[Congressional Record Volume 143, Number 32 (Thursday, March 13, 1997)]
[Senate]
[Pages S2286-S2287]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




  SENATE CONCURRENT RESOLUTION 9--RELATIVE TO COUNTER-DRUG ACTIVITIES

  Mrs. HUTCHISON (for herself, Mr. Domenici, Mr. Dodd, Mr. McCain, Mr. 
Biden, and Mr. Lugar) submitted the following concurrent resolution; 
which was referred to the Committee on Foreign Relations:

                             S. Con. Res. 9

       Whereas the international drug trade poses a direct threat 
     to the United States and to international efforts to promote 
     democracy, economic stability, human rights, and the rule of 
     law;
       Whereas approximately 12,800,000 Americans use illegal 
     drugs, including 1,500,000 cocaine users, 600,000 heroin 
     addicts, and 9,800,000 smokers of marijuana;
       Whereas illegal drug use occurs among members of every 
     ethnic and socioeconomic group in the United States;
       Whereas 10.9 percent of all children between 12 years and 
     17 years of age use illegal drugs, and one child in four 
     claims to have been offered illegal drugs in the last year;
       Whereas drug-related illness, death, and crime cost the 
     United States approximately $66,900,000,000 in 1996, 
     including costs for lost productivity, premature death, and 
     incarceration;
       Whereas effective treatment and prevention is required to 
     break the cycle that links illegal drugs to violent crime in 
     the United States and to reduce the social and economic costs 
     to the United States of illegal drug use;
       Whereas such treatment and prevention depend on our ability 
     to prevent the flow of illegal drugs through our orders 
     through effective cooperation with other nations;

[[Page S2287]]

       Whereas according to the Department of State, Mexico is the 
     source of between 20 and 30 percent of the heroin and 70 
     percent of the marijuana shipped into the United States and 
     is a transit point for between 50 and 70 percent of the 
     cocaine shipped into the United States;
       Whereas drug traffickers along the United States border 
     with Mexico smuggle approximately $10,000,000,000 worth of 
     narcotics into the United States annually, and the drug trade 
     generates approximately $30,000,000,000 annually for the 
     Mexican economy;
       Whereas there has been a failure to take effective action 
     against drug cartels and other significant narcotics 
     traffickers in Mexico, including the Juarez and Tijuana drug 
     cartels;
       Whereas Mexico has failed to honor requests by the United 
     States for extradition of Mexican nationals indicted in our 
     courts on drug-related charges;
       Whereas the number of drug seizures in Mexico in 1996 was 
     only half the number of seizures in 1993, and the number of 
     drug-related arrests in Mexico in 1996 was only half the 
     number of such arrests in 1992;
       Whereas there is evidence of official corruption in the 
     counter-drug forces of Mexico, including the recent arrest of 
     General Jesus Gutierrez Rebollo, the highest-ranking counter-
     drug official of the Government of Mexico;
       Whereas the Government of Mexico has refused to permit 
     United States agents to carry their weapons on the Mexican 
     side of the United States border with Mexico;
       Whereas the banking and financial sectors in Mexico lack 
     mechanisms to prevent money laundering; and
       Whereas the Department of Treasury estimates the amount of 
     drug-related money-laundering in Mexico in 1996 at nearly 
     $10,000,000,000: Now, therefore, be it
       Resolved by the Senate (the House of Representatives 
     concurring), That it is the sense of Congress--
       (1) to express concern about ineffective and insufficient 
     progress by Mexico in halting the production in and transit 
     through Mexico of illegal drugs; and
       (2) to urge the President of the United States and the 
     President of Mexico to expand and strengthen their 
     cooperative relationship in order to make additional progress 
     in halting the production in and transit through Mexico of 
     illegal drugs, including meaningful progress in--
       (A) the dismantlement of major drug cartels in Mexico and 
     the arrest of their leaders;
       (B) the implementation by Mexico of effective money-
     laundering legislation;
       (C) the compliance of Mexico with outstanding extradition 
     requests by the United States, particularly those requested 
     for extradition of Mexican nationals indicted in our courts 
     on drug-related charges;
       (D) the interdiction of the flow of narcotics and other 
     controlled substances across the land and sea border between 
     the United States and Mexico;
       (E) the cooperation of Mexico with United States law 
     enforcement officials engaged in counter-drug activities, 
     including permission for United States agents to carry 
     weapons on the Mexico side of the United States border; and
       (F) the implementation by Mexico of a wide-ranging program 
     to identify, eliminate, and prosecute officials in Mexico, 
     including government, police, and military officials, who are 
     engaged in or corrupted by drug-related activities.

                          ____________________