REMARKS FOR
THE HONORABLE MARY PETERS
SECRETARY OF TRANSPORTATION
NORTH AMERICAN TRANSPORTATION TRILATERAL
OPENING STATEMENT
TUCSON, AZ
APRIL 27, 2007
8:45 AM
Good morning. On behalf of President Bush, it is a great honor for me to welcome
our guests to the United States, and truly a special pleasure to host my friends
and colleagues, Secretary Luis Téllez and Minister Lawrence Cannon, here in my
home state of Arizona.
We are here to examine our combined transportation network in light of the
surging NAFTA trade volumes and global competition that we must increasingly
confront as a region. I hope our discussions can set the framework for building
more coordinated and compatible national transportation systems to support
freedom and prosperity across our region.
This is an historic meeting – the first time North America’s transportation
ministers have ever come together for trilateral talks. Many will find that fact
surprising for three such close neighbors, especially when the transportation
systems we are responsible for are so critical to the expanded freedom and
opportunity open trade is bringing to the North American continent.
Here in Tucson, and across Arizona, growing NAFTA trade has helped create almost
half a million new jobs since December 2001. According to numbers released today
by our Bureau of Transportation Statistics, in February alone, our network of
pipelines, rails, and roads carried nearly $1 billion worth of freight across
the border between Arizona and Mexico. Last year, Arizona sent $5.4 billion in
goods to Mexico, making it the state’s top export market, with Canada running
second with $1.8 billion in exports from Arizona crossing our northern border
during that same time.
All told, North America’s transportation network carries a staggering $1.7
million in trade every minute among our three nations.
With globalization intensifying the pressures on all of our economies, it has
never been more important to connect these networks, coordinate our policies,
and remove the barriers that keep large and growing volumes of goods and
travelers from moving efficiently across our common borders.
In the United States, we see the opportunities in aviation as especially
promising.
I am pleased that our discussions are already moving us beyond the 2005 air
services agreement between the United States and Mexico, and even the Open Skies
accord Minister Cannon and I signed last month, which lifts restrictions on
passenger flights between the U.S. and Canada.
There is growing momentum behind Open Skies, especially with the agreement my
country recently reached with the European Union. Here, on our own continent, we
have an opportunity to set the standard for free and open trans-border air
travel.
The number of flights among our three countries increased by 30 percent over the
last five years, and passenger traffic grew 33 percent between 2002 and 2006.
If we remove restrictions, these numbers are sure to soar even higher. Since the
2005 agreement, we have had to turn down 12 of 19 proposals from airlines
wanting to offer new passenger and freight service between the U.S. and Mexico
because our current agreement still limits service.
I am hopeful we will leave Tucson with a shared vision for true Open Skies over
North America, clearing the way for better connections and more flexible and
efficient air transportation across our continent and beyond. I look forward to
the day when it is as easy for an airline to start new service between Tucson
and Montreal or Monterrey as it is between Tucson and Austin.
We have similar opportunities today to set the framework so ports up and down
the West Coast of North America have the flexibility to handle the growing
volumes of trade with Asia. Indeed, we need a strategy to ensure the
compatibility, safety, and efficiency of transportation systems not only in our
individual countries, but throughout North America.
I thank my colleagues for accepting the invitation to discuss a framework for
making our combined transportation network the safest and most efficient in the
world. By furthering our progress in opening transportation markets and
expanding freedom across our common borders, we can ensure the competitiveness
of our North American neighborhood in the 21st century.
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Briefing
Room