North American Union

[nChrist]

I'm not surprised at all that Oklahoma will stop this North American Union Super Highway. I would be surprised if they didn't stop it.

This is nothing but big money garbage that's illegal and Unconstitutional. The boys in Washington need to get a clue before they wake up in a Federal Prison.

I can understand why some big money folks in Dallas are blinded to everything except making more money, but average people won't tolerate this. Average people can't be bought either, and every last one of those average people can file criminal and civil actions. I think that I said plenty in a post above, but I do want to say one more thing:  The government WILL close the border and enforce immigration laws already on the books. If not, they will be put in prison and will be replaced with people who will fulfill the duties of specific offices. One more note:  they can forget about NAU and Super Highways unless ALL OF IT is in the International Waters of the Ocean!

[Soldier4Christ]

Bush seeks NAFTA expansion to Peru 
Advocating open trade across hemisphere 1 nation at a time

The Bush administration, having been rebuffed on plans to advance a Free Trade of the Americas Act that would open a free trade market to the tip of South America, now is working on the expansion one nation at a time, according to critics.

The Bush administration is pushing Congress to pass a new "free trade" NAFTA-like agreement with Peru, amid growing opposition among Republican voters.

Leading the opposition in the House is presidential candidate Duncan Hunter, R-Calif.

"While proponents of free trade will argue the importance of the Peru agreement, Congressman Hunter does not buy that this trade deal, like any other free trade agreement, is good for America," Joe Kasper, communications director for Hunter, told WND in an e-mail.

"Congressman Hunter does not subscribe to the concept of free trade, … especially when international trade agreements promoting this concept continue hurting America's workforce while unfairly favoring our trading partners," he said.

"It is because of these policies that our industrial base is deteriorating and quality jobs once available to Americans are now being shipped overseas," he stressed.

The Bush administration plan is to get the trade agreement with Peru through Congress first, followed by trade agreements the administration already has negotiated with Panama, Columbia and South Korea.

Of the four agreements, the Bush administration believes that the deal with Peru will raise the least opposition, paving the way for the other, more controversial, deals, officials said.

Congressional Quarterly confirms this strategy, quoting U.S. Trade Representative Susan C. Schwab as telling reporters the "administration has had, right from the start, a four FTA [free-trade agreement] strategy," in which deals with the other three agreements would be pushed through Congress as soon as the Peru deal passes.

The Peru free trade agreement moved to center stage this week when the Senate Finance Committee voted to endorse it, making a debate on the floor of the Senate likely soon. The House Ways and Means Committee cleared the Peru trade deal by a Sept. 25 voice vote, setting the stage for debate on the measure on the House floor.

The Bush administration push to expand free trade agreements comes amidst growing Republican Party resistance to free trade.

The Wall Street Journal reported on Thursday the results of a Wall Street Journal-NBC news poll showing "six in 10 Republicans in the poll agreed with a statement that free trade has been bad for the U.S. and said they would agree with a Republican candidate who favored tougher regulations to limit foreign imports."

The Peru free trade agreement was signed by U.S. Trade Representative Bob Portman and Peruvian Minister of Foreign Trade and Tourism Alfredo Ferrero Diez Canseco on April 12, 2006.

The Peru vote will be a test of Democratic leadership in the Congress.

Democrats are being pressured by labor unions and voters who are concerned that free trade agreements are costing U.S. workers millions of jobs.

At the same time, top Democratic presidential candidates, including Hillary Clinton, have accepted generous campaign contributions from top Wall Street hedge funds and multi-national corporations that have been pushing a globalization agenda.

WND has confirmed that the White House is lobbying Congress hard to gain passage of the Peru deal, but key Republican leaders in the House and Senate still are reluctant to state their final positions on the trade deal.

Under the remaining "fast track" authority, Congress has 90 legislative days to act on a clock that began when President Bush last week sent the Peru free trade agreement to the House and Senate.

Congress has not voted to renew President Bush's "fast track" authority to negotiate free trade agreements directly. Consequently, fast-track authority expired June 30 at midnight.

But according to Congressional Quarterly the agreements with Peru, Panama, Columbia and South Korea were signed before the June 30 fast-track deadline.

The Columbia deal faces stiff Congressional opposition over Columbian President Alvaro Uribe's alleged ties to the drug cartels.

Bloomberg reported Uribe "fired three generals tied to the drug cartels, agreed to extradite a narcotics boss and hired top Democratic lobbyists to try to persuade the U.S. Congress to sign on to a trade accord."

In September, U.S. Commerce Secretary Carlos Gutierrez led members of Congress on a trip to Columbia, Peru and Panama to lobby for approval of the trade pacts.

The trade agreement with South Korea also faces growing bi-partisan opposition.

According to Congressional Quarterly, Senate Finance Chairman Max Baucus, D-Mont., has vowed to block the South Korea deal until South Korea agrees to accept U.S. beef imports.

Objections to Panama center on Pedro Miguel Gonzalez who legislators in Panama voted to be president of the country's National Assembly, despite an outstanding arrest warrant in the United States charging Gonzales with a role in the 1992 killing of a U.S. soldier in Panama.

[Soldier4Christ]

'Amero coming within decade'
Strategist expects currency changes as Canadian dollar matches greenback

BankIntroductions.com, a Canadian company that specializes in global banking strategies and currency consulting, is advising clients that the amero may be the currency of North America within the next 10 years.

"The amero would compete against other regional currency blocks," BankIntroductions.com says. "At present, with the Canadian dollar approaching par, more talk for an amero currency unit will become popular in Canada."

The company says that with the successful implementation of NAFTA, "the one dragging component for the amero will be Mexico, but in time this will change."

"Implementation of the amero currency may actually give Mexico an economic boost, thus helping to alleviate Mexican immigration pressures into the United States for those Mexicans seeking financial gain," BankIntroductions.com advises.

"The amero one day may well be circulating throughout North America."

Matt Bell, president of BankIntroductions.com, told WND in an e-mail to "feel free to quote our currency research on Canada. Our general opinion on the amero stands as stated."

As WND reported, coin designer Daniel Carr has issued for sale a series of private-issue fantasy pattern amero coins that have drawn attention on the Internet.

WND also reported the African Union is moving down the path of regional economic integration, with the African Central Bank planning to create the "Gold Mandela" as a single African continental currency by 2010.

The Council on Foreign Relations also has supported regional and global currencies designed to replace nationally issued currencies.

In an article in the May/June issue of Foreign Affairs, entitled "The End of National Currency," CFR economist Benn Steil asserted the dollar is a temporary currency.

Steil concluded "countries should abandon monetary nationalism," moving to adopt regional currencies, on the road to a global "one world currency."

WND previously reported Steve Previs, a vice president at Jeffries International Ltd. in London, said the amero "is the proposed new currency for the North American Community which is being developed right now between Canada, the U.S., and Mexico."

A video clip of the CNBC interview in November with Jeffries is now available at YouTube.com.

WND also has reported a continued slide in the value of the dollar on world currency markets could set up conditions in which the adoption of the amero as a North American currency gains momentum.

[Soldier4Christ]

Costa Ricans cast votes on free trade with U.S.

Costa Ricans voted on a free-trade deal with the United States on Sunday in a referendum that has split the Central American nation like no other issue in decades.

Opponents fear the Central American Free Trade Agreement, or CAFTA, will weaken the country's prized welfare system, among the strongest in Latin America.

Supporters, led by Nobel peace laureate President Oscar Arias, say Costa Rica needs to open its economy more since it is a small country with few natural resources.

Cars with "yes" and "no" flags fluttering from their windows honked their horns as they drove by schools being used as polling stations.

"As a mother who has children, there are a lot of opportunities (with free trade), more possibilities for the country to grow," said Liliana Cespedes, owner of a small gym.

In the second such warning in recent days, the White House said on Saturday it would not renegotiate the deal if Costa Ricans vote against the current proposal.

A poll last week in La Nacion newspaper showed Costa Ricans rejecting the trade deal by 55 percent to 43 percent. Other recent surveys showed the country -- home to 4 million people and the most prosperous and stable in Central America -- sharply divided.

 Psychologist Ana Victoria Rosabal, who said she opposes the trade deal because it serves corporations and the rich, walked to a polling station with her husband, who planned to vote "yes."

"The negotiating process was not focused on the common good," she said.

The agreement would open state-run sectors like telecommunications and insurance to competition from foreign firms. Opponents say that threatens institutions that have contributed to the country's social stability for decades.

Critics also say the deal will mean a flood of cheap U.S. farm imports and limit the country's sovereignty by taking investment disputes to international arbitration.

Costa Rica is the only country not to have ratified CAFTA -- which includes Guatemala, El Salvador, Honduras, Nicaragua and the Dominican Republic -- and is the only nation to decide the issue by referendum.

In the largest march in Costa Rica in years, about 100,000 people filled the streets of the capital last weekend to protest the trade pact.

'JUST RICHER'

Costa Rica, which has no army and boasts of pristine beaches and jungles, has enjoyed almost uninterrupted democratic government for over a century and has better education and health care than its neighbors.

Coffee farming, tourism, call centers and microchip manufacturing support the growing economy, which is more diversified than its neighbors. It attracts migrants from Nicaragua and Panama.

 Arias, who won a Nobel Peace Prize for helping end Central American civil wars in the 1980s, says CAFTA will help Costa Rica stay ahead in the region.

"If this deal is approved, it won't make us better or worse," he said last week. "Just richer."

The White House warning on Saturday was the latest in a series of conflicting messages from Washington.

"If the free trade agreement is rejected, the United States will not renegotiate the agreement," White House spokeswoman Dana Perino said in a statement.

Democrats in Congress have sought to reassure Costa Rican voters their country would not lose existing trade benefits if the pact is defeated.

[nChrist]

Costa Ricans voted on a free-trade deal with the United States on Sunday in a referendum that has split the Central American nation like no other issue in decades.

UM?  -  I wonder why we don't get to vote? Can we assume that it's none of our business and our elected representatives will do what they want without consulting the people? There are some folks getting too big for their britches and taking advantage of their office to do things that the people more than likely DON'T WANT!

[Soldier4Christ]

Ex-Mexican prez:
Amero on the way 
Vicente Fox confirms long-term plan
for regional currency made with Bush

Former Mexican President Vicente Fox confirmed the existence of a government plan to create the amero as a new regional currency to replace the U.S. dollar, the Canadian dollar and the Mexican peso, in an interview last night on CNN's "Larry King Live."

It possibly was the first time a leader of Mexico, Canada or the U.S. openly confirmed a plan to create a regional currency. Fox explained the current regional trade agreement is intended to evolve into other previously hidden aspects of integration.

According to a transcript published by CNN, King, near the end of the broadcast, asked Fox a question e-mailed from a listener, a Ms. Gonzalez from Elizabeth, N.J.: "Mr. Fox, I would like to know how you feel about the possibility of having a Latin America united with one currency?"

Fox answered in the affirmative, admitting he and President Bush had agreed to pursue the Free Trade Agreement of the Americas – a free-trade zone extending throughout the Western Hemisphere – and that part of the plan was to institute a regional currency from Canada to the tip of South America.

"Long term, very long term," he said. "What we proposed together, President Bush and myself, it's ALCA, which is a trade union for all the Americas."

ALCA is the acronym for the Area de Libre Comercio de las Américas, the name of the FTAA in Spanish.

King, evidently startled by Fox's revelation of the currency, asked pointedly, "It's going to be like the euro dollar, you mean?"

"Well, that would be long, long term," Fox repeated.

Fox noted the FTAA plan had been thwarted by Hugo Chavez, the radical socialist president of Venezuela.

"Everything was running fluently until Hugo Chavez came," Fox commented. "He decided to combat the idea and destroy the idea."

Fox explained that he and Bush intended to proceed incrementally, establishing FTAA as an economic agreement first and waiting to create an amero-type currency later – a plan Fox also suggested was in place for NAFTA itself.

"I think the process to go, first step is trading agreement," Fox said. "And then further on, a new vision, like we are trying to do with NAFTA."

Fox's reply to the CNN viewer was captured in a clip posted on YouTube.com. CNN posted video of the interview but did not include the segment with questions from viewers.

Last week, WND reported BankIntroductions.com, a Canadian company that specializes in global banking strategies and currency consulting, is advising clients the amero may be the currency of North America within 10 years.

Coin designer Daniel Carr has issued for sale a series of private-issue fantasy pattern amero coins that have drawn attention on the Internet.

WND also reported the African Union is moving down the path of regional economic integration, with the African Central Bank planning to create the "Gold Mandela" as a single African continental currency by 2010.

The Council on Foreign Relations has supported regional and global currencies designed to replace nationally issued currencies.

In an article in the May/June issue of Foreign Affairs, entitled "The End of National Currency," CFR economist Benn Steil asserts the dollar is a temporary currency.

Steil concluded "countries should abandon monetary nationalism," moving to adopt regional currencies, on the road to a global "one world currency."

WND previously reported Steve Previs, a vice president at Jeffries International Ltd. in London, said the amero "is the proposed new currency for the North American Community which is being developed right now between Canada, the U.S., and Mexico."

A video clip of the CNBC interview in November with Jeffries is now available at YouTube.com.

WND also has reported a continued slide in the value of the dollar on world currency markets could set up conditions in which the adoption of the amero as a North American currency gains momentum.

[nChrist]

Hello Pastor Roger,

Brother, I knew there were too many reliable sources for all of this to be more conspiracy nut stuff. YES, this is real and they are trying to make it happen without the approval of the people. In fact, it appears they will try to do it over the objections of the people. The words used on numerous sites that are reporting the plans are, "Forced Integration". This explains the still remaining OPEN BORDERS and the gross derelictions of duty in many public offices. I'm too shy on this issue, but I still say that all of them belong in PRISON!

[Soldier4Christ]

Unfortunately the time is soon coming and may already be upon us that law breakers will have free run and the innocent will be locked up. We can look at the recent events in the San Francisco area with the government sanctioned atrocities to see that this is true.

[Rhys]

Ironic when God uses Hugo Chavez to thwart the conspiracy of a "Christian" administration!

[nChrist]

Ironic when God uses Hugo Chavez to thwart the conspiracy of a "Christian" administration!

Hello Brother Rhys,

Listening to the news these days is almost like watching an episode of the Twilight Zone. If these are the last days of this Age of Grace, things will get much worse. It will eventually involve a one world government and a one world religion. If these are those days, we've only seen the beginning.

[Soldier4Christ]

Mexico's Fox openly calls for North American Union 
Merger with Canada, U.S. is part of his dream to compete with Europe, Far East

Mexico's former President Vicente Fox is making no secret of his desire to promote a "North American Union" to compete economically with Europe and the Far East.

In a promotional tour for his new book, "Revolution of Hope," Fox told NPR's "Talk of the Nation" audience: "That's part of my Americas dream, that we can build our future together. We are partners with United States and Canada through NAFTA. There are other blocs in Latin America, but at the very end a continental trade agreement and union on the long term would be a way to develop ourselves and to be able to have the standards and level of living that we all need."

Fox shocked many in the U.S. earlier in the week when he told CNN's Larry King that he and President Bush had agreed to work toward a common currency not only for North America but for Latin America as well.

It was possibly the first time a top official of Mexico, Canada or the U.S. openly confirmed a plan for a regional currency. Fox explained the current regional trade agreement that encompasses the Western Hemisphere is intended to evolve into other previously hidden aspects of integration.

According to a transcript published by CNN, King, near the end of the broadcast, asked Fox a question e-mailed from a listener.

"Mr. Fox, I would like to know how you feel about the possibility of having a Latin America united with one currency?"

Fox answered in the affirmative, indicating it was a long-term plan. He admitted he and President Bush had agreed to pursue the Free Trade Agreement of the Americas – a free-trade zone extending throughout the Western Hemisphere, suggesting part of the plan was to institute eventually a regional currency.

"Long term, very long term," he said. "What we proposed together, President Bush and myself, it's ALCA, which is a trade union for all the Americas."

ALCA is the acronym for the Area de Libre Comercio de las Américas, the name of the FTAA in Spanish.

King, evidently startled by Fox's revelation of the currency, asked pointedly, "It's going to be like the euro dollar (sic), you mean?"

"Well, that would be long, long term," Fox repeated.

Fox noted the FTAA plan had been thwarted by Hugo Chavez, the radical socialist president of Venezuela.

"Everything was running fluently until Hugo Chavez came," Fox commented. "He decided to combat the idea and destroy the idea."

Fox explained that he and Bush intended to proceed incrementally, establishing FTAA as an economic agreement first and waiting to create an amero-type currency later – a plan he also suggested was in place for NAFTA itself.

"I think the process to go, first step is trading agreement," Fox said. "And then further on, a new vision, like we are trying to do with NAFTA."

When asked by WND White House correspondent Les Kinsolving about plans for the new currency, sometimes referred to as the amero, White House press secretary Dana Perino said she was not aware of any such efforts.

On the NPR program, host Neal Conan asked Fox: "You have called for much freer movement of labor. In fact, you've argued for a North American Union down the road. But a North American Union that would unite Canada, Mexico and the United States as an economic unit to compete with the European Union and with the tigers of the Far East."

Fox answered affirmatively and added: "And I also speak about the immigration policies here in the United States and the need to pace the issue, the need to debate the issue, and the need to fulfill those empty spaces that are being filled by the xenophobic, by those who are guided by fear, and that's what I notice in this nation. And its stand and we sit down and we look at the future with this vision. I don't think building walls is the answer to the problem. I love this land. I love America. I love the United States."

The issue of a unified currency is one discussed in "The Late Great USA," and recently, WND reported BankIntroductions.com, a Canadian company that specializes in global banking strategies and currency consulting, is advising clients the amero may be the currency of North America within 10 years.

Coin designer Daniel Carr has issued for sale a series of private-issue fantasy pattern amero coins that have drawn attention on the Internet.

WND also reported the African Union is moving down the path of regional economic integration, with the African Central Bank planning to create the "Gold Mandela" as a single African continental currency by 2010.

The Council on Foreign Relations has supported regional and global currencies designed to replace nationally issued currencies.

WND also has reported a continued slide in the value of the dollar on world currency markets could set up conditions in which the adoption of the amero as a North American currency gains momentum.

[Soldier4Christ]

Bush: Protectionism will cost U.S. jobs 
President launches blitz on behalf of pending free trade pacts with 4 nations

Alarmed by slipping support for free trade even among Republicans, President Bush is arguing that protectionism will cut Americans out of chances for more — and better — jobs.
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Bush has launched a blitz on behalf of pending free trade pacts with four nations. He continued the push Saturday in his weekly radio address.

"More exports support better and higher-paying jobs," the president said. "And to keep our economy expanding, we need to keep expanding trade."

His radio address followed a speech on trade he delivered Friday in Miami. Bush also granted interviews this week to business-oriented news organizations.

Since Democrats took control of Congress in January, it has not approved any free trade agreements that the administration has negotiated, and it has allowed Bush's authority to negotiate future deals under expedited procedures to expire.

Before lawmakers now are agreements with Peru and Panama, considered likely to pass, and with Colombia and South Korea, both seen as precarious. The deal with Colombia is in trouble over human rights issues and there is strong opposition to the South Korea agreement because of barriers erected by Seoul to keep out U.S. autos and beef.

The administration already has reached agreement with Democrats to include tougher language on protecting worker rights and the environment. But critics say five consecutive years of record U.S. trade deficits have played a major role in the loss of more than 3 million manufacturing jobs since Bush took office in 2001.

"I know many Americans feel uneasy about new competition and worry that trade will cost jobs," Bush said. "So the federal government is providing substantial funding for trade adjustment assistance that helps Americans make the transition from one job to the next. We are working to improve federal job-training programs. And we are providing strong support for America's community colleges, where people of any age can go to learn new skills for a better, high-paying career."

He said the deals would level the playing field for American businesses and farmers, many of which now face high tariffs on exported products while other countries enjoy relatively open access to U.S. markets. And he argued that freer trade with allies serves "America's security and moral interests" around the globe.

"Expanding trade will help our economy grow," Bush said. "So I call on Congress to act quickly and get these agreements to my desk."

After spending Friday in Florida talking trade and raising money for the Republican Party, Bush flew to Texas for a weekend stay at his ranch. He travels Monday to Rogers, Ark., for a speech on the budget and to Memphis to raise money to help Sen. Lamar Alexander, R-Tenn., in his re-election bid. The president returns to Washington Monday evening.

[Soldier4Christ]

Canadians call for vote on SPP 
Activists demand national referendum on 'continental divide'

Canadian activists are demanding Prime Minister Stephen Harper fulfill a promise and submit the Security and Prosperity Partnership of North America to a national referendum for an up or down vote.

"The Prime Minister of Canada and his cabinet in both Liberal and Conservative regimes support the unification of North America as witnessed by the fact of [former Prime Minister] Paul Martin and [current Prime Minister] Stephen Harper being signatories to the SPP process," said Connie Fogal, leader of the Canadian Action Party.

Fogal rejects the idea that the vote on SPP should be taken solely in the Canadian Parliament.

"A decision about the restructuring of Canada into an integrated North America is not a decision for parliament, but for the citizens of Canada," Fogal says. "What every Parliamentarian should do is call for a no confidence vote on this issue to cease unification of Canada, the USA and Mexico, and then run a campaign on the life of Canada not its death."

Maude Barlow, the National Chairperson of the Council of Canadians, agrees.

"So far, only 30 CEOs from North America's richest corporations, including Lockheed Martin, Bank of Nova Scotia, Chevron, Power Corporation and Merck, have had any meaningful input," a news release on Barlow's website proclaims. "Only they have been invited to annual closed-door meetings of SPP leaders and ministers, such as the one that took place in Montebello, Quebec, in August."

As WND previously reported, the North American Competitiveness Council, or NACC, dominated the SPP closed-door meetings with the SPP trilateral working groups, the trilateral cabinet members in attendance and President Bush, Mexico's President Felipe Calderon, and Harper at the third annual SPP summit in Montebello, Quebec, on Aug. 20-21.

WND has also reported the NACC is a shadowy council of 30 top North American multinational corporations self-appointed by the Chambers of Commerce in each of the three countries to constitute the sole outside advisory to the SPP.

The 30 companies composing the NACC are listed on a memo posted on the U.S. Chamber of Commerce website.

In the United States, the companies on the NACC are:

    * Campbell Soup Company
    * Chevron Corporation
    * Ford Motor Corporation
    * FedEx Corporation
    * General Electric Company
    * General Motors Corporation
    * Kansas City Southern
    * Lockheed Martin Corporation
    * Merck & Co., Inc.
    * Mittal Steel USA
    * New York Life Insurance Company
    * Procter & Gamble
    * UPS
    * Wal-Mart Stores, Inc.
    * Whirlpool Corporation

No union leaders, public interest groups, environmental advocates or news media have ever attended the closed-door of the NACC with the SPP.

According to a document on the Commerce Department's SPP website, the organization of the NACC was agreed upon by the three leaders on March 31, 2006.

"We are pleased to announce the creation of a North American Competitiveness Council," the White House announced the same day.

"The Council will comprise members of the private sector from each country," the White House said, "and will provide us recommendations on North American competitiveness, including, among others, areas such as automotive and transportation, steel, manufacturing, and services. The Council will meet annually with security and prosperity Ministers and will engage with senior government officials on an ongoing basis."

On Sept. 25, Harper made a speech to the Council on Foreign Relations in New York where he again endorsed SPP.

In a transcript archived on the CFR website, Harper referred to the NACC, saying: "At the North American summit that Canada hosted in Montebello last month, I was struck by the power of the message sent to us by the leaders from the American and Canadian private sectors."

"They appealed to us to see the connection between security and prosperity," Harper continued. "They told us that without the ‘and' we won't have either."

The CFR website also has archived a video of Harper's Sept. 25 remarks.

[Soldier4Christ]

Bush officials team with Mexico to defend trucks 
But Congress members opposed to vehicles on U.S. roads won't budge

Bush administration officials held a news conference with Mexico's transportation secretary yesterday to respond to criticism of a program allowing Mexican trucks on U.S. roads, but critics in Congress who helped pass counter-legislation are unmoved.

"It is difficult to understand how a program that opens our roadways to virtually unregulated cross-border vehicle traffic can be safely regulated," said Republican Rep. Duncan Hunter's spokesman, Joe Kasper, in a WND interview.

Mexican Transportation Secretary Luis Tellez teamed with his counterpart U.S. Department of Transportation Secretary Mary Peters and Commerce Secretary Carlos Gutierrez to call on Congress to reconsider its pending prohibition of the program and let the trucking demonstration program proceed.

Barry Piatt, spokesman for Sen. Byron Dorgan, D-N.D., in a conversation with WND prior to the press conference, characterized the media event as obscene and irrelevant.

By overwhelming margins, the Senate and the House adopted identical amendments into the Transportation/HUD Appropriations bill that would cut off federal funds for the truck project. The House passed the measure 411-3 while the Senate voted 75-23. The bill awaits consideration by a Joint Conference Committee.

Peters urged, "With the change of just a few words, Congress can show that we can trade with the world, keep our highways safe, and our companies competitive at the same time."

The secretary illustrated the point by inviting a Maryland state trooper to conduct a comprehensive safety inspection of two trucks participating in the cross-border demonstration, one a U.S. truck and the other the first Mexican truck to make a U.S. delivery. The trucks are virtually identical, Peters said, because both must meet the same strict U.S. safety standards.

"We want to demonstrate to Congress that tough safety standards and rigorous inspections work and that trucks participating in this program will have the same features, the same upkeep and the same commitment to safety that any U.S. truck has," Peters said.

But Dorgan insisted the inspection "means nothing."

"The information we need to ensure the safety of American drivers on American highways is not available," he said. "That includes vehicle inspection and drivers' records and accidents reports. None of that information is available. An 'inspection' of a hand-picked Mexican truck at a press conference doesn't change that."

Dorgan said Congress "has spoken loud and clear in its opposition to allowing long-haul Mexican trucks to enter the United States, based on concerns that included a lack of access to Mexican driver and vehicle safety records."

"Instead of responding to those concerns, the administration rushed its pilot program into implementation and is now presenting a fancy press conference in Washington, D.C., that features the 'inspection' of one, hand picked Mexican truck," he said.

Hunter spokesman Kasper told WND the truck project presents long-term safety and security challenges that cannot be casually addressed.

"Congress put in place very specific guidelines that guaranteed Mexican truckers would be regulated by the same rules as their American counterparts," Kasper said. "Rather than working with Congress to address the concerns that have been raised about the program, DOT announced that Mexican truckers were in compliance for some time and quickly moved to implement the program."

As of this writing, the website of the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration, or FMCSA, indicates that there are five Mexican carriers authorized to participate in the program, and three U.S. carriers. The website has not been updated since September, however.

Since announcement of program's commencement, the FMCSA has said trucks will be tracked via satellite in a joint effort between Mexico and the U.S.

Questions remain about what happens to the program if the appropriations amendment passes in tact. A Sept. 14 WND article offered information from the FMCSA that a demonstration program is not required at all, and perhaps they can just continue without the funding.

[Soldier4Christ]

Tancredo: Mexico building huge port to bring in Chinese goods destined for U.S.

Congressman Tom Tancredo (R-Colorado) says the government of Mexico is building a massive port on its Pacific coast that appears to have one major purpose -- to bring in cheap Chinese goods destined for U.S. consumers.



Tancredo is concerned that the Bush administration is pushing forward with trade agreements that will effectively erase the borders separating Mexico, the U.S., and Canada. Recently the Colorado Republican criticized the administration's new policy that grants Mexican trucks broad access to U.S. roadways, rather than having to transfer cross-border shipments to American trucks. On top of that, Tancredo says Mexican officials want to apparently squeeze out U.S. ports from the lucrative Chinese shipping.

"Construction of the largest deep water port on the Pacific is being constructed near Sinaloa, Mexico -- and it will rival any port we have in the United States along the West Coast in California, for instance, in terms of its capacity," he states. "And what we're already seeing, by the way, is a significant increase in trade coming through there from China into Mexico."

And Tancredo says he is concerned about a perplexing photo he saw from the area. "I remember seeing a satellite photo of a train that was coming from that port, from Sinaloa actually, and coming north toward the United States and it had Chinese military on the train itself and it had tarps on top of whatever the cargo was," he says.

Tancredo maintains that the Democrat-controlled Congress will do nothing to stop the Bush administration's goal of creating a transportation corridor that stretches from the U.S.-Mexico border to the U.S.-Canada border -- or what critics refer to as a "NAFTA superhighway."