-Caveat Lector-
more links on this subject here:
http://www.amerikanexpose.com/othlinks.html#NAF
the following is from:
http://www.worldnetdaily.com/bluesky_exnews/
19990316_xex_more_money_b.shtml
More money for 'international highways'
NAFTA trade corridor on drawing board
by Edward G. Oliver, March 16, 1999
Congress has designated 43 U.S. highways
<http://www.fhwa.dot.gov/hep10/nhs/map.html> "High Priority
Corridors," making them eligible to receive an appropriated
$700 million in seed money for "coordinated planning, design,
and construction of corridors of national significance,
economic growth, and international or interregional trade."
Fourteen corridors were included in one of the largest public
works bills in American history, the Transportation Equity
Act for the 21st Century (TEA-21) which was signed into law
on June 9, 1998, by President Clinton. Other corridors were
identified in the1995 National Highway Designation Act and
national highway legislation from 1991 (ISTEA). Also, a
related "Coordinated Border Infrastructure Program" was
authorized in TEA-21 to "improve the safe movement of people
and goods at or across the border between the United States
and Canada, and the border between the United States and
Mexico."
Any increase in commercial vehicle traffic volume "at border
stations or ports of entry in each State and in the State as
a whole" as well as increased "international truck borne
commodities" resulting from the North American Free Trade
Agreement (NAFTA) among other criteria are funding qualifiers
according to the statute. Accepted uses for the money
include, "Identification of any impediments to the
development and construction of the corridor, including any
environmental, social, political, and economic objections."
A major international trade corridor and example of
what's in store is the I-35/I-94/I-29 Corridor
<http://www.nasco-itc.com/images/map1a.jpg>. The 1,500-mile
roadway extends from Laredo, Texas, the busiest U.S. border
crossing into Mexico, to Duluth, Minnesota. When queried, a
spokesman for the Department of Transportation was quick to
point out to WorldNetDaily that statutory language does not
include the word "International" when it designated the
highways "High Priority Corridors."
However, the non-profit public-private lobbying group
North America's Superhighway Coalition (NASCO)
<http://www.nasco-itc.com/> makes no bones about the
international nature of the corridors. A section of NASCO's
website, "Driving the Superhighway" is laced with praise for
the international concept. For example: "A trip down the
International Trade Corridor passes through some
forward-thinking communities with innovative leadership and
enterprising businesses. Along the route, are citizens who
truly have grasped the concepts of globalization and are
capitalizing on its benefits."
NASCO works closely with the NAFTA "Harmonization Committee"
or land transport subcommittee created by the treaty. NASCO
seeks to "promote full NAFTA implementation" and "focus on
environmental issues." The powerful lobbying group "teams
federal and state authorities with private business to
promote the establishment of a network of 'international
trade corridors' that will facilitate the movement of people
and goods throughout the nations of Canada, United States,
and Mexico." NASCO's Ken Miller told WorldNetDaily:
"An 'international trade corridor' (as we define it) is
an interstate or series of interstates that links border
crossings and countries. These facilities also cooperate
with other modes of transportation ... like rail hubs and
airports ... to provide efficient movement of people and
goods."
NASCO signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with the
U.S. Department of Treasury to work to develop International
Trade Processing Centers (ITPCs) along the I-35 International
Trade Corridor. Miller explained, "The ITPCs fit in because
these facilities can enhance efficiency by processing
international freight at a location that isn't bogged down
with congestion. Of course, new technologies must continue
to be developed ... and new laws and modes of operation
developed ... and the political will must be there to
facilitate this dream of more efficient and safe
international movement of people and goods."
The ITPCs should also provide in major urban areas along
the corridor "International banking and financing, Customs
brokers/Freight forwarders, Foreign trade zone, World trade
center, U.S. Federal inspection agencies, and
Transportation-related industrial development." In addition,
in 1997 NASCO signed an MOU with the U.S. Department of
Energy, the U.S. Postal Service, and the Texas General Land
Office "to develop a cooperative program to create
alternative fuel re-fueling centers along the corridor
to reduce pollution."
Another memo was created by NASCO and transportation
representatives from eight states (Texas, Oklahoma, Kansas,
Missouri, Iowa, North Dakota, South Dakota, and Minnesota),
several metropolitan planning organizations and the Canadian
province of Manitoba, the Detroit International Bridge
Company/Canadian Transit Company, along with invitations
to Illinois, Michigan, and Indiana to "discuss possible
cooperative efforts" in which the first step "was to develop
a comprehensive, multinational Intelligent Transportation
Systems for Commercial Vehicle Operations (ITS/CVO)
coordination plan for the corridor."
According to the DOT, special emphasis is placed in TEA-21
on deployment of "Intelligent Transportation Systems" (ITS)
<http://www.its.dot.gov/home.htm> "to help improve operations
and management of transportation systems and vehicle safety."
The dual focus is on intelligent infrastructure and
intelligent vehicles featuring electronic toll taking and
vehicle surveillance using cameras, sensors, vehicle modems
and satellite technology. The recent proposal by the White
House to institute a three-digit 911 style national phone
number for motorists to call for weather and road conditions
is part of an effort to sell the public on ITS. According to
a White House statement: "The number would utilize and
significantly advance the Department of Transportation's
fast-growing 'intelligent transportation infrastructure
system,' already equipped to assist some 45 states and cities
in providing traveler information" The technology is already
being instituted in varying degrees by states and localities
to the dismay of the administration which wants a
nationalized system. The ITS website laments that
ITS infrastructure is instituted "in a narrowly focused,
piecemeal fashion. These individual applications of ITS
technologies are actually fragmenting our transportation
networks instead of serving as a bridge to a new era. ..."
According to Missouri Department of Transportation (MODOT)
trade corridor newsletters, The I-35 (Corridor 23) strategy
will possibly include relief routes, acquiring the right
of way for as many as 12 lanes including double decking,
encouraging urban areas to take public transit, creating an
international rail route parallel to I-35, increasing the
size and weight regulations for trucks, including a NAFTA
truck-way lane devoted exclusively to trucks in certain
segments, improving the clearance process at the borders,
and the use of emerging ITS technologies "to more effectively
monitor and manage the flow of traffic." MODOT says further,
"...using the latest technology in traffic sensing and
response, we'll be able to help motorists navigate our
roadways with tools they never had before."
Chris Gerner, who hosts a satellite radio program called
Amerikan Expose <http://www.amerikanexpose.com/index.html>,
which is also broadcast on Republic Radio International via
the Internet and short-wave, has devoted most of his show in
past months to calling attention to the NAFTA corridors and
sovereignty concerns. He features links on his website to
further information about the corridors. Gerner regularly
features local Missouri and Oklahoma citizens who badger
their respective highway departments for more information
and relay the information on the air.
� 1999 WorldNetDaily.com
� 1999 Western Journalism Center
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