Is the Security and Prosperity Partnership
the beginning
of a North American Union?
By Tom DeWeese
Is our government working quietly to create the equivalent of a
North American Union - much on the lines of the European Union?
Some charge that such a Union will
eventually override our Constitutional government, our judicial
system, our economic system, and even our currency, which, some
speculate, will be replaced by something called the "Amero." Can it be
possible?
Others say such charges are just another trumped-up conspiracy
theory of a lunatic fringe.
I can't possibly address every issue and describe the complete
history of the situation in our short time together, but I can go over
the highlights and give you an idea as to why many of us are greatly
concerned, and, in fact, believe we are entering the fight of our
lives.
Here's a quick run down.
On March 23, 2005, President Bush met with Mexican President Vicente
Fox and Canadian Prime Minister Paul Martin in what was officially
described as a "Summit." The three leaders then announced the signing
of an agreement to create common policies concerning various economic
and security issues among the three nations.
The initiative is called the Security and Prosperity Partnership, or
the SPP.
Its purpose?
According to a joint statement from the three leaders, the SPP is
to:
"... establish a common approach to security to protect North
America from external threats, prevent and respond to threats within
North America, and further streamline the security and efficient
movement of legitimate low-risk traffic across our shared
borders."
Desirable or not, such an undertaking represents a radical change
in how the three nations interact and cooperate with each other. It is
a matter of changed foreign policy, monetary policy, and military
policy.
Yet there has been no Congressional oversight or authorization for
the undertaking. No funds appropriated.
Meanwhile, since that Summit in 2005, at least 20 working groups
have been organized under the SPP to produce memorandums of
understanding and trilateral declarations of agreement covering nearly
every issue affecting our daily lives.
Whether or not you accept the idea that a North American Union is
being established, clearly, it must be acknowledged that a new layer
of tri-national government bureaucracy is being created.
As you know, the major debate in the U.S. today is over border
security. Our nation is being flooded with hordes of illegal
aliens. They are over-burdening our schools, hospitals, and social
services.
In many parts of the nation, hospitals and services are being
forced to shut down, damaging the quality of life of American
citizens.
On top of the illegal alien situation, we face danger from the
threat of terrorists, as Americans are forced to surrender liberty in
the name of fighting this threat.
And there is the flood of illegal drugs pouring over the border,
straight into our kid's schools.
More than 80 percent of the American people have demanded that
something be done to secure the borders.
Yet, the Administration has fought efforts to close the
border. Why? It appears obvious, in light of agreements made in the
creation of the Security and Prosperity Partnership.
The SPP calls for "harmonizing" our borders into one seamless
entity called North America.
So, under what authority are more than 16 government agencies being
organized to create the SPP?
As reported by Congressman Ron Paul:
"According to Administration officials, "...The SPP is neither a
treaty nor a formal agreement. Rather it is a "dialogue" launched by
the heads of state of Canada, Mexico, and the United States... "What
is a dialogue? We don't know. What we do know, however, is that
Congressional oversight of what might be one of the most significant
developments in recent history is non-existent. Congress has no role
at all in this "dialogue." According to the SPP, this "dialogue" will
create new supra-national organizations to "coordinate" border
security, health policy, economic trade policy, and energy policy
between the governments of Mexico, Canada, and the United States."
"As such, it is but an extension of NAFTA-and CAFTA-like
agreements, that have far less to do with the free movement of goods
and services, than they do with government coordination and management
of international trade."
Congressman Paul went on to say the SPP is "an unholy alliance of
foreign consortiums and officials from several governments."
It is important to note that administrators of NAFTA and CAFTA are
major participants in SPP working groups. Thus the connection to these
trade agreements is obvious and substantial.
According to Article 5.11, under the NAFTA agreement, participating
nations must reform their laws to NAFTA regulations.
The United States Supreme Court has held that the U.S. government
cannot hide behind a claim of federalism to avoid its "international
obligations."
NAFTA, then, appears to be the governing entity for the SPP. That
means NAFTA regulations (and ultimately SPP regulations) will
supersede U.S. laws. NAFTA courts (and ultimately, SPP courts) will
overrule U.S. courts. And NAFTA policy (and ultimately, SPP policy)
will override U.S. labor, energy, environmental, health and economic
policy.
The Security and Prosperity Partnership is basically NAFTA-on-steroids.
But how will the Administration move forward to fully implement the
SPP without Congressional oversight?
Answer: Fast Track.
Renewed again in 2002, President Bush has been given by Congress
the power to freely negotiate treaties and trade agreements with
foreign nations.
According to the lobbying group, Public Citizen, the bottom line of
Fast Track is that "the White House signs and enters into trade deals
before Congress ever votes on them. Fast Track also sets the
parameters for Congressional debate on any trade measure the President
submits, requiring a vote within a certain time, with no amendments,
and only 20 hours of debate."
Mexican economist Miguel Picard wrote in an article published in
the foreign press detailing the "deep integration" planned for North
America. He said there will be no single treaty, and nothing will be
submitted to legislatures of the three countries. Instead, he says,
the plan for a "merged future" will be implemented through the signing
of regulations not subject to citizen review.
Picard concluded by saying the schedule calls for beginning with a
customs union, then a common market, then a monetary and economic
union, and finally the adoption of a single currency.
Who benefits from the creation of such a union? Multinational
corporations.
They are the driving force behind its creation. They seek one
currency, one set of rules, one controlling entity - to enable them to
move goods and services effortlessly across the border. Above all,
they do not want the public involved in the process.
At a September meeting in Banff, Canada, top officials from all
three nations met to outline policies within topics such as "A Vision
for North America," and "Demographic and Social Dimensions of North
American Integration."
Top U.S. officials, including former Defense Secretary Donald
Rumsfeld and U.S. Trade Representative Carla Hills were in
attendance. No media was present. No details of these top level
discussions were released.
However, the Toronto Star, on September 20, 2006, reported:
"The public has been kept in the dark while business elite have
played a lead role in designing the blueprint for this more integrated
North America."
One participant at the Banff meeting didn't like what he was
witnessing. Mel Hurtig, a noted Canadian author said,
"We're talking about such an important thing, we're talking about
the integration of Canada into the United States. For them to hold
this meeting in secret and to make every effort to avoid anybody
learning about it, right away you've got to be hugely concerned."
The SPP is not about free trade. Its use of public/private
partnerships creates an elite of certain, chosen global corporations
which basically become part of government, at the expense of their
competition and our national independence.
One more major example of how this works is the planned NAFTA Super
Highway or, as it is officially called, the Trans Texas Corridor.
This massive highway would be ten lanes wide, with rail lines,
utility corridors for natural gas and oil, and power lines running down
the middle.
It is designed for containers loaded in foreign lands, such as
Asia, to arrive in Mexican ports, there to be loaded in trucks and
shipped up the NAFTA corridor through the U.S. and into Canada.
As global corporations are now reaping the benefits of using cheap
labor in foreign lands such as China, South Korea, and Indonesia, now
they want to use the NAFTA Super Corridor to reduce the transportation
costs as well.
These corporations certainly care little about national sovereignty
or security.
The borders would be little more than speed bumps. Trucks would not
be stopped and inspected. Instead, they would be simply scanned by
high-tech gamma ray screening in drive-by inspections.
Nor do they care about private property ownership in their drive
for cost cutting.
In Texas alone, some 584,000 acres of private land is scheduled to
be taken by eminent domain for the highway. Texas Department of
Transportation has the authority to use the "Quick Take" provision,
which will allow them to give notice to property owners that they must
leave their land in just 90 days.
Even if the landowner disagrees on the compensation - and appeals
the decision, they still must be off the land in 91 days.
As part of the Corridor's public/private partnership, the Texas
state government is keeping up its end of the deal by stonewalling
every effort to obtain information as to whose property is
affected. They have operated virtually in secret.
When news has leaked out about the NAFTA Highway, Texas officials
deny it, and simply say it is just improving its state highway system.
The Trans Texas NAFTA Corridor is not, however, an improvement
project for I-35, as the state claims.
The NAFTA corridor will be a completely separate highway - a toll
road run by a foreign corporation. The state of Texas has signed a
50-year lease with a Spanish company named Cintra. The company will
build the highway, run it and collect the tolls.
That lease contains a "no compete" clause, meaning that I-35 cannot
be expanded nor can any other non-tolled competitive highway be
improved.
Above all, as goods are shipped into Mexican ports, use of American
ports on our East and West coasts will be drastically reduced, costing
Longshoremen their jobs.
These facts are causing great concern among U.S. labor unions. The
corridor will allow free access to the U.S for Mexican trucks, which
means the containers can be moved through the U.S. by Mexican
nationals. In addition, the flood of Mexican trucks will not be
required to meet U.S. standards for safety.
These are just a very few of the details concerning the SPP. We
believe it is the beginning of the creation of a North American Union,
much on the lines of the European Union.
The game plan is very much the same. The excuse for the EU was
trade. But today, according to the former president of Germany, 84
percent of that nation's laws now come from the European Union.
It begins in secrecy and slowly builds incrementally. But
step-by-step, a structure is put into place - run by communitarian law
and regional governing councils of appointed, well-connected, yet
unknown and unreachable officials, hiding behind public/private
partnerships, not answerable or responsive to citizens.
This is why we fear the creation of a North American Union.
The United States is the unique nation on earth. We are the only
nation which was created to protect our natural rights.
The greatness of the American system arises from the fundamental
principle that governments derive their just powers from the consent
of the governed.
That means that public policy must be enacted only by elected
representatives of the people. This principle ensures that the people
can remove and replace policy makers who make policy with which the
people disagree.
To harmonize this land with nations which do not share our values
and governing principles, can only result in a lessening of our liberty,
and our quality of life.
To do it in secret, refusing to allow us to engage in debate before
such massive changes take place - is nothing short of treason.
Tom DeWeese is the publisher/editor of The
DeWeese Report, and President of the American Policy Center, a
grassroots, activist think tank headquartered in Warrenton,
Virginia. Their Internet site is www.americanpolicy.org.
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