THE WHITE HOUSE

                    Office of the Press Secretary

______________________________________________________________
For Immediate Release                           April 14, 1997    

                      REMARKS BY THE PRESIDENT
                AT APPAREL INDUSTRY PARTNERSHIP EVENT

                            The East Room


1:05 P.M. EDT
	     
	     
	     THE PRESIDENT:  Thank you very much.  I would like to 
begin, first of all, by thanking all of the members of this 
partnership -- the cochairs, Paul Charron of Liz Claiborne and Linda 
Golodner of The National Consumers League; Jay Mazur of UNITE.  I 
thank Kathie Lee Gifford, who has done so much to bring public 
attention to this issue.  I thank the members of Congress who are 
here:  Congressman George Miller, Congressman Bernie Sanders, 
Congressman Lane Evans, Congressman Marty Martinez, and especially I 
thank my good friend, Senator Tom Harkin, who first brought this 
issue to my attention a long time ago.  Thank you very much, sir, and 
thank all of you for your passionate concern.  (Applause.)

	     I thank the former Secretary of Labor, Bob Reich, and 
acting Secretary, Cynthia Metzler and Secretary-designate, Alexis 
Herman who is here.  And I thank Maria Echaveste and Gene Sperling 
for their work.  
	     
	     The announcement we make today will improve the lives of 
millions of garment workers around the world.  As has now been 
painfully well documented, some of the clothes and shoes we buy here 
in America are manufactured under working conditions which are 
deplorable and unacceptable.  Mostly overseas, but unbelievably, 
sometimes here at home as well. 
	     
	     In our system of enterprise, which I have done my best 
to promote and advance, we support the proposition that businesses 
are in business to make a profit.  But in our society, which we 
believe to be good and want to be better, we know that human 
rights and labor rights must be a part of the basic framework 
within which all businesses honorably compete.
	     
	     As important as the fabric apparel workers make for us 
is the fabric of their lives, which is a part of the fabric of our 
lives -- here at home and around the world.  Their health and their 
safety, their ability to make a decent wage, their ability to bring 
children into this world and raise them with dignity and have their 
children see their parents working with dignity, that's an important 
part of the quality of our lives and will have a lot to do with the 
quality of our children's future.
	     
	     Last August, when the Vice President and I brought 
together the leaders of some of our nations largest apparel and 
footwear companies, and representatives of labor, consumers, human 
rights and religious groups I was genuinely moved at the shared 
outrage at sweatshop abuses and the shared determination to do 
something about it.  That led to this apparel industry partnership.  
This partnership has reached an agreement -- as already has been said 
-- that will significantly reduce the use of sweatshop labor over the 
long run.  It will give American consumers greater confidence in the 
products they buy.  
	     
	     And, again, I say they have done a remarkable thing.  
Paul Charron said it was just the beginning because even though there 


are some very impressive and big companies represented on this stage, 
there are some which are not.  But I would like to ask all the 
members of the partnership here to stand and I think we ought to 
express our appreciation to them for what they have done.  
(Applause.)
	     
	     Now, here's what they agreed to do:  first, a workplace 
code of conduct that companies will voluntarily adopt, and require 
their contractors to adopt, to dramatically improve the conditions 
under which goods are made.  The code will establish a maximum work 
week, a cap of 12 hours on the amount of overtime a company can 
require, require that employers pay at least the minimum or  
prevailing wage, respect basic labor rights.  It will require safe 
and healthy working conditions and freedom from abuse and harassment. 
Most important, it will crack down on child labor -- prohibiting the 
employment of those under 15 years of age in most countries.  
	     
	     It will also take steps to ensure that this code is 
enforced and that American consumers will know that the tenets of the 
agreement are being honored.  The apparel industry has developed new 
standards for internal and external monitoring to make sure companies 
and contractors live up to that code of conduct.  It will also form 
an independent association to help implement the agreement and to 
develop an effective way to share this information with consumers, 
such as labels on clothing, seals of approval in advertising or signs 
in stores to guarantee that no sweatshop labor was used on a given 
product line.
	     
	     Of course, the agreement is just the beginning.  We know 
sweatshop labor will not vanish overnight.  We know that while this 
agreement is an historic step, our real measure of progress must be 
in the changed and improved lives and livelihoods of apparel workers 
here at home and around the world.  That is why we need more 
companies to join this crusade and follow its strict rules of 
conduct.  
	     
	     One of the association's most important tasks will be to 
expand participation to as many large and small companies as 
possible.  And I urge all of America's apparel companies to become 
part of this effort.  If these people are willing to put their names, 
their necks, their reputations and their bottom lines on the bottom 
line of America, every other company in America in their line of work 
ought to be willing to do the very same thing.  (Applause.)
	     
	     We have spent a lot of time trying to find jobs for 
everybody in America who wants to work, and we have spent a lot of 
time saying that people who are able-bodied, who can work, should be 
required to work.  Now, we are also reminding ourselves that no one, 
anywhere, should have to put their safety or their dignity on the 
line to support themselves or their children.  This is a great day 
for America, a great day for the cause of human rights, and I believe 
a great day for free enterprise.  And I thank all of those who are 
here who made it possible.
	     
	     I'm proud that this agreement was industry-led and 
wholly voluntary.  Like the TV industry's decision to rate its 
programming, like the new private sector effort to help move people 
from welfare to work, like the high-tech industry's efforts to wire 
our schools and our classrooms to the Internet, all of them, by the 
year 2000, which we will continue this Saturday.
	     
	     This is further evidence that we can solve our problems 
by working together in new and creative ways.  The apparel industry 
understands that we all share a stake in preparing our country for 
the 21st century and preparing the world to be a good partner.  
Reaching across lines that have too often divided us in the past, 
this new partnership will create more opportunity for working 
families.  It will demand more responsibility for working conditions. 
 It will build a stronger community here in America and bind us to 
the community of people all around the world who believe in the value 
of work, but who also believe in the importance of its dignity and 
sanctity.
	     
	     Thank you and God bless you all.   (Applause.)
	     
             END                          1:14 P.M. EDT

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