Thread: McCain to Visit with Border Officials Today

McCain to visit with border officials today

By TRICIA CORTEZ, LAREDO MORNING TIMES
04/16/2007

Presidential hopeful U.S. Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., is scheduled to swing into Laredo this afternoon to meet with 15 mayors and county judges from the Texas-Mexico border.The meeting, which is closed to the media, will be held at the International Bank of Commerce administrative offices on Jacaman Road.

His Monday visit is hosted by the Texas Border Coalition. McCain is scheduled to attend as a U.S. senator, not as a presidential candidate.

He will, however, attend two private fundraisers afterward, according to a campaign spokesperson.

McCain, who was once considered the frontrunner in the Republican primary for the 2008 presidential election, trails former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani and former Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney in fundraising efforts and Giuliani in political polls.

All three Republicans trail Democratic frontrunners U.S. senators Hillary R. Clinton and Barack Obama.

To jump-start McCain’s campaign and pull him back into the lead, the McCain campaign has turned to San Antonio lobbyist Tom Loeffler — former congressman and a veteran Republican campaign fundraiser, according to a feature in last week’s San Antonio Express-News.

McCain’s trip to Laredo has its roots in a visit he made to San Antonio last year.

Dennis Nixon, International Bank of Commerce president & CEO, who is personally supporting McCain in his bid for the presidency, invited him to Laredo to speak with border mayors on the controversial issue of building a multi-billion dollar wall along the U.S.-Mexico border.

Nixon spoke with McCain “about our unique needs on the Rio Grande, and specifically how we have a plan that we think might work well in lieu of the border fence,” Eddie Aldrete, IBC senior vice president, said this week.

“He invited Sen. McCain to come and listen to our message and talk to the mayors of the border,” Aldrete said.

IBC is a corporate sponsor of the Texas Border Coalition whose main concerns at the federal level are immigration and border security. State priorities are transportation, workforce development and health care.

Last year, the coalition played a key role in bringing to Laredo the U.S. Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff, U.S. Commerce Secretary Carlos M. Gutierrez, and U.S. Sen. Robert Menendez, D-NJ, to take a first hand look at the nation’s largest inland port.

“What the border coalition is trying to do is communicate a consensus message of what we believe we need as a country that is also good for Texas border communities,” Aldrete said.

“Last year, they told us ‘Don’t worry, they’ll never vote for the wall,’ and they did,” Aldrete said. “That’s when the coalition decided we need to get more engaged with federal issues and communicate with the players in Washington. We can’t just sit on sidelines.”

(Tricia Cortez may be reached at 728-2568 or by e-mail at tricia@lmtonline.com.)

http://www.zwire.com/site/news.cfm?news ... 9392&rfi=6

Nixon spoke with McCain “about our unique needs on the Rio Grande, and specifically how we have a plan that we think might work well in lieu of the border fence,” Eddie Aldrete, IBC senior vice president, said this week.

That plan wouldn't be "comprehensive immigration reform" now would it

I bet he was there to ask them to build a fence...so he could sit on it.

Dennis Nixon, International Bank of Commerce president & CEO, who is personally supporting McCain in his bid for the presidency, invited him to Laredo to speak with border mayors on the controversial issue of building a multi-billion dollar wall along the U.S.-Mexico border.

Nixon spoke with McCain “about our unique needs on the Rio Grande, and specifically how we have a plan that we think might work well in lieu of the border fence,” Eddie Aldrete, IBC senior vice president, said this week.

“He invited Sen. McCain to come and listen to our message and talk to the mayors of the border,” Aldrete said.

IBC is a corporate sponsor of the Texas Border Coalition whose main concerns at the federal level are immigration and border security. State priorities are transportation, workforce development and health care.

Last year, the coalition played a key role in bringing to Laredo the U.S. Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff, U.S. Commerce Secretary Carlos M. Gutierrez, and U.S. Sen. Robert Menendez, D-NJ, to take a first hand look at the nation’s largest inland port.

And mccain wants to seem more PRO ENFORCEMENT?

Oh boy........take another look at those NAMES!
This is the ILLEGAL CABAL of DC minus only a few key players.

Can anyone say.......NAU/SPP & NASCO HIGHWAY? Throw in a Smart Port for good measure.