BACKSTORY Gov. Rick Perry's Remarks at 2001 Border Summit (bigtime suckup to Mexico)

governor.state.tx.us ^ | Wednesday, August 22, 2001

[Liz]

Thank you Senator Lucio.

President Nevarez, UT-Pan American is to be commended for its vision and leadership in hosting this unprecedented border summit in the beautiful Texas town of Edinburg. My friends from Mexico, including Governor Tomas Yarrington Ruvalcaba of Tamaulipas, and Governor Fernando Canales Clariond of Nuevo Leon, it is an honor to be in your presence. I want to extend my gratitude to our Mexican neighbors for hosting me this July as I sought to learn one of the world’s great languages, Spanish.

I enjoyed your hospitality, and was grateful for your patience as I worked on my vocabulary. No longer do I refer to “la verdad” as “la verdura.” I am delighted to see friends from the U.S. side of the border as well, including our distinguished members of the Legislature, and our county and city leaders along the border.

Today we begin a new dialogue about our shared future, a future of promising potential if we work together to solve the challenges we both face. It is fitting that we convene this summit where the great, meandering river known as the Rio Grande – or the Rio Bravo – forms the long border between Texas and Mexico.

In years past, that famed body of water has been seen by many as a dividing point, If you were to walk along its banks and look to the other side, based on the stereotypes of the past, you would think you were seeing things a million miles away, instead of a stone’s throw away. But I am here today to say that while we have honest differences, there is more that unites us than divides us.

The Rio Grande does not separate two nations, it joins two peoples. Mexico and the United States have a shared history, and a common future. And it is along this border where we will either fail or succeed in addressing the education, health care and transportation needs of our two peoples.

Critical to our future is meeting our border infrastructure needs. We must get traffic moving along the border so that businesses along the border and thousands of miles away can deliver products on time, and continue to grow. Companies from Spokane, Washington to Concord, New Hampshire depend on Texas highways and Texas bridges to move their products south. Seventy percent of all U.S.-Mexico truck traffic goes to, or through, the Lone Star state.

Fifteen of our twenty-seven border crossings with Mexico are located in Texas. Fifty-four percent of all U.S.-Mexico trade crosses just between Brownsville and Laredo. This year the Texas legislature appropriated approximately $1 billion more in transportation funding. But more can be done.

With Texas serving as the Gateway to Mexico, it is time that we receive congressional funding that reflects the instrumental role our state plays as a port of entry. With a Texan in the White House, I believe there is no greater opportunity to end the funding discrimination that crippled Texas infrastructure under the previous administration. Good infrastructure is essential to the free flow of commerce. It is a matter of economic fact that free trade lifts the tide for all the boats in the harbor. U.S. trade with Mexico has increased by 500% since 1994.

Exports and imports between Texas and Mexico now exceed $100 billion dollars annually. Thousands of jobs have been created for Texas and Mexican workers, confirming the indisputable fact that trade with Mexico is big business for Texas.

The fruits of NAFTA have just begun to ripen. At the same time, we must not allow the roots of the tree to become poisoned. The NAFTA agreement not only signaled a new era of economic possibility, but a new era of bi-national cooperation.

That is why it is wrong, and inherently detrimental to our relationship with Mexico for the U.S. Congress to pursue a protectionist policy that forbids Mexican trucks from U.S. roadways. It is bad public policy, and it violates the terms of the NAFTA agreement we agreed to. Mexican trucks that meet our safety standards should be given the same access to U.S. roads as our Canadian neighbors to the north.

Mexico, too, must be vigilant in realizing its treaty obligations. For more than half a century, under the 1944 Water Treaty our two nations have cooperated so that the water needs of both countries are met. But as of late, Mexico is behind in delivering the water it has promised to the U.S.

A Mexican judicial injunction now threatens the livelihood of our Rio Grande Valley farmers, and has become a source of contention between our two nations. It is time to end this dispute. I would ask that the Mexican government meet its obligation under the treaty, Texas growers are depending on it.

There are other challenges that require a unified approach, especially in the area of health care. A lack of preventative medicine means conditions that could have been eliminated through childhood immunizations show up in disturbing numbers later in life. Limited availability of medical specialists means conditions like heart disease and diabetes go untreated at alarming rates.

In Texas, we recently placed a strong emphasis on preventative care when we expanded access to Medicaid for more low-income children by making the Medicaid enrollment process simpler. We allocated an additional $4 billion to the Medicaid program, and more than $900 million to the Children’s Health Insurance Program. I urged legislators to pass a telemedicine pilot program that will enable, through technology, a sick border resident of limited financial means to receive care from a specialist hundreds of miles away. But the effort to combat disease and illness requires greater cooperative efforts between our two nations.

It is a simple truth that disease knows no boundaries. An outbreak of drug-resistant tuberculosis, for example, endangers citizens of both our nations. We have much to gain if we work together to expand preventative care, and treat maladies unique to this region.

Legislation authored by border legislators Pat Haggerty and Eddie Lucio establishes an important study that will look at the feasibility of bi-national health insurance. This study recognizes that the Mexican and U.S. sides of the border compose one region, and we must address health care problems throughout that region. That’s why I am also excited that Texas Secretary of State Henry Cuellar is working on an initiative that could extend the benefits of telemedicine to individuals living on the Mexican side of the border.

As a compassionate state, we know that for our children to succeed, they must not only be healthy, but educated. The future leaders of our two nations are learning their fractions and their ABC’s in classrooms all along this border.

Immigrants from around the world are being taught in Texas classrooms, and our history is rich with examples of new citizens who have made great contributions.

We must say to every Texas child learning in a Texas classroom, “we don’t care where you come from, but where you are going, and we are going to do everything we can to help you get there.” And that vision must include the children of undocumented workers. That’s why Texas took the national lead in allowing such deserving young minds to attend a Texas college at a resident rate. Those young minds are a part of a new generation of leaders, the doors of higher education must be open to them. The message is simple: educacion es el futuro, y si se puede.

We also know that poverty is not unique to either side of the border. Some of Texas’ poorest citizens live in colonias all along the border. They often lack basic infrastructure many of us take for granted. Just today, the North American Development Bank announced it will provide $6.3 million in funding to hook up colonia residents in six border cities to water and wastewater lines. More than 18,000 residents will benefit from these water or wastewater hookups.

And this November, by approving Proposition 2, Texas voters can ensure that their neighbors in colonias have quality roads so that school buses, emergency vehicles and postal trucks can reach residents, and residents can get to a job or a school reliably.

President Fox’s vision for an open border is a vision I embrace, as long as we demonstrate the will to address the obstacles to it. An open border means poverty has given way to opportunity, and Mexico’s citizens do not feel compelled to cross the border to find that opportunity. It means we have addressed pollution concerns, made substantial progress in stopping the spread of disease, and rid our crossings of illicit drug smuggling activity.

Clearly we have a long way to go in addressing those issues. At the same time we must continue to deepen our economic ties, expanding opportunities for Mexican and U.S. companies to do business on both sides of the border. The outlook is promising, even if the road to prosperity is a long one. We share a bond as neighbors, and we find our culture north of the Rio Grande to be increasingly defined by the strong traits of people of Hispanic descent.

Texas has long enjoyed a unique identity, an identity forged by an independent spirit, and the convergence of many different peoples. We must welcome change in the 21st Century as we have in every century before it.

Today, as we look to the south, we see a rising sun. It is perched above a people whose best days are in front of them. Let us endeavor to make the most of this new day through a new dialogue. Let us work together to combat disease, expand trade and provide educational opportunities. If we do, there are no limits to what we can accomplish for the betterment of all of our citizens. Thank you, and God bless you.

[Durus]

What is it that you want to win? Electing a RINO is every bit as bad for the country as a democrat, and far worse for the Repuclican party.

[Liz]

Mexico has a single, streamlined law that ensures that foreign visitors and immigrants are:

* in the country legally;

* have the means to sustain themselves economically;

* not destined to be burdens on society;

* of economic and social benefit to society;

* of good character and have no criminal records; and

* contributors to the general well-being of the nation.

The law also ensures that:

* immigration authorities have a record of each foreign visitor;

* foreign visitors do not violate their visa status;

* foreign visitors are banned from interfering in the country’s internal politics;

* foreign visitors who enter under false pretenses are imprisoned or deported;

* foreign visitors violating the terms of their entry are imprisoned or deported;

* those who aid in illegal immigration will be sent to prison.

Who could disagree with such a law? It makes perfect sense. The Mexican constitution strictly defines the rights of citizens — and the denial of many fundamental rights to non-citizens, illegal and illegal. Under the constitution, the Ley General de Población, or General Law on Population, spells out specifically the country’s immigration policy.

It is an interesting law — and one that should cause us all to ask, Why is our great southern neighbor pushing us to water down our own immigration laws and policies, when its own immigration restrictions are the toughest on the continent? If a felony is a crime punishable by more than one year in prison, then Mexican law makes it a felony to be an illegal alien in Mexico.

If the United States adopted such statutes, Mexico no doubt would denounce it as a manifestation of American racism and bigotry.

We looked at the immigration provisions of the Mexican constitution. [1] Now let’s look at Mexico’s main immigration law.

Mexico welcomes only foreigners who will be useful to Mexican society:

* Foreigners are admitted into Mexico “according to their possibilities of contributing to national progress.” (Article 32)

* Immigration officials must “ensure” that “immigrants will be useful elements for the country and that they have the necessary funds for their sustenance” and for their dependents. (Article 34)

* Foreigners may be barred from the country if their presence upsets “the equilibrium of the national demographics,” when foreigners are deemed detrimental to “economic or national interests,” when they do not behave like good citizens in their own country, when they have broken Mexican laws, and when “they are not found to be physically or mentally healthy.” (Article 37)

* The Secretary of Governance may “suspend or prohibit the admission of foreigners when he determines it to be in the national interest.” (Article 38)

Mexican authorities must keep track of every single person in the country:

* Federal, local and municipal police must cooperate with federal immigration authorities upon request, i.e., to assist in the arrests of illegal immigrants. (Article 73)

* A National Population Registry keeps track of “every single individual who comprises the population of the country,” and verifies each individual’s identity. (Articles 85 and 86)

* A national Catalog of Foreigners tracks foreign tourists and immigrants (Article 87), and assigns each individual with a unique tracking number (Article 91).

Foreigners with fake papers, or who enter the country under false pretenses, may be imprisoned:

* Foreigners with fake immigration papers may be fined or imprisoned. (Article 116)

* Foreigners who sign government documents “with a signature that is false or different from that which he normally uses” are subject to fine and imprisonment. (Article 116)

Foreigners who fail to obey the rules will be fined, deported, and/or imprisoned as felons:

* Foreigners who fail to obey a deportation order are to be punished. (Article 117)

* Foreigners who are deported from Mexico and attempt to re-enter the country without authorization can be imprisoned for up to 10 years. (Article 118)

* Foreigners who violate the terms of their visa may be sentenced to up to six years in prison (Articles 119, 120 and 121). Foreigners who misrepresent the terms of their visa while in Mexico — such as working with out a permit — can also be imprisoned.

Under Mexican law, illegal immigration is a felony. The General Law on Population says,

* “A penalty of up to two years in prison and a fine of three hundred to five thousand pesos will be imposed on the foreigner who enters the country illegally.” (Article 123)

* Foreigners with legal immigration problems may be deported from Mexico instead of being imprisoned. (Article 125)

* Foreigners who “attempt against national sovereignty or security” will be deported. (Article 126)

Mexicans who help illegal aliens enter the country are themselves considered criminals under the law:

* A Mexican who marries a foreigner with the sole objective of helping the foreigner live in the country is subject to up to five years in prison. (Article 127)

* Shipping and airline companies that bring undocumented foreigners into Mexico will be fined. (Article 132)

All of the above runs contrary to what Mexican leaders are demanding of the United States. The stark contrast between Mexico’s immigration practices versus its American immigration preachings is telling. It gives a clear picture of the Mexican government’s agenda: to have a one-way immigration relationship with the United States.

Let’s call Mexico’s bluff on its unwarranted interference in U.S. immigration policy. Let’s propose, just to make a point, that the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) member nations standardize their immigration laws by using Mexico’s own law as a model.

[McGavin999]

That’s very true. I watch you guys falling for it every time there is a primary. Someone leads the charge against a fellow republican, people take sides, and viola! we get McCain (or in this case Romney) as our nominee and then the democrat wins! How stupid is that!

[Liz]

Ping to Post #22

[cripplecreek]

So you’re a Perry Groin Leech.

[mad_as_he$$]

Since I am not from Texas yes I did. How about “waste our school dollars so schools can act as a babysitting service until you can send the kids into the work force to pay for your Escalade.”?

[algernonpj]

Thanks for posting!

[cripplecreek]

Electing a RINO is every bit as bad for the country as a democrat, and far worse for the Repuclican party.

True enough and the justifications the RINO supporters give prove it. I don't know why the perry supporters worry about electing Romney, they'll get the same thing either way.

The country is very close to finished now and the cowards are leading the charge over the cliff. 30 million illegals in the country have created God knows how many illegitimate democrat seats in congress and the morons think creating more is good for America.

[algernonpj]

... Let’s call Mexico’s bluff on its unwarranted interference in U.S. immigration policy. Let’s propose, just to make a point, that the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) member nations standardize their immigration laws by using Mexico’s own law as a model.

I'd love to see a politician with the b*lls to do that!

[Liz]

Perry mentioned at the Tea Party debate that he raised about $30 million for his reelection campaign at the time of the Gardisil scandal---and received $6000 from Merck---Gardisil's mfg.

Curiously, 2012 candidate Perry "forgot" to say that for his presidential campaign he raised $55 million in $2500 max per person/ $5000 max per corporate PAC contributions (under FEC rules).

One would think Ricky "It's All About Me" Perry would be flaunting that he made a bundle with corporate donations.

=====================================

Let's examine the facts: Top executives at publicly-traded companies are required to certify the accuracy of their financial results. Execs have to affix their signature to official documents attesting to company's earnings affirming that there were internal controls to prevent fraud.

The FEC and SEC might have to determine whether publicly-reported earnings, through a variety of devices, produced materially false and misleading financial results.

Some execs have used schemes like misusing reserve accounts, concealing losses, inflating asset values and improperly accounting for transactions, as well as deferring profits into reserve accounts, improperly shifting capital funding to other projects to hide illegal payments to politicians.

Course Rick Perry knows nothing about that, I'm sure.

[dforest]

Just as we get the communist democrats on the run, we opt in for a person who will supply the dems with the uneducated 3rd worlders that will revive the voter logs for the communist democrats.

[McGavin999]

So you’re a Perry Groin Leech.

That's a pretty filthy comment and it tells everyone who reads this thread more about you, the who you support, then it does about me. It's low life statements like that which got us McCain as nominee and Obama as president.

[Liz]

SWAGGERING, GRINNING GOV PERRY knows his candidacy is much, much worse than in-state tuition

2012 VOTERS SHOULD KNOW : GOV PERRY looked away as savage Mexican Zeta gangs expand their growing drug empire inside the US, from Big D--Dallas. GOV PERRY is aiding and abetting Mexican criminals.

==============================================

GOV PERRY DID NOTHING TO STOP ZETAS
GOV PERRY (1) sucked-up to the Mexican govt, (2) insists on open borders, (3) passed the Dream Act, (4) eased sub-prime mortgages for illegals, (5) lambasted US amnesty policy while on Mexican soil, and, (6) enticed opportunistic Zetas over the border with tax-subsidized giveaways.

GOV PERRY DID NOTHING TO STOP THIS There have been over 200 armed incursions from Mexico over the border onto US soil in the last ten years.

GOV PERRY DID NOT STOP THIS Federal agents and US military were ordered to avoid all contact when Third World soldiers escorted Mexican drug cartel members across our borders.

GOV GOV PERRY DID NOT STOP THIS Zeta gangs and Mexican drug cartels smuggled drugs, illegal aliens (?reconquista troops, ?terrorists bearing WMD?) over US borders. All of it aided and abetted by the Mexican govt.

===========================================

GOV PERRY DID NOT STOP THIS The Zetas ‘gulf Cartel, is a former "special forces unit" of the Mexican Army. The Zetas signature savagery is beheadings for those who d-a-r-e try to stop them. The Zetas have been in operation for years and years, and, thanks to all the US dollars they pocketed in Texas (legal and illegal), they have recently been recruiting openly in Mexico.

GOV PERRY DID NOT STOP THIS In the border city of Reynosa a banner reads, “Former soldiers sought to join armed group; good pay, $500,” “The Zetas operations group wants you, soldier or ex-soldier.”

===========================================

GOV PERRY DID NOT STOP THIS
A Zeta Narcorepublic?
IBD Editorials ^ | July 27, 2011 | Staff
FR Posted by Kaslin

Mexico's drug cartel, the savage Zetas, have drawn a bead on Guatemala's 2011 presidential election, and former US officials say the cartel is stockpiling arms to do the same to Mexico in its 2012 election. Is there a White House plan? Smuggling military-grade weapons from Fort Worth through El Paso and Columbus, New Mexico, the Mexican cartel known as Los Zetas may be doing so not just to fight other cartels but to disrupt Mexico's 2012 election, according to report quoting former officials in the El Paso Times that ran July 13.

Phil Jordan, a former director of El Paso's DEA Intelligence Center, and Robert "Tosh" Plumlee, a former CIA contract pilot, warned that Mexico's democracy could be in jeopardy as weapons sold through the US Direct Commercial Sales program may end up with Zeta front groups. Last year, $416.5 million in sales went to Mexico through this program. That corresponds to a similar warning from Mexico City on Wednesday. Guatemala's President Alvaro Colom said the Zetas pose a "serious threat" to Guatemala's democracy as it nears its Sept. 11 election.

Could two nations past our southern border go down to the Zetas and become narcostates? Obviously the cartels think so, based on the weapons they're trying to bring in — anti-aircraft missiles, grenade launchers, assault rifles, body armor and night vision goggles. (There has been no serious response from anywhere in the US). Read more at investors.com .......

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GOV PERRY DID NOT STOP THIS Using deceit and guile, Mexico, and other South and Central American countries, have infiltrated the US political system, from domestic to foreign policy, and even L/E. These govts are sending millions of Reconquista shock troops over the border.....they are "voting blocs" trained to use the American system of govt for their own nefarious purposes, primed to take over the US.

====================================

GOV PERRY DID NOT STOP THIS
Mexican Cartels Manufacture and Deploy 'Narco Tanks' in Ever-Escalating Drug War
FR posted by Reaganite Republican

What to do when RPG's, AR-15s, and land-mines can't kill your rivals fast enough? When the mass-graves and gory piles of severed heads don't spook 'em like they used to? How about some narco tanks, vato...? In a multi-lateral conflict that keeps getting worse as Mexican drug cartels war over control of lucrative smuggling routes, government forces have captured two jerry-rigged "tanks" in separate incidences: built on American truck chassis and protected by heavy, sloping armor and bulletproof glass, the media in Mexico has been quick to dub them the "Monsters".

Although they more closely resemble a homemade APC, the ungainly vehicles are heavily armed, with rotating gun turrets, rams, myriad gun ports, devices that pour oil or nails on the road... think Mad Max meets James Bond. They are soundproofed and air-conditioned, can carry 12-20 armed men, and are built to withstand up to .50 caliber weaponry or a grenade blast.

While these 'narco tanks' are not tracked vehicles, they cartels have created some pretty formidable contraptions here, whatever you want to call them. To this point, they have not been used against Mexican troops, but only to attack and intimidate rivals... Of course, Mexican and Columbian drug mafias have previously produced homemade, one-use (throw away) submarines to bring cocaine to North American markets, and just last year snapped-up large passenger jets at auction prices only to dump them in the African desert packed with cocaine bound for Europe... so nothing should surprise us coming from these people anymore.

Alas, the human cost has been ghastly: the ongoing drug war in Mexico has already killed five times more people than US fatalities for the whole of the Iraq War... even record busts/confiscations can't seem to put a dent in the perpetual carnage on America's southern border.......

[Liz]

9/13/11
ZETAS SEND MESSAGE: Hanging corpses carry threat to Mexico I-net users reporting drug violence
breitbart.com

The bloodstained bodies of a man and a woman were found hanging from a bridge in northeast Mexico Tuesday, along with threatening messages to people who report drug violence on social networks.

The messages lay near the two bodies, found half naked, alluding to websites set up for people to report drug violence in the area, police said. "That will happen to all of them," read the text of one message signed with the letter 'Z' usually associated with the Zetas drug gang.

Nuevo Laredo lies in the northeastern state of Tamaulipas, on the US border, where the Zetas are blamed for many violent attacks. The Zetas started as ex-elite army officers working as hitmen for the Gulf cartel in the 1990s. A split between the two is blamed for some of the country's most gruesome drug violence in recent years. Mexico is one of the world's most dangerous countries for journalists and reporters have been silenced by threats or violence in some areas.

Citizens in those areas often rely on social networks for information about shootouts or other drug violence. Copyright AFP 2008, AFP stories and photos shall not be published, broadcast, rewritten for broadcast or publication or redistributed directly or indirectly in any medium

SOURCE http://www.breitbart.com/article.php?id=CNG.896de1096470bc0c4dc74f022ee2ddcd.31&show_article=1

[Liz]

You are very welcome.

[cripplecreek]

It's low life statements like that which got us McCain as nominee and Obama as president.

Yet you're going to vote for someone even less trustworthy and honest than McCain.

[sockmonkey]

Perry wanted a bi-national healthcare plan

Long before Perry, or Bush were elected governor I worked in state mental healthcare in TX. Several border counties were in our catchment area. We would get patients from across the border sometimes. Tertiary syphilis, having eaten the brain of a nineteen year old, tuberculosis, and many other diseases that make their way across the border are best addressed preventatively..not in the end stages.

When I worked in the community mental health center here, there were over 20 patients (not from the border, ot hispanic, btw) who had tuberculosis. These people go to the grocery store, and cough on those donuts, they get out of the "serve yourself" case, frequent other stores, work in the community.

It makes sense healthwise, and monetarily to address shared infectious diseases, whether those with them are from central TX, across the border, or across an ocean. An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure is true.

[McGavin999]

I have never declared who I am going to vote for because I have not decided. I just hate Liars and there's a lot of lying going on lately. I have defended Palin, Perry, and even (before the recent crap) Bachmann. Defending someone against lies and irrelavencies is not the same as supporting them.

The crap you are pulling now is the same thing that happened during the 2008 primary. Jump on someone, attack anything they say, and think you are actually accomplishing something. You are not, you are turning more lurkers off then you can ever realize. It split this forum in 2008 and THAT is how McCain got in. The Fred supporters turned vicious, calling everyone else RINOs and peple and chasing people off. Worked perfectly, only this time, if they succeed our country is lost.

That vile comment you made is just the kind of thing that makes dem operatives smile. What kind of person makes a comment like you did and then pretends to be a conservative? Didn't your mother teach you any better? Did no one in your life take the time or trouble to teach you manners?

[cripplecreek]

I really don’t care one way or the other. I have zero respect for quislings. And won’t bother to waste time reading anything you have to say.

[McGavin999]

Thank, I’ve made my point and now a lot of people know who and what you are.