The Voice of the Border: Trade, immigration, infrastructure, health, agriculture, technology
Today, BTA Policy and Projects Coordinator Diana Lauritson will lead a panel discussion on the impact of failed immigration reform on U.S. global competitiveness, including its impact on legislative efforts to enhance the movement of legitimate cross-border trade and travel, as part of the Arizona Association for Economic Development’s Spring Conference in Prescott, AZ.
The BTA, through this event and others, continues its grass-roots advocacy efforts on behalf of border communities and trade.
BTA Podcast: Senator Cornyn and Commerce Secretary Gutierrez on Border Delays: Play Now | Play in Popup | DownloadU.S. Senator John Cornyn and U.S. Dept. of Commerce Secretary Carlos Gutierrez speak about efforts being made to combat delays at land ports of entry in part two of the addresses from the recent Border Trade Alliance (BTA) International Conference in Washington, D.C. on Border Wait-Times. Senator Cornyn discusses steps that must be taken to ensure the efficient flow of legitimate trade and travel, while balancing physical security with economic security, as well as his recent legislation Emergency Port of Entry Personnel and Infrastructure Funding Act of 2007 that addresses several critical areas contributing to border delays. Secretary Gutierrez discusses the importance of efforts that the Security and Prosperity Partnership of North America (SSP) and his office are making to ensure North American Competitiveness and what must be done to mitigate congestion at our borders.
BTA Podcast: Senator Hutchison & Congressman Reyes on Wait-Times Legislation: Play Now | Play in Popup | DownloadSenator Kay Bailey Hutchison (R-TX) and Congressman Silvestre Reyes (D-TX) recently addressed the attendees of the BTA International Conference in Washington D.C. on their legislative efforts to address a number of components contributing to delays at our borders. Senator Hutchison and Congressman Rodriguez have introduced and pressed for the passage of legislation (S.2425 and H.R. 4309) that requires the study of the economic impact of wait-times. Additionally, the PORTS (Putting Our Resources Toward Security) Act, H.R. 5622, recently introduced by Congressman Reyes (D-TX), seeks to authorize significant increases in funding for security personnel and infrastructure at all U.S. land ports of entry.
Border Trade Alliance (BTA) is stunned that the most determined member of this Administration committed to building more capacity at our nations ports of entry has resigned. Lurita Doan, Administrator of U.S. General Services Administration (GSA), has single handedly energized a moribund national effort to build more lanes, inspection booths, bridges, and ports of entry all in an effort to speed the flow of legitimate trade and travelers across our borders.
In a press-release issued by GSA today, Administrator Doan states, “It has been a great privilege to serve our nation and a great President. The past twenty-two months have been filled with accomplishments: together, we have regained our clean audit opinion, restored fiscal discipline, re-tooled our ability to respond to emergencies, rekindled entrepreneurial energies, reduced bureaucratic barriers to small companies to get a GSA Schedule, ignited a building boom at our nation’s ports of entries, boldly led the nation in an aggressive telework initiative, and improved employee morale so that we were selected as one of the best places to work in the Federal government. These accomplishments are made even more enjoyable by the fact that there were lots of people who told us they could never be done. I have great faith in the abilities of GSA’s dedicated team.”
At the recent BTA International Conference - “Understanding Wait-Times: Border Delays’ Impact on Trade”, Administrator Doan outlined GSA strategies and commitments to improving our nation’s land ports of entry (POE) in an effort to mitigate or eliminate delays affecting cross-border trade and travel, while improving security. GSA’s commitment to our borders under Doan’s leadership was a landmark development in border region and national efforts to address the overburdened and aging infrastructure at these critical POEs. For her trans-formative leadership, BTA awarded Lurita Doan the prestigious “Friend of the Americas Award.”
The Border Trade Alliance (BTA) today announced its strong support for the PORTS Act, H.R. 5622, recently introduced by Congressman Silvestre Reyes (D-TX). The PORTS (Putting Our Resources Toward Security) Act authorizes significant increases in funding for security personnel and infrastructure at all U.S. land ports of entry in order to meet the critical national priority of facilitating the secure and efficient movement of people and goods.
The BTA strongly supports the PORTS Act as it highlights the important resource needs at our nation’s border crossings. Recently, Department of Homeland Security’s U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) identified the need for $5 billion in infrastructural upgrades at U.S. ports to modernize land port facilities and reduce delays. The BTA is urging Congress to swiftly adopt H.R. 5662 and provide the appropriations necessary to fully fund the levels authorized by the legislation.
Funding priorities included in H.R. 5662 include:
Last year the BTA began a successful grass-roots campaign to raise awareness about the growing concern of increased wait-times experienced at our nation’s ports of entry. Most recently, the BTA hosted an International Conference entitled, “Understanding Wait-Times, Border Delays’ Impact on Trade, which featured discussion on the issue of border wait-times by many prominent leaders in Congress and the federal government, including Secretary of Commerce Carlos Gutierrez, General Services Administrator Lurita Doan, Senator Kay Bailey Hutchison (R-TX), Senator John Cornyn (R-TX), Congressman Silvestre Reyes, and Congressman Bob Filner (D-CA).
Since 1986, BTA has served as a grassroots, non-profit organization that provides a forum for discussion and advocacy on issues pertaining to the environment, border development, quality of life and trade in the Americas. BTA is a leader and authority on international trade and commerce throughout North America. A network of public and private sector representatives from the United States, Mexico and Canada, its core values include a commitment to improving the quality of life in border communities through trade and commerce and a commitment to work as a community-based grassroots organization.
BTA would like to thank the dedicated speakers and attendees of the BTA Int. Conference 2008: Understanding Wait-times: Border Delays’ Impacts on Trade. The international conference and congressional briefing, brought together international business, border community, federal agency, and Congressional Leaders to focus on the importance of identifying solutions to address increased wait-times and delays at land ports of entry that adversely impact our local, regional and national economies. The following summary includes photos and presentations from the conference. More photos and videos will be posted as they become available:
Lurita Doan, Administrator of the U.S. General Services Administration (GSA), discussed GSA’s efforts at our land ports that have resulted in a building boom underway along the northern and southern borders of the United States, building more inspection booths, lanes, bridges and other infrastructure to speed the secure flow of legitimate trade and travel. For the first time in over a decade, GSA is simultaneously constructing four new Ports of Entry at Jackman, Maine; Calais, Maine; San Luis, Arizona; and Donna, Texas. The Administrator was adamant about cooperation and encouraged border communities to get involved and share their input with GSA and Congress.
“Years of inattention coupled with explosive growth in North American trade have turned many of our nation’s ports of entry into parking lots where legitimate trade and travel is bogged down in mile-long delays that can extend for hours,” Doan said. “We can do better and we must do better, so GSA is taking the lead in this effort. We are committed to building what we can, where we can, as fast as we can.”
Following her keynote address, BTA awarded Administrator Doan the prestigious, tri-national, “Friend of the Americas Award” for her support of and commitment to border trade, economic development and improved efficiencies at our nation’s land border ports of entry. View the press release about the FOA award…
U.S. Commerce Secretary Carlos M. Gutierrez discussed coordinating strategies to enhance North American competitiveness and meet new 21st Century challenges. He outlined the work his department is doing to address challenges facing North American business and the need to continue to push to decrease border wait-times and encourage secure and efficient trade throughout the NAFTA nations. A video of the presentation will be available shorty, please check back soon.
Senator Hutchison (R-TX) addressed the current challenges that plague secure and efficient cross-border trade throughout the Southern Border Region of the US. Recognizing the important need to confirm the impact of wait-times on trade and commerce, Senator Kay Bailey Hutchison (R-TX) and Congressman Ciro D. Rodriguez have introduced and pressed for the passage of legislation (S.2425 and H.R. 4309) that requires the study of the economic impact of the growing wait-times experienced at land border crossings in the United States, as the lack of comprehensive statistics regarding the scope and impact of wait-times at our land ports has made it difficult for policy-makers in Washington to determine the appropriate federal response. The BTA strongly supports these measures and is pressing Congress for their swift passage.
Senator Cornyn (R-TX) addressed the need to bring awareness of the border to the Nation at large and presented the Emergency Port of Entry Personnel and Infrastructure Funding Act. The bill, introduced in Congress last Dec. 13, would deal with long waits at the U.S. ports of entry on the Southern border adding more pedestrian and vehicle inspection lanes, increase U.S. Customs and Border Protection officers and provide them with recruitment and retention incentives. Additionally, he addressed the current rhetoric and developing policy positions against NAFTA. Read the article in the El Paso Times…
Opening the conference, the BTA Congressional staff briefing on the issue of Wait-times afforded the opportunity for Presidential Community and Corporate level members to address congress face-to-face on prescient border issues, opening a dialog with congressional offices to affect change in border policies and perspectives. BTA President Maria Luisa O’Connell, closed the briefing with an in depth policy analysis of the many contributing factors affecting cross-border wait-times, reiterating the impacts of border congestion on the aggregate economies the US and North America at large.
Despite the recent political rhetoric against it, the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) continues to be a resounding economic success and is largely driving growing U.S. exports, which remain a bright spot in an otherwise troubled economy.
Consider the following statistics regarding cross-border trade in North America:
- In 1992 prior to NAFTA, according the U.S. Census Bureau,U.S. exports to Mexico totaled just over $40 billion. Last year, U.S. exported more than $136 billion in goods to Mexico. Similarly, growth in U.S. exports to Canada has more than doubled since NAFTA was ratified.
- According to the U.S. Department of Commerce – International Trade Administration, each day the NAFTA partners conduct nearly $2.4 billion in trilateral goods trade.
- According to US DOT, total goods trade between the United States and its NAFTA partners grew from $293 billion in 1993 to $797 billion in 2007, an increase of 172%. Total services trade between the United States and our NAFTA partners grew from $44 billion in 1993 to $99 billion in 2006, an increase of 125%. Read More →
In our new podcast series, President of the Border Trade Alliance, Maria Luisa O’Connell, interviews The Honorable Richard Cortez, Mayor, City of McAllen, TX. In this exclusive interview Mayor Cortez provides a powerful perspective on the economic impacts facing the border region and our nation at large if progress is not made to resolve issues such as: DHS compromise on the border fence, immigration reform, and the need for better infrastructure at our nations Ports of Entries (POEs).
This month marks the 5th anniversary of the creation of the Department of Homeland Security. A Washington Post article reflects on the past success and current challenges facing DHS as it looks forward toward the next five years. One current challenge facing DHS is the completion of nearly 670 miles of border fence by the end of 2008. A second Washington Post article reports mixed results with the more than 300 miles of fence constructed along the Southwest border to-date.
Having led the Bush Administration’s unsuccessful efforts last year to prompt Congressional passage of comprehensive immigration reform, DHS Secretary Michael Chertoff, along with U.S. Attorney General Michael B. Mukaskey, have now announced inter-departmental efforts to crack-down on illegal immigration. Similarly, U.S. Senate Republicans have brought forth a package of immigration enforcement measures.
Meanwhile, the Arizona Republic reports on the growing fiscal strain in U.S.-Mexico border counties as a result of local law enforcement and legal action against illegal immigrants. On the northern border, DHS intends to rely on technological solutions to border security the Federal Computing Weekly reports.
The Border Trade Alliance continues to monitor DHS’ progress as it prepares to transition to a new administration in the coming months.
Recently the BTA expressed our support for the announced compromise by the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and Hidalgo County, Texas to simultaneously upgrade the existing levee along the Rio Grande for both flood control and border security purposes. We are hopeful that DHS’s willingness to support this innovative alternative to the construction of a multi-layered, border fence, brought forward by Hidalgo County officials, is a sign that the concerns of other communities and landowners, some of whom literally find themselves on the other side of the fence issue, can be addressed outside the courtroom.
