Spokeswoman dodges question about NAFTA Superhighways

President Bush is comfortable when the United States, Mexico and Canada work together on issues facing the continent, according to spokeswoman Dana Perino, even though Congress is considering a warning that the nation's sovereignty could be threaten by such efforts.

She was responding to a question from Les Kinsolving, WND's correspondent at the White House. He asked: "Inspired in part by The New York Times best-selling book, "The Late Great U.S.A.," a resolution in the House of Representatives opposing work on any NAFTA superhighway or moves towards merging the U.S., Mexico and Canada into a North American union now has 27 co-sponsors from both sides of the aisle. Do you support such legislation?"

Rep. Virgil Goode, R-Va. (Photo: University of Virginia)

"I've not heard of such legislation, but I think we are very comfortable believing that there can be Mexico, the United States and Canada as three separate countries all working together," was her full response.

The pending resolution expresses "the sense of Congress that the United States should not engage in the construction of a North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) Superhighway System or enter into a North American Union with Mexico and Canada."

It was launched by U.S. Reps. Virgil Goode, R-Va., Ron Paul, R-Texas, Walter B. Jones, R-N.C., and Tom Tancredo, R-Colo., and has been referred to the Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure, in addition to the Committee on International Relations.

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Nearly two dozen others now have joined with the effort, which says:

Whereas, according to the Department of Commerce, United States trade deficits with Mexico and Canada have significantly widened since the implementation of the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA);

Whereas the economic and physical security of the United States is impaired by the potential loss of control of its borders attendant to the full operation of NAFTA;

Whereas a NAFTA Superhighway System from the west coast of Mexico through the United States and into Canada has been suggested as part of a North American Union;

Whereas it would be particularly difficult for Americans to collect insurance from Mexican companies which employ Mexican drivers involved in accidents in the United States, which would increase the insurance rates for American drivers;

Whereas future unrestricted foreign trucking into the United States can pose a safety hazard due to inadequate maintenance and inspection, and can act collaterally as a conduit for the entry into the United States of illegal drugs, illegal human smuggling, and terrorist activities; and

Whereas a NAFTA Superhighway System would be funded by foreign consortiums and controlled by foreign management, which threatens the sovereignty of the United States: Now, therefore, be it

Resolved by the House of Representatives (the Senate concurring), That –

1. the United States should not engage in the construction of a North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) Superhighway System;

2. the United States should not enter into a North American Union with Mexico and Canada; and

3. the President should indicate strong opposition to these or any other proposals that threaten the sovereignty of the United States.

WNDN previously has reported the resolution is a message to both the executive and legislative branches.

"You won't hear the leadership in the Republic Party admit it, but there are many in the House and Senate who know that illegal immigration has to be stopped and legal immigration has to be reduced. We are giving away the country so a few very rich people can get richer," Goode told WND.

How did he react when President Bush referred to those who suggest the Security and Prosperity Partnership could turn into the North American Union as "conspiracy theorists"?

"The president is really engaging in a play on words," Goode responded. "The secretary of transportation came before our subcommittee," he explained, "and I had the opportunity to ask her some questions about the NAFTA Superhighway. Of course, she answered, 'There's no NAFTA Superhighway.' But then Mary Peters proceeded to discuss the road system that would come up from Mexico and go through the United States up into Canada."

Goode is a member of the Subcommittee on Transportation, Treasury, Housing and Urban Development of the House Committee on Appropriations.

"So, I think that saying we're 'conspiracy theorists' or something like that is really just a play on words with the intent to demonize the opposition," Goode concluded.

Goode stressed that the Bush administration supports both a NAU regional government and a NAFTA Superhighway system: "The Bush administration as well as Mexico and Canada have persons in the government in all three countries who want to a see a North American Union as well as a highway system that would bring goods into the west coast of Mexico and transport them up through Mexico into the United States and then in onto Canada," Goode confirmed.

The Virginia congressman said he believes the motivation behind the movement toward North American integration is the anticipated profits the large multinational corporations in each of the three countries expect to make from global trade, especially moving production to China.

"Some really large businesses that get a lot from China would like a NAFTA Superhighway system because it would reduce costs for them to transport containers from China and, as a result, increase their margins," he argued.

"I am vigorously opposed to the Mexican trucks coming into the country," Goode continued. "The way we have done it and, I think, the way we should do it in the future, is to have the goods come into the United States from Mexico within a 20-mile commercial space and unloaded from Mexican trucks into U.S. trucks. This procedure enhances the safety of the country, the security of the country, and provides much less chance for illegal immigration."

In a second question Kinsolving asked: "Republican Congressman and presidential candidate Duncan Hunter's Restoring Patriotism to America's Campuses Act would bar Columbia University from receiving any federal money because it not only refuses to allow an ROTC on campus, but also because it invited [Iranian President Mahmoud} Ahmadinejad as a guest lecturer. And my question: Does the president believe that is right, or wrong?'

"I haven't seen the legislation. And we have already said that Columbia University made its own decision," Perino said.

Do you have a tough question you'd like to ask the White House? WND's MR. PRESIDENT! forum is your big chance.

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