The White House NAFTA NOTES Friday, October 15, 1993 _________________________________________________________________ Baltimore Union Workers Endorse NAFTA During Pena Visit * Steelworkers Local 15338 at Ellicott Machine Corp. in Baltimore yesterday endorsed NAFTA during a visit by Transportation Secretary Federico Pena. Pena toured the company with Maryland Governor Donald Schaefer and other Maryland state leaders. Ellicott Machine exports some 80 percent of its products overseas. Bentsen, Former Perotistas Join to Announce Texas Business for NAFTA * Today in Dallas, Treasury Secretary Lloyd Bentsen and a group of Ross Perot's former supporters joined with other prominent Texans to announce a group called Texas Business for NAFTA. The group is being headed by former Perot campaign chairman and lawyer Tom Luce who wrote an op-ed in the Dallas Morning News on Wednesday. Luce wrote that "I think Ross is wrong about the [NAFTA]. I strongly believe that it is good for our state and our nation." Luce cited Texas Comptroller John Sharp's estimate that 113,000 jobs will be created in Texas with NAFTA's passage, and said that nation-wide "we will gain twice as many jobs as we will lose." He called on Texans to "display the courage to do what's right" and support NAFTA. Georgia, Alabama, Administration Leaders Discuss NAFTA at White House * Nearly one hundred business, community and environmental leaders from Georgia and Alabama came to the White House yesterday to talk NAFTA with the Vice President, CEA Chair Tyson, Interior Secretary Babbitt, and NAFTA Coordinator Daley. * Many representatives of small manufacturing companies attended the meeting. "I am here to give my full support to NAFTA," Robert Lukat VP and General Manager of employee-owned Atlanta Saw Company told reporters. "I can tell you personally the benefits of getting into the export business. Our business with Mexico has increased four times over the last several years, and our exports to Mexico have increased over six times. ...in 1975, our company established a joint-venture with a company in Mexico. We just notified out partner that upon the signing of NAFTA, we will dissolve our joint-venture and change our relationship to strictly a distributorship, and we will move the manufacturing jobs that were part of our joint-venture back home to the U.S." Administration NAFTA Update * President Clinton met yesterday with another group of lawmakers to discuss the job creation benefits of NAFTA, his second meeting this week... The Cabinet fan out continued: along with Pena in Baltimore yesterday, Energy Secretary O'Leary spoke in Oklahoma, CEA Chair Tyson spoke in Atlanta and Commerce Secretary Brown visited San Francisco & Los Angeles on Wednesday, Deputy Agriculture Secretary Rominger is in Wichita today, and Treasury Secretary Bentsen travelled to Texas Thursday and today. # # #