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94-782: Since August 2009, the SPP is no longer active. It has been largely superseded by the annual North American Leaders' Summit , an event that was established as part of the SPP. The SPP was neither a treaty nor a trade agreement. The initial SPP Working Groups were the Manufactured Goods and Sectoral and Regional Competitiveness Working Group, E-Commerce & ICT Working Group, Energy Working Group, Transportation Working Group, Food & Agriculture Working Group, Environment Working Group, Financial Services Working Group, Business Facilitation Working Group, Movement of Goods Working Group, and Health Working Group. The Transportation Working Group

188-775: A financial rescue plan to buy back a large portion of the U.S. mortgage market. Vince Reinhardt, a former Federal Reserve economist now at the American Enterprise Institute , said "it would have helped for the Bush administration to empower the folks at Treasury and the Federal Reserve and the comptroller of the currency and the FDIC to look at these issues more closely", and additionally, that it would have helped "for Congress to have held hearings". Bush undertook many educational agendas, such as increasing

282-552: A Bachelor of Arts degree in history. During this time, he was a cheerleader and a member of the Delta Kappa Epsilon , serving as the president of the fraternity during his senior year. Bush became a member of the Skull and Bones society as a senior. Bush was a rugby union player and was on Yale's 1st XV. He characterized himself as an average student. His grade point average during his first three years at Yale

376-670: A Council of the Americas report , the purpose of institutionalizing the North American business community's involvement in the SPP process was, "so that the work will continue through changes in administrations." The NACC will make sure that, "governments look to the private sector to tell them what needs to be done." According to a Canadian press release, the NACC "has a mandate to provide governments with recommendations on broad issues such as border facilitation and regulation, as well as

470-529: A brief suspension of his Maine driver's license. Bush said that his wife has had a stabilizing effect on his life, and he attributes his decision to give up alcohol in 1986, to her influence. While governor of Texas, Bush said of his wife, "I saw an elegant, beautiful woman who turned out not only to be elegant and beautiful, but very smart and willing to put up with my rough edges, and I must confess has smoothed them off over time." Bush also says that his faith in God

564-622: A budget surplus to push through Texas's largest tax cut , $ 2   billion. He extended government funding for organizations providing education on the dangers of alcohol and drug use and abuse , and helping to reduce domestic violence . His administration lowered the age at which juveniles can be sent to adult court for serious crimes to 14. Bush presided over 152 executions, more than any previous governor in modern American history; critics such as Helen Prejean argue that he failed to give serious consideration to clemency requests. Critics also contended that during his tenure, Texas ranked near

658-545: A campaign advisor. The previous month, his father had asked him to tell White House chief of staff John H. Sununu to resign. Bush declared his candidacy for the 1994 Texas gubernatorial election at the same time his brother Jeb sought the governorship in Florida . His campaign focused on four themes: welfare reform, tort reform , crime reduction, and education improvement. Bush's campaign advisers were Karen Hughes , Joe Allbaugh , and Karl Rove . After easily winning

752-522: A group of investors to purchase a controlling interest of Major League Baseball's Texas Rangers for $ 89   million and invested $ 500,000 himself to start. He then was managing general partner for five years. He actively led the team's projects and regularly attended its games, often choosing to sit in the open stands with fans. Bush's sale of his shares in the Rangers in 1998 brought him over $ 15   million from his initial $ 800,000 investment. In

846-682: A major tax-cut program and an education-reform bill, the No Child Left Behind Act . He pushed for socially conservative efforts such as the Partial-Birth Abortion Ban Act and faith-based initiatives . He also initiated the President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief , in 2003, to address the AIDS epidemic . The terrorist attacks on September 11, 2001 decisively reshaped his administration, resulting in

940-474: A new security and prosperity initiative with plans to "pursue a perimeter approach to security in ways that support economic competitiveness, job creation, and prosperity". On March 13, 2011, the Canadian government announced it was beginning a five-week consultation process "with all levels of government and with communities, non-governmental organizations and the private sector, as well as with our citizens on

1034-540: A period of economic recession in the wake of the bursting of the dot-com bubble . The September 11 terrorist attacks also impacted the economy . His administration increased federal government spending from $ 1.789   trillion to $ 2.983   trillion (66 percent), while revenues increased from $ 2.025   trillion to $ 2.524   trillion (from 2000 to 2008). Individual income tax revenues increased by 14 percent, corporate tax revenues by 50 percent, and customs and duties by 40 percent. Discretionary defense spending

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1128-499: A record 68 percent of the vote. He became the first governor in Texas history to be elected to two consecutive four-year terms. During his second term, Bush promoted faith-based organizations and enjoyed high approval ratings , which ranged between 62 and 81 percent. He proclaimed June 10, 2000, to be Jesus Day in Texas, a day on which he urged all Texans to "answer the call to serve those in need". Throughout Bush's first term, he

1222-504: A scheduled physical exam. He was honorably discharged from the Air Force Reserve on November 21, 1974. Bush remains the most recent president to have served in the military. In 1977, Bush established Arbusto Energy , a small oil exploration company, which began operations in 1978. He later changed the name to Bush Exploration. In 1984, his company merged with the larger Spectrum 7 , and Bush became chairman. The company

1316-561: A stable driver of the integration process through changes in government in all three countries. The NACC became inactive in 2009. While the North American Competitiveness Council was officially born on March 31, 2006, at the second annual summit of the Security and Prosperity Partnership of North America, its seeds were planted three months earlier. On January 10 and 11, 2006, United Parcel Service ,

1410-577: A staunch liberal who would raise taxes and increase the size of government. The Bush campaign continuously criticized Kerry's seemingly contradictory statements on the war in Iraq, and argued that Kerry lacked the decisiveness and vision necessary for success in the War on Terror. Following the resignation of CIA director George Tenet in 2004, Bush nominated Porter Goss to head the agency. The White House ordered Goss to purge agency officers who were disloyal to

1504-438: A tactic's making it into the public record – when a regional chairman of the Bush campaign allowed himself, perhaps inadvertently, to be quoted criticizing Richards for 'appointing avowed homosexual activists ' to state jobs". The Atlantic , and others, connected the lesbian rumor to Karl Rove, but Rove denied being involved. Bush won the general election with 53.5 percent of the vote against Richards' 45.9 percent. Bush used

1598-561: A third count, and stopped an ordered statewide hand recount based on the argument that the use of different standards among Florida's counties violated the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment . The machine recount showed that Bush had won the Florida vote by a margin of 537 votes out of six million casts. Although he had received 543,895 fewer individual nationwide votes than Gore, Bush won

1692-417: 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. In August 2009, the SPP website was updated to say: "The Security and Prosperity Partnership of North America (SPP) is no longer an active initiative. There will not be any updates to this site". Subsequent to this

1786-506: Is not the government's money. The surplus is the people's money." Federal Reserve chairman Alan Greenspan warned of a recession and Bush stated that a tax cut would stimulate the economy and create jobs. Treasury Secretary Paul H. O'Neill , opposed some of the tax cuts on the basis that they would contribute to budget deficits and undermine Social Security . O'Neill disputes the claim, made in Bush's book Decision Points , that he never openly disagreed with him on planned tax cuts. By 2003,

1880-463: The National Post reported on a Conservative party manual to, among other things, usurp Parliamentary committees and cause chaos in unfavourable committees. The New Democratic Party (NDP) also criticized SPP for being undemocratic, not open to Parliament, and opaque. NDP leader Jack Layton described the process as not simply unconstitutional, but "non-constitutional", held completely outside

1974-873: The Council of the Americas and the North American Business Committee convened a "public/private sector dialogue on the SPP" in Louisville, Kentucky , United States. The meeting was attended by 50 government officials and business leaders from Canada, the U.S. and Mexico, including officials from the Canadian Privy Council Office, the Mexican Presidency, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security and corporate reps from ExxonMobil , DaimlerChrysler , Ford , Tyco , and FedEx . According to an account of

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2068-734: The English language popular press and Cumbre de Los Tres Amigos in Spanish , is the trilateral summit between the prime minister of Canada , the president of Mexico , and the president of the United States . The summits were initially held as part of the Security and Prosperity Partnership of North America (SPP), a continent-level dialogue between the three countries established in 2005, and continued after SPP became inactive in 2009. The most recent North American Leaders' Summit

2162-632: The Medicare Modernization Act , which created Medicare Part D . In 2004, Bush was re-elected president in a close race, beating Democratic opponent John Kerry and winning the popular vote. During his second term, Bush made free trade agreements . He appointed John Roberts and Samuel Alito to the Supreme Court. He sought major changes to Social Security and immigration laws, but both efforts failed in Congress. Bush

2256-578: The September 11 attacks . Wars were begun in Afghanistan and Iraq, and there were significant domestic debates regarding immigration, healthcare, Social Security, economic policy, and treatment of terrorist detainees. Over an eight-year period, Bush's once-high approval ratings steadily declined, while his disapproval numbers increased significantly. In 2007, the United States entered the longest post- World War II recession. Bush took office during

2350-465: The South Carolina primary , which according to The Boston Globe made history for his campaign's negativity. The New York Times described it as a smear campaign . On July 25, 2000, Bush surprised some observers when he selected Dick Cheney  – a former White House chief of staff , U.S. representative, and secretary of defense – to be his running mate. At

2444-428: The national debt had risen to $ 11.3   trillion, more than doubling it since 2000. Most debt was accumulated as a result of what became known as the " Bush tax cuts " and increased national security spending. In March 2006, then-Senator Barack Obama said when he voted against raising the debt ceiling : "The fact that we are here today to debate raising America's debt limit is a sign of leadership failure." By

2538-600: The 41st president, George H. W. Bush , he flew warplanes in the Texas Air National Guard in his twenties. After graduating from Harvard Business School in 1975, he worked in the oil industry. He later co-owned the Texas Rangers , of Major League Baseball , before being elected governor of Texas in 1994 . As governor , Bush successfully sponsored legislation for tort reform, increased education funding, set higher standards for schools, and reformed

2632-553: The Americas report. "Leadership from governments that recognizes the importance of business issues to the overall social welfare empowers the private sector to engage substantively and pragmatically on trade and security issues without undue deference to political sensibilities." On March 15, 2006, North American business leaders met in Washington, D.C., with U.S. Secretary of Commerce Carlos Gutierrez , Canadian Deputy Minister of Industry Suzanne Hurtubise and Dr. Alberto Ortega from

2726-594: The Chateau Montebello hotel in Quebec, Canada. It was the only non-governmental organization with full access to the meeting, the third Security and Prosperity Partnership Leaders Summit since March 2005. The group of CEOs released another report praising the Canadian, Mexican and U.S. governments for moving quickly on NACC recommendations for a North American Regulatory Cooperation Framework and Intellectual Property Action Plan . The NACC report explained that

2820-496: The Democrats onto a war funding bill and passed by Congress. The SCHIP legislation would have significantly expanded federally funded healthcare benefits and plans to children of some low-income families. It was to be funded by an increase in the cigarette tax. Bush viewed the legislation as a move toward socialized health care , and asserted that the program could benefit families making as much as $ 83,000 per year who did not need

2914-566: The Department of Defense released all the records of Bush's Texas Air National Guard service, which remain in its official archives. In late 1972 and early 1973, he drilled with the 187th Fighter Wing of the Alabama Air National Guard . He had moved to Montgomery, Alabama , to work on the unsuccessful U.S. Senate campaign of Republican Winton M. Blount . In 1972, Bush was suspended from flying for failure to take

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3008-593: The Homeland Security Council in May 2006. After being re-elected, Bush signed into law a Medicare drug benefit program that, according to Jan Crawford , resulted in "the greatest expansion in America's welfare state in forty years" – the bill's costs approached $ 7   trillion. In 2007, Bush opposed and vetoed State Children's Health Insurance Program (SCHIP) legislation, which was added by

3102-656: The Mexican Presidency. According to a backgrounder from the Council of the Americas, the government officials were interested in "the views of the North American business community on priorities for the SPP, as well as recommendations from business leaders on how the SPP can help their companies be more competitive in the global market, how SPP can reduce the cost of doing business, and any specific recommendations to cut red tape or eliminate unnecessary barriers to trade in North America." Business leaders were also asked about

3196-529: The NACC as a "cherry-picked group of executives who were whisked to Cancún in March by the leaders of Canada, the U.S. and Mexico, and asked to come up with a plan for taking North American integration beyond NAFTA." She quoted Annette Verschuren , president of Home Depot Canada, who called the Cancún meeting "an intimate discussion" and "a lot of fun [because] there were no reporters, just a freewheeling discussion on

3290-581: The NACC as a whole eventually agreed on three overall priorities: border crossing facilitation (to be handled by the Canadian NACC members), regulatory convergence (to be handled by the U.S. NACC) and energy integration, which the Mexican NACC members would handle. The North American Competitiveness Council met with SPP ministers for the first time on February 23, 2007, in Ottawa . At that meeting,

3384-506: 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", said Judicial Watch in a press release , the group, "seeks to attend and/or participate in meetings of the NACC and its U.S. component subcommittees." The NACC met again with SPP ministers and NAFTA leaders on August 21, 2007, at

3478-763: The Republican Party and did not encounter a primary challenge. He appointed Ken Mehlman as campaign manager, and Karl Rove devised a political strategy. Bush and the Republican platform emphasized a strong commitment to the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, support for the USA PATRIOT Act , a renewed shift in policy for constitutional amendments banning abortion and same-sex marriage , reforming Social Security to create private investment accounts, creation of an ownership society , and opposing mandatory carbon emissions controls. Bush also called for

3572-415: The Republican primary, Bush faced popular Democratic incumbent Governor Ann Richards . In the course of the campaign, Bush pledged to sign a bill allowing Texans to obtain permits to carry concealed weapons . Richards had vetoed the bill, but Bush signed it into law after he became governor. According to The Atlantic , the race "featured a rumor that she was a lesbian, along with a rare instance of such

3666-465: The SPP in Cancún, Quintana Roo , Mexico, in March 2006. The SPP is an agreement between the leaders of the United States, Canada and Mexico to work towards a more integrated North American economy and security region. Composed of 30 corporate representatives from some of North America's largest companies, the North American Competitiveness Council has been mandated to set priorities for the SPP and to act as

3760-506: The SPP process and helped set the agenda for the North American Competitiveness Council (NACC). They decided that the council would be composed of 30 CEOs, ten from each country, who would meet annually with senior government officials to advise them on corporate priorities for the SPP. The NACC was officially launched on June 15, 2006, at a joint press conference held by Carlos Gutierrez, Mexican Economy Minister Sergio García de Alba and Canadian Industry Minister Maxime Bernier . According to

3854-482: The SPP was part of a plan to merge the United States, Canada, and Mexico into a North American Union similar to the European Union . At the time, Dobbs claimed that U.S. President Bush, who left office on January 20, 2009, was to have bypassed Congress and ultimately create a union based on a Texas highway corridor . The Council of Canadians claimed that the SPP extended the controversial " no fly list " of

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3948-454: The SPP were cooperation and information sharing, improving productivity, reducing the costs of trade, enhancing the joint stewardship of the environment, facilitating agricultural trade while creating a safer and more reliable food supply, and protecting people from disease. On 26 February 2008, Canada's Minister of Finance Jim Flaherty , announced his government's 2008 budget , which included "$ 29 million over two years to meet priorities under

4042-487: The Security and Prosperity Partnership of North America". As part of SPP, an annual trilateral summit was held between the leaders of the three countries. Following the cancellation of the SPP in 2009, meetings continued as the North American Leaders' Summit. The North American Competitiveness Council ( NACC ) was an official tri-national working group of the SPP. It was created at the second summit of

4136-584: The United States in 34 years. The Bureau of Labor Statistics reported that in the last four months of 2008, 1.9 million jobs were lost. By the end of 2008, the U.S. had lost 2.6 million jobs. To aid with the situation, Bush signed a $ 170   billion economic stimulus package which was intended to improve the economic situation by sending tax rebate checks to many Americans and providing tax breaks for struggling businesses. The Bush administration pushed for significantly increased regulation of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac in 2003, and after two years,

4230-652: The United States, made Canadian water a communal resource, and forced Canada and Mexico to adopt the United States' security policies—one of which would allow foreign military forces to neglect sovereignty in the case of a "civil emergency". It also touched on the issue of Albertan tar sands expansion to five times its current size. On May 10, 2007, Conservative MP Leon Benoit , chair of the Canadian House of Commons Standing Committee on International Trade , prevented University of Alberta professor Gordon Laxer from testifying that SPP would leave Canadians "to freeze in

4324-583: The White House, increasing the size of the military, cutting taxes, improving education, and aiding minorities. By early 2000, the race had centered on Bush and Arizona Senator John McCain . Bush won the Iowa caucuses and, although heavily favored to win the New Hampshire primary , trailed McCain by 19 percent and lost. Despite this, he regained momentum and effectively became the front runner after

4418-537: The administration. After Goss' appointment, many of the CIA's senior agents were fired or quit. The CIA has been accused of deliberately leaking classified information to undermine the 2004 election. In the election, Bush carried 31 of 50 states, receiving 286 electoral votes. He won an absolute majority of the popular vote (50.7 percent to Kerry's 48.3 percent). Bush had originally outlined an ambitious domestic agenda, but his priorities were significantly altered following

4512-582: The benefit of these large corporations and for the purported benefit of mutual security. Until the February 23, 2007, NACC/SPP meeting in Ottawa, there had been very little media coverage of the North American Competitiveness Council, its mandate or its meetings. In fact, the only mainstream North American source to write about the NACC has been Canada's Maclean's magazine, which ran a story on September 13 by Luiza Savage called "Meet NAFTA 2.0." Savage described

4606-422: The bottom in environmental evaluations. Supporters pointed to his efforts to raise the salaries of teachers and improve educational test scores. In 1999, Bush signed a law that required electric retailers to buy a certain amount of energy from renewable sources (RPS), which helped Texas eventually become the leading producer of wind powered electricity in the U.S. In 1998 , Bush won re-election with

4700-419: The business council released a preliminary report containing over 50 recommendations for continental integration, including a North American resource pact and intensified regulatory convergence between all three countries. On July 26, 2007, the conservative, non-partisan U.S. government watchdog Judicial Watch notified Commerce Secretary Carlos Gutierrez that it was seeking access to the meetings and records of

4794-484: The collapse of Lehman Brothers and a federal bailout of American International Group for $ 85   billion. Many economists and world governments determined that the situation had become the worst financial crisis since the Great Depression . Additional regulation over the housing market would have been beneficial, according to former Federal Reserve chairman Alan Greenspan . Bush, meanwhile, proposed

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4888-588: The competitiveness of key sectors including automotive, transportation, manufacturing and services." The NACC met again in Washington, D.C., on August 15, 2006. The meeting was chaired by Ron Covais, President of the Americas for Lockheed Martin , and was co-hosted by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and the Council of the Americas – both U.S. NACC co-secretariats. The U.S. business leaders outlined their key priorities as "standards and regulatory cooperation, border security and infrastructure, supply chain management, energy integration, innovation, and external dimensions", but

4982-539: The country's financial system, including the Troubled Asset Relief Program . After his second term, Bush returned to Texas, where he has maintained a low public profile. At various points in his presidency, he was among both the most popular and the most unpopular presidents in U.S. history. He received the highest recorded approval ratings in the wake of the September 11 attacks, and one of

5076-418: The criminal justice system. He also helped make Texas the leading producer of wind-generated electricity in the United States. In the 2000 presidential election , he won over Democratic incumbent Vice President Al Gore , while losing the popular vote after a narrow and contested Electoral College win, which involved a Supreme Court decision to stop a recount in Florida . In his first term, Bush signed

5170-475: The dark" because "Canada itself—unlike most industrialized nations—has no national plan or reserves to protect its own supplies" by saying Laxer's testimony was irrelevant, defying a majority vote to overrule his motion, shutting down the committee meeting, and leaving with the other three out of four Conservative members; the meeting later continued, presided over by the Liberal vice-chair. After these disruptions,

5264-615: The death of Mexican Interior Minister Francisco Blake Mora , and in 2015, Prime Minister of Canada Stephen Harper cancelled the Three Amigos summit as a political statement to protest U.S. President Barack Obama 's push against the Keystone XL oil pipeline. During the First Trump administration from 2017 to 2021, no official summits were held. The leaders of the three countries continued to meet at other events, such as

5358-565: The early or mid 1990s, before his gubernatorial campaign, Bush briefly considered a candidacy to become the Commissioner of Baseball . In 1978 , Bush ran for the U.S. House of Representatives from Texas's 19th congressional district . The retiring member, George H. Mahon , had held the district for the Democratic Party since 1935. Bush's opponent, Kent Hance , portrayed him as out of touch with rural Texans, and Bush lost

5452-554: The economy showed signs of improvement, though job growth remained stagnant. Another tax cut was passed that year. Between 2001 and 2008, GDP grew at an average annual rate of 2.125 percent, less than for past business cycles. Bush entered office with the Dow Jones Industrial Average at 10,587, and the average peaked in October 2007 at over 14,000. When Bush left office, the average was at 7,949, one of

5546-482: The election returns were tallied on November 7, Bush had won 29 states, including Florida. The closeness of the Florida outcome led to a recount . The initial recount also went to Bush, but the outcome was tied up in lower courts for a month until eventually reaching the U.S. Supreme Court . On December 9, in the controversial Bush v. Gore ruling, the Court reversed a Florida Supreme Court decision that had ordered

5640-521: The election, receiving 271 electoral votes to Gore's 266 (Gore had actually been awarded 267 votes by the states pledged to him plus the District of Columbia, but one D.C. elector abstained). Bush was the first person to win a U.S. presidential election with fewer popular votes than another candidate since Benjamin Harrison in 1888. In his 2004 bid for re-election, Bush commanded broad support in

5734-436: The election, receiving 46.8 percent of the vote to Hance's 53.2 percent. Bush and his family moved to Washington, D.C., in 1988 to work on his father's campaign for the U.S. presidency . He was a campaign advisor and liaison to the media, and assisted his father by campaigning across the country. In December 1991, Bush was one of seven people named by his father to run his father's 1992 presidential re-election campaign as

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5828-476: The end of Bush's presidency, unemployment climbed to 7.2 percent. In December 2007, the United States entered the longest post– World War II recession, caused by a housing market correction , a subprime mortgage crisis , soaring oil prices , and other factors. In February 2008, 63,000 jobs were lost, a five-year record, and in November, over 500,000 jobs were lost, which marked the largest loss of jobs in

5922-432: The fact that students in the U.S. have performed significantly better on state reading and math tests since Bush signed "No Child Left Behind" into law. Critics argue that it is underfunded and that NCLBA's focus on "high-stakes testing" and quantitative outcomes is counterproductive. On November 1, 2005, Bush launched a National Strategy for Pandemic Influenza , which culminated in an implementation plan published by

6016-537: The family moved to Houston after he had completed seventh grade. He then spent two years at The Kinkaid School , a college-preparatory school in Piney Point Village, Texas . Bush later attended Phillips Academy , a boarding school in Andover, Massachusetts , where he played baseball and was the head cheerleader during his senior year. He attended Yale University from 1964 to 1968, graduating with

6110-583: The funding for the National Science Foundation and National Institutes of Health in his first years of office and creating education programs to strengthen the grounding in science and mathematics for American high school students. Funding for the NIH was cut in 2006, the first such cut in 36 years, due to rising inflation. One of the administration's early major initiatives was the No Child Left Behind Act , which aimed to measure and close

6204-418: The gap between rich and poor student performance, provide options to parents with students in low-performing schools, and target more federal funding to low-income schools. This landmark education initiative passed with broad bipartisan support, including that of Senator Ted Kennedy of Massachusetts. It was signed into law by Bush in early 2002. Many contend that the initiative has been successful, as cited by

6298-539: The group is prepared, "to move beyond our initial report" and would be "pleased to engage on other strategic issues affecting the competitiveness and security of the North American economies." The SPP has scheduled a meeting in New Orleans on April 21–22, 2008, where the three government leaders will meet with corporate leaders from each of the three nations to discuss "harmonization" of policies, in order to integrate environmental, energy, labor, and other standards for

6392-472: The implementation of a guest worker program for immigrants, which was criticized by conservatives. The Bush campaign advertised across the U.S. against Democratic candidates, including Bush's emerging opponent, Massachusetts Senator John Kerry . Kerry and other Democrats attacked Bush on the Iraq War , and accused him of failing to stimulate the economy and job growth. The Bush campaign portrayed Kerry as

6486-534: The implementation of the shared vision for perimeter security and economic competitiveness". Related infrastructure projects: North American Leaders%27 Summit [REDACTED] Prime Minister Justin Trudeau [REDACTED] President Claudia Sheinbaum [REDACTED] President Joe Biden The North American Leaders' Summit ( NALS ), called the Three Amigos Summit in

6580-824: The lowest levels of his presidency. Only four other U.S. presidents have left office with the stock market lower than when they began. Unemployment originally rose from 4.2 percent in January 2001 to 6.3 percent in June 2003, but subsequently dropped to 4.5 percent in July 2007. Adjusted for inflation, median household income dropped by $ 1,175 between 2000 and 2007, while Professor Ken Homa of Georgetown University noted that "Median real after-tax household income went up two percent". The poverty rate increased from 11.3 percent in 2000 to 12.3 percent in 2006 after peaking at 12.7 percent in 2004. By October 2008, due to increases in spending,

6674-441: The lowest ratings during the 2007–2008 financial crisis . Bush initially left office as one of the most unpopular U.S. presidents, but public opinion of him has improved since then. Scholars and historians rank Bush in the lower half of presidents. George Walker Bush was born on July 6, 1946, at Grace-New Haven Hospital in New Haven, Connecticut . He was the first child of George Herbert Walker Bush and Barbara Pierce . He

6768-411: The meeting from the Council of the Americas, attendees discussed "marrying policy issues with business priorities", and that "one critical factor in the success of the SPP will be the active engagement of the North American business community." Private sector supporters of the SPP "need to build a genuine constituency for North American integration if it is to move forward successfully", says the Council of

6862-458: The possible creation and institutionalization of a North American Competitiveness Council. There was unanimous support. Just over two weeks later, U.S. President George W. Bush , Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper and former Mexican President Vicente Fox met in Cancún for the second annual summit of the Security and Prosperity Partnership. The leaders were each accompanied by five private sector representatives who pledged their commitment to

6956-576: The regulations passed the House but died in the Senate. Many Republican senators, as well as influential members of the Bush Administration, feared that the agency created by these regulations would merely be mimicking the private sector's risky practices. In September 2008, the crisis became much more serious beginning with the government takeover of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac followed by

7050-527: The risen Lord", how he began to read the Bible daily, "surrendering" to the "Almighty", that "faith is a walk" and that he was "moved by God 's love". Before his marriage, Bush repeatedly abused alcohol . On September 4, 1976, he was pulled over near his family's summer home in Kennebunkport, Maine , for driving under the influence of alcohol . He was arrested for DUI , was fined $ 150, and received

7144-547: The signing of the United States–Mexico–Canada Agreement during the 2018 G20 Buenos Aires summit . George W. Bush George Walker Bush (born July 6, 1946) is an American politician and businessman who served as the 43rd president of the United States from 2001 to 2009. A member of the Bush family and Republican Party , he was the 46th governor of Texas from 1995 to 2000. The eldest son of

7238-729: The start of the war on terror and the creation of the Department of Homeland Security . Bush ordered the invasion of Afghanistan in an effort to overthrow the Taliban , destroy al-Qaeda , and capture Osama bin Laden . He signed the Patriot Act to authorize surveillance of suspected terrorists. He also ordered the 2003 invasion of Iraq to overthrow Saddam Hussein 's regime on the false belief that they possessed weapons of mass destruction and had ties with al-Qaeda . Bush later signed

7332-657: The things that drive you crazy." Ron Covais of Lockheed Martin told Savage that, "The guidance from the ministers was, 'tell us what we need to do and we'll make it happen,'" and that rather than going through the legislative process in any country, the Security and Prosperity Partnership must be implemented in incremental changes by executive agencies, bureaucrats and regulators. "We've decided not to recommend any things that would require legislative changes", Covais tells Savage, "because we won't get anywhere." U.S. Representatives : Canadian Representatives : Mexican Representatives : In 2006, CNN anchor Lou Dobbs argued that

7426-439: The time, Cheney was serving as head of Bush's vice presidential search committee. Soon after at the 2000 Republican National Convention , Bush and Cheney were officially nominated by the Republican Party. Bush continued to campaign across the country and touted his record as Governor of Texas. During his campaign, Bush criticized his Democratic opponent, incumbent Vice President Al Gore , over gun control and taxation. When

7520-474: The usual mechanisms of oversight. Approximately thirty U.S.-based organizations also sent an open letter to Congress on April 21, 2008, criticizing the secrecy and lack of any sort of democratic oversight: "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. ... Facing

7614-542: The website link does not connect and the cache website links do not work. The NDP called this a "victory" which is "the result of the active and sustained efforts across the country, and across North America, of Canadian, Mexican, and American activists from the labour movement, civil society, progressive legislators and all those concerned and committed to build a better quality of life in our Canada and throughout North America". On February 4, 2011, Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper and U.S. President Barack Obama announced

7708-523: Was $ 237   billion – the third consecutive surplus and the largest surplus ever. In 2001, Bush's budget estimated that there would be a $ 5.6   trillion surplus over the next ten years. Facing congressional opposition, Bush held town hall-style meetings across the U.S. to increase public support for his plan for a $ 1.35   trillion tax cut program , one of the largest tax cuts in U.S. history. Bush argued that unspent government funds should be returned to taxpayers, saying "the surplus

7802-421: Was 77, and he had a similar average under a nonnumerical rating system in his final year. In the fall of 1973, Bush entered Harvard Business School . He graduated in 1975 with an MBA degree, and is the only U.S. president to have earned an MBA. Bush was engaged to Cathryn Lee Wolfman in 1967, but the engagement did not last. Bush and Wolfman remained on good terms after the end of the relationship. While Bush

7896-503: Was a Texas oilman. Other activities include cigar smoking and golf. Bush has also painted many paintings. One of his best-known projects is a collection of 43 paintings of immigrants, titled Out of Many, One . Another painting project was Portraits of Courage: A Commander in Chief's Tribute to America's Warrior . In May 1968, Bush was commissioned into the Texas Air National Guard . After two years of training in active-duty service, he

7990-471: Was assigned to Houston , flying Convair F-102s with the 147th Reconnaissance Wing out of Ellington Field Joint Reserve Base . Critics, including former Democratic National Committee Chairman Terry McAuliffe , have alleged that Bush was favorably treated due to his father's political standing as a member of the House of Representatives , citing his selection as a pilot despite his low pilot aptitude test scores and his irregular attendance. In June 2005,

8084-644: Was at a backyard barbecue in 1977, friends introduced him to Laura Welch , a schoolteacher and librarian. After a three-month courtship, she accepted his marriage proposal and they wed on November   5 of that year. The couple settled in Midland, Texas . Bush left his family's Episcopal Church to join his wife's United Methodist Church . On November 25, 1981, Laura Bush gave birth to fraternal twin daughters, Barbara and Jenna . Bush describes being challenged by Billy Graham to consider faith in Jesus "Christ as

8178-601: Was critical in abstaining. "I believe that God helped open my eyes, which were closing because of booze". Bush has been an avid reader throughout his adult life, preferring biographies and histories. During his presidency, Bush read the Bible daily, though at the end of his second term he said on television that he is "not a literalist" about Bible interpretation. Walt Harrington , a journalist, recalled seeing "books by John Fowles , F. Scott Fitzgerald , James Joyce , and Gore Vidal lying about, as well as biographies of Willa Cather and Queen Victoria " in his home when Bush

8272-554: Was formed to analyze border trade and traffic flows. The U.S. Health and Human Services Office of the Assistant Secretary for Preparedness and Response (ASPR) led the SPP Health Working Group, in order to improve the ability of three countries to mutually assist each other during public health emergencies, to exchange information for policy planning, and to improve product safety. The stated goals of

8366-537: Was hosted by Mexican president Andrés Manuel López Obrador on January 10, 2023 in Mexico City . Until 2009, the summits were held as part of the wider Security and Prosperity Partnership of North America . There are no fixed dates for the summits and in some years a summit has not been held for varying reasons. In 2011, the summit was postponed out of respect for the bereavement of the Mexican government after

8460-419: Was hurt by decreased oil prices, and it folded into Harken Energy Corporation , with Bush becoming a member of Harken's board of directors. Questions of possible insider trading involving Harken arose, but a Securities and Exchange Commission investigation concluded that the information Bush had at the time of his stock sale was not sufficient to constitute insider trading. In April 1989, Bush arranged for

8554-466: Was increased by 107 percent, discretionary domestic spending by 62 percent, Medicare spending by 131 percent, social security by 51 percent, and income security spending by 130 percent. Cyclically adjusted, revenues rose by 35 percent and spending by 65 percent. The increase in spending was more than under any predecessor since Lyndon B. Johnson . The number of economic regulation governmental workers increased by 91,196. The surplus in fiscal year 2000

8648-621: Was raised in Midland and Houston , Texas with four siblings: Jeb , Neil , Marvin and Dorothy . Another younger sister, Robin , died from leukemia at the age of three in 1953. His paternal grandfather, Prescott Bush , was a U.S. senator from Connecticut . His father was Ronald Reagan 's vice president from 1981 to 1989 and the 41st U.S. president from 1989 to 1993. Bush has English and German ancestry, along with more distant Dutch , Welsh , Irish , French , and Scottish roots. Bush attended public schools in Midland, Texas, until

8742-404: Was the focus of national attention as a potential future presidential candidate. Following his re-election, speculation soared, and within a year he decided to seek the 2000 Republican presidential nomination. Bush portrayed himself as a compassionate conservative , implying he was more centrist than other Republicans. He campaigned on a platform that included bringing integrity and honor back to

8836-556: Was widely criticized for his administration's handling of Hurricane Katrina and revelations of torture against detainees at Abu Ghraib . Amid his unpopularity, the Democrats regained control of Congress in the 2006 elections . The Afghanistan and Iraq wars continued; in January 2007, Bush launched a surge of troops in Iraq . By December, the U.S. entered the Great Recession , prompting the Bush administration to get congressional approval for economic programs intended to preserve

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