Annotations for People: Richardson-bill 1947-2023

We heard him speak at the White House with the three former presidents reassuring people. Now the question, is it going to be enough? If it's enough to...

Both sides in the ever-escalating battle over the North American Free Trade Agreement are rolling out their big guns with President Clinton calling on three former presidents to declare their support for NAFTA while opponents from Labor to Ross Perot garner more votes against the trade treaty. Latinos are on both sides of the issue playing critical roles according to NPR reporter Richard Gonzales.

In the pro-NAFTA camp, the major player is Congressman Bill Richardson of New Mexico. He is the chief deputy whip for the Democrats, one of the leaders trying to save the NAFTA. In the anti-NAFTA camp, I think that the one of the leading players is California Congressman Esteban Torres. Torres is interesting because he could possibly go over to the other side and support NAFTA if the administration were to accept his proposal for a North American Development bank, which would go to help fund border cleanup and worker retraining throughout the country for people who get hurt by NAFTA. But until now, the administration has been just kind of leading him along, saying, "Yes, Mr. Congressman Torres, we will consider your bill," but they've yet to sign onto it.

NPR reporter Richard Gonzales. He says, "Cuban American Congress members remain opposed to the trade agreement." In California, three of several bills seeking to limit immigration and access to services by the undocumented have been approved by the state legislature. Armando Botello has more.