THE NORTH AMERICAN FREE TRADE 



AGREEMENT 



TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 21, 1993 



U.S. Senate, 

 Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry, 



Washington, DC. 

 The committee met, pursuant to notice, at 2:36 p.m., in room 

 SD-138, Dirksen Senate Office Building, Hon. Patrick J. Leahy, 

 chairman of the committee, presiding. 



Present or submitting a statement: Senators Leahy, Pryor, 

 Boren, Harkin, Conrad, Daschle, Baucus, Kerrey, Feingold, Lugar, 

 Cochran, Craig, and Grassley. 



STATEMENT OF HON. PATRICK J. LEAHY, A U.S. SENATOR 



FROM VERMONT 



The Chairman. Good afternoon. The committee will come to 

 order. 



Mr. Secretary, it is good to have you here. 



I am delighted to have the Secretary of Agriculture, a good 

 friend, here. I am told the Trade Representative is tied up in a 

 meeting. 



We are here today to debate the North American Free Trade 

 Agreement (NAFTA), an issue that is going to affect each and 

 every American. There are those who would have us believe that 

 the economy of the United States will spiral down into Mexico if 

 we pass this agreement and that we would wipe out the U.S. 

 manufacturing sector, destroy the family farm, and undermine all 

 our public health and environmental standards. And there are 

 those that would have us believe that the United States will spiral 

 into economic obscurity if we don't pass this agreement. 



We have heard all the sensationalism. We have heard reports of 

 doom versus boom. Today we are here to carry the debate one step 

 further. 



Now, there are responsible voices on both sides of the debate, but 

 I am not going to take kindly to those who try to make their case 

 by exaggerating either the risks or benefits of NAFTA. NAFTA is 

 not the worst thing that is ever going to happen to the United 

 States. NAFTA is also not the best thing that is going to happen 

 to the United States. It is not as good as its strongest proponents 

 say it is, and it is certainly not as bad as its strongest opponents 

 say it is. And I think that we are not going to have a debate that 

 is going to engage the American people until both proponents and 

 opponents of NAFTA lower the rhetoric and stick a lot closer to de- 

 monstrable facts. 



(l) 



