THE NORTH AMERICAN UNION - NAU The North American Union (NAU) is a theoretical economic and political union of Canada, Mexico, and the United States. The concept is loosely based on the European Union, occasionally including a common currency called the Amero or the North American Dollar. A union of the North American continent, sometimes extending to Central and South America, has been the subject of academic concepts for over a century, as well as becoming a common trope in science fiction. One reason for the difficulty in realizing the concept is that individual developments in each region have failed to prioritize a larger union. Some form of union has been discussed or proposed in academic, business, and political circles for decades. However, government officials from all three nations say there are no plans to create a North American Union and that no agreement to do so has been signed. The formation of a North American Union has been the subject of various conspiracy theories. ... The Trans-Texas Corridor was first proposed by Texas Governor Rick Perry in 2002. It consists of a 1,200 foot (366 m) wide highway that also carries utilities such as electricity, petroleum, and water, as well as railway track and fiber-optic cables. In July 2007, U.S. Representative and candidate for the Republican nomination in the 2008 presidential election Duncan Hunter successfully offered an amendment to H.R. 3074, the Department of Transportation Appropriations Act, 2008, prohibiting the use of federal funds for U.S. Department of Transportation participation in the activities of the Security and Prosperity Partnership of North America (SPP). Hunter stated that: Unfortunately, very little is known about the NAFTA Super Highway. This amendment will provide Congress the opportunity to exercise oversight of the highway, which remains a subject of question and uncertainty, and ensure that our safety and security will not be compromised in order to promote the business interests of our neighbors. The Ministry of Transportation for the province of Alberta displays a diagram on their website that labels I-29 and I-35 as NAFTA superhighway. In 2011, the Texas Legislature repealed its authorization for the establishment and operation of the Trans-Texas Corridor. ... In 2001, President of Mexico Vicente Fox said in an interview for Commanding Heights: The Battle for the World Economy that in the long term he sought with the United States a convergence of our two economies, convergence on the basic and fundamental variables of the economy, convergence on rates of interest, convergence on income of people, convergence on salaries. He suggested this might take as long as 20 years to be realized, but the ultimate convergence he saw between the United States and Mexico would allow them to erase that border, open up that border for [the] free flow of products, merchandises, [and] capital as well as people. After leaving office, he continued to support the concept, while expressing his disappointment with the changed American political situation which made it seem more difficult to come to fruition. In an online discussion of his book Revolution of Hope: The Life, Faith, and Dreams of A Mexican President Fox cited the process of European integration and asked a question, Why cant we be not only partners in the long term, but a North American Union? In September 2006, U.S. Representative Virgil Goode proposed with six co-sponsors non-binding House Concurrent Resolution 487, which specifically outlined opposition to a North American Union or a NAFTA Superhighway as a threat to U.S. sovereignty. The bill never left committee. The same resolution was reintroduced by Goode in January 2007 for the 110th Congress as House Concurrent Resolution 40, this time with forty-three cosponsors, including 2008 Republican presidential candidates Duncan Hunter, Ron Paul and Tom Tancredo, who have all expressed opposition to a North American Union during their campaigns. U.S. Commerce Secretary Carlos Gutierrez stated in 2007: There is no secret plan to create a North American union, or a common currency, or to intrude on the sovereignty of any of the partner nations. Regarding the NAFTA superhighway, officials from the Federal Highway Administration have denied such a scheme. Also, the NASCO denies a new proposal for a NAFTA superhighway saying, it exists today as I-35. In an August 2007 press conference in Montebello, Quebec, Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper stated that he didnt believe that the NAU was a generally expressed concern, while U.S. President George W. Bush called concerns of a North American Union political scare tactics and described as comical the difference between reality and what some people are talking on TV about. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/North_American_Union
Posted on: Sun, 22 Jun 2014 21:38:33 +0000
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