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The Conservative Caucus, a founding member of the Coalition to Block the North American Union held a very successful news conference on August 20, 2007 in Ottawa, Canada.
News Release - Statements: Howard Phillips, Connie Fogal, John McManus, Tom DeWeese, Bob Park, Pat Boone, Rep. Virgil Goode, Rep. Ron Paul, Rep. Walter Jones. Photos: Howard Phillips, Jerome Corsi, Connie Fogal, John McManus, Tom Deweese, Bob Park, Montebello Sign.
Action Request: Call a talk show or write a letter to the editor in opposition to the NAU, the secrecy which surrounded the summit, and mentioning our news conference. Media: Interview availability, contact Charles Orndorff info@conservativeusa.org 703-938-9626

Interviews, coverage, and news conference attendees include: CTV TV News (video) or 2nd stream, CTV.ca, Fox News (Watch Video), Reuters, Canadian National Newspaper & 2nd story & 3rd story, CJSS Radio, KGMI Radio, Alex Jones, KZYX Radio, KSTX Radio (MP3), CFRA News Radio (MP3), Philadelphia Bulletin, Crosswalk, Canadian Press, CJAD Radio, BBS Radio, Global Outlook Magazine, Radio 940, Ottawa Sun (story also printed in other Sun papers), Q-104 Radio, The Canadian, National Post, Toronto Street News, Canadian Christianity, WPTF Radio, WorldNetDaily, & More & More, Washington Times, CNS News (with video), Globe and Mail, La Presse (in French) & (translation), Ocala Star Banner (letter), Digg, Barrie Examiner, Peterboro Examiner & 2nd story, Canada Free Press, Exchange Magazine, Wall Street Journal.
Let us know if you find more coverage or if you take action.

Statement of Howard Phillips | August 31, 2007 | Digg This

PRESIDENT BUSH: TEAR DOWN THE WALL OF SECRECY

In my August 20 remarks as Chairman of the Coalition to Block the North American Union, I had this to say at a well covered news conference at the Marriott Ottawa hotel: “Recently, the supposed fiftieth anniversary of the European Union (EU) was celebrated. But 50 years ago there was no European Union. The EU was launched with the formation of the European Iron and Coal Community. Culminating step-by-step in the Maastricht Treaty, approved in 1993, the European Union came into being.

“That Union has now, with capitals in Strasbourg, Luxembourg, and Brussels, achieved significant dominance – judicially and legislatively – over what was once the authority of the national governments now part of the European Union.

“In 1993, I led a delegation of some two dozen Americans to visit eight of the countries which were considering approval of the Maastricht Treaty. During our visit to Luxembourg, that country’s Foreign Minister addressed us, unaware of our skepticism concerning the Maastricht agreement. He confided to us that, if the people of his country had any idea of what was planned for them, they would rise up in protest. But the plans of the governing elites were kept secret from the people and, incrementally, those New World Order elites achieved their goal of a European Union.

“In similar fashion, behind closed doors, step-by-step, the leaders of Mexico, Canada, and the United States are setting the stage for, first, a North American Community and, ultimately, a North American Union (NAU), in which new transnational bodies would gain authority over our economy, our judiciary, and our lawmaking institutions.”

ECONOMIC INTEGRATION AND A NORTH AMERICAN BOUNDARY PERIMETER

“Advocates of the Security and Prosperity Partnership (SPP) acknowledge that economic integration is their objective, and that they favor the eventual establishment of a border around the perimeters of Canada and Mexico, with no border control separating the United States and Mexico, or the United States and Canada.

“In Europe today, citizens of the 27 constituent states of the European Union can travel virtually at will from country to country. Border control has been surrendered. Each person who enters one EU country is free to travel through any and all of the others with virtually no restrictions.

“That is what the elites of the United States, Canada, and Mexico have in mind for us. That helps explain why the Montebello meeting is being held behind closed doors, with little access to SPP deliberations by the general public or even by the media and elected politicians from the three countries.

“That is why the Coalition to Block the North American Union of which I am Chairman is conducting this news conference. Our message to Messrs. Bush, Harper, and Calderon is similar to the one which Ronald Reagan delivered to Mikhail Gorbachev when he said ‘Mr. Gorbachev, tear down that wall.’

“Our message is ‘President Bush, President Calderon, Prime Minister Harper, tear down the wall of silence and let the people see what you are scheming to do.’ ” Source: Statement of Howard Phillips, at August 20, 2007 Coalition to Block the North American Union press conference he hosted in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada

NAU News Conference Press Release | August 20, 2007 | Digg This

International News Conference in Ottawa, Canada

American Leaders Tell President Bush,
Prime Minister Harper,
and President Calderon:
"Tear Down the Wall of Secrecy"

OTTAWA, CANADA - Prominent conservative leaders and politicians opposing a North American Union with the United States, Canada, and Mexico are holding a News Conference at the Ottawa Marriott (100 Kent Street) in Ottawa, Ontario, on Monday, August 20, at 10 a.m.

The News Conference is sponsored by the Coalition to Block the North American Union, which is protesting the Security and Prosperity Partnership (SPP) meeting of U.S. President George Bush, Prime Minister Stephen Harper of Canada, and President Felipe Calderon of Mexico. The secret summit is being held in Montebello, Quebec, from August 20-21, to plan a "North American Union" - an EU-type merger of the U.S., Canada, and Mexico.

The Coalition is made up of nearly one hundred U.S. leaders, including public policy advocates Phyllis Schlafly, Bay Buchanan, and L. Brent Bozell III. Speaking at the News Conference are Howard Phillips, Chairman of the Coalition and of The Conservative Caucus; Connie Fogal, leader of the Canadian Action Party; Tom DeWeese, President of the American Policy Center; John McManus, President of the John Birch Society; and Bob Park, Founder, Veterans for Secure Borders.

Popular entertainer Pat Boone, and U.S. Congressmen Virgil Goode (R-VA), Ron Paul (R-TX) and Walter B. Jones (R-North Carolina) also are releasing statements at the news conference.

"Our message is 'President Bush, President Calderon, Prime Minister Harper, tear down the wall of silence and let the people see what you are scheming to do,' explained Coalition Chairman, Howard Phillips. "Behind closed doors, step by step, the leaders of Mexico, Canada, and the United States are setting the stage for, first, a North American Community and, ultimately, a North American Union (NAU), in which new transnational bodies would gain authority over our economy, our judiciary, and our lawmaking institutions."

"In Europe today, border control has been surrendered. Each person who enters one EU country is free to travel through any and all of the others with virtually no restrictions. That is what the elites of the United States, Canada, and Mexico have in mind for us. That helps explains why the Montebello meeting is being held behind closed doors, with little access to SPP deliberations by the general public or even by the media and elected politicians from the three countries," Phillips continues.

"That is why the Coalition to Block the North American Union, of which I am Chairman, is conducting this news conference. Our message to Messrs. Bush, Harper, and Calderon is similar to the one which Ronald Reagan delivered to Mikhail Gorbachev when he said 'Mr. Gorbachev, tear down that wall,'" Howard Phillips concludes.

Connie Fogal, leader of the Canadian Action Party, will say that the "SPP is a hostile takeover of the apparatus of democratic government and an end to the rule of law. There has been kind of a coup d'état over the government operations of Canada, U.S.A., and Mexico."

Tom DeWeese of the American Policy Center, will warn: "Beware. Bonds between government and private international corporations are a double-edged sword. They come with government's power to tax, the government's power to enforce policy, and the government's power to enforce eminent domain. ...Such a process allows the private companies to be little more than government-sanctioned monopolies, answerable to no one. Their power is awesome and near absolute. Some call such policy corporatism. Another term would be corporate fascism."

"The American people don't want to tear up our Declaration of Independence. Nor do the people of Canada and Mexico want to cancel the independence of their nations," explains John F. McManus of the John Birch Society. "Roman Herzog, the former president of Germany, now realizes that Germany has essentially lost its independence to the EU bureaucrats in Brussels. The leaders of Canada, the United States, and Mexico will issue denials but the hidden motive propelling them into creating the Security and Prosperity Partnership is to advance one step closer to the centuries-old goal of a world government, also known as the New World Order."

"America's veterans say NO to the North American Union by any name!" says Bob Park, founder of Veterans for a Secure Border. "American soldiers, sailors, Marines, and airmen swear to protect and defend the U.S. Constitution - not some borderless, mishmash, some elitist pipe dream, some giveaway of the only thing that can preserve our liberties as American citizens: our sovereign nation, our form of government, our way of life, our nation's unique culture that makes America America."

Congressman Walter B. Jones (R-North Carolina), an original sponsor of House Concurrent Resolution 40 which opposes the North American Union and the NAFTA Superhighway, said in a statement to be released at the news conference that "Article I, Section 8, of the U.S. Constitution explicitly states that Congress - not the executive branch - has the power to 'regulate commerce with foreign nations.' Many SPP working group meetings are held in secret and the public, the press, and members of Congress have no opportunity to participate or conduct oversight."

"When patriot Nathan Hale proclaimed, as he was about to executed by the British, 'I regret that I have but one life to give to my country,' he wasn't referring to Mexico or Canada," entertainer and American idol, Pat Boone, said in a statement prepared for the news conference. "No. Nathan Hale was willing and ready to die for the dream called America, under a Declaration of Independence - independence from the perversions of other nations."

--30 --

North American Union Summit | August 15, 2007 | Digg This

MONTEBELLO SPP CONFERENCE MOVES BEHIND CLOSED DOORS TO INCREMENTALLY INTEGRATE U.S., CANADA, AND MEXICO IN A NORTH AMERICAN UNION – – – WITHOUT AUTHORIZATION OR OVERSIGHT BY U.S. CONGRESS

From 8:30 A.M. until 12:30 P.M. on August 13, I participated in a Washington, D.C. conference sponsored by the Hudson Institute concerning "The Montebello Summit and the Future of North America".

The Hudson Institute conference dealt with the Security and Prosperity Partnership (SPP) and the North American Union (NAU). The only speaker who made the case against the integration of North America (undermining the status of America as an independent Constitutional republic) was Dr John Fonte. Other speakers included Dr. Barbara Kotschwar of the Peterson Institute for International Economics, Dr. Robert Pastor of American University, Daniel Schwanen of the Center for International Governance and Innovation, Sidney Weintrab of the Center for Strategic and International Studies, Jaime Daremblum of the Hudson Institute, former Democrat Congressman James R. Jones, Greg Anderson of the University of Alberta, Christopher Sands of the Hudson Institute, and Ken Weinstein of the Hudson Institute.

ECONOMIC INTEGRATION IS A KEY GOAL

In a paper entitled "Negotiating North America: The Security and Prosperity Partnership", Professor Anderson and Mr. Sands made some of the following points: "The SPP process is the vehicle for the discussion of future arrangements for economic integration to create a single market for goods and services in North America…The design of the SPP is innovative, eschewing the more traditional diplomatic and trade negotiation models in favor of talks among civil service professionals and subject matter experts within each government. This design places the negotiation fully within the authority of the executive branch in the United States."

DECISION-MAKING BY TECHNOCRATS UNDERCUTS CONSTITUTIONAL ACCOUNTABILITY

"The SPP is the successor to two previous efforts that had stalled or expired prior to 2005. First, a set of trilateral working groups established in the NAFTA to look at harmonizing standards and eliminating differences in regulation…The design of the SPP is creative in handling asymmetry by attempting a less political, technocratic negotiation process; however, this has raised issues of transparency and accountability that threaten the future of the SPP process."

SECRECY IS DESIGNED TO EXCLUDE POPULAR OPPOSITION

The authors acknowledge that "the process must be made more transparent to answer legitimate citizen concerns about potential outcomes". They go on to admit that "The design of the SPP is flawed by the exclusion of Congress from the process".

"POLITICIZATION" IS GOOD – – – CONTROL BY UNACCOUNTABLE BUREAUCRATS IS BAD

The authors oppose politicization (which is another word for accountability to American citizens) saying "The design of the SPP made it difficult to include special interest input without politicizing the negotiations…the inclusion of some interest groups and not others resulted in a further erosion of confidence in the SPP process".

MANIPULATION OF CONGRESS AND THE PEOPLE IS THE SPP STRATEGY

The authors observed that "The United States (i.e. George W. Bush) faces three important challenges in designing and conducting negotiations under the SPP: managing the asymmetry with smaller neighbors, managing Congress, which has a constitutional role on trade and must be persuaded to fund security measures; and the [sic] managing the pressures from special interests".

U.S. SURRENDERS ITS ADVANTAGES

According to the authors, in order to persuade Canada and Mexico to fully cooperate with the Bush administration, it is important for the U.S. to be "structuring negotiations in such a way that the U.S. advantages are minimized, treating negotiators for Canada and Mexico as equals and partners and avoiding any explicit resort to its advantages of size…The United States has tried to overcome the defensive instincts of its neighbors by structuring negotiations in such a way that the U.S. advantages are minimized…Incentives for cooperation rise in the presence of expectations about benefits from future cooperation".

The authors also admit that "In the context of North America, and of deepening continental integration, the management of Congressional relations presents significant challenges for U.S. negotiators".

AN INCREMENTAL MARCH TO THE NAU

Just as today’s European Union began 50 years ago with the creation of the European Iron and Coal Community, the Canada-U.S. Free Trade Agreement negotiations in the 1980s were a first step on the path toward a North American Union (NAU). These were preceded by the Trade Act of 1974, which created the Advisory Committee for Trade Policy and Negotiations.

It is pointed out in the paper that "Perhaps the most important feature of the SPP design is that it is neither intended to produce a treaty nor an executive agreement like the NAFTA that would require congressional ratification or the passage of implementing legislation in the United States."

CONGRESSIONAL INVOLVEMENT COULD UNDERCUT CONTROL BY THE EXECUTIVE BRANCH

"The SPP was designed to function within existing administrative authority of the executive branch. Rules and standards could be set, law enforcement and national security prerogatives pursued, all within the broad parameters of constitutional authority or prior congressional authorization…With presidential and cabinet-level political support, the dozens of objectives outlined under each of the 20 SPP working groups would proceed on the basis of trilateral consultation at the staff-level within respective government agencies already responsible for those policy areas.

Shifting the substantive work of the SPP to the staff level, much as the NAFTA working groups had done, would ostensibly depoliticize the policy work being done by leaving it in the hands of technical experts. Technocratic negotiations would reduce the power-politics dimension of the talks".

It is asserted that "while shifting responsibility for agenda items to the staff-level could potentially de-politicize work on small issues, it also effectively removed it from the kind of public accountability normally associated with U.S. trade negotiations".

It is also observed in the paper that "Another intervening factor that altered perceptions of the SPP between Waco and Cancun came in May of 2005 when the Council on Foreign Relations in the United States released its Independent Task Force Report No. 53, Building a North American Community". This report "recommended the establishment of a customs union and common security perimeter by 2010".

The authors point out that "The U.S. Congress has no formal role in the SPP. As criticism of the lack of transparency and public accountability of the SPP negotiations has grown, congressional interest and concern about the SPP has also grown. There is now a handful of Members of Congress (concentrated, for now, in the House of Representatives) publicly opposed to proceeding with the SPP, and determined to convene investigations and oversight into the content of the talks. Congressional hostility represents the biggest threat to the continuation of the SPP after Montebello, and after the end of the Bush administration".

( Editor’s note: The SPP was started when Brian Mulroney was Prime Minister of Canada, Carlos Salinas was President of Mexico, and George H.W. Bush was President of the United States. Each of these three men was advanced in his political career by the support of David Rockefeller, the Trilateral Commission, and the Council on Foreign Relations.)

North American Union - News Conference | August 10, 2007 | Digg This

AMERICAN LEADERS OPPOSE MEETING OF BUSH TO SET UP NORTH AMERICAN UNION

Coalition Protests Exclusion from Security and Prosperity Partnership meeting.

Ottawa, Canada- Prominent conservative leaders and politicians opposing a North American Union with the United States, Canada, and Mexico will hold a News Conference in Ottawa Canada.

Event: News Conference to protest secret summit of the Security and Prosperity Partnership of North America, being conducted by President George Bush of the United States, Prime Minister Stephen Harper of Canada, and President Felipe Calderon of Mexico. The summit of the three world leaders is being held in Montebello, Quebec, from August 20-21, to plan a "North American Union" - an EU-type merger of the U.S., Canada, and Mexico

Date and Time: Monday, August 20, 2007 at 10 a.m.

Location: Ottawa Marriott Hotel, 100 Kent Street, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada

Sponsor: Coalition to Block the North American Union

Coalition Spokesmen:

- Howard Phillips, Chairman of The Conservative Caucus, a leading nationwide conservative organization

- Jerome Corsi, Ph.D., author, The Late Great USA; reporter for WorldNetDaily

- Connie Fogal, Leader of the Canadian Action Party

- Tom DeWeese, President of the American Policy Center, a leading American grassroots foundation devoted to free enterprise and limited government

- Jack McManus, President of the John Birch Society

- Bob Park, Founder, Veterans for Secure Borders; Board Chairman, ProEnglish

- others to be confirmed

WEBSITE: www.conservativeusa.org

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