Gore, Gephardt Go A'Courting Labor -- Feb. 18, 1997

Expanding NAFTA Needs Congressional Approval

WASHINGTON (AllPolitics, Feb. 26) -- President Bill Clinton met with Chilean President Eduardo Frei today, kicking off a campaign to extend the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) and move toward free trade with all of Latin America.

Clinton, who sat down with Frei and then took questions from reporters, said the U.S. cannot sit by while other nations "share in the fruits of Latin America's remarkable growth."

The president wants fast-track authority from Congress to negotiate an agreement with Chile, with the ultimate goal of incorporating all of Latin America into a free-trade zone. But many opponents of NAFTA in Congress still think it was a mistake and are not ready to give Clinton that authority.

Frei, who will address a joint session of Congress tomorrow, called for the freedom to "to trade as if there were no frontiers."