Judicial Watch Files Lawsuit Seeking Access to Security and Prosperity Partnership Advisory Group Meetings and Records

Agency’s Use of North American Competitiveness Council in Violation of Federal Advisory Committee Act

(Washington, DC) -- Judicial Watch, the public interest group that investigates and prosecutes government corruption, announced today that it has filed a lawsuit against the Department of Commerce and Secretary of Commerce Carlos Gutierrez for denying Judicial Watch access to the North American Competitiveness Council (NACC) meetings and records. According to the complaint, the council, which consists of “high level business leaders,” advises the United States, Mexican, and Canadian governments on North American competitiveness issues to be addressed through the Security and Prosperity Partnership of North America (SPP). (On March 23, 2005, heads of government Vincente Fox, George W. Bush, and Paul Martin launched SPP at a meeting in Waco, Texas, with the expressed goal of “a safer, more prosperous North America.”) JudicialWatch.com, Aug 10, 2007