Free trade is a subject on which both candidates appear to start from the same position, commitment to free trade. From that point, their positions swiftly diverge. Bush would:
supports restoration of “fast-track” negotiating authority for the
president
opposes linking trade agreements to labor and environmental issues
supports the expansion of NAFTA throughout the Americas
supports the admission of China and Taiwan to the WTO
wants strict enforcement of anti-dumping and other laws
against “unfair” trade
intends to revise export controls to tighten control over military technology and ease restrictions on commercial technology
wants to make international financial institutions more
accountable and transparent
strongly supports free trade, saying that the case for it is “not just monetary but moral” and pledging to make the expansion of trade a consistent priority“
Source: The Economist, “Issues 2000”
Sep 30, 2000
Sow free trade and farmers will reap
Q: What will you do as president to help farmers get sufficient pay for their work? A: I would be a free trading president, a president that will work tirelessly to open up markets for agricultural products all over the world. I believe our American
farmers. can compete so long as the playing field is level. That’s why I am such a strong advocate of free trade and that’s why I reject protectionism and isolation because I think it hurts our American farmers.
Source: Republican debate in West Columbia, South Carolina
Jan 7, 2000
A free market promotes dreams and individuality
[After visiting China], I’ll never forget the contrast between what I learned about the free market at Harvard and what I saw in the closed isolation of China. Every bicycle looked the same. People’s clothes
were all the same. a free market frees individuals to make distinct choices and independent decisions. The market gives individuals the opportunity to demand and decide, and entrepreneurs the opportunity to provide.
Source: “A Charge to Keep”, p. 61.
Dec 9, 1999
Import fees are not the answer to foreign competition
In 1999, when a glut of foreign oil drove prices below $12 a barrel, many of my friends in the oil business wanted the government to rescue them through price supports. . . I understand the frustration of people.
but I do not support import fees. . . I believe it makes sense to use the tax code to encourage activities that benefit America. But I do not want to put up fees or tariffs or roadblocks to trade.
Source: “A Charge to Keep”, p. 65-66.
Dec 9, 1999
The fearful build walls; the confident demolish them.
I’ll work to end tariffs and break down barriers everywhere, entirely, so the whole world trades in freedom. The fearful build walls. The confident demolish them. I am confident in American workers and farmers and producers. And I am confident that
America’s best is the best in the world.
Source: Candidacy Announcement speech, Cedar Rapids, Iowa
Jun 12, 1999
George W. Bush on Immigration
Respect other languages, but teach all children English
Q: Should English be made the country’s official language?
A: The ability to speak English is the key to success in America. I support a concept I call English-plus, insisting on English
proficiency but recognizing the invaluable richness that other languages and cultures brings to our nation of immigrants. In Texas, the Spanish language enhances and helps define
our state’s history. My fundamental priority is results. Whether a school uses an immersion program or a bilingual program, whichever effectively teaches children to read and comprehend
English as quickly as possible, I will support. The standard is English literacy and the goal is equal opportunity - all in an atmosphere where every heritage is respected and celebrated.
Source: Associated Press
Nov 1, 2000
$500M to cut INS application time to 6 months
Expanding on a proposal to improve the INS, Bush pledged $500 million in new spending yesterday to cut the time needed to process an immigration application to an average of six months. Bush said the process now takes three to five years.
Late last year, the INS announced that average times had been reduced from two years to 12 months, and were headed lower.
’’We will bring to the INS a new standard of service and a culture of respect,’’ Bush said. The new spending, to be doled
out over five years, is the latest part of an INS overhaul plan that Bush’s campaign believes will resonate with Latino voters. ‘’We’ve got an INS that is too bureaucratic, too stuck in the past,’’ he said.
Last week, Bush announced that he wants
to split the INS into two agencies: one for legitimate immigrants and one for border enforcement. He also proposed allowing relatives of permanent residents to visit the US while their own immigration papers are being processed.
Source: Paul Shepard, Associated Press, in Boston Globe, page A12
Jul 6, 2000
Welcome Latinos; immigration is not a problem to be solved
Latinos come to the US to seek the same dreams that have inspired millions of others: they want a better life for their children. Family values do not stop at the Rio Grande. Latinos enrich our country with faith in God, a strong ethic of work, community
& responsibility. We can all learn from the strength, solidarity, & values of Latinos. Immigration is not a problem to be solved, it is the sign of a successful nation. New Americans are to be welcomed as neighbors and not to be feared as strangers.
Source: Speech in Washington, D.C.
Jun 26, 2000
Make INS more “immigrant friendly”
Bush [would] divide the INS into two agencies: one to deal with the enforcement components of border protection and interior enforcement, and another to deal with the service components of naturalization. Bush will change the INS policy so that spouses &
minor children of permanent residents can apply for visitor visas while their immigration applications are pending. He will reverse the presumption that such family members will violate their terms of admission, and will encourage family reunification.
Source: Speech in Washington, D.C.
Jun 26, 2000
High tech: More H-1B worker visas; less export controls
Supports meaningful, broad-based tort reform to protect our most innovative companies from frivolous and junk lawsuits
Supports lifting the current limit on H-1B visas; believes long term solution to the shortage of high tech workers is education
Called for reforming the high tech export control system by allowing American companies to sell products in the international marketplace when these products are readily available in foreign or mass markets
Farm policy: Open markets abroad; more H-2A worker visas
Calls upon European Union to abide by the rules of the World Trade Organization and allow importation of genetically modified farm products
Would work aggressively to open markets for U.S. products and producers
Supports reviewing and expanding the H-2A temporary agriculture workers program so that willing workers can provide much needed help to America’s farmers
Latinos enrich us; family values go past Rio Grande
Latinos have come to the US to seek the same dreams that have inspired millions of others: they want a better life for their children. Family values do not stop at the Rio Grande River. Latinos enrich our country with faith in God, a strong ethic of
work and community and responsibility. Immigration is not a problem to be solved; it is the sign of a successful nation. New Americans are not to be feared as strangers; they are to be welcomed as neighbors.
Source: Reforming the INS, in “Renewing America’s Purpose”
Feb 9, 2000
More border guards to compassionately turn away Mexicans
We must do a better job of stopping those who seek to come into our country illegally. I support strict border enforcement programs such as Operation Hold the Line, which concentrate border patrol officers and resources at known border-crossing points.
I believe it is far more compassionate to turn away people at the border than to attempt to find and arrest them once they are living in our country illegally.
Bush pledged to revisit guest worker programs and other ways for immigrants to come into the country, but said he would insist on immigration controls and a waiting period before citizenship.
Source: Mike Glover, Associated Press
Aug 6, 1999
George W. Bush on NAFTA & WTO
Add Chile, Brazil, Argentina, & others to NAFTA
Q: Would you pursue a hemispheric trade deal extending the benefits of NAFTA to Central and South America and the Caribbean?
A: My administration will foster democracy and level barriers to trade. If elected, my goal will be
free trade agreements with all the nations of Latin America. We can do so in cooperation with our NAFTA partners. We should also do so with Chile, and Brazil and Argentina, the anchor states of Mercosur. We will also work toward free trade with the
smaller nations of Central America and the Caribbean. We must be flexible because one-size-fits-all negotiations are not always the answer. But the ultimate goal will remain constant, free trade from
northernmost Canada to the tip of Cape Horn. In the near term, we will renew trade preferences with the Andean nations - enacted in 1991, and set to expire next year.
Source: Associated Press
Oct 31, 2000
No trade barriers from Alaska to the tip of Cape Horn
Bush went campaigning in Mexico today, dedicating the World Trade Bridge in Laredo. “In the past there have been walls of divide between Mexico and the US,” Bush said. “We must be committed to raise the bridges of trade & friendship & freedom.” Bush said
the opening of the bridge was an example of the growing economic ties between the US and Mexico. In promising to push aggressively for free trade in this hemisphere, Bush said he would tear down trade barriers from Alaska to “the tip of the Cape Horn.”
Source: Jim Yardley, New York Times
Apr 24, 2000
Fast Track in west; WTO in east
Bush said he would seek “fast-track” negotiating status from Congress to expand free trade in the Western Hemisphere: “I will work to create an entire hemisphere in free trade,” he said. “I will work to extend the benefits of NAFTA from the northernmost
Alaska to the tip of Cape Horn.” He said he wanted to build on NAFTA to bring other countries throughout Latin America Meanwhile, the Bush campaign distributed a policy statement that said he supports admission of China and Taiwan to the WTO.
Source: Kelley Shannon, Associated Press, in L.A. Times
Apr 24, 2000
Supports Fast Track; WTO; NAFTA; anti-dumping
Supports Fast Track negotiating authority for the President
Called for eliminating trade barriers & tariffs everywhere so the whole world trades in freedom
Called for strict enforcement of anti-dumping & other unfair trade laws
Supports
expansion of NAFTA throughout the Americas
Supports China’s & Taiwan’s admission into the WTO
Supports revising export controls, to tighten control over military technology & ease restrictions on technology already available commercially
