[Congressional Record Volume 144, Number 16 (Thursday, February 26, 1998)]
[House]
[Pages H650-H651]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




  ADMINISTRATION SHOULD NOT CERTIFY MEXICO AS COMPLIANT WITH DRUG LAWS

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under a previous order of the House, the 
gentleman from Florida (Mr. Mica) is recognized for 5 minutes.
  Mr. MICA. Mr. Speaker, today I understand that the administration is 
about to certify Mexico as compliant with the United States law that 
requires an assessment of every country that is making an effort to 
eradicate or eliminate drug trafficking or drug production.
  It is rather sad that the administration would certify Mexico to a 
law that was designed to give benefits for trade, foreign assistance, 
financial assistance and military assistance to a country that is 
making progress in these areas, and choose to do so with Mexico because 
I cannot think of any offender worse than Mexico. In fact, in the drug 
war, Mexico is a disaster.
  The major source of almost all hard narcotics coming into the United 
States across our borders is Mexico. In fact, the major source of 
cocaine, of heroin, of methamphetamines and marijuana coming into the 
United States, the vast quantities that are coming into our country and 
destroying our cities, our communities, our children, are coming in, in 
fact, from Mexico. And today this administration, I understand, is 
going to certify Mexico as compliant.
  Mr. Speaker, let me tell my colleagues that Mexico is involved in 
narcotics up to its eyeballs, from the President's office down to the 
policeman on the beat. We know this. We have had hearings in our 
Subcommittee on National Security, International Affairs, and Criminal 
Justice that I serve on that confirm Mexico's lack and failure to 
cooperate in the war on drugs.

[[Page H651]]

  Mr. Speaker, they failed to sign a maritime agreement; they failed to 
cooperate in the extradition of the hard criminal drug traffickers; 
they failed to bring down even one major trafficking ring in Mexico; 
they failed to curb corruption; and they have failed to aid our DEA 
agents when they put their lives at risk in that country to help stop 
the war on drugs.
  Mr. Speaker, neighbors do not let neighbors have their young killed 
in the streets. I submit that Mexico is a neighbor and it has failed to 
take action and should not be certified by this administration now or 
until, in fact, it does get its act together and takes positive steps 
to curtail the production and the transit of drugs from that country to 
our country.
  All we have to do is look at the youth death and the death and crime 
in our country as a result of the drugs. Again, the major source of 
these drugs is Mexico. They are coming into our country. Two million 
Americans behind bars are there because of a drug-related offense and 
most of those drugs are coming in from Mexico.
  We have a skyrocketing rate of drug abuse and drug deaths among our 
youth, hitting our youth and our streets and our schools and our 
communities with cocaine deaths.
  In my area of central Florida, record heroin deaths and heroin is 
coming in and it will soon be as cheap as cocaine or any other drug in 
incredible quantities from Mexico.
  So we cannot certify a Nation that, indeed, is not cooperating. We 
cannot certify a Nation that is raining death and terror on our young 
people in the streets and neighborhood at a tremendous cost to our 
young people, a tremendous cost to our communities. The jails that are 
filled in this country and our citizens cannot even go to sleep at 
night because of the related crime and the related violence of drugs 
and narcotics.
  So they are taking a step today and it is the wrong step. They have 
taken the wrong step in the past when they had a Surgeon General, 
Joycelyn Elders, who established the policy of ``Just Say Maybe'' to 
drugs; when we had the President tell our young people, ``If I had it 
to do all over again, I would inhale.''
  Today, another fatal step in the lack of war on drugs by this 
administration and this President who are about to certify this 
country, which is the major source of violence, crime, and drugs in our 
Nation. We can stop it. We must stop it. We must decertify Mexico.

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