Posted on 08/04/2007 10:03:33 PM PDT by processing please hold
Commerce Secretary Gutierrez Urged to Comply With Federal Open Meetings Law During August 20 and 21 Security & Prosperity Partnership Meetings in Montebello, Quebec Highlighted Links
WASHINGTON, DC--(Marketwire - July 31, 2007) - Judicial Watch, the public interest group that investigates and prosecutes government corruption, today filed a notice with Commerce Secretary Carlos Gutierrez that it is seeking access to the meetings and records of the North American Competitiveness Council (NACC) under the provisions of the Federal Advisory Committee Act (FACA) -- the federal open meetings law (5 U.S.C App. 2 §3(2)). Specifically, Judicial Watch seeks to attend and/or participate in meetings of the NACC and its U.S. component subcommittees, the next meeting of which is reportedly scheduled for August 20, 2007 in Montebello, Quebec, Canada.
Secretary Gutierrez launched the NACC, with his Mexican and Canadian counterparts, in June 2006. The NACC met on August 15, 2006 in Washington and again on February 23, 2007 in Ottawa, Canada. The NACC has provided over fifty (50) recommendations for action to Secretary Gutierrez and the Security and Prosperity Partnership of North America (SPP).
To further its public interest mission, Judicial Watch previously submitted a request to attend NACC meeting with the organization designated by the Commerce Department as the "Secretariat" of the NACC comprised of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce (jointly with the Council of the Americas). The Secretariat informed Judicial Watch that as a not-for-profit educational foundation, it was not eligible to participate in NACC meetings.
Judicial Watch's notice to Secretary Gutierrez stresses the legal requirement for the NACC, and any U.S. component subcommittee(s), to obey the federal open meetings law and file a charter, publish timely notice of meetings in the Federal Register, allow interested parties to attend and participate in meetings, and provide access to committee records. Judicial Watch believes the NACC has failed to satisfy any of these statutory requirements.
Judicial Watch has also requested that Secretary Gutierrez make all records of the NACC -- reports, transcripts, minutes, appendixes, working papers, drafts, studies, agenda, etc. -- available to Judicial Watch in accordance with the provisions of the Freedom of Information Act (5 U.S.C. §552).
"Our goal is to open up this entire SPP process to the American public. The North American Competitiveness Council is a federal advisory group that cannot operate in secret -- especially during the important Quebec SPP summit next month," stated Judicial Watch President Tom Fitton.
But many here have assured me that there is nothing there to see, and that only nutjobs would take the slightest interest. :^)
I hear ya. I run across them all the time. I usually just blow them off. They come to disrupt.
The SPP and the NAU, if enacted, will be the end of the US as we know it.
The powers that would be would react to my statement by saying, "Enacted? What do you mean enacted? The NAU and the SPP are merely working partnerships to brainstorm how we can better integrate these three countries. Nothing has been enacted."
Well, maybe not. But they sure as Hell tried with the amnesty bill.
The SPP and the NAU, if enacted, will be the end of the US as we know it.
That's why I try to post all stories I can find about it. I, and others knows what's at stake in this-our sovereignty.
Well, maybe not. But they sure as Hell tried with the amnesty bill.
I'll never forget Bush saying...'see you at the signing' as long as I live. His arrogance was unbelievable. We sure set 'em back on their heels over that shamnesty vote-didn't we? :)
BTTT
Yup. Just a new ‘St. George and the Dragon’ here..big country, lots of dragons, too few ‘St. Georges’...kudos to judicial watch.
What if we treated the SPP working groups like the United Nations? Non-profits or non-governmental organizations (NGO)have the right under U.N. rules to monitor U.N. proceedings. I don’t see much of a difference between the U.N. and this newly formed organization.
Somebody needs to keep track of the “progress.”
If anybody can-they can.
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