Rand Paul In 2007: Trans-Texas Corridor Could Lead To "North American Union," US-Mexico Currency

"But think about it: the European Union was talked about for twenty years before it finally occurred and this is the same thing."

Republican presidential candidate Rand Paul said in December 2007 that a highway between Mexico and the United States could lead to a "North American Union," comparing the relationship between the US and Mexico to the early stages of the European Union's formation.

Paul, who at the time was campaigning for his father Ron Paul, then a Republican presidential candidate, said on the Future Quake radio show that his father had been unfairly "ridiculed" for discussing the possibility of a "North American Union."

"After my father mentioned the North American Union he was completely ridiculed, not only just in the debate, but Newsweek came out and wrote an article just completely making fun of him, saying it was all crazy people," Paul said. "But you know the funny thing about it is, they're saying it's all just crazy people, but it's already being built. I mean, the road is being built. The Trans-Texas Corridor."

Proposed by Texas Gov. Rick Perry in 2002, the Trans-Texas Corridor was initially intended to be a 4,000 mile network of highways and railways. According to the Houston Chronicle, Perry claimed it was necessary partly because of increased Mexican truck traffic "following passage of the North American Free Trade Agreement." The idea was largely scrapped in 2009.

Echoing his father, who argued that the "superhighway" would link the US, Mexico, and Canada, and that "the ultimate goal" included an "integrated North American Union--complete with a currency," Rand Paul dismissed the notion that the corridor was a secret "conspiracy."

"There's already money funded for it," he said. "It's been a huge debate in the Texas legislature, it's not like it's a secret. I mean, the Texas legislature voted against it because they were going to take so much land from so many farmers to build this road. So it's not like some secrecy or conspiracy that no one knows about. It needs to be publicized obviously so people will talk about it, but it's happening. So it's a real thing."

Paul then said that the President of Mexico had "talked about having, you know, a currency," saying that this was "the same thing" as what happened with the European Union.

"The President of Mexico apparently has talked about having, you know, a currency and I know people have called it the Amero," he said. "I'm not sure where that started. But think about it: the European Union was talked about for twenty years before it finally occurred and this is the same thing."

He concluded by saying that organizations like the Council for Foreign Relations and the Trilaterals Commission didn't think it was "a big deal" to have "countries sort of together in one currency."

"Most people--until people got on our side started thinking about the loss of sovereign entity and the dangers of this--they thought about it as a very bland sort of subject, they would have it at their meetings, all these, you know, the Council for Foreign Relations, the Trilaterals Commission, these type of folks. These are real organizations that exist. They talk and they talk about these things and they think it's not a big deal. They think we should have all countries sort of together in one currency and they think it's of some benefit somehow."

Here's the audio:

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