[Congressional Bills 106th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.J. Res. 61 Introduced in House (IH)]







106th CONGRESS
  1st Session
H. J. RES. 61

  Calling upon the Government of Mexico to undertake greater and more 
        effective counterdrug measures, and for other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                              July 1, 1999

  Mr. Mica (for himself, Mr. Traficant, Mr. Gilman, Mr. McCollum, Mr. 
Portman, Mr. Sessions, Mr. Souder, Mr. Barr of Georgia, Mr. Pitts, Mr. 
  Stearns, Mr. Kingston, and Mr. Ose) introduced the following joint 
   resolution; which was referred to the Committee on International 
                               Relations

_______________________________________________________________________

                            JOINT RESOLUTION


 
  Calling upon the Government of Mexico to undertake greater and more 
        effective counterdrug measures, and for other purposes.

Whereas illicit drug abuse, traffic, and production are serious threats to the 
        national sovereignty and to the health and well-being of the people of 
        the United States and Mexico;
Whereas the drug problem must be addressed both on the national front and on the 
        international front;
Whereas the fight against drug trafficking is a significant bilateral topic 
        between the United States Government and the Government of Mexico;
Whereas neither the United States nor Mexico can unilaterally win the fight 
        against drug trafficking;
Whereas the Government of Mexico passed the Federal Law Against Organized Crime 
        which gives the Government of Mexico the capability to effectively fight 
        criminal organizations linked to drug trafficking;
Whereas the Government of Mexico has made considerable efforts to 
        comprehensively modernize its legal framework to combat money 
        laundering;
Whereas the Government of Mexico has instituted significant regulations used to 
        combat the illicit production and trafficking of precursor chemicals;
Whereas the Attorney General's Office (PGR) and its units that are used to 
        combat drug trafficking have been restructured and reinforced with anti-
        corruption methods;
Whereas the Government of Mexico has been a world leader in the percentage of 
        eradication of illicit crops since 1994;
Whereas the Government of Mexico has increased its efforts and capabilities to 
        intercept illicit drug shipments;
Whereas the Government of Mexico has publicly committed to spending $500,000,000 
        (in United States dollars) in fiscal year 1999 through fiscal year 2001 
        to purchase additional counterdrug technology and equipment such as 
        surveillance aircraft, x-ray machines, helicopters, patrol vessels, and 
        go-fast boats and, therefore, the Government of Mexico should be 
        strongly encouraged by the United States Government to purchase 
        counterdrug technology and equipment manufactured in the United States;
Whereas significant amounts of black tar heroin are being produced on Mexican 
        territory and exported for consumption in the United States, and the 
        United States Government, therefore, should furnish all appropriate 
        assistance to the Government of Mexico for the development of a 
        comprehensive and effective opium eradication program in Mexico;
Whereas the United States House of Representatives during the 105th Congress 
        passed House Joint Resolution 58 on March 13, 1997, by a vote of 251 to 
        175, which gave the President of the United States the responsibility 
        for reviewing the progress made by the Government of Mexico in combating 
        drug trafficking;
Whereas House Joint Resolution 58 conditioned certification of Mexico under 
        section 490 of the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961 on assurances that the 
        Government of Mexico make substantial progress in and commitment toward 
        taking concrete measures to find and eliminate law enforcement 
        corruption in Mexico, insofar as Mexico has exhibited the lack of will 
        to cooperate fully with United States law enforcement personnel on 
        narcotics control matters;
Whereas House Joint Resolution 58 also conditioned such certification on 
        assurances that the Government of Mexico make substantial progress in 
        and commitment toward (1) extraditing Mexican nationals, particularly 
        drug kingpins, wanted by the United States Government for drug 
        trafficking and other drug-related offenses, (2) securing aircraft 
        overflight and refueling rights, (3) installing adequate aircraft radar 
        coverage to monitor and detect all aircraft entering and transiting 
        through Mexico that are suspected of involvement in drug trafficking, 
        and (4) a long-term maritime agreement with the United States to allow 
        vessels of the United States Coast Guard and other appropriate vessels 
        to halt and hold drug traffickers pursued into Mexican waters;
Whereas the Government of Mexico has not made substantial progress to find and 
        eliminate law enforcement corruption in Mexico in order that it may 
        cooperate fully with United States law enforcement personnel on 
        narcotics control matters;
Whereas the Government of Mexico, during 1996 through 1998, has fulfilled United 
        States nondrug-related extradition requests at a rate of 65 percent, but 
        has not extradited any Mexican nationals wanted by the United States 
        Government for major drug trafficking and other drug-related offenses;
Whereas the Government of Mexico has not made substantial progress in securing 
        aircraft overflight and refueling rights;
Whereas the Government of Mexico has not made substantial progress toward 
        installing adequate aircraft radar coverage to monitor and detect all 
        aircraft entering and transiting through Mexico that are suspected of 
        involvement in drug trafficking;
Whereas the Government of Mexico has not made substantial progress toward a 
        long-term maritime agreement with the United States to allow vessels of 
        the United States Coast Guard and other appropriate vessels to halt and 
        hold drug traffickers pursued into Mexican waters; and
Whereas the Government of Mexico has received 73 Huey helicopters from the 
        United States Government for counterdrug purposes since 1995, yet only 
        40 of these aircraft can fly, no support and maintenance agreement for 
        the helicopters was agreed upon by the 2 governments, and there is no 
        adequate end-use monitoring agreement to verify the deployment of these 
        aircraft, and the Government of Mexico claims that they are not useful 
        in fighting illegal narcotics: Now, therefore, be it
    Resolved by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United 
States of America in Congress assembled, That Congress--
            (1) calls upon the Office of National Drug Control Policy 
        to report to the Congress by January 30, 2000, on the progress 
        made by the Government of Mexico on those matters set forth in 
        the preamble of this joint resolution;
            (2) considers these matters to be of paramount importance 
        to the bilateral relationship between the United States and the 
        United Mexican States;
            (3) calls upon the Government of Mexico to immediately 
        return the excess Huey helicopters to the United States 
        Government if in fact it no longer wants custody of this drug 
        fighting equipment, in order that the helicopters might be used 
        elsewhere by countries that need such equipment;
            (4) will consider these matters at the beginning of the 2d 
        session of the 106th Congress and review whether the Government 
        of Mexico has made substantial progress in these matters;
            (5) calls upon the Office of National Drug Control Policy 
        to submit to Congress a plan to promptly redistribute the Huey 
        helicopters returned to the United States by the Government of 
        Mexico to other drug fighting countries cooperating with the 
        United States on counternarcotics efforts; and
            (6) calls upon the Government of the United States to 
        intensify efforts to secure a maritime agreement with the 
        Government of Mexico and promptly provide the terms of such 
        agreement to the Government of Mexico in order to facilitate 
        greater counternarcotics cooperation.
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