North American Union

[Soldier4Christ]

Let us all pray.

Amen.

[islandboy]

Thanks again for putting this story up. The more people that have the access to this information, to be able to read about it and understand what it means for western States, as well as their State, and the United States, the better equipped they will be in getting ready to defend America and themselves. Do your part contact, by any means you have (fax,e-mail,phone calls and letters) to your State Representatives and say "NO", to this immigration bill and the NAFTA  Superhighway.

[Soldier4Christ]

You're most welcome. I have seen on other forums where people just don't believe this situation is as serious as it actually is. They believe that it is nothing more than an economic agreement and has nothing to do with the overall government. The same thing though was said about the European Union, it is just an economic agreement. We see where that led to. The NAU actually started back with NAFTA just as the EU started with an economic trade agreement.

A couple of other little publicized facts:

The Canadian National Railroad bought up the Illinois Central Railroad on the U.S. side of the border and has added numerous smaller U.S. Railroads to this collection and is well staged for the NAFTA trade.

CAFTA (or more correctly DR-CAFTA now). The U.S. Senate passed a bill removing 80+% of tariffs with the DR-CAFTA. Under U.S. law DR-CAFTA is a congressional-executive agreement. the agreement encompassed the United States and the Central American countries of Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, and Nicaragua, and was called CAFTA. In 2004, the Dominican Republic joined the negotiations, and the agreement was renamed DR-CAFTA.

Belize, Panama, and Haiti are also being targeted for such agreements in an action to bring all of these countries into an agreement with the NAU.

[Soldier4Christ]

114 congressmen: Why is DOT ignoring law? 
Letter questions 'demonstration' opening roads to Mexican truckers

More than 100 members of the U.S. House of Representatives have written to President Bush, asking him why the Department of Transportation apparently is ignoring what the legislators want.

The issue was raised by U.S. Rep. Duncan Hunter, R-Calif., who circulated the letter dealing with plans to hurry along with a "demonstration" project to allow Mexican truckers access to U.S. roads. Specifically, the letter raised concerns about federal agency actions – apparently despite what Congress wrote into the law.

"The U.S. Congress and the American people seriously question the ability of Mexican motor carriers and drivers to adhere to our country's strict safety rules, as well as the administration's preparedness and willingness to ensure Mexican truck drivers obey our homeland security and immigration rules," said the letter.

"As such, Congress mobilized to speak against it. Congress had already passed H.R. 1773, the 'Safe American Roads Act of 2007,' which passed overwhelmingly 411-3, and related language in P.L. 110-28, the FY07 supplemental appropriations act. Both pieces of legislation provided strict measures to ensure that the Department of Transportation and the pilot program would adhere to security guidelines and that an independent panel would assess their progress in ensuring American safety," the letter continued.

"However, even after you signed the supplemental into law, the Department of Transportation arrogantly declared that these standards had already been met, that no independent assessment would be needed, and that the pilot program would proceed as planned," the members of Congress said.

"If Congress believed that the provisions in the supplemental had already been met, then there would have been no need to incorporate such language. The Department of Transportation should not stand above the law."

Joe Kasper, a legislative assistant to Hunter, told WND the 114 signatures on the letter make a statement to the president not to move forward with the cross-border trucking program right away.

The proposed test, he said, "certainly presents safety and security risks" that need to be addressed.

"From a safety perspective you have unregulated Mexican truckers and drivers entering the U.S. and freely operating on U.S. roadways. Their motor vehicle standards are not as strong as they are in the U.S., and you could have unfit motor vehicle traffic traveling on U.S. roadways," he said.

As for security, "the concerns are abundantly clear. You can carry any type of contraband or illicit cargo into the United States already. The idea that you would add one more complication to the already porous border just doesn't make sense," he said.

The letter from Hunter and others is telling the president to get it right, Kasper told WND.

"The Cross-Border Demonstration Program would give Mexican truck drivers unfettered access to the United State without a demonstrable way to verify their identity, immigration status and length of stay in the United States," the letter said. "It is also unclear which law enforcement personnel have the responsibility, authority and training to check a Mexican driver's status and enforce compliance with the federal laws once they are in the United States."

The letter warned the action would open "major loopholes" in law enforcement procedures.

"We understand the administration's duty to adhere to our obligations under the North American Free Trade Agreement, but this must never come before our duty to maintain the security and welfare of the American people," the letter said.

Kasper said something as simple as language could create issues. A Mexican driver unfamiliar with English-language instructions on highways could create an unacceptable risk of accidents.

"Mr. President, we understand your intention to fully implement the provisions of NAFTA by opening our southern border to commercial traffic. However, those interests should not be put ahead of our public safety, homeland security, and economic vitality. We strongly urge you to suspend plans for the Cross-Border Demonstration Program until these serious issues can be addressed," the letter concluded.

As WND reported earlier, the White House has been pressing the Senate on the issue, seeking to derail the House-approved "Safe Roads" plan.

Sources within the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation confirmed in background conversations that the panel has put on hold taking any action on the Safe American Roads Act of 2007, the bill the House passed May 15.

At the encouragement of the White House, the senators on the transportation committee are taking the position that the requirements of the Safe American Roads Act were wrapped into the provisions of H.R. 2206, the Iraq supplemental funding bill, signed May 25 by President Bush.

An unhappy Todd Spencer, executive director of the Owner-Operator Independent Drivers Association, believes the Bush administration "has preordained that the Mexican truck demonstration project will begin regardless who objects."

"Simply put, the Bush administration has turned a tin ear to both the public and the Congress and there are no objections which can put a stop to the DOT plans," he told WND.

[Faithin1]

They're certainly determined to implement the NAU! 

[Soldier4Christ]

10,000 protesters expected at N. America summit 
Bush to attend meeting critics view as stepping stone to continental union

Protesters believe as many as 10,000 people could assemble in Quebec to demonstrate against the third summit meeting of the Security and Prosperity Partnership, the trilateral group some critics see as a stepping stone to a "North America Community."

Canadian state and national police are preparing for a possible violent confrontation when President Bush joins Mexican President Felipe Calderon and Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper Aug. 20, 21 in Montebello, Québec, at the Fairmont Le Château Montebello resort.

Stuart Trew, a spokesman for the Council of Canadians, said his group plans to hold a public forum in Ottawa Sunday, Aug. 19, at about 4:00 p.m., bringing together speakers from the U.S., Mexico and Canada.

"We are then going to encourage people to head to Montebello on Monday and get as close they can to the Fairmont resort where the SPP meeting is going to be held, so they can protest at the site of the summit," he said.

Trew said some of the same groups that brought 15,000 people to Ottawa to protest President Bush's Nov. 30, 2004, meeting with then-Prime Minister Paul Martin are organizing the demonstration against the SPP summit. CBC News estimated the number of protestors in 2004 at closer to 5,000.

Frederic Castonguay, the town general manager of Papineauville, Quebec, told WND in a telephone interview that the Royal Canadian Mounted Police and the Sûreté du Québec will set up operations in a town community facility that adjoins a local high school.

"Papineauville is located about six kilometers from the Montebello resort where the summit meeting will be held," Castonguay told WND, "and the Canadian national and state police have evidently decided that our town facility will be their command center."

Castonguay suggested the Canadian police may try to maintain a 25-kilometer protest-free zone around the Montebello summit meeting site.

Castonguay affirmed to WND that a deposit to lease the facility to the Council of Canadians the day before the SPP summit meeting had to be returned at the insistence of the Canadian police, but he denied a report in the Canadian press that the U.S. Army would be part of the security detail at the Papineauville community center facility.

"That's a game the Canadian press likes to play," Castonguay told WND. "The RCMP said U.S. and Mexican security forces would be involved, but they did not specifically mention the U.S. Army."

The PGA Bloc Montreal has organized a mock website designed to model Canada's SPP governmental website. The group is calling for Aug. 20 at 3 p.m. to be a "Day of Action" organized against the SPP.

The PGA Bloc Montreal is a Canadian group affiliated with the Peoples' Global Action, a worldwide group organized to protest globalism and war.

"We are calling for a convergence on Montebello, or as close to Montebello as possible, on the 20th, in the afternoon," a PGA Bloc Montreal spokesman explained to WND in an e-mail. "People are invited to come as close as possible to Montebello to demonstrate against the SPP and its promoters. Mass transportation will be organized from Montreal, but we are not planning a peace march."

"If they will not let us demonstrate peacefully in Montebello, as we have the full right to do," the PGA Bloc Montreal spokesman continued, "it is imaginable that some outraged people would want to disrupt the summit by various means."

WND previously reported a large number of Canadian activist groups are expected to join the protests.

The meeting, closed to the press, is expected to include the 30 international business leaders who comprise the SPP North American Competitiveness Council.

Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice met July 6 in Washington with Canadian Foreign Minister Peter MacKay and Mexican Foreign Minister Patricia Espinosa to prepare for the Quebec summit.

The July meeting followed an earlier Feb. 24 meeting of the three ministers in Washington to set the stage for the summit.

Since its creation in February 1998, http://uuhome.de/global/english/pga01.html the Peoples' Global Action has held large street protests around the world in opposition to meetings held by various international organizations, including the International Monetary Fund, the World Trade Organization and the G-8.

[Soldier4Christ]

'Declaration of North American Integration' unearthed 
Activist points to mayor's endorsement on document signed by 90 leaders

The endorsement by a major city mayor of a document described as "The Declaration of North American Integration" represents a long-term effort by local governments to bypass state and federal governments and work directly with Mexico and Canada to create agreements that integrate the continent below the radar screen, charges an activist.

Adam Rott, founder of watchdog blog Oklahoma Corridor Watch, brought to light the document signed by Mayor Mick Cornett.

The document was presented at the May 2004 summit meeting of the North American International Trade Corridor Partnership, or NAITCP. According to an Internet-archived summary report of the meeting, held in Kansas City, Mo., the document was signed by 90 people.

Rott told WND he created Oklahoma Corridor Watch because, "I saw the efforts in Texas by Internet blogs such as Texas Corridor Watch and Texas Toll Party to get the word out in Texas about the Trans-Texas Corridor. I wanted to warn Oklahoma about plans to extend the Trans-Texas Corridor along Interstate 35 north into our state."

Rott said it should be clear to everyone "that the international business interests and government officials working with them do not intend to stop the four-football-fields wide TTC-35 at the Texas border with Oklahoma."

"Oklahoma has been at work for almost 15 years to get I-35 designated as a NAFTA superhighway," Rott said. "I want to wake Oklahomans up to the reality that Oklahoma is on the front lines of the battle being waged by investment bankers, foreign investment consortia and politicians who stand to benefit to expand the TTC-35 north into Oklahoma."

WND contacted Cornett's office for comment, but the mayor did not respond.

"What is so diabolical about Cornett's signature is that it has largely remained hidden from view since 2004," Rott charged. "It is disturbing to think that councilmen and councilwomen who live in our communities are working for North American integration in the mistaken notion that globalism will result in local economic development."

Roth is skeptical of the promise North American integration holds for economic development in Oklahoma.

"What we see is the sovereignty of the U.S. being compromised at a local level, and we have yet to see where globalism has benefited Oklahoma City," he said. "Our manufacturing base is deteriorating in Oklahoma City as plants close and multinational corporations outsource from Oklahoma to get cheaper workers in international markets."

Oklahoma Republican state Sen. Randy Brogdon agrees.

Brogdon told WND he believes "the ramifications of what Oklahoma City Mayor Cornett is doing is to destroy U.S. national sovereignty and to grab property like we have never seen before."

Brogdon was outspoken in his opposition to North American integration.

"Economic development at the expense of our sovereignty is not a fair trade as far as I am concerned," he said.

On June 24, 2005, NAITCP signed a memorandum of understanding with the North America SuperCorridor Coalition, or NASCO, effectively absorbing NAITCP into NASCO. An archived NASCO webpage no longer displayed on the current NASCO website documents that NAITCP had its origin as a "non-profit organization in Mexico dedicated to economic development and improving trade relations through the heartland of America to Canada and Mexico."

NASCO also did not respond to a request for comment.

WND previously reported Brogdon entered an amendment to an Oklahoma bill that would have required that the state's Department of Transportation "shall be prohibited from participating or entering any negotiations or agreement with NASCO."

Brogdon's amendment further specified, "No state funds or federal funds dedicated for state use shall be used for any international, integrated or multi-modal transportation system."

In a series of complicated maneuvers, the bill died.

Still, Brogdon is determined to press forward against NASCO.

"In this next legislature," he said, "I am going to add amendments to legislation that will continue to require the Oklahoma Department of Transportation to get out of NASCO. We have spent $481,000 in Oklahoma since 1995 to be a member of NASCO, and we have yet to receive any benefit."

In the last legislature, Brogdon also sponsored Senate Concurrent Resolution 10 urging the U.S. to withdraw from the Security and Prosperity Partnership of North America and any other activity that seeks to create a North American Union, and to oppose any NAFTA superhighways.

The resolution passed unanimously in voice votes in both houses of the Oklahoma legislature, Brogdon noted.

"Hopefully, he said, "the legislature is waking up to all the subversive legislation that is trying to be sneaked past us by the George Bush Security and Prosperity Partnership agenda and interests such as (Texas) Governor Perry, who has pushed TTC-35 through despite the objections of the Texas legislature."

NASCO's website adamantly rejects the idea that a North American Super Corridor could ever be a "NAFTA superhighway."

Yet, the NASCO website documents that in addition to the state of Oklahoma, the Texas Department of Transportation, or TxDOT, is a member. As fully documented on the TxDOT website, the department does plan to build a new Trans-Texas Corridor parallel to Interstate 35, and NASCO has yet to repudiate these new superhighway construction plans.

'Shared vision'

The NAITCP 2004 summit brochure initially presents the signed document, on Page 2, as the "Kansas City Declaration." Yet later, in a conference summary on the last page, the document is identified as "The Declaration of North American Integration."

The summary page notes "more than 90 North American leaders signed an important document entitled 'The Kansas City Declaration' to officially record their shared vision of future cooperation for communities along the NAFTA Trade Corridor in Canada, the United States and Mexico."

The summit brochure lists Mayor Cornett as a signatory.

Oklahoma Corridor Watch expressed concern that, "It is becoming increasingly more apparent that our government officials have been working overtime behind the scenes to bring in the "North American Union" and often in relative secrecy away from their constituents and from scrutiny."

Last month, Oklahoma House Speaker Lance Cargill brought superhighway proponent Robert Poole to Oklahoma to give presentations on the virtues of "public-private partnerships" designed to advance the interests of private investment consortia seeking to build or lease state toll roads.

Poole, a mechanical engineer who has advised the administrations of George H. W. Bush, Bill Clinton and George W. Bush to privatize U.S. highways, estimates more than $25 billion in public-private partnership highway projects are planned or approved in the U.S.

Among the other named signatories were two professors prominent in the push to create a "North American Community," Stephen Blank of Pace University and Robert Pastor of American University.

Blank is known for organizing the "North America Works" conferences held annually since 2005 in Kansas City. Pastor, a prolific author on the subject of North American integration, holds annually holds a student North American model parliament, an activity organized by the American Forum on Integration, of which Blank and Pastor are both directors.

Rott also documented that Cornett called for the economic integration of North America in a video interview given at the Conference of Mayors in Boston in 2004.

"This signifies how local governments across the nation are either moving forward with, or directly supporting, the economic integration of North America, also called the North American Union," Rott wrote on his blog. "While such a pursuit may seem like the stuff of conspiracy theories, it is increasingly becoming more apparent that our government, with the direct support of private sector participants, is building a union in North America comparable to the European Union."

The 2004 NAITCP "Kansas City Declaration" was also signed by Kay Barnes, then Mayor of Kansas City, Mo.; Michael Haverty, chairman and CEO of Kansas City Southern; Chris Guiterrez, president of Kansas City SmartPort; and Francisco Gil Diaz, secretary of finance and public credit in Mexico.

According to the NAITCP brochure, the Kansas City Declaration reads in part, "We have come to realize that our communities in Mexico, Canada and the United States are closely linked to each other, and that we share profoundly in this emerging North American economic system.

"The answer is to move forward together," the declaration continued. "We will deepen the ties among our communities. The economic vitality and social integration of our communities demand open, dynamic and secure borders. We encourage our respective governments to dedicate sufficient resources to create 'smart' and efficient borders. Likewise, we urge our governments to assist us in forming a 'North American Transportation and Infrastructure Committee' that will formulate a strategic vision for an integrated regional logistics system."

[islandboy]

One of the best supporting arguments on this issue can be found at www.outragedpatriots.com   Scroll down the page to a article written by Stephen Lendman, called "The Militarization and Annexation of North America, The Security and Prosperity Partnership (SPP), unmasked.
I wish there was a way to get more information out to people in smaller towns and communities. The major news channels are not talking about this issue, other than talk show hosts. The Washington Post mentions it but not on a regular basis. Small town newspapers might carry the story if given the information and inclination to do so. More people need to get in touch with their senators and protest and ask that there State & our government get out of partnership with any dealings concerning NAFTA  &  SPP  & NACC  (North American Competitiveness Council).
In this case what you don't know can hurt you. It is also adviced to get your self prepared just as you would prepare for a natural or man made disaster. Extra Food, water and safe shelter. Be prepared to take care of yourself for a extended time should this come into passing.

[Soldier4Christ]

OKC mayor washes hands of North American Union 
'It was a pretty stupid thing to get involved with'

Oklahoma City Mayor Mick Cornett has repudiated his signing in 2004 of a document described as "The Declaration of North American Integration."

"I do not favor the North American Union," Cornett he told WND in a telephone interview yesterday. "It was a pretty stupid thing to get involved with three years ago. I don't necessarily remember what I was thinking at the time, but I can speak for now and I do not favor a North American Union."

WND has reported that the document was presented at the May 2004 summit meeting of the North American International Trade Corridor Partnership, or NAITCP. According to an Internet-archived summary report of the meeting, held in Kansas City, Mo., the document was signed by 90 people.

WND asked Cornett if he remembered signing the declaration.

"No," Cornett answered. "I was certainly at the meeting, but it was a long time ago and I've learned a lot in the last few years."

Cornett told WND that Oklahoma City was not taking any steps to integrate with Mexico and Canada and that Oklahoma City has not declared itself an "inland port" targeted for warehousing containers from international trade coming in through Mexican ports on the Pacific Ocean, as has Kansas City to the north and San Antonio to the south of Oklahoma City.

"Oklahoma City is not an inland port for containers coming from China," Cornett stressed. "I am opposed to the extension of the Trans-Texas Corridor into Oklahoma if the whole point is to make it cheaper to transport containers from China coming through Mexican ports."

Cornett said new highway construction between Oklahoma and Texas only would be justified if the point were to relieve any growing gridlock between Dallas and Oklahoma City, not to facilitate international trade.

A check of the Federal Highway Administration website shows that Oklahoma is not one of the 21 states that have passed public-private partnership enabling legislation that includes the 28 key elements the FHWA considers essential to allow private investment consortia to lease existing toll roads or build new toll roads in a state.

WND asked Cornett if he agreed with Oklahoma Republican state Senator Randy Brogdon that Oklahoma ought to withdraw from the North American SuperCorridor Coalition.

"I don't know enough about NASCO to comment," Cornett told WND.

Brogdon told WND in a telephone interview that, "I am extremely pleased to know that Mayor Cornett is opposed to the North American Union and the NAFTA superhighway. Cornett is the mayor of Oklahoma City and the NAFTA Superhighway is designed to come right through the middle of Oklahoma City."

WND asked Brogdon if he plans now to call on Cornett to help him oppose in the Oklahoma legislature the North American Union, the Security and Prosperity Partnership of North America, and the NAFTA Superhighway.

"Yes," Brogdon responded. "I hope Mayor Cornett will be a voice to help me in the legislature to curb and to change the opinions of a lot of people that want the NAFTA Superhighway to come through Oklahoma. Now that I know Mayor Cornett has repudiated this declaration, I will call on him to support me with future legislation."

"I would encourage Mayor Cornett to find out more about NASCO," Brogdon stressed. "Hopefully Mayor Cornett will be a voice to encourage the legislature to drop out of NASCO."

Adam Rott, founder of Oklahoma Corridor Watch, was cautiously positive to learn that Cornett had repudiated signing the 2004 declaration.

"I am very pleased to learn that Mayor Cornett has repudiated signing this document," Rott told WND in a telephone interview. "I'm just wondering to what extent Cornett's decision was just politically expedient."

"I knew Oklahomans would be very upset when they saw what Mayor Cornett was doing outside the limelight," Rott added. "It doesn't surprise me that he so quickly repudiated his action because he is also on video calling in no uncertain terms for North American integration."

WND has reported that Cornett called for economic integration of North America in a video interview given at the Conference of Mayors in Boston in 2004.

Rott told WND that he had contacted Cornett's office when his blog first broke the story on July 9 that Cornett signed the declaration in 2004.

"Back then, Mayor Cornett didn't answer my phone calls," Rott said, "but I would like to see what actual steps Cornett is going to take to solidify his repudiation of this declaration. He signed a document that was billed as 'The Declaration of North American Integration.' I would like to see him sign a document specifically saying that he believes North American integration represents a significant threat to our sovereignty."

Rott added that he would like to see Cornett directly take steps to oppose the NAFTA Superhighway coming through Oklahoma.

"If Cornett would like to go on record with his repudiation and sign another document that disavows North American integration, I would be very pleased," Rott continued.

[Soldier4Christ]

Now Cheney chimes in:
Ain't no superhighways 
VP latest to make official denial,
some call it 'gaming semantics'

Despite evidence to the contrary, Vice President Dick Cheney says there is no "secret plan" to create a continent-crossing superhighway to help facilitate a merger of the United States, Mexico and Canada.

"The administration is not engaged in a secret plan to create a 'NAFTA super highway,'" asserts Cheney in a recent letter to a constituent, according to a copy of the message obtained by WND.

The vice president's letter quotes an Aug. 21 statement from the U.S. Department of Transportation that, "The concept of a super highway has been around since the early 1990s, usually in the form of a claim that the U.S. Department of Transportation is going to designate such a highway."

DOT then refutes the claim, stating, "The Department of Transportation has never had the statutory authority to designate a NAFTA super highway and has never sought such authority."

The DOT statement then retracts the absolute nature of that statement, qualifying that, "The Department of Transportation will continue to cooperate with the State transportation departments in the I-35 corridor as they upgrade this vital interstate highway to meet 21st century needs. However, these efforts are the routine activities of a Department that cooperates with all the state transportation departments to improve the Nation's intermodal transportation network."

The DOT statement cited by the vice president seems to model the denial recently fashioned by the North America's SuperCorridor Coalition, Inc., or NASCO, on its website.

There NASCO states, "There a no plans to build a new NAFTA Superhighway – it exists today as I-35."

The coalition continues to distinguish its support for a North American "SuperCorridor" from a "NAFTA Superhighway," asserting that a "SuperCorridor is not 'Super-sized." The website then claims NASCO uses the term "SuperCorridor" to demonstrate "we are more than just a highway coalition."

In a July 21, 2006, internal e-mail obtained by WND under a Missouri Sunshine Law request, Tiffany Melvin, executive director of NASCO, cautions "NASCO friends and members" that, "We have to stay away from 'SuperCorridor' because it is a very bad, hot button right now."

As WND previously reported, Jeffrey Shane, undersecretary of transportation for policy at the U.S. Department of Transportation got into a spirited exchange in January with congressmen after he asserted to a House subcommittee that NAFTA Superhighways were an "urban legend."

In response to questioning by Rep. Ted Poe, R-Texas, before the Subcommittee on Highways and Transit of the U.S. House of Representatives Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure, Shane asserted he was "not familiar with any plan at all, related to NAFTA or cross-border traffic."

Rep. Peter DeFazio, D-Ore., then questioned aloud whether Shane was just "gaming semantics" when responding to Poe's question.

In June 2006, when first writing about NASCO, WND displayed the original homepage of NASCO, which used to open with a map highlighting the I-35 corridor from Mexico to Canada, arguing the trade group and its members were actively promoting a NAFTA superhighway.

In what appears to be the third major revamping of the NASCO website since WND first began writing articles about NASCO, the Dallas-based trade group carefully removes identifying NASCO with the words behind the acronym, "North America's SuperCorridor Coalition, Inc.," which the original NASCO website once proudly proclaimed.

The current NASCO homepage displays a photo montage of intermodal highway scenes, presumably taken along I-35, but without any map displaying a continental I-35 super corridor linking Mexico and Canada.

NASCO currently relegates the continental I-35 map to an internal webpage that describes the North American Inland Ports Network as a "working group" within NASCO that supports inland member cities who have designated themselves as "inland ports," seeking to warehouse container traffic originating in Mexican ports on the Pacific such as Manzanillo and Lázaro Cárdenas.

The beige and blue continental I-35 map now positioned on an internal page of the NASCO website was originally used as the second NASCO website, in make-over of the original NASCO blue and yellow continental I-35 map that made the continental nature of the I-35 appear graphically more pronounced.

WND has also previously reported that in a speech to NASCO on April 30, 2004, Secretary of Transportation Norman Mineta referred to Interstate Highways 35, 29 and 94 – the core highways supported by NASCO as a prime "North American Super Corridor" – Mineta commented to NASCO that the trade group "recognized that the success of the NAFTA relationship depends on mobility – on the movement of people, of products, and of capital across borders."

WND has also reported Rep. Duncan Hunter, R-Calif., a GOP presidential candidate, introduced an amendment to H.R. 3074, the Transportation Appropriations Act for Fiscal Year 2008, prohibiting the use of federal funds for participating in working groups under the Security and Prosperity Partnership, including the creation of NAFTA Superhighways.

On July 24, Hunter's amendment passed 362 to 63, with strong bipartisan support. Later, the House of Representatives passed H.R. 3074 by a margin of 268-153. The bill has been sent to the Senate with Hunter's amendment included.

According to Freedom of Information Request documents obtained by WND, Jeffrey Shane has been appointed by the Bush administration to be the U.S. lead bureaucrat on the North American Transportation Working Group under the Security and Prosperity Partnership of North America.

On July 23, 1997, the NAFTA Superhighway Coalition was formed to promote continental highway development in association with the Ambassador Bridge.

[Shammu]

Officials warned NAFTA trucks threatened bridge
Increasing traffic from international trade placed undue stress on Minneapolis span
Posted: August 7, 2007
1:00 a.m. Eastern

By Jerome R. Corsi
© 2007 WorldNetDaily.com

Public officials in Minnesota had been warned that increasing truck traffic from international trade was placing an undue stress on the state's transportation infrastructure, including specific warnings concerning the now-collapsed bridge over the Mississippi on Interstate 35W in Minneapolis.

As WND reported, a Federal Highway Administration study begun in 1998 warned increased NAFTA truck traffic would endanger Minnesota bridges along I-35.

A separate study by the Minnesota Department of Transportation, or MNDOT, published in May 2005 – a "Minnesota Statewide Freight Plan" – identified the need to improve bridge and pavement deficiencies affecting trucks.

The MNDOT website also archives a June 2006 "Fractural Critical Bridge Study" that recommended replacing Bridge #9340 ("Squirt Bridge"), the now collapsed span on I-35W in Minneapolis.

Before collapsing, the bridge was not under any restrictions, despite multiple reports of deficiencies. Overweight trucks were permitted to carry loads of up to 136,000 pounds on the interstate.

Estimates are that the collapsed I-35W bridge carried 144,000 vehicles per day, including 4,760 commercial vehicles.

Internal documents from MNDOT and the Dallas-based trade organization NASCO – North America's Supercorridor Coalition – show the Minnesota agency joined NASCO to help deal with the strain NAFTA and other world trade freight loads were placing on the state's I-35 infrastructure, including support to repair the Minneapolis bridge.

In a Feb. 15, 2006, letter, Abigail McKenzie, director of the MNDOT Office of Investment Management, wrote to Melvin identifying a list of approximately 100 MNDOT requests for NASCO to assist with finding funding for the years 2007-14, including a request for $3 million to "replace overlay, joints, repair anti-icing, etc." on the I-35W bridge.

A July 19, 2006, memo written by Brad Larsen, MNDOT federal relations manager, to the MNDOT division directors stressed several benefits of joining NASCO, including the possibility of help to lobby for additional discretionary federal highway funds.

Larson's letter also pointed out NASCO state membership typically cost $50,000 a year, but NASCO had allowed Oklahoma to join for $25,000, and Larson believed he could get a special exemption allowing Minnesota to join NASCO for only $15,000 a year.

To further induce MNDOT to join, Larsen noted NASCO's executive director, Tiffany Melvin, had offered MNDOT two positions on the NASCO board of directors.

A Dec. 16, 2006 letter from Melvin to MNDOT acknowledged receiving MNDOT $15,000 fee to become a NASCO member.

The file indicates MNDOT internal support to join NASCO was far from universal.

In a March 7, 2006, memo, Robert Gale, an MNDOT planner, wrote, "I do not see that Mn/DOT has much, if anything, to gain by giving these people $50,000 or $25,000 or anything for that matter." He continued, "I would say we should save the state's money for more worthwhile endeavors than this group has to offer."

There is no record in the file that NASCO was ever able to assist MNDOT with the $3 million request to repair the I-35W bridge.

International trade dramatically increases traffic

Truck traffic carries the vast majority of international trade. According to the FHWA, in 2002, trucks carried 797 million tons of international shipments, valued at approximately $1.2 trillion. By 2035, trucks are projected to carry 2.1 billion tons of international freight, valued at approximately $6.2 trillion.

By contrast, rail, the second largest carrier of international freight, is expected to grow from 200 million tons in 2002 to 397 million tons in 2025. The value of international shipments carried by rail is projected to grow from $114 billion in 2002 to $275 billion in 2035.

The FHWA estimates Minnesota is experiencing what is expected to be an 84.3 percent increase in truck tonnage on the state's highways from 1998 to 2020.

FHWA reports leave no doubt truck traffic is particularly damaging to U.S. bridge and highway infrastructure and that international trade is projected to increase traffic dramatically on U.S. highways.

The FHWA estimates trucks are responsible for 40 percent of FHWA program costs but account for less than 10 percent of total vehicle miles traveled.

A frequently cited road test conducted by the American Association of State Highway Officials established that it takes 9,600 cars to cause the road damage caused by one fully-loaded, 80,000-pound truck.

Even though subsequent research has refined the estimate, the overall disproportionate road damage by heavily loaded trucks, including damage to bridges, is well established.

With growing truck traffic carrying more international trade, the FHWA concludes, "Clearly, more traffic is moving over essentially the same infrastructure."

Between 1980 and 2002, the FHWA reports truck travel grew by more than 90 percent, while lane-miles of public roads increased by only 5 percent.

The FHWA openly admits, "The creation of NAFTA has fostered north-south traffic, placing more demands on the domestic transportation system."

As WND has reported, the importance of international trade to I-35 has resulted in the interstate being designated as the "NAFTA Superhighway," even by prominent trade associations such as NASCO.

[Soldier4Christ]

3rd SPP summit shrouded in secrecy 
Bush to interrupt Texas vacation to join Mexican, Canadian leaders

President Bush will interrupt his summer vacation in Crawford, Texas, next week to attend the third summit meeting of the Security and Prosperity Partnership of North America, or SPP, slated for Aug. 20 and 21 in Montebello, Quebec, at the five-star Fairmont Le Chateau Montebello resort.

Bush will meet with Mexico's President Felipe Calderon and Canada's Prime Minister Stephen Harper at the event.

The meeting has been hidden in a cloud of secrecy until WND obtained from an Access to Information Act request a previously unreleased copy of a government report detailing agenda plans for the third SPP summit.

According to WND reports, as many as 10,000 protesters are expected to be in Quebec to oppose the meeting.

The Royal Canadian Mounted Police, Canada's national police force, and the Sûreté du Québec, the state police, plan to maintain a 25-kilometer protest-free zone around the Montebello resort where the meeting is to be held.

(Story continues below)

WND has reported that a multinational business agenda is driving this upcoming SPP summit according to the heavily redacted document obtained from the Canadian government.

The memo clearly states at center stage in the Montebello SPP summit will be recommendations by the North American Competitiveness Council, regarding promoting North American competitiveness for multinational corporations through "integrating" and "harmonizing" regulations between Mexico, Canada and the U.S.

The council, an executive group composed of 10 top multinational corporations from each of the three SPP countries, was constituted under the auspices of the U.S. Department of Commerce to provide guidance to the 20 SPP working groups of U.S., Mexican, and Canadian bureaucrats.

WND has also reported that President Bush will discuss at the summit a plan to send U.S. military assistance to Mexico to assist Mexico's military and civilian law enforcement agencies to combat Mexican narco-criminals and drug lords.

The leaders at the end of their summit are expected to make a statement on U.S. military aid to Mexico, provided their discussions have reached a point of agreement and conclusion.

At issue are questions of how the U.S. military can limit involvement to equipment and training, and how U.S. and Mexican officials can be certain the corruption common to Mexico's drug war does not subvert their effort or provide sophisticated equipment and technology that ends up in the hands of the drug kingpins.

WND has also reported the Montebello SPP summit will create a coordinating body to prepare for the North American response to an outbreak of avian or pandemic influenza.

The three leaders also plan to create a coordinating body on emergency management similar to that set up for avian or pandemic flu.

WND previously reported on National Security Presidential Directive No. 51 and Homeland Security Presidential Directive No. 20, which allocate to the office of the president the authority to direct all levels of government in any event the president declares to be a national emergency.

WND also has previously reported that under SPP, the military of the U.S. and Canada are turning USNORTHCOM and Canada Command into domestic military command structures, with authority extending to Mexico, even though Mexico has not formally joined with the current U.S. – Canadian USNORTHCOM/Canada Command structure.

WND has also learned the Montebello SPP summit will include discussion of a proposal to provide U.S. military assistance to the government of Mexico to help Mexico's military combat narco-trafficking in Mexico.

The Security and Prosperity Partnership of North America was declared at the first trilateral meeting held at Baylor University in Waco, Texas, on March 23, 2005.

The second SPP summit meeting was held by President Bush, Mexico's President Vicente Fox and Canada's Prime Minister Stephen Harper at the Fiesta Americana Condesa Cancún Hotel in Cancún, Mexico, on March 31, 2006.

The SPP website, maintained by the U.S. Department of Commerce, lists a "2005 Report to Leaders" dated June 2005 and a "2006 Report to Leaders" dated August 2006, which document over 250 memoranda of understanding and other agreements that have been signed by the SPP working groups.

Most of these SPP memoranda of understanding and other agreements cannot be found on the SPP website or elsewhere on the Internet published in their entirety.

No comparable "2007 Report to Leaders" has yet been published on the SPP website.

[Soldier4Christ]

The Nation cover story denies Superhighway
Nevertheless acknowledges massive Texas project to accommodate NAFTA, WTO

In a cover story for the current Nation magazine, Christopher Hayes is the latest to join a growing list of those who deny a NAFTA Superhighway exists.

"There is no such thing as a proposed NAFTA Superhighway," Hayes declares.

The remainder of the article, however, shows how the Trans Texas Corridor under construction parallel to Interstate 35 is specifically designed to accommodate the steadily growing volume of NAFTA and World Trade Organization traffic pouring into Texas from China and the Far East through Mexican ports on the Pacific such as Manzanillo and Lázaro Cárdenas.

Like Hayes, the the Dallas-based trade group North America's SuperCorridor Coalition, Inc., or NASCO, adamantly denies the superhighway.

But Hayes doesn't mention the NAFTA Superhighway Coalition, a trade group formed July 23, 1997, to promote continental highway development in conjunction with the Ambassador Bridge.

Hayes also does not refer to a study of I-35 conducted in 1998 by the Federal Highway Administration under the premise the interstate "carries a greater percentage of trade among the NAFTA partners than any other U.S. Interstate Highway."

The executive summary of the completed 1998 study noted, "Since January 1, 1994, when NAFTA went into effect, the heartland of America has become an increasingly important thoroughfare for trade among the United States, Mexico and Canada. Interstate 35 is the only interstate highway connecting Mexico, the U.S. and Canada through the heartland, and it carries a grater percentage of U.S.-Mexico trade among the NAFTA partners than any other U.S. interstate highway."

The study referred throughout to the "I-35 Trade Corridor" as the primary focus of its analysis.

Hayes article accepts NASCO's claim that a "North American Super Corridor" can be distinguished from a "NAFTA Superhighway."

Yet, as WND reported, even NASCO has sharpened its denial to arguing only that there are no plans to build a new NAFTA Superhighway.

On its website, NASCO proclaims, "There are no plans to build a new NAFTA Superhighway – it exists today as I-35."

Yet, NASCO has refused to acknowledge repeated requests by WND to reconcile its stance with the plans of the Texas Department of Transportation, or TxDOT, to build a new four-football-fields wide corridor parallel to I-35 from Laredo, Texas, in the south, to the Texas border with Oklahoma, south of Oklahoma City.

TxDOT, a NASCO member, plans this year to begin building the first segment of TTC-35, having signed a Comprehensive Development Agreement with Cintra Concesiones de Infraestructuras de Transporte, S.A., the Spanish investment consortium financing the new toll road.

NASCO has refused to allow WND Books permission to publish the organization's original webpage in Jerome Corsi's "The Late Great U.S.A.: The Coming Merger with Mexico and Canada."

In an April 27 letter, Tiffany Melvin, NASCO's executive director, wrote WND Books, charging, "Mr. Corsi has attempted to convince the public that there is a genuine, active governmental conspiracy to merge the sovereign nations of Mexico, the United States and Canada into a North American Union; to create a North American currency called the 'amero'; to build a gigantic 'NAFTA Superhighway' through the heart of North America; and to undermine the sovereignty and strength of American governmental institutions. All these claims are baseless."

Melvin's letter, however, did not produce any evidence or arguments that the claims were baseless.

Further, as WND reported, in a July 21, 2006, internal e-mail obtained by WND under a Missouri Sunshine Law request, Melvin cautions "NASCO friends and members" that, "We have to stay away from 'SuperCorridor' because it is a very bad, hot button right now."

NASCO's multiple homepage remake are fully archived on Internet sites such as the "Way Back Machine." When first writing about NASCO, WND displayed the original homepage, which in June 2006 opened with a map highlighting the I-35 corridor from Mexico to Canada.

By September 2006, in an apparent makeover of the homepage designed to defuse criticism, NASCO attempted to minimize the impact of the I-35 map on the organization's homepage.

This second version of the NASCO homepage showed the continental route of the I-35, 29, and 94 NASCO super corridor in muted pastel tones of beige and soft brown. The routes into Canada did not extend east to Montreal and west to Vancouver, as initially, but ended in arrows headed toward central Canada through Winnipeg.

In what appears to be the third major revamping of the NASCO website since WND first began writing about NASCO, the Dallas-based trade group carefully removes identifying NASCO with the words behind the acronym, "North America's SuperCorridor Coalition, Inc.," which the original NASCO website once proudly proclaimed.

The current NASCO homepage displays a photo montage of intermodal highway scenes, presumably taken along the I-35, but without any map displaying a continental I-35 super corridor linking Mexico and Canada.

WND previously reported deniers of a NAFTA superhighway include Vice President Cheney and Jeffrey Shane, undersecretary of transportation for policy in the U.S. Department of Transportation.

According to Freedom of Information Act documents obtained by WND, Shane has been appointed by the Bush administration to be the U.S. lead bureaucrat on the North American Transportation Working Group under the Security and Prosperity Partnership of North America.

Increasingly, members of Congress are addressing the issue.

WND reported Rep. Duncan Hunter, R-Calif., a GOP presidential candidate, introduced an amendment to H.R. 3074, the Transportation Appropriations Act for Fiscal Year 2008, prohibiting the use of federal funds for participating in working groups under the Security and Prosperity Partnership, including the creation of NAFTA Superhighways.

On July 24, Hunter's amendment passed 362 to 63, with strong bipartisan support. Later, the House of Representatives passed H.R. 3074 by a margin of 368-153. The bill has been sent to the Senate with Hunter's amendment included.

WND has also reported Rep. Virgil Goode, R-Va., has introduced House Concurrent Resolution 40 designed to block moves toward a North American Union and NAFTA Superhighways.

WND reported investment bankers and certain politicians have begun advancing the argument in Oklahoma that extending TTC-35 north into the state would be a desirable move to promote economic development.

[Soldier4Christ]

One thing that this article does not state is that the trade between the three NAFTA nation is already in progress. The open border trade program already has vehicles transporting goods on existing roads. It is this extra traffic that is partially blamed for the failure of the bridge that collapsed in Minnesota. The collapse of that bridge and the condition of other bridges in the route are now being used to push the "need" for this superhighway.

[Soldier4Christ]

108,000 sign petition against SPP summit 
Opposition growing to quiet moves to integrate U.S., Mexico, Canada

A petition opposing the controversial continental integration initiative supported by the Bush administration, the Security and Prosperity Partnership of North America, has garnered 108,000 signatures after less than a week.

Grassfire.org says response to the petition has far exceeded expectations.

"The response is overwhelming," Steve Elliott, president of Grassfire.org, told WND. "The petition has been up on the website for less than a week and we have been getting as many as 500 signatures an hour."

Elliott originally had a target of 100,000 signatures before the start of next week's SPP meeting in Canada.

As WND has reported, President Bush will interrupt his vacation in Crawford, Texas, next week to attend the SPP's third summit meeting Aug. 20 and 21 in Montebello, Quebec, at the five-star Fairmont Le Chateau Montebello resort.

Bush will meet with Mexico's President Felipe Calderon and Canada's Prime Minister Stephen Harper.

"Our team leaders have been urging us to launch a petition against the SPP," Elliott explained. "As we looked into the issue, we decided that this is an emergency issue that Americans need to address."

Elliott says he gets asked all the time why President Bush has not secured U.S. borders with Mexico and Canada, even though the U.S. is six years into a war on terror.

"The explanation is SPP," Elliott said. "When the Security and Prosperity Partnership was declared at the first summit with Mexico and Canada in Waco, Texas, on March 23, 2005, President Bush evidently agreed to open our borders with Mexico and Canada, even though that was never clearly explained to the American people."

Elliott said the petition is designed to let Bush know "the American people are not happy with his aggressive move toward a North American Union that would integrate the United States with Mexico and Canada."

The Grassfire explains the petition is designed to oppose developments to build a North American "framework," including on-going SPP trilateral working group meetings, structuring NAFTA Superhighways from the existing interstate highway system and encouraging the open borders "migration" within the three countries.

Grassfire introduces the citizen petition with a two-part audio interview with WND staff reporter Jerome R. Corsi.

Corsi is the author of the current New York Times bestseller, "The Late Great U.S.A.: The Coming Merger with Mexico and Canada," published by WND Books.

The Grassfire citizen petition states, "I am signing this petition stating my opposition to efforts that lead to the development and formation of a North American Union combining the U.S., Mexico and Canada. Such a 'union' is a direct threat to U.S. sovereignty, national security and economic stability."

The petition makes four statements:

    * SPP: I oppose the Security and Prosperity Partnership (SPP) – a trilateral arrangement formed without congressional oversight designed to create regulatory, economic and other institutional structures that facilitate economic, legal and political integration between the U.S., Canada and Mexico.

    * Border Security: I oppose proposed regulatory and border security changes that eliminate or reduce U.S. border controls and encourage open migration within a common U.S.-Mexico-Canada region.

    * NAFTA Highway: I oppose the construction of the NAFTA Superhighway system and other measures designed to create a borderless, open transit system within North America.

    * Congressional Oversight: I am deeply concerned that the SPP has not been subject to congressional oversight or approval. Any such multi-national agreements must be submitted for congressional approval. As such, I support congressional Resolution 40 which opposes the North American Union and NAFTA Superhighway.

WND has reported Rep. Virgil Goode, R-Va., has introduced House Concurrent Resolution 40, designed to block moves toward a North American Union and NAFTA Superhighways.

Grassfire intends to present the petition to the White House during the SPP summit in Canada.

"We are fighting an information process," Elliott told WND. "The Bush administration has been very secretive about SPP. The substantive meetings in Montebello will be held behind closed doors. As the American people learn more about SPP, they are becoming more and more outraged. That's what we are seeing with this petition."