Dear Member of Congress,

On the occasion of the 4^th Leaders Summit of the Security
and Prosperity Partnership (SPP), to be held in New Orleans on April
21-22, we take this opportunity to call on all members of Congress to
educate themselves on the SPP, which was never brought to Congress for
debate or vote.  Our concerns include the opaque and undemocratic
nature of the SPP, its definition of "prosperity" as the expansion of a
failed trade model, and its definition of "security" as the expansion
of military force and the restricting of civil liberties.    

Congress has been entrusted with oversight on such issues of trade
and security.  It is imperative that they exercise their responsibility
on this matter by examining what prosperity and security really mean. 
Rather than proceeding along the failed path of NAFTA, all efforts
should be made to implement a trade agenda that focuses on the needs of
communities and people.  That agenda should include the voices of those
populations most affected, as well as their advocates in civil
society. 

Therefore, as civil society advocates, we call upon the U.S. Congress to:

• Require the Bush administration to immediately halt SPP
  implementation and submit the process to Congressional oversight. 
• Hold congressional hearings in which the process and goals of the
  SPP are thoroughly aired and input is invited from a broad
  cross-section of the public. 
• Make subject to congressional vote the decision of whether SPP implementation should proceed. 

The SPP is an executive-level, tri-national pact between Mexico, the
United States and Canada, agreed to in 2005 by the chief executives of
the three countries.  According to the official website, the SPP seeks
to "provide the framework to ensure that North America is the safest
and best place to live and do business. It includes ambitious security
and prosperity programs to keep our borders closed to terrorism yet
open to trade."  What differentiates the SPP from other security and
trade agreements is that it is not subject to Congressional oversight
or approval.  The SPP establishes a corporate/government bureaucracy
for implementation that excludes civil society participation. 

As at past SPP summits the New Orleans meetings will be open only to
government officials and representatives of the corporate sector. 
Civil society will be kept on the other side of the fence, their voice
silenced.  The leaders will hear reports from the various SPP working
groups and receive advice and input from the North American
Competitiveness Council (NACC).  The NACC is made up of 30 large
corporations, 10 from each of the three countries.  Their interest is
in maximizing profit and removing all impediments to such profit by
lowering or removing "non-tariff barriers to trade."  In common
language this includes local and state regulations such as food safety
and environmental laws, labor rights and other measures designed to
protect and enhance quality of life.

The SPP aims to reach its goal of economic growth by facilitating
the flow of goods and capital, while ignoring the needs of people and
communities.  This translates to a further expansion of the neo-liberal
agenda manifested through free trade agreements such as NAFTA and
DR-CAFTA, except that approval from Congress is neither sought nor
required.  These trade agreements, while boosting investment and
exports, have failed the vast majority of citizens in participating
countries.  NAFTA's impacts have been well documented: the loss of over
a million decent US manufacturing jobs to exploitative Mexican
factories, the decimation of Mexico's small-scale agriculture and
subsequent rise in migration, the subordination of environmental law to
investment rules, and the annulling of consumer protections in the name
of corporate protections.  After 14 years of such devastating legacy,
the SPP now proposes to move even further in the same direction.

Meanwhile, the security side of the agreement seeks to "develop a
common security strategy" and to create a common security perimeter for
North America.  The recent agreement between the U.S. and Canadian
militaries (without Congressional approval) to allow cross-border,
domestic military action can be viewed as integral to the SPP.  In
addition, the announcement last fall of the Merida Initiative, a U.S.
program to provide $1.4 billion in training, intelligence and military
aircraft to Mexico has been linked to SPP by critics of the agreement. 
Though not officially a part of SPP, it is a manifestation of the "deep
integration" that is the core of the SPP strategy.  Through
implementation of the SPP, the U.S. is also exporting its War on Terror
to Canada and Mexico through agreements on the sharing of intelligence,
airline passenger lists, border surveillance programs and the further
militarization of the border between the U.S. and Mexico-leading to
erosion of civil liberties.

As New Orleans prepares to host the SPP summit, recent changes in
the city foretell the SPP's security objectives.  In a move that could
only be described as opportunistic the disaster resulting from Katrina
is being used to alter the character and demographic makeup of New
Orleans.  The city has been highly militarized, with both National
Guard and private military firms providing "security."  Documented
cases of abuse and violence directed at residents of the city by these
"security" providers show that the interest is not in protecting the
residents, but in "securing" the city for developers.  In this respect
New Orleans is the perfect backdrop for the SPP summit, put forth as a
model for the future of North America.

Facing a worrisome pact pushed forward in secrecy, it is time for
Congress to halt this undemocratic approach and establish a process
based on openness, accountability, and the participation of civil
society.  While civil society may be kept away from the SPP summit,
their voices will still be heard in New Orleans at the People's
Summit.  This gathering of residents, activists and other concerned
people will link the Gulf Coast struggle to the fight for the survival
of communities in Mexico, Canada and the rest of the United States.

Signed by the following members of U.S. civil society,  

Alliance for Democracy
Alliance for Responsible Trade (ART)
APEN (Asian Pacific Environmental Network)
ASOCOL (Association for the Sovereignty of Colombia)
Campaign for Labor Rights
Center of Concern
Chicago Religious Leadership Network on Latin America
CISPES (Committee in Solidarity with the People of El Salvador)
Coalition for Justice in the Maquiladoras
Democratic Socialists of America
Fellowship of Reconciliation Task Force on Latin American and the Caribbean
Global Exchange
Global Ministries of the Christian Church Disciples of Christ)
Grassroots Global Justice Alliance
Institute of Agriculture and Trade Policy
Institute for Policy Studies, Global Economy Project
Maryknoll Office for Global Concerns
National Family Farm Coalition (NFFC)
National Network for Immigrant & Refugee Rights (NNIRR)
New York CISPES (New York Committee in Solidarity with the People of El Salvador
NYC People's Referendum on Free Trade
Nicaragua Network
Portland Central America Solidarity Committee
Portland Jobs with Justice
Quixote Center
SHARE Foundation: Building a New El Salvador Today
United Church of Christ
Vermont Workers' Center
Witness for Peace