Description:

Clinton Bill



Bill Clinton TLS Regarding General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade of 1994, Written the Same Day it Passed in the House of Representatives

 

1p TLS signed by sitting 42nd U.S. President Bill Clinton (born 1946) as "Bill" in thick black felt tip pen at lower center. On cream watermarked stationery with embossed presidential seal at top, and "The White House / Washington" cobalt blue letterhead. Written in Washington, D.C. on November 29, 1994. A minor discolored spot on the left edge, and a few wrinkles, else near fine. 6.75" x 8.875".

 

President Clinton addressed this thank you note to Dan Rostenkowski (1928-2010), former Chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee, and, until recently, a longtime Democratic Illinois Congressman.

 

In part:

 

"Thank you for your support of the GATT implementing legislation.

 

By actively pursuing global trade policies, we will produce economic growth and job creation for our country. You can be confident knowing that your efforts have contributed to strengthening our nation and preparing our economy for the global markets of the 21st century…"

 

President Clinton wrote this letter on November 29, 1994. That was the same day the latest iteration of the GATT, or General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade, had been approved in the House of Representatives. In a display of considerable bipartisan support, the House authorized the bill to be sent to the Senate with a final vote of 288 to 146. GATT passed in the Senate on December 1, 1994 with a ratio of 3 to 1 in favor. 

 

The General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade was first established in 1947 to stimulate an increasingly globalized postwar economy. Since 1987, three U.S. Presidents, including Clinton, had worked on the version of GATT that passed in 1994. This version of GATT was significant because it formed the World Trade Organization, a body that would enforce compliance and mediate between its participants. The 1994 GATT was a collaboration between 123 nations that would stay in place 87 months until the Doha Round GATT was implemented in November 2001.

 

Clinton's correspondent Dan Rostenowski had worked closely with Republic President Ronald Reagan and been appointed Chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee in 1981. "Rosty" was one of the most influential politicians on Capitol Hill until the early 1990s, and was one of Bill Clinton's biggest political supporters.

 

Just a few months earlier, on June 1, 1994, Rostenkowski was indicted by a federal grand jury on various counts including corruption, mail fraud, and obstruction of justice. In early November of that year, he lost his congressional seat and was forced to retire. He later  served a 15-monthlong prison sentence before he was officially pardoned by President Clinton on December 23, 2000.

 


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