and Congressmen, call other Senators and make sure that this thing gets voted down so that together we can save this economy!"
-Excerpt from Ross Perot's speech at an anti-NAFTA rally; April 3, 1993
"The NAFTA Agreement is in danger. I'm working overtime to get it passed, but things aren't looking too good. Well, not as good as they once were. I'm putting significant pressure on the GOP and the Democrats to come together and pass the damned thing, and there's real support there, but when you got idiots like Ross Perot running around saying it'll ruin our economy, it's not hard to see why they can't make up their minds on the thing. I can't stop trying, but I'm hoping that some big Democratic names will come out and push the agreement through."
-From the Diaries of George H.W. Bush; April 25, 1993
"If the President will support a side agreement that protects the environment, I will support NAFTA. Until he does, I will work to prevent that treaty's ratification, because the environment is an all-important issue, but one that often gets ignored. If we do not fight for a cleaner planet, there is nothing else worth arguing about. I can support NAFTA, yes, but there needs to be an agreement on the environment."
-Senator Al Gore (D-TN) on Larry King Live; April 30, 1993
Conversation in the Oval Office about NAFTA; May 12, 1993
JAMES BAKER: "By agreeing to the environmental regulations you're guaranteed passage of NAFTA."
PRES. BUSH: "And what if Mexico and Canada back out of the deal?"
JAMES BAKER: "That's a big gamble, personally, I don't see it."
PRES. BUSH: "I can guarantee passage with those environment amendments?"
JAMES BAKER: "Basically, yes. The majority of the GOP is with you and Democrats will warm to it with the environmental aspects."
PRES. BUSH: "So it's basically worth the risk?"
JAMES BAKER: "I'd say so, Mr. President."
"Ratifying NAFTA will cost this nation millions of jobs. It's going to be the end of the American economy as we know it."
-Ross Perot on the TODAY Show; May 17, 1993
"I think the NAFTA treaty is going to bring about a significant amount of jobs and it's going to level the playing field between the United States in Mexico. We have to pass the treaty because NAFTA is going to open up trade and spur economic growth. I call on my party - I call on all Senators to stand up and make a difference. To do as President Bush called for during his State of the Union Address and put politics aside, put the next election aside, and worry about what is best for our nation. Our economy is in trouble, NAFTA will help us get out of that trouble."
-Excerpt from a speech delivered on the Senate floor by Bob Dole; May 28, 1993
"The House Democrats will support NAFTA if the President is willing to support amendments that would hold Canadian and Mexican products to the same environmental standards as those products in the United States. It is is worth in the long run and I call on the President to work with us here, we're ready to deal, we're ready to support NAFTA, but we can't do it if NAFTA remains unamended. We just came back from a meeting with the President and he seemed open to the idea, I hope he'll realize that if NAFTA is going to be passed it is going to include environmental standards for Canada and Mexico."
-Dick Gephardt's press statement after meeting with the President; June 1, 1993
"Pressure was increasing on the President, and eventually he agreed to the amendments proposed by the Congressional Democrats and when the Congress returned from recess, they passed the NAFTA treaty and George Bush eventually signed it. It was a proud accomplishment for the President who had negotiated the agreement and been in office long enough to sign it into law after it was ratified. He always regarded it as one of his biggest achievements while in office."
-Excerpt from 41: Profile of a President by Michael Beschloss; published 2000
"NAFTA will mean more jobs and better products. It will mean a stronger economy for all three nations. I am very proud to be signing this treaty today. It is my goal that the Congress will continue to put the interests of the American people forward as we have done here today, to forget about the politics and think about the effects the bills we pass and I sign into law have on the nation. I am sure that this agreement will have nothing but positive consequences for the nation."
-Excerpt from President Bush's statement while signing NAFTA into law; September 3, 1993
Do you approve or disapprove of the job President Bush is doing? (Sept. 5-7)
APPROVE: 52%
DISAPPROVE: 41%
UNDECIDED: 07%