Last week, in a speech at the Washington International Trade Association, I proposed the establishment of a Congressional Trade Office. This office would provide the Congress with additional independent, non-partisan, neutral trade expertise. The National Wildlife Federation and the Sierra Club have proposed such an office, although the functions in my concept are quite different. I will be offering legislation on this later this year. The lack of consensus on this relationship has been one of the major reasons that we have not been able to proceed with fast track legislation in the Congress.
Paralysis helps no one.
I hope that the thoughts I have set out today for the Seattle Ministerial and for our own domestic agenda will help to begin a constructive and responsible dialogue between the trade and the environmental communities. We need trade. We need environmental protection. We need a sustainable earth, and that means a clean world and a growing world. We need more and better jobs everywhere, increased income, cleaner air and water, and the protection of our natural heritage for future generations.