[Congressional Record Volume 144, Number 37 (Friday, March 27, 1998)]
[Senate]
[Page S2726]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                         ADDITIONAL STATEMENTS

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                      MEXICO DRUG DECERTIFICATION

 Mr. McCAIN. Mr. President, I voted yesterday against the 
legislation to disapprove the certification of Mexico as cooperating 
with U.S. counter-narcotics efforts. Given the level of attention that 
has been paid recently to continuing problems with Mexican anti-drug 
efforts, I want to make clear the reasons for my vote.
  I am under no illusions about Mexican performance in combating drug 
trafficking and corruption. But the question we face is whether 
decertification would make the situation better or worse.
  We have a long land border with Mexico. Our economies are closely 
linked. Our relationship with Mexico is much more diverse and 
significant than the single issue of drugs. We need Mexico's 
cooperation on drugs, and we need it on a host of other issues as well. 
If we were to decertify Mexico, we would kill all cooperation in the 
drug war and spoil the atmosphere in the rest of our relationship as 
well. We would be sending a message of a complete loss of confidence in 
Mexico. I do not believe that this is a message we really want to send.
  Fighting the drug war is no simple task. A country's efforts cannot 
be reduced to a simple statement of ``fully cooperating'' with the 
United States or not. In this respect, the entire drug certification 
process is fatally flawed. While the senior leadership in Mexico is 
committed to fighting drugs, the task before them is enormous. Even the 
most strenuous efforts by a government could not guarantee 100 percent 
success against a multi-billion dollar industry. There is no black or 
white answer.
  What matters most is that U.S. assistance to Mexico to help fight the 
war on drugs serves U.S. interests. For as challenging as the situation 
is now, imagine how much worse it would be if there were no U.S. 
assistance to Mexico to combat drug trafficking at the source. We would 
be hurting our own interests as much as Mexico's if we were to 
decertify Mexico and dramatically reduce our counter-narcotics 
assistance.
  Finally, we need to bear in mind that the only reason there is such a 
massive effort by the drug lords to supply drugs is because the United 
States provides such a massive demand. By all means, we must fight the 
supply chain by working together with our neighbors against drug 
production and trafficking. But we must also continue to take our share 
of the responsibility in the United States and fight the demand for 
drugs here at home.

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