NAFTA CONTINUES TO BUILD UP SOLID RECORD

At a seminar in Washington, D.C., this past March, the speaker was House Minority Whip Newt Gingrich, R-Ga. Rep. Gingrich, who will be Republican leader in the new Congress that convenes in January, took questions from the floor. An aggressive questioner challenged Gingrich from a far-right philosophical position, taking him to task for having supported the North American Free Trade Agreement.

"Congressman, I want to challenge you for having saved Bill Clinton's presidency," the questioner said. "You backed Clinton on NAFTA at a crucial point, when, if you had taken more Republicans the other way, you could have crippled the Clinton presidency. You let us Republicans and conservatives down and gave to a president we all oppose his greatest victory."

The quick response showed Gingrich at his finest. "I did what I strongly believed to be right for all Americans," Gingrich shot back. "At this point in history, I think the evidence is in that we Americans must be leaders in fostering a free and open trading system."

Gingrich continued: "I must say, however, that an even larger point is at stake. I thought it was absolutely terrible when [Sen. Majority Leader] George Mitchell blindly opposed President Bush on purely partisan grounds, solely to thwart his presidency, when issues of national importance were at stake. An example is Mitchell's blind opposition to a cut in the capital gains tax. The economy was noticeably weakening back in 1989, when this tax cut had passed a Democratic House and enjoyed majority support in the Senate. Mitchell opposed that out of partisan spite, using parliamentary tactics to block any vote, and that was wrong. I'm consistent, and I reject the view that says that you should cut the legs out from under the president of the United States because he's from the other party."

With principled leadership on a tough vote, Gingrich delivered a heavy majority of Republicans for NAFTA, thus making the difference in its passage. This, while majorities of Clinton's Democrats, including even leadership types such as House Majority Leader Richard Gephardt, opposed their president.

Congress voted on NAFTA vote last fall. Business people in the real world have since been operating under its terms. What does the evidence show after nearly a year of experience? We are indebted to former Wisconsin Gov. Patrick Lucey, a Democrat who later served President Jimmy Carter as ambassador to Mexico, for important new data. In an article published this week, Lucey offered these facts:

"Among NAFTA's many success stories:

"In autos, the Big Three's exports to Mexico are accelerating dramatically -- they shipped 24,000 vehicles in the first seven months of 1994, compared with 4,000 for all of last year. Chrysler is hiring 1,000 U.S. workers to build its first Jeeps for Mexico's market. GM and Ford are also adding jobs for exports to Mexico.

"In retailing, Wal-Mart, Kmart, J.C. Penney, Price Club and others are opening stores in Mexico to sell household goods and other goods to eager consumers.

"In agriculture, according to a University of Wisconsin study, U.S. dairy exports to Mexico are growing rapidly, and milk producers may see $400 million in annual revenue gains because of NAFTA. According to the Commerce Department, U.S. apple shipments to Mexico increased 90 percent in the first five months of this year, for a total of $58 million in sales.

"In computers and telecommunications, Texas Instruments is selling three times as many computer printers and 10 times as many laptops in Mexico since NAFTA took effect on Jan. 1. Motorola has formed a joint venture with a Mexican firm to provide cellular phone service to the northern half of Mexico.

"In environmental technology, U.S. firms are showing that a clean environment can be good for business too. U.S. Filter of California recently completed a waste-water treatment plant in Cuernavaca, Mexico. ..."

There's more, but as the good news rolls in, and facts buttress the case, it's becoming clear that passage of NAFTA was a great step forward. It also stands nearly alone as a bipartisan success of the Clinton administration, practically the only time the president has sought -- and received -- broad Republican support on a major issue.

Peter Kinder is associate publisher of the Southeast Missourian and is a state senator from Cape Girardeau.