[Congressional Record Volume 143, Number 65 (Friday, May 16, 1997)]
[Senate]
[Pages S4647-S4649]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




      COUNTERDRUG COOPERATION BETWEEN THE UNITED STATES AND MEXICO

  Mr. COVERDELL. Mr. President, on May 14, 1997, I along with my 
colleague, Senator Feinstein of California, received a communique from 
President Clinton that I would like to read at this point. It says:

       Dear Senator Coverdell: Thank you for your letter regarding 
     counterdrug cooperation between the United States and 
     Mexico. I want to take this opportunity to tell you about 
     my visit to Mexico and the efforts my Administration is 
     making to advance our counternarcotics strategy in a 
     bipartisan spirit.
       President Zedillo and I had a full and frank discussion on 
     ways we can achieve greater progress toward attacking the 
     abuse and trafficking of illegal drugs. The Binational Drug 
     Threat Assessment report that General McCaffrey and Attorney 
     General Madrazo presented to us sets forth in plain terms a 
     common view of all aspects of the drug phenomena striking at 
     our societies. On that basis, President Zedillo and I agreed 
     to form

[[Page S4648]]

     an Alliance Against Drugs, which commits our two governments 
     to prepare a common counterdrug strategy this year to achieve 
     16 specific objectives.
       These objectives, which reflect your own thoughtful 
     contributions, include reducing demand through anti-drug 
     information campaigns directed at our youth, bringing the 
     leaders of criminal organizations to justice through 
     strengthened law enforcement cooperation, attacking 
     corruption, improving extradition (for example, by 
     negotiating a protocol to the extradition treaty to allow 
     trials in both countries prior to completion of sentences in 
     either country), fully implementing laws to combat money 
     laundering and increasing interdiction and eradication. 
     Achieving all these objectives in the short term is 
     unrealistic, but I believe we can make progress and that 
     President Zedillo's effort to restructure Mexico's anti-drug 
     forces is an essential starting point.
       I want to keep the Congress informed of the progress we are 
     making toward achieving the objectives set forth in my 1997 
     National Drug Control Strategy and the U.S.-Mexico Alliance 
     Against Drugs. ONDCP Director McCaffrey will provide further 
     details on these issues to Members of both Houses in the near 
     future. My Administration will also provide the Congress by 
     September 1, 1997, a report covering each of the issues 
     contained in the Senate resolution passed in March as 
     elaborated in your recent letter and discussions with my 
     Administration. In addition, we will provide reports, as you 
     have requested, commenting on prospects for multilateral 
     hemispheric cooperation and on the feasibility of enhancing 
     truck inspections at the border.
       I appreciate your continued efforts to work with my 
     Administration to ensure that our children face a future free 
     of drugs and the crime they breed.
           Sincerely,
                                                     Bill Clinton.

  Mr. President, this letter is in direct response to the legislation 
offered by myself and Senator Feinstein in March of this year, passed 
overwhelmingly by the Senate but which had not yet become law because 
of differences between the House and the Senate.
  Because the President was going to be in Mexico and in Central 
America, that led to extensive discussions between myself and Senator 
Feinstein and the administration, culminating with a discussion between 
myself and the National Security Adviser, Sandy Berger, during the trip 
to Mexico wherein the administration agreed to provide this letter of 
assurances to myself and Senator Feinstein, and in spirit the Congress 
and the other Senators who worked so diligently to pass these 
legislative proposals.
  From my point of view--and the Senator will speak for herself--it is 
a new platform. It is an acknowledgement of the issues that the Senator 
and I were trying to bring before the Congress, the Nation and the 
people of Mexico. I personally accept it in the spirit of cooperation 
and eagerly await the information to be provided to us in September. 
From my point of view, it is the acceptance of the point that was being 
made during the debate that the status quo was unacceptable for either 
country and that we had to move to a new era of more candor and more 
realism about the ravaging drug war and the damage it has done to both 
our countries and to the hemispheric democracy. So, I appreciate the 
National Security Adviser's conversation. I believe he and the 
administration fulfilled the discussion, at least to the level that I 
had it.

  I appreciate, again, and want to acknowledge the work of the Senator 
from California on this issue. It has been very dedicated, very 
focused, and very meaningful. I have enjoyed working with her on this 
matter. I believe the drug war in our hemisphere could potentially 
destabilize the hemisphere. It is doing enormous damage to the youth of 
our country and is an issue that must receive far more attention than 
it has to date. I hope this communique is not the end, but the 
beginning of much more work to be done by the Members of the Senate and 
the Congress.
  With that, Mr. President, I yield the floor. I see my colleague from 
California is prepared to talk on the subject, and I welcome her 
remarks.
  Mrs. FEINSTEIN addressed the Chair.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from California, by previous 
order, is recognized for up to 10 minutes.
  Mrs. FEINSTEIN. Mr. President, I want to begin by thanking the senior 
Senator from Georgia for his leadership in this matter. This has been a 
difficult area, I think, for both of us, because I believe we both 
respect Mexico. We know that Mexico is an ally, a friend, a neighbor, 
and we want to see relations become much better and much more fully 
developed. We do not want to see a rift continuing to develop, so, we 
have worked with that spirit in mind. Yet, one can want this equal 
partnership but also continue to point out the facts of what is 
happening in our States and our region, and particularly along the 
southwest border. So I thank the Senator from Georgia for his 
leadership. It has been, as he knows, a great pleasure for me to be 
able to work with him. It has been a wonderful experience. We will keep 
it going.
  I also want to extend my thanks to the President and to the National 
Security Adviser, Sandy Berger. Both Senator Coverdell, as he 
indicated, and I--we have met separately with the administration. We 
have both made the same request that this report, described by our 
Senate resolution, be rendered by the administration to this body.
  Let me begin by saying the administration could easily have said no. 
There is no legislative vehicle that accompanies this request. But they 
did agree, in our negotiations, to honor this request, and they have 
kept that commitment and, in effect, will produce the report on 
September 1. I am heartened by that. As my colleague just spoke, we are 
heartened because we hope it will be a new day of cooperation between 
the executive and the legislative branches in what is rapidly becoming 
the soft underbelly of this Nation as well as the Mexican nation, and 
that of course is drugs.
  As many know, I have a bill which is now in the Judiciary Committee's 
bill called the Gang Violence Act. What we have discovered is that 
drugs are fueling a new extension of gangs working across the States. 
One of the steps I am hopeful this body will be taking is passage of 
that bill and, in essence, applying to street gangs, who are organized 
and moving across State lines, the same racketeering statutes that we 
would apply to Mafia-type organized crime--expanding the Travel Act, 
putting in asset seizures and forfeitures, effectively doubling Federal 
penalties for Americans who participate in major drug trafficking, gun 
running, and other criminal activity, across State lines.
  So, we will take major steps in this Nation to combat our problem, 
which is one of demand for drugs. The report that we have asked the 
administration to produce will deal with Mexico's progress in the 
following areas:
  Efforts to combat drug cartels--four big Mexican drug cartels are 
operating with impunity beyond our border; bilateral law enforcement 
cooperation--we are very interested in a partnership between our Drug 
Enforcement Administration and Mexican drug authorities, but to have 
our agents in Mexico unable to arm themselves makes no sense, 
particularly with the record of assassination that the cartels have 
established; improved border enforcement--obvious; extradition of 
Mexican nationals wanted in the United States on drug charges; 
implementation of money-laundering laws; increased crop eradication; 
rooting out corruption; and improved air and maritime cooperation. All 
of these points are elucidated in our Senate resolution requesting this 
report, and the administration has agreed, unilaterally, to provide it. 
For that I am very thankful.
  Let me talk about one area, and that area is extradition. This is an 
area which for me is a litmus test as to whether there is cooperation. 
I want to give one case that was just written up in the May 13, 1997 
Los Angeles Times by Anne-Marie O'Connor. It is not a traditional case, 
in terms of names like Amado Carillo-Fuentes--well-known cartel names. 
This case deals with a family by the name of Reynoso: Antonio Reynoso 
and two brothers, Jose and Jesus Reynoso. They were indicted among 22 
alleged members of a vast ring that transported cocaine from Mexico to 
Los Angeles to Chicago and to New Jersey, using Lear jets, boilers, and 
canned vegetables. They are named in an extradition request presented 
by this country to the Mexican Government. Last September, Jose Reynoso 
pled guilty on a drug-smuggling charge. Both Antonio and Jesus are 
under indictment for conspiracy to import and possess cocaine with 
intent to distribute, as well as for money laundering. In the last 2 
years, they have built a magnificent home within a

[[Page S4649]]

stone's throw of the border between San Diego and Tijuana. There is a 
small picture in the Los Angeles Times, which shows the border fence 
and then this drug lord's home right across the border fence. I want to 
describe it to you for a moment. I am quoting from the Los Angeles 
Times.

       To their profound annoyance, Justice Department officials 
     say, Reynoso, 53, is putting the finishing touches on an 
     ostentatious walled residence that backs right up to the U.S. 
     border. If he wanted to, he could hit a tennis ball into San 
     Diego County.

  The article goes on to describe the mansion:

       Encircled by a forbidding wall that ascends 35 feet, 
     chateau Reynoso rises like a ship over San Diego County, not 
     far from a binational gulch called ``Smuggler's Canyon.'' 
     [Where I have been.] With its turret, a glass pool atrium and 
     a dazzling green roof worthy of Oz, it is so conspicuous that 
     Border Patrol agents sometimes point it out to visitors.
       U.S. law enforcement officers note its fortress 
     architecture and its protected position at the end of a 
     narrow cul-de-sac. So close to the United States, they 
     complain, yet so far from a San Diego courtroom.
       ``I wish we could just tunnel back and grab him,'' a 
     Justice Department attorney said.

  Then it goes on to say:

       . . . Reynoso's name has appeared on lists of traffickers 
     given to Mexican authorities by United States Attorney 
     General Janet Reno. But no discernible action has been taken. 
     U.S. officials have no indications that Reynoso is even a 
     wanted man in Mexico.

  This same family was the mastermind behind a huge tunnel, 60 feet 
below the ground, between Otay Mesa and San Diego. This tunnel had 
electricity, it had air conditioning, and it was used by this family to 
smuggle drugs under the border into the United States. It was one of 
the most sophisticated tunnels, really, ever known. This family spent 
$1.1 million buying the lot in Otay Mesa where the passage's exit was 
to be located.
  This is a clear indication, I believe, of what Senator Coverdell and 
I will be looking for in terms of actions taken by the Mexican 
Government. We will have another round on certification. It is 
important to both of us, as well as, I believe, to a majority of this 
body, that there be actions taken in this equal partnership between the 
United States and Mexico. Let me just summarize.

  The response from a good friend, a neighbor, and an ally that drugs 
are exclusively a U.S. problem is simply not adequate. We admit that we 
have a demand problem. We have taken steps to strengthen our laws, to 
allocate funds for prevention programs. Still, we know we must do more 
and we are willing to say we will and do it.
  But when Mexican nationals run meth labs throughout California--and 
over 700 meth labs have been seized by the State Bureau of Narcotic 
Enforcement in California alone in the last year, 700 of them--and 
Mexico refuses to enforce its border, the drug problem is not our 
problem alone.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Chair advises the Senator her 10 minutes 
have expired.
  Mrs. FEINSTEIN. May I ask for 1 minute to wrap up, please?
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.
  Mrs. FEINSTEIN. When drug cartels are brazen enough to kill 
Government officials and church leaders in cold blood, the drug problem 
is not our problem alone. When the cartels are operating with such 
impunity that they do not hesitate to bribe officials on both sides of 
the border and, as ``Nightline'' has just pointed out, to buy up 
businesses along the border, the drug problem is not our problem alone. 
So the drug problem is a problem for both sides. What we need is a 
cooperative effort of both nations acting as full partners. Neither the 
United States nor Mexico can win this battle alone.
  The report that the President has now committed to provide to the 
Congress on September 1 will be an important indicator of whether or 
not Mexico has taken the decision to approach this terrible problem in 
a cooperative partnership and in a fully committed way. Unless the 
report can cite significant and demonstrable progress in cooperation, 
the answer, very sadly, will be that Mexico has not yet taken such a 
decision. I hope that is not the case on September 1.
  To me, this report is very meaningful. The point I want to make is 
that I believe the expectation of a majority of this body is that there 
be tangible and substantial steps taken that are visible, discernible, 
and real to combat the cartels and to stop the corruption, the bribing, 
and the sort of total disregard for law which is now characteristic of 
the situation.
  I, for one, will watch the extradition picture especially carefully.
  Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the May 14 letter from 
the President be printed in the Record, I thank the Presiding Officer 
for his forbearance, and I yield the floor.


                                              The White House,

                                     Washington, DC, May 14, 1997.
     Hon. Dianne Feinstein,
     U.S. Senate,
     Washington, DC.
       Dear Dianne: Thank you for your letter regarding 
     counterdrug cooperation between the United States and Mexico. 
     I want to take this opportunity to tell you about my visit to 
     Mexico and the efforts my Administration is making to advance 
     our counternarcotics strategy in a bipartisan spirit.
       President Zedillo and I had a full and frank discussion on 
     ways we can achieve greater progress toward attacking the 
     abuse and trafficking of illegal drugs. The Binational Drug 
     Threat Assessment Report that General McCaffrey and Attorney 
     General Madrazo presented to us sets forth in plain terms a 
     common view of all aspects of the drug phenomena striking at 
     our societies. On that basis, President Zedillo and I agreed 
     to form an Alliance Against Drugs, which commits our two 
     governments to prepare a common counterdrug strategy this 
     year to achieve 16 specific objectives.
       These objectives, which reflect your own thoughtful 
     contributions, include reducing demand through anti-drug 
     information campaigns directed at our youth, bringing the 
     leaders of criminal organizations to justice through 
     strengthened law enforcement cooperation, attacking 
     corruption, fully implementing laws to combat money 
     laundering and increasing interdiction and eradication. 
     Achieving all these objectives in the short term is 
     unrealistic, but I believe we can make progress and that 
     President Zedillo's effort to restructure Mexico's anti-drug 
     forces is an essential starting point.
       I want to keep the Congress informed of the progress we are 
     making toward achieving the objectives set forth in my 1997 
     National Drug Control Strategy and the U.S.-Mexico Alliance 
     Against Drugs. ONDCP Director McCaffrey will provide further 
     details on these issues to Members of both Houses in the near 
     future. My Administration will also provide the Congress by 
     September 1, 1997, a report covering each of the issues 
     contained in the Senate resolution passed in March as 
     elaborated in your recent letter and discussions with my 
     Administration. In addition, we will provide reports, as you 
     have requested, commenting on prospects for multilateral 
     hemispheric cooperation and on the feasibility of enhancing 
     truck inspections at the border.
       I appreciate your continued efforts to work with my 
     Administration to ensure that our children face a future free 
     of drugs and the crime they breed.
           Sincerely,
                                                     Bill Clinton.

  There being no objection, the letter was ordered to be printed in the 
Record, as follows:

  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Does the Senator suggest the absence of a 
quorum?
  Mr. COVERDELL. Mr. President, I suggest the absence of a quorum.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The clerk will call the roll.
  The legislative clerk proceeded to call the roll.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER (Mr. Roberts). Is there objection to the order 
for the quorum call being rescinded? Without objection, it is so 
ordered.

                          ____________________