The White House NAFTA NOTES _________________________________________________________________ Thursday, October 14, 1993 Reps. Baesler, Pryce Back NAFTA After Meeting with President * After a meeting with the President at the White House with a group of their Congressional colleagues, Representatives Scotty Baesler (D-KY), and Deborah Pryce (R-OH) came out in support of NAFTA. "Americans have always exhibited a willingness to face competition anywhere it is found around the globe," Rep. Baesler said. "A retreat from NAFTA is to retreat from the American experience." * "I am pretty committed now," Rep. Pryce told reporters after the meeting. "There is now a comfort level for me to do the right thing" on NAFTA, Pryce said. * The President will meet again today with another group of lawmakers to continue his personal efforts to build support for Congressional approval of NAFTA. VP, Cabinet Discuss NAFTA with VA, MD Business & Community Leaders * Continuing the successful state leadership days, the Vice President, OMB Director Leon Panetta, EPA Administrator Carol Browner, and NAFTA Coordinator William Daley, met yesterday with over 100 business, environmental and community leaders from Virginia and Georgia to discuss job creation and other benefits of NAFTA in their states. Georgia and Alabama leaders arrive today to continue the state-by-state dialogue. Energy Secretary O'Leary Announces Report on Oil Industry Benefits Under NAFTA * In a speech in Oklahoma City yesterday, Energy Secretary Hazel O'Leary announced a Commerce Department report which found that the Oil and Gas Equipment sector will benefit greatly from the approval of NAFTA. Tariffs on over 80 percent of such equipment will be eliminated within 5 years, with the rest phased-out within 10 years. The Mexican market for oil and gas machinery was $1.5 billion in 1992, and is expected to grow by 15 percent annually through 1994. NAFTA will also open up procurement by Mexican state-owned energy companies such as PEMEX and CFE, which have a combined budget of over $8 billion. The Petroleum Manufacturers and Suppliers Association estimates that exports of its members products will triple under NAFTA, creating up to 3,000 new jobs. NAFTA Fact * An Atlanta-based Environmental Technology company, Law Environmental, announced Tuesday that it had won a contract to design and build a wastewater treatment plant in central Mexico. The company recently entered into a joint venture with a Mexican company to service the growing environmental cleanup and technology market in Mexico -- a $1.1 billion market in 1992. # # #