The U.S.-Mexican Policy Studies Program of the Lyndon B. Johnson
School of Public Affairs, The University of Texas at Austin, announces a
spring 1995 seminar series on policy issues of current interest. The four
half-day seminars will feature key policymakers, academicians, and regional
and national government officials who will discuss policy issues affecting
U.S.-Mexican economic and political relations, particularly in the Texas
border region.
The seminars will focus on the long-term policy implications of
NAFTA and U.S.-Mexican economic integration on the quality of life in
Texas. Toward that goal, the semi=1Fnars will explore the impacts of energy
production on the environment of the Texas-Mexico border; the effects of
U.S. migration policy on Texas and overall U.S.-Mexican relations; trucking
deregulation and com=1Fmercial traffic in the border region; and the effect
of NAFTA on Texas state laws.
All seminars will are scheduled for the Perry Bass Lecture Hall,
LBJ School of Public Affairs, Sid Richardson Hall, Unit 3. Each will begin
at 8:30 a.m. on the designated day, and end at 11:30 a.m. Each panelist
will speak and then respond to audience questions. All seminars are free
and open to the public.
Tentative Agenda
Seminar 1: "Clean Energy along the Texas-Mexico Border"
=46riday, February 17, 1995
Confirmed Speakers:
Miguel Flores, Chief of Monitoring & Data Analysis Branch, National Park Ser=
vice
Jose Cisneros, Superintendent, Big Bend National Park
=46rank Bash, Director, McDonald Observatory
Jim Yarbrough, Air Quality Director, Region 6, U.S. Environmental
Protection Agency
Sally Gutierrez, Texas Natural Resource Conservation Commission
Gary Rochelle, Carol and Henry Groppe Professor in Chemical Engineering,
The University of Texas at Austin
William Hobby, LBJ School of Public Affairs, The University of Texas at Aust=
in
Invited Speakers:
Dra. Julia Car=E1bias, Secretaria de la Secretar=EDa de Medio Ambiente Recur=
sos
Naturales y Pesca
This is the first in a series of forums that ultimately will allow
LBJ School's researchers to recommend actions to the North American
Commission for Environmental Cooperation on harmonizing air quality
standards related to energy production in the U.S.-Mexican border region.
Topics covered will include:
* the environmental impact on the border region of sulfur dioxide
emissions produced by electricity-generating plants in Texas and Northern
Mexico;
* data from the U.S. federal government's most recent air quality
modeling studies on the impacts of SO2 on south Texas from energy-producing
sources in the United States and Mexico;
* cooperative efforts between the U.S. and Mexican governments on
border air quality; and
* a survey of environmental technologies that reduce SO2 emissions
from coal-fired, electricity-generating plants including a low-cost
technology that UT-Austin scientists developed, which may prove invaluable
to countries whose budget constraints affect environmental policies.
Seminar 2: "Operation Hold the Line: An Effective Response to Illegal
Migration?"
=46riday, March 10, 1995
Confirmed Speakers:
Dr. Frank D. Bean, Co-Director, Migration Studies at The University of
Texas at Austin
Dr. Jorge A. Bustamante, Presidente, El Colegio de la Frontera Norte
Susan Martin, Executive Director, U.S. Commission on Immigration Reform
Dr. Sidney Weintraub, Co-Director, Migration Studies at The University of
Texas at Austin
Invited Speakers:
Silvestre Reyes, Chief Patrol Officer, El Paso Sector, U.S. Immigration and
Naturalization Service.
Ministro Miguel Ruiz-Caba=F1as, Border Affairs, Mexican Embassy, Washington,=
D.C.
This seminar will feature a discussion among government officials,
policy advocates, and researchers on immigration issues, particularly those
affecting undocumented Mexicans entering the United States. Issues covered
will include:
* the linkages between the movement of goods and capital and the
movement of labor under NAFTA;
* the findings of the U.S. Commission on Immigration Reform, chaired
by the LBJ School of Public Affairs' Barbara Jordan;
* the strengthening of the U.S. Border Patrol at El Paso under
Operation Hold the Line;
* the economic and political effects of U.S. border barricades on the
flow of undocumented immigrants; and
* the overall effect of U.S. migration policies on U.S.-Mexican
relations under NAFTA.
Seminar 3: "NAFTA's Effects on Trucking Deregulation and Traffic in the
Border Region"
=46riday, March 24, 1995
Confirmed Speakers:
Dr. James R. Giermanski, Chair, Division of International Trade at Texas
A&M International University, and co-author of Linking or Isolating of
Economies? A Look at Trucking along the Texas-Mexico Border (Policy Report
No. 6, U.S.-Mexican Policy Studies Program, 1994)
Dr. David J. Molina, Director, Center for Inter-American Studies and
Research at the University of North Texas and co-author of the above title
Dr. Chandler Stolp, Associate Professor, LBJ School of Public Affairs, The
University of Texas at Austin and co-director of research reported in
Texas-Mexico Multimodal Transportation (Policy Research Project No. 104,
LBJ School of Public Affairs)
Dr. Alex Ibarra Yunez, Centro de Estudios Estrat=E9gicos, Instituto
Tecnol=F3gico y de Estudios Superiores de Monterrey and author of Aspectos
econ=F3micos sobre transporte e infraestructura ante el reto del Tratado de
Libre Comercio de Am=E9rica del Norte (U.S.-Mexican Policy Studies Program
Special Publication, 1994)
Invited Speakers:
Dr. Aaron Dychter, Undersecretary for Transportation, Secretar=EDa de
Comunicaciones y Transportes
This seminar offers an overview of trucking deregulation under
NAFTA and its implications for the Texas border region. The speakers will
explore:
* an overview of transportation issues in the border region;
* the implications of trucking deregulation under NAFTA;
* regional economic impact of commercial traffic on both sides of the
border;
* meeting transportation infrastructure challenges in Mexico;
* the impact of increasing truck traffic on infrastructure and border
transportation systems due to economic integration between the two
countries; and
* projected patterns of commodity flows under NAFTA.
Seminar 4: "NAFTA's Effect on State Laws and the Environment"
Monday, April 10, 1995
Confirmed Speakers:
Gregg A. Cooke, Chief, Natural Resource Protection and Energy Division,
Office of the Texas Attorney General
Amanda Atkinson, Assistant Attorney General, Office of the Texas Attorney
General
Invited Speaker:
Vanessa Sciarro, Associate General Consul, Office of the U.S. Trade
Representative
The passage of NAFTA was a landmark event in the development of
states' relations with the federal government under the terms of
international trade agreements. This seminar will focus on NAFTA's impact
on state laws, particularly those relating to the environment. Among the
problems discussed will be:
* recommendations that representatives of the Office of Texas
Attorney General outlined in their report The Evolving Protection of State
Laws and the Environment: NAFTA from a Texas Perspecitve (Occasional Paper
No. 5, U.S-Mexican Policy Studies Program, 1994);
* the unprecedented involvement of states in matters of international
trade under NAFTA;
* the protection of state laws and standards in the event they are
challenged;
* the states' obligations in protecting their laws with their newly
enhanced roles under the terms of trade agreements, particularly NAFTA; and
* the ongoing relationship between USTR and the states.
These seminars are made possible in part by a grant from The William and
=46lora Hewlett Foundation of Menlo Park.
=46or more information, contact Cynthia Bock-Goodner, U.S.-Mexican Policy
Studies Program, cmbg@mail.utexas.edu.