[Congressional Bills 118th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. Res. 97 Introduced in Senate (IS)]

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118th CONGRESS
  1st Session
S. RES. 97

Expressing concern about economic and security conditions in Mexico and 
 reaffirming the interest of the United States in mutually beneficial 
 relations with Mexico based on shared interests on security, economic 
       prosperity, and democratic values, and for other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                             March 8, 2023

 Mr. Risch (for himself, Mr. Hagerty, Mr. Cruz, Mr. Rubio, Mr. Wicker, 
    and Mr. Barrasso) submitted the following resolution; which was 
             referred to the Committee on Foreign Relations

_______________________________________________________________________

                               RESOLUTION


 
Expressing concern about economic and security conditions in Mexico and 
 reaffirming the interest of the United States in mutually beneficial 
 relations with Mexico based on shared interests on security, economic 
       prosperity, and democratic values, and for other purposes.

Whereas December 12, 2022, marked the 200th anniversary of the establishment of 
        diplomatic relations between the United States and Mexico;
Whereas, over the course of 200 years, the Governments and people of the United 
        States and Mexico have developed deep cultural, economic, and diplomatic 
        relations that have been instrumental in creating prosperity in both 
        countries and throughout the hemisphere;
Whereas, according to the United States Trade Representative and the Department 
        of Commerce, United States goods and services trade with Mexico totaled 
        an estimated $677,300,000,000 in 2019, and United States exports of 
        goods and services to Mexico supported an estimated 1,200,000 jobs in 
        2015;
Whereas, according to the 2022 United States Department of State's Investment 
        Climate Statement on Mexico, the United States is Mexico's top source of 
        foreign direct investment with a stock of $184,900,000,000;
Whereas, in 2021, the United States exported $25,000,000,000 in agriculture 
        products to Mexico and imported $38,700,000,000 in agriculture products 
        from Mexico;
Whereas the government of President Lopez Obrador has pursued major legal and 
        regulatory measures that pose significant risks and uncertainty to 
        cross-border trade, including denying 14 biotechnology applications 
        since May 2018, front-of-packing labeling requirements imposed in 
        November 2020, unilateral certification requirements on all United 
        States organic exports to Mexico imposed in December 2020, the December 
        31, 2020, Presidential Decree to phase out the use of glyphosate and 
        genetically modified corn for human consumption, the February 2021 
        Electricity Industry Law, and the May 2021 Hydrocarbons Law;
Whereas the government of President Lopez Obrador has suspended import permits 
        for more than 80 energy companies, has ended permits for energy import 
        facilities, which puts United States investment at risk, and is 
        advancing a constitutional reform bill that would dissolve the power 
        market in Mexico, eliminate independent regulators, and cancel contracts 
        and permits granted to private companies;
Whereas arbitrary and punitive actions against United States businesses 
        operating in Mexico by the government of President Lopez Obrador, such 
        as the recent shutdown of a limestone quarry owned by a United States 
        company that is a critical component of the construction aggregates 
        supply chain for the southeast United States, are damaging the economic 
        relationship between the United States and Mexico, disrupting North 
        American supply chains, and threatening to undermine the confidence of 
        United States businesses in Mexico as a viable and predictable 
        marketplace and destination for investment;
Whereas United States law enforcement encountered over 2,378,944 migrants 
        attempting to enter the United States illegally through the southern 
        border with Mexico in 2022, reaching an all-time high of 251,978 
        encounters in December 2022, and have encountered over 156,000 migrants 
        in January 2023;
Whereas United States Border Patrol has documented a rise in the number of 
        convicted criminals attempting to enter the United States illegally, 
        including over 3,000 since October 2022, 12,028 in fiscal year 2022, 
        10,763 in fiscal year 2021, and 2,438 in fiscal year 2020;
Whereas U.S. Customs and Border Protection operational statistics showed 
        fentanyl seizures at the United States southern border increased 66.86 
        percent in January 2023, compared to January 2022, with over a 907 
        percent increase from January 2020;
Whereas U.S. Customs and Border Protection has reported an approximately 207 
        percent increase in the amount of illicit fentanyl seized at the 
        southwest border since fiscal year 2020, and the Drug Enforcement 
        Administration reported the seizure of 379,000,000 potentially deadly 
        doses of fentanyl in 2022;
Whereas the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) reported a record 
        of 107,000 overdose deaths in the United States in 2022, with more than 
        71,400 (66.5 percent) of those attributed to synthetic opioids, a 
        substantial amount of which are illicitly produced in Mexico using 
        precursor chemicals imported from the People's Republic of China and 
        mixed or reshipped by the Sinaloa and Jalisco New Generation (CJNG) drug 
        cartels;
Whereas reports from the United States Northern Command indicate that Mexican 
        cartels now control 30 to 35 percent of Mexican territory, with Mexico's 
        midterm elections in June 2021 being the most violent on record driven 
        by cartel violence and attempts to thwart the democratic process;
Whereas more than 80 politicians were killed prior to the June 2021 midterm 
        elections in Mexico, with the Mexican cartels claiming responsibility 
        for the killings of at least 35 candidates, according to several 
        reports;
Whereas, according to the Initiative on Nonstate Armed Actors of the Brookings 
        Institution, Mexico registered almost 34,000 murders in 2022 near an 
        all-time high, representing 27 murders per 100,000 and primarily 
        attributable to ties related to transnational criminal organizations, 
        while the effective prosecution rate for homicides remains around 2 
        percent;
Whereas, according to the Initiative on Nonstate Armed Actors, the rivalry 
        between the Sinaloa Cartel and CJNG Cartel has violently spread to 
        Colombia, one of the United States closest allies in the Western 
        Hemisphere, with CJNG deploying drone-mounted bombs to seize territory 
        and Sinaloa taking over both the legal and illegal economies of the 
        territories in dispute;
Whereas, in 2021, the government of President Obrador disbanded a select Mexican 
        anti-narcotics unit that, for a quarter of a century, worked hand-in-
        hand with the United States Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) to 
        tackle organized crime;
Whereas President Obrador has spearheaded legal and regulatory measures to 
        reduce or eliminate the independence of Mexican autonomous institutions 
        and regulators, including the Federal Economic Competition Commission, 
        the Federal Institute for Telecommunications, the Energy Regulatory 
        Commission, and the National Electoral Institute;
Whereas, at a March 2022 hearing of the Committee on Armed Services of the 
        Senate, United States Northern Command Commander, General Glen D. 
        VanHerck, testified that ``the largest portion of [Russian intelligence 
        personnel] in the world is in Mexico right now'' and ``they keep an eye 
        very closely on their opportunities to have influence on U.S. 
        opportunities and access'';
Whereas Mexico voted in the United Nation's General Assembly to condemn the 
        Russian invasion of Ukraine, while abstaining from suspending Russia as 
        a permanent observer of the Organization of American States and from 
        expelling Russia from the United Nations Human Rights Council;
Whereas President Obrador has increasingly turned to the People's Republic of 
        China to finance controversial infrastructure projects, including the 
        Dos Bocas Refinery and the Maya Train, while the People's Republic of 
        China's State Power Investment Corporation (SPIC) acquired Mexican 
        renewables power company Zuma Energy during a time when private 
        corporations were fleeing the sector; and
Whereas Mexico remains one of the world's most dangerous countries for 
        journalists and media workers, with 2022 marking the deadliest year on 
        record with 19 deaths: Now, therefore, be it
    Resolved, That the Senate--
            (1) reaffirms the interest of the United States in mutually 
        beneficial relations with Mexico based on shared interests on 
        security, economic prosperity, and democratic values;
            (2) reaffirms support for stronger economic relations with 
        Mexico, including to strengthen the resiliency of critical 
        supply chains in North America and the Western Hemisphere in 
        general;
            (3) expresses deep concerns about the worsening investment 
        climate in Mexico, and calls on the President to take 
        meaningful actions to defend United States economic interests 
        in Mexico and uphold the integrity of the United States-Mexico-
        Canada Agreement (USMCA);
            (4) urges the President to address the humanitarian and 
        security crisis at the border with Mexico by--
                    (A) establishing effective immigration controls in 
                the United States;
                    (B) targeting United States foreign assistance 
                efforts to strengthen border security and migration 
                management capacities in the region; and
                    (C) leveraging existing bilateral extradition 
                treaties and the Palermo Protocols to prosecute 
                transnational criminal actors facilitating illegal 
                migration to the United States;
            (5) reaffirms the urgent need for the Government of Mexico 
        to implement a detailed and well-resourced strategy to combat 
        the growing sophistication of transnational criminal 
        organizations in its territory, and reduce the production and 
        trafficking of illicit narcotics and precursor chemicals being 
        used for the manufacture of synthetic opioids in its territory, 
        including by--
                    (A) increasing information sharing between Mexican 
                authorities and the DEA on seizures of fentanyl and 
                precursor chemicals in Mexico;
                    (B) partnering with the United States to jointly 
                dismantle and take down clandestine labs across Mexico; 
                and
                    (C) prioritizing the arrest and extradition of more 
                individuals with drug-related charges to the United 
                States; and
            (6) urges the Government of Mexico to uphold its domestic 
        and international commitments to legal, safe, and orderly 
        immigration, uphold its obligations under the USMCA, respect 
        the independence of autonomous regulatory institutions, and 
        guard against the negative influence of the People's Republic 
        of China and the Russian Federation in North America and the 
        Western Hemisphere in general.
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