Consider it Pinged!!
And Bumped!
Posted on 11/12/2004 1:34:05 PM PST by madfly
The United States and Mexico have enjoyed particularly productive relations during the past four years, but there is considerable work ahead, including comprehensive immigration reform and efforts to make North America more globally competitive and secure, according to Secretary of State Colin Powell.
At the November 9 inaugural of the 21st U.S.-Mexico Binational Commission (BNC) in Mexico City, Mexico, Powell said that the United States and Mexico have deepened and broadened law enforcement cooperation -- particularly counter-narcotics cooperation -- as well as intensified and expanded counter-terrorism and border security efforts.
The secretary of state said that the Partnership for Prosperity, a public-/private-sector alliance launched by President Bush and Mexican President Vicente Fox, is also creating important economic opportunities in Mexico.
These accomplishments notwithstanding, "there is considerable work ahead," Powell said.
He explained that too many immigrants living and working in the United States have no legal status. Powell noted that early in 2004, President Bush proposed a temporary worker program to match willing foreign workers with U.S. employers. He said comprehensive immigration reform is a high priority for Bush's second term and that the Bush administration will work closely with the U.S. Congress to achieve this goal.
Powell indicated that the United States and Mexico must also work together to make North America more globally competitive, in part by working cooperatively to improve education and infrastructure on both sides of the border.
As the United States and Mexico work to meet the needs of people and commerce along the two countries' shared border, Powell said that innovative efforts must continue to ensure that the common border is not abused by terrorists or by traffickers in drugs or human beings.
"We need to get on with the work of tomorrow, working together today to increase economic opportunity and to defeat common threats," Powell said.
Following is a transcript of Powell's remarks:
(begin transcript)
U.S. DEPARTMENT OF STATE
Office of the Spokesman
November 9, 2004
REMARKS
Secretary of State Colin L. Powell
At the Inaugural of the 21st Binational Commission
November 9, 2004
Mexico City, Mexico
(10:05 a.m. EST)
SECRETARY POWELL: Good morning, ladies and gentlemen, Secretary Derbez and your colleagues and all of my colleagues present. We're so pleased to be joined together to begin the 21st Binational Commission meeting that our countries have held. And it is the fourth BNC that I have been privileged to co-chair.
I'm pleased to be joined here by so many of my Cabinet colleagues, Secretaries Ridge, Mineta, Paige and Jackson, Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Leavitt, and Peace Corps Director Vasquez and many other officials representing my country. The caliber and scope of our delegation reflects the importance that President Bush attaches to our relationship with Mexico and the importance he attaches to the work of the Binational Commission.
We are always glad to see Secretary Derbez and his distinguished colleagues from President Fox's cabinet. Above all, it is a pleasure for me and my colleagues to once again be in Mexico and, particularly, in this historic and vibrant city.
I look forward to co-hosting with my Mexican and U.S. colleagues the working groups on foreign policy, border security, and cooperation on migration and consular affairs. Other working groups will focus on law enforcement, economic development, agriculture, energy, education, the environment, labor, health, housing, and transportation.
Whether guarding against terrorists, stopping drug traffickers, arresting those who prey on migrants, or moving our vast commerce, our two governments are engaged every day in a cooperative effort on behalf of our peoples. The Binational Commission is an important expression of that daily work in service to our citizens, and our work together delivers results that benefit both nations.
The last decade of Mexican-U.S. relations has been momentous, marked by visionary initiatives such as the North American Free Trade Agreement. I believe that the past four years have been particularly productive. Let me just cite a few examples. I might note at the beginning that in the ten years of the North American Free Trade Agreement, trade between our two countries has tripled, benefiting both nations so, so richly.
We have deepened and broadened our law enforcement cooperation and especially our counter-narcotics cooperation. We have intensified and expanded our counter-terrorism and border security efforts. The public-private alliance we call Partnership for Prosperity, that partnership launched by Presidents Fox and Bush, is already creating important economic opportunities in Mexico. Under the Partnership for Prosperity, the Peace Corps' first volunteers are in Mexico. They are beginning to work in the areas of information technology, small business development, and environmental technology.
Last year, the Overseas Private Investment Corporation committed more than $40 million in financing, financing that would go to small U.S. businesses operating in Mexico, and we anticipate providing hundreds of millions more in the coming months.
Together, we have accomplished very much, but there is considerable work ahead, and the citizens we serve are leading the way. We in the government need to keep up with our citizens.
Entrepreneurs, workers, and consumers in both of our countries have made Mexico the second largest trading partner of the United States. Over a million people cross our borders every day. Mexico is the top foreign destination for U.S. travelers. Nearly 16 million U.S, citizens visit Mexico each year, and nearly ten million Mexicans visit the United States. Ten million Mexicans live in the United States. Over 400,000 U.S. citizens live in Mexico, and 25 million of my fellow citizens are of Mexican origin.
The United States is proud to be a nation of immigrants, but too many of those immigrants living and working in our country today have no legal status. Early last year, President Bush proposed a temporary worker program to match willing foreign workers with U.S. employers and to offer legal status to immigrants who contribute to our economy as they work to support their families. But the President remains committed to comprehensive immigration reform as a high priority in his second term, and we will work closely with our Congress to achieve this goal. Together, we can work together to make North America more globally competitive.
How best do we do that? By working cooperatively to improve education so that our citizens can be successful in a 21st century world by improving the infrastructure on both sides of the border to meet the needs of people and commerce while making it easier to start new businesses in both of our countries. At the same time, we must also be innovative in our efforts to stop those who abuse the openness of our societies along the border, who would use this openness to harm our citizens through trafficking in drugs or trafficking in human beings or by committing acts of terrorism.
And so, the challenge for the governments of Mexico and the United States today, and every day, is to do what ordinary Mexicans and Americans seem to do so easily. We need to get on with the work of tomorrow, working together today to increase economic opportunity and to defeat common threats. As our citizens well recognize, those shared aims -- our open system with mutual respect for national sovereignty, working in partnership to help our citizens become prosperous and secure is exactly what our fellow citizens expect us to do, and what our Binational Commission is all about.
And so, on behalf of the United States delegation, I want to take this opportunity to thank Secretary Derbez and his colleagues for so graciously hosting this year's meeting. We look forward to a day of intense and productive discussions, which I am sure will further improve the close relations that our two countries already enjoy.
Thank you very much. (Applause.)
(end transcript)
Hi to all.....don't have a ping list to my name, so spread the word on this binational meeting to discuss the 21st Centry, err, that would be Agenda 21, wouldn't it...
Now we are supposed to educate mexicans? Let mexico educate her people. Let mexico show that she is capable of improving herself and then maybe I'll offer to help.
Slavery is alive and well in modern America - but now
increasingly in core urban Blue Nation, rarely in the South, and
today's slaveowners are almost never Southerners. Instead, slavery
in America now almost invariably involves Third Worlders enslaving
each other in core urban Blue Nation.
Last week on Long Island in the New York City suburbs was
fairly typical of modern slavery in America. A Long Island couple,
Mariluz Zavala and her husband Jorge Ibanez - both themselves
aliens from Peru - pled guilty to federal slavery, immigration-
fraud, and other charges.
The couple had been arrested this June - at the same time
agents raided three Long Island homes they owned, one in Brentwood,
one in Amityville, and another in Coram. At the time, INS agents
arrested 69 illegals from Peru - all living in cramped, squalid
conditions in the three homes.
During the raid on the three houses, INS agents also
confiscated large numbers of fake identification documents - even
fake passports. It all related to their bringing huge numbers of
illegals from Peru to the New York City area - right up through
their June arrests, long after 9/11. The illegals were charged
fees of $6,000 to $13,000 each - and, upon arrival, were given fake
green cards and Social Security cards by the couple, who found them
factory jobs on Long Island, with them forced to turn over almost
all their pay to the couple.
The illegals were continually threatened by the couple with
being turned in to INS if they didn't work - and the two held the
passports of the illegals they enslaved.
Just as Alamance County commissioner Tim Sutton termed them
several years ago, illegal aliens really are a "sub-underclass" now
evolving in America that lives far poorer than the poorest black in
their areas.
Actually you and I, and other productive Americans, are now enslaved to provide food, education, housing and medical care for third world parasites.
Consider it Pinged!!
And Bumped!
The puppet Colin Powell speaks with forked wooden tongue.
but too many of those immigrants living and working in our country today have no legal status
1) They aren't immigrants. They're aliens here illegally.
2) Their legal status is their choice, not our fault. We have ports of entry and a well defined immigration system. Virtually anyone can come here legally, if only for an extended visit. They have chosen to violate our overly generous laws.
Isn't it interesting that the man chosen to be the Secretary of State of the United States is unable to make those distinctions between those here legally and illegally?
Yep, I caught that too........I guess now our *illegal invaders* can now identify themselves as *immigrants without legal status*, per Colin Powell & Co.
ditto......;o)
'fly' BTTT
1. A person who comes from a foreign country; someone who does not owe allegiance to your country
2. Anyone who does not belong in the environment in which they are found
How's about we close the door until they fix mexico,
THEN make a deal!
Ah yes. Soooo sensitive.
Strange, I saw this picture from back in January, I guess this whole non-Amnesty-Amnesty Bush is shoving down our unwilling throats just isn't quite enough for some Hispanics. Maybe if we just give more money to the Palastini---I mean Mexicans they will like the people in control of the contested areas more.
"He explained that too many immigrants living and working in the United States have no legal status. Powell noted that early in 2004, President Bush proposed a temporary worker program to match willing foreign workers with U.S. employers. He said comprehensive immigration reform is a high priority for Bush's second term and that the Bush administration will work closely with the U.S. Congress to achieve this goal."
TRAITORS!
That pic says it all.
I bet you the guy is a member of La Raza Unida.
Wake up America!
Following is the text of Ridge's remarks
(begin text)
U.S. Department of Homeland Security
Press Release
November 9, 2004
(PREPARED FOR DELIVERY)
REMARKS BY SECRETARY OF HOMELAND SECURITY TOM RIDGE AT A JOINT PRESS CONFERENCE WITH SECRETARY OF THE INTERIOR SANTIAGO CREEL
MEXICO CITY -- First, we'd like to thank Secretary Creel and our friends in Mexico for their warm hospitality during our visit. You are gracious hosts. And thank you for your vigorous commitment to cooperation as we face mutual challenges.
We have an opportunity to shape our countries' futures -- to mold a vision of peace, prosperity, security and freedom -- a continuation of our shared democratic values. The Bi-national Commission meetings that we have participated in these past two days provide us with an opportunity to tackle our common challenges and give shape to our vision. And one of our most urgent common challenges involves protecting our citizens.
The Border Security and Cooperation Working Group is a good start. In just its second year in existence, it has solidified our commitment to border security and safety. The renewed bi-national agreement, signed last February, focuses on nine key areas of security, including prevention and public safety.
We are proud to have reaffirmed our commitment to safety and other key points in the 22-point Border Action Plan. And since the last Bi-national Commission, we have made much progress in securing our two nations:
-- We created a Cyber-Security Working Group.
-- We established a new Strategy Document to guide the Bi-national Infrastructure Protection Working Group.
-- We successfully implemented the US-Mexico Agriculture/Food Critical Infrastructure website to exchange information more efficiently.
-- Our US-VISIT working group's coordinated efforts now allow border-crossing cardholders to enjoy expanded time limits -- from 72 hours to 30 days. This promotes commerce along the border and ensures safety and convenience of border commuters.
-- We reviewed the Secure Electronic Network for Travelers Rapid Inspection (SENTRI) program and plan to expand new lanes along the border in major traffic areas this coming year.
-- And our Free and Secure Trade program has been implemented at the seven largest ports on the border. These seven ports account for 92 percent of the commercial traffic on the US-Mexican border.
Clearly we are moving ahead, and these achievements signify solid progress.
The United States and Mexico are both dedicated to improving the safe, legal and efficient flow of goods and people across our shared border.
We are actively engaged and working together to improve, among other things, screening standards and information-sharing, while always keeping efficiency in mind. We will use all tools available to us to reduce wait times for both people and goods crossing the border.
In 2005, we will open the eighth Rail Vehicle and Cargo Inspection System. This will give our Customs and Border Protection the ability to screen 100 percent of the rail traffic arriving into the United States from Mexico. And we will protect the lives and human rights of Mexican nationals attempting to cross the border. The public safety messages of the Border Safety Initiative, and the Border Patrol's Search and Rescue Team, directly help reduce loss of life.
Programs such as the joint US-Mexico Voluntary Interior Repatriation program have helped reduce exposure-related deaths in the Tucson sector by almost 70 percent. And US-Mexican cooperation has disrupted human smuggling rings by identifying and prosecuting offenders on both sides of the border.
The United States and Mexico are united in our efforts to dismantle terrorist and criminal networks by sharing information and working closely and effectively together. And that's important: For the collective work of free people, pledged to liberty, is the greatest weapon we have in the fight against terror. Let us continue to use it -- wisely and well.
On behalf of the American people, my thanks to President Fox, Secretary Creel and the good citizens of Mexico for a partnership and friendship that is bound to security, freedom and hope for all those who call our two countries home.
Thank you.
(end text)
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