Clintons Efforts to Pass NAFTA through Congress - Thesis Example

Efforts made by Bill Clinton to get NAFTA passed through the Congress Introduction North American Free Trade Agreement is an agreement signed by Mexico, Canada and the United States which aimed to create a trilateral rules-based trading in North America. The agreement came into picture on January 1st, 1994. North American Free Trade Agreement has two parts after it superseded the Canada-United States Free Trade Agreement. North American Agreement on Environmental Cooperation and North American Agreement on Labor Cooperation were formed after the agreement was signed. The goal of NAFTA was to remove the barriers between United States, Canada and Mexico related to trade and investments. NAFTA shaped the largest free trade area in the world and it has helped to maintain the relations between the neighboring countries of United States. NAFTA links 450 million people producing goods and services which are of huge worth. The proposal for NAFTA was made by President George Bush in the year 1992. However it was not implemented before 1994. Bush campaign believed that before congress could approve NAFTA there was a possibility of division of Democratic Party. Hence NAFTA got delayed until Bill Clinton took an interest on the ongoing debate. Thesis Statement “Bill Clinton made tremendous efforts to pass NAFTA through the Congress”. Discussion In the year 1992 the presidential campaign of United States introduced NAFTA in their debate. The reason behind the agreement was to achieve appropriate poll ratings because Bill Clinton had greater possibility to win the election in the coming year. The trend grew towards Clinton because interest groups like environmentalists and organized labor knew that they would be able to demand more concessions from a Democrat. The United States Congress postponed the considerations of NAFTA until the next elections were over. Hence the candidates of the presidential elections were forced to take a stand on the free trading. President George Bush in August 1992 wanted to have the NAFTA deal done so that he could sell a good news to the country which he thought might help his re-election bid during the economic slump which made him vulnerable to criticism against the domestic affairs he neglected in past. On the other hand candidate Bill Clinton wanted to craft himself as a New Democrat. Though it was revealed that initiation of NAFTA would require huge expenditures and United States trade affairs were already suffering from huge loss (Yergin & Stainslaw, 2002). Bill Clinton had to be strong enough to take over the agreement and make himself ready to fight against the challenges that were likely to come in front of him because of the NAFTA. Clinton before the elections also announced that he would include additional agreements in the NAFTA that could protect environment and labor interests. Organized labor opposed NAFTA because they believed that NAFTA would give the companies of the United States to move to Mexico and take advantage of cheap labor. This would reduce the requirement of the United States labor force and they would suffer from economic crisis. The environmental interest groups were also strongly against NAFTA because they believed that the industries in United States had huge interest in relocating in Mexico and Canada and they would be able to acquire new land that were previously used for agricultural purpose. Moreover the industrial waste and the pollution were some important factors which they were specifically against of hence they opposed the implementation of NAFTA in the United States. The Organized labor force in the United States mainly opposed the NAFTA because they believed that the industries in the United States might relocate to Mexico permanently because of cheap labors and the interest towards them would come down leading to an economic crisis in the country. Politicians from Washington and several other places believed that the positions the capitalists would get after the approval of Free Trade in North America was unfavorable for the labor groups and hence they were against the agreement. Likewise the environmentalists in the United States had a notion that due to movement of industries on a large scale in countries like Mexico and Canada the risks of pollution would be high moreover the industries would get a chance to acquire agricultural land in the countries and this might reduce the agricultural production and affect the growth of economy in Mexico and Canada. Most of the Congressional Democrats in the United States were in favor of the NAFTA and at the same time the issue became tricky for the Congress (Godwin, 2009). The members of Congress understood the dangers that could arise from destabilized Mexico hence they wanted to establish a good relation with Mexico and wanted to see Mexico achieve economic growth and stability. Some of the members of Congress did not want the factories to shift completely to Mexico from their districts because United States was already suffering from economic crisis during the period. This situation broke the Congress into two parts regarding the progression of NAFTA. Many members of Congress also found an opportunity to get political mileage out of the Free Trading. Bonier who was at the lead house of Democrats also believed that agricultural constituencies like Florida, Louisiana and California were likely to face competition from Mexican growers in the production of vegetable, citrus and sugar if the NAFTA passed. The Democrats of Congress during the period of Bush had a supportive tendency towards the Free Trade but later they realized the challenges that the country might have to face because of the expenditures in the trade fair. On the other hand the Republicans believed that NAFTA was an easy sell because it was originally an effort by George Bush and Congress had supported the agreement. Gingrich was a minority whip who was an aggressive supporter of NAFTA. He promised the president 120 Republican votes, this was a tough situation because Bill Clinton had to muster 100 pro-NAFTA Democrats before the treaty could pass (Freeman & Rogers, 2006). The consequences to pass NAFTA grew tough when the Republicans realized a threat against the Democrats whom Clinton had to gather before the 1994. There were many changes going on within the Congress during this period because of the issue. The Congress had already been torn into two parts after the realization of the challenges. Motivating the Democrats was not an easy task for president when he was an Republican. Moreover the Republicans did not find themselves in a safe position when the president had to gather the democrats together in order to pass the treaty under favorable circumstances. The political structure was designed in such a way that the president himself could not pass the treaty on his demand without consulting the Congress because any act or senate decisions had to come through the agreement of the Congress. NAFTA was never a hot issue for both political parties but the frequent lobbying and meetings made during this time significantly shows the issues that were going through before the agreement could be settled. Senator Bill Bradley who supported NAFTA made phone calls and personal visits to House members in order to get their support which resembles the need of the treaty to pass before 1994. Initially Bill Clinton was busy with some other initiatives like budget, reinventing government and health care however he did not limit himself to the social issues only. Just after the first year he started securing ratification of NAFTA significantly. First of all Clinton took an initiative to unite the Democrats who were against the NAFTA. He made an attempt to change the clause present in the treaty so that it does not hamper the economic development of United States. He encouraged the labor force and interest group and also made attempts to explain them the positive outcomes from the agreement. Clinton appointed a NAFTA czar, Bill Daley to take care of the domestic affairs of the ratification process. Clinton also appointed Kantor as United States Trade Representative for the agreement because he was an active supporter of the process in 1992. Clinton also coveted each Congressional vote with maximum deals in order to satisfy the concerns of the member. Clinton’s campaign manager Kantor had to find labor and environmental solutions not only in Mexico and Canada but also in the United States in order to pass the agreement error free. The Clinton administration also made attempts to convince members of congress by employing media on a large scale. Media in the year 1993 gave many positive feedbacks about the NAFTA deal and many people were interested with the opinion broadcasted by media. As the vote for NAFTA neared the president and his administration implemented some tactics that could influence the undecided members of Congress so that maximum votes can be generated in favor of the Free Trade Agreement. The president also influenced the members of Congress by demonstrating the political process at work in the capital. Clinton was able to convince most of the members of Congress. His major tension regarding Congress support was the states of Florida and Louisiana where Congressional Democrats did not turn up like other states. Bill Clinton also made various efforts to get in touch with the government of Canada and Mexico. The Mexican government also realized that NAFTA was a fair chance for everyone in America and they were left out with limited choice. On November 1993, Mexico approved the three commodities sugar, citrus and winter vegetables. Congress took an effort to look after various concerns of Mexico and during this time the NAFTA fight was almost over. United States was able to get better deal from Mexico without spending money because of the trade agreement and support the Congress addressed to look after. In the final house vote 102 Democrats and 132 Republicans joined together in favor of NAFTA and finally the Senate approved the treaty. On 1 January 1994, the NAFTA was activated by Mexico, Canada and the United States (Magill, 2014). Undoubtedly President Bill Clinton made various attempts to pass the NAFTA in Congress. Though White house has the power and authority to take most of the decisions but implementation of any act requires the approval of the members of Congress. Congress members are present in every state of United States preserving the interest of their state and the country. The president of United States definitely has the authority to plan over any new rules or regulations but it needs a majority vote from the members of Congress. In the NAFTA deal some of the Democrats were interested in NAFTA however Bill Clinton being a Republican had to pursue bot the parties about the favorable significances that could come out of the trade. Bill Clinton believed that passing NAFTA in the Congress would help him in his re-election (Clinton, 2010). He took up president the ideas of former president George Bush, modified the agreement that could reflect a matter of interest for organized labors and environmentalists. Conclusion President Bill Clinton was able to master the political process in order to pass the NAFTA in the Congress. The negotiations of NAFTA provided a striking example of the international politics in the year 1992. The organized labor and the environmentalists came up with many consequences that would hamper the economic and social structure of the United States, Mexico and Canada. Bill Clinton explained the positive outcomes from the treaty and also promised to minimize the challenges that were likely to arise from the deal. Bill Clinton’s job was not over for NAFTA until he influenced the Congressional Democrats and the Republicans as well. Being the president Clinton managed to fetch the votes of both the parties in order to pass the treaty effectively through the Congress. Clinton also had to mend the Democratic constituencies which were at a terrible state during the political progression of the NAFTA deal. The efforts by Clinton during this period show his dedication to pass the treaty for the betterment of the United States. The most point important point was that Clinton did not have to make any investment after the agreement was passed. The support by Congress in the later part of 1993 gave Mexico and Canada new horizons of development. Hence in support to the thesis statement it can be said that President Bill Clinton made tremendous efforts to pass NAFTA through the Congress. References Clinton, B. (2010). My Life. New York: My Life. Freeman, R., & Rogers, J. (2006). What Workers Want. New York: Cornell University Press. Godwin, J. (2009). Clintonomics: How Bill Clinton Reengineered the Reagan Revolution. New York: Amacom. Magill, F. (2014). The 20th Century Go-N. London: Routledge. Yergin, D., & Stanislaw, J. (2002). The Commanding Heights. New York: Simon Schuster. Read More