Midday’s Gary Eichten talks with Bill Frenzel, former Minnesota U.S. congressman, who played a key role in the successful efforts in getting NAFTA bill passed through Congress.
Midday’s Gary Eichten talks with Bill Frenzel, former Minnesota U.S. congressman, who played a key role in the successful efforts in getting NAFTA bill passed through Congress.
SPEAKER: One of the people who played a key role in getting NAFTA passed the House is former Minnesota Republican Congressman Bill Frenzel, who has been working with the White House in trying to secure Republican votes. And he joins us now. Good morning, sir.
BILL FRENZEL: Good morning. Nice to talk to you.
SPEAKER: Congratulations.
BILL FRENZEL: Well, thank you. It was a wonderful night.
SPEAKER: Were you surprised-- gee, just a few weeks ago, it looked like NAFTA was a loser. Were you surprised at how this ultimately turned out?
BILL FRENZEL: I was not. Although last night, it seemed to be raining elephants in the House of Representatives. I really expected to get a strong vote in the high 220s in the house. We got a few gratuitous extras late in the day yesterday. But in general, we achieved our targets.
SPEAKER: You have been around Washington for a long, long time. And as you well know, opponents to NAFTA have been very critical of the president for deal-making for trying to essentially buy votes. That's the accusation. Do you think that the president may have gone a little bit too far?
BILL FRENZEL: No, I don't. Ever since this country was born, we have had that kind of a government. We make sausage, and we make laws in ways that are not terribly pleasant to watch closely. And it is our form of regional government in which members of Congress struggle very hard to get special projects for their districts, or special consideration for their ideas.
The good news this time was that the cupboard is bare. There was no money to give away. There are very few projects that are available to the president. What the president gives away in these arrangements are promises to consider carefully things that the members of Congress would like to have in the future or like to have his recommendations on.
He gives recognition, a White House dinner, a meeting with a cabinet official. Most of the arrangements that were made were pretty minimal and talked about a willingness on the part of the White House to consider things that the members of Congress wanted.
SPEAKER: Do you think that the vote on NAFTA signals a new bipartisanship in Washington?
BILL FRENZEL: I think it is a great step forward. The president has now found that he has a formula by which he can attract Republican and Democrat votes for foreign policy arrangements. He has also found, in working on the health care bill, a way to lower the noise level of partisan carping. And he's not going to have a strong bipartisan support on all domestic policy.
But it looks to me that if he plays his cards right, he can count on Republican support beyond the water's edge, which is our typical way of doing business up until approximately the Lyndon Johnson era. And it seems to me it is a very good thing for America that we are back talking about bipartisan foreign policy stuff.
SPEAKER: NAFTA now goes to the Senate. Is there any doubt in your mind that it's going to pass?
BILL FRENZEL: No. We're working hard in the Senate, but the conditions are much less stressful. There are plenty of votes to pass the bill in the Senate. It will get a higher percentage than it got in the house. Senators, by virtue of their larger districts, are able to take a larger, more macro view. They don't have to worry about every little shop and every little union. They can look at the total effect on their state. The economic effects are very positive. And things are going very well in the Senate.
Views and opinions expressed in the content do not represent the opinions of APMG. APMG is not responsible for objectionable content and language represented on the site. Please use the "Contact Us" button if you'd like to report a piece of content. Thank you.
Transcriptions provided are machine generated, and while APMG makes the best effort for accuracy, mistakes will happen. Please excuse these errors and use the "Contact Us" button if you'd like to report an error. Thank you.