XXVI Annual Border Governors Conference Closing Ceremony

Statement

XXVI Annual Border Governors Conference Closing Ceremony

GOVERNOR SCHWARZENEGGER:

It's all show business, I told you. (Laughter) Well, thank you very much. Thank you. It's nice to be here at this closing ceremony. And I just want to say thank you again for so many people showing up and showing such an interest for our relationships between the United States and Mexico. So a big hand to all of you for sitting through all of this here. A big hand to all of you. (Applause)

First of all, right off the top, before I say anything about our conference, I want to just point out that we have the Secretary of State George Schultz with us here today, sitting right out there with his wonderful wife Charlotte sitting next to him. And they're celebrating today their 11th wedding anniversary, so let's give them a big hand. (Applause)

Very nice. As you have heard, this is the first time that we have had so many officials from the federal government come, which is so important in order to get our mission accomplished. So I want to say again thank you very much to the Secretary of the Environment Elvira, Secretary of Health Cordova and Under-Secretary of Foreign Affairs Rico.

And then, of course, we want to thank also Secretary of Homeland Security Chertoff and Secretary of the Interior Kempthorne and our White House Homeland Security Advisor Weinstein. They all came here to work with us because, like I said, this relationship not only amongst the governors but also the federal governments is extremely important.

And we want to also say thank you again to all the volunteers that have worked so hard on this and also Ricardo Martinez, our Executive Director of this conference, who has done an extraordinary job. Let's give them all a big, big hand. (Applause)

And I'm very excited, obviously, you can imagine -- think about this. For 25 years I'm in show business and in acting, never won an Oscar. I'm four and a half years in politics and I already received an Oscar, so thank you very much. Thank you for doing that. (Applause)

I also want to say thank you to my fellow governors and everyone else who helped us achieve so much of this XXVI Annual Border Governors Conference. I have for all the governors, because of their great work, a gift right there in front of them, which is a bronze bear, that's the brown bear, the California bear, which is a little gift for all of you. And those that can lift it can actually take it home, because it does weigh around 40 pounds. So have a good time, you're going to get a good pump on that one. (Applause)

Anyway, last year in Sonora, I said that we must address the issue of global warming, not only for protecting the environment but also for our children and because of our grandchildren. So like always, this group responded with passion and with determination and action to protect our air and the water. And I have to just say I want to thank them for their great commitment on renewable energy. There is great enthusiasm here amongst these governors.

These last three days have sent an undeniable message that we are united in our efforts to build green economies so that we can continue to prosper amid the many challenges that we face.

We heard from Nobel Laureates with world-class knowledge on environmental issues and we saw exciting technology at our Green Tech Expo in discussing new innovations and new ways to preserve our natural resources.

And we have also been working with the federal governments of both countries to reach an agreement that we could go and track down the flow of illegal weapons -- which is a very, very important issue for us here. This is weapons that are being shipped from the United States to Mexico.

We held forums also on how we can benefit from the emerging technology and address the hurdles that we face in water supply and water quality.

We also had a panel discussion on human trafficking, which was moderated by my wife and she did a great job. But this is a very, very important and serious issue and we wanted to put the spotlight on this and also create more awareness amongst the general public and amongst the law enforcement officials and also political leaders.

And later today we will also be signing a Memorandum of Understanding with the California Climate Action Registry and Pacific Gas & Electric to help identify and advance green projects in Mexican states.

And the joint declaration that we are also going to sign, that we are signing right here, will challenge us even further on important issues such as agriculture, education, environmental issues, economic development, health and safety and border security and the list goes on and on.

For instance, we will create a Council of Advisors for Economic Development and we will develop a compact among all 10 Border States for mutual aid in disaster response. And we will work to reduce the environmental damage caused by millions and millions of tires, scrap tires, in Mexico.

Now, I brought everyone here to Hollywood because this is a town where dreams come true and that certainly was the case for me and for thousands of others. And we are closer than ever to realizing our shared dream of a green economy. The combined economic power of our Border States would form the world's third largest economy, so my final message as chairman is that there is no dream that is too big for the 10 of us not to accomplish. I know that we can accomplish anything if we continue to work together.

And Governor Gonzales is a man of action, he's a terrific leader and with him taking now over as chairman, we are sure to build on our friendship and strengthen our determination and achieve even greater success. So I now want to bring him out here officially and I officially want to hand over that gavel that is next to me right here, the gavel to the chair of next year's conference.

Ladies and gentlemen, welcome again Governor Gonzales to come out here and then afterward to share with us some of his thoughts about the next year. (Applause)

Please, Governor, if you would say a few words here about your thoughts.

GOVERNOR GONZALES:

(SPANISH) Arnold, you visited our state two years ago. You know very well the state capital, Monterey. You know that we have a beautiful city, a modern, dynamic city with magnificent mountains and warm people. So in the XXVII Conference, Arnold, you'll be back.

GOVERNOR SCHWARZENEGGER:

That's for sure. Thank you very much. (Applause)
Anyway, thank you very much, everyone, for participating here and I now declare the XXVI Border Governors Conference closed. Thank you very much and we'll be back. Thank you. (Applause)

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