[Congressional Record Volume 146, Number 103 (Thursday, September 7, 2000)]
[Senate]
[Pages S8212-S8214]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]

      By Mrs. HUTCHISON (for herself, Mr. Domenici, Mr. Dodd, and Mrs. 
        Feinstein):
  S. 3021. A bill to provide that a certification of the cooperation of 
Mexico with United States counterdrug efforts not be required in fiscal 
year 2001 for the limitation on assistance for Mexico under section 490 
of the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961 not to go into effect in that 
fiscal year.


                   mexican decertification moratorium

  Mrs. HUTCHISON. Mr. President, I send a bill to the desk. I submit 
this bill on behalf of myself, Senator Domenici, Senator Dodd, and 
Senator Feinstein.
  The purpose of the bill is to put a 1-year moratorium on the 
decertification process for Mexico as it relates to the illegal drug 
trafficking issue that we have been dealing with for so long. The 
reason we are introducing this bill and hope for expedited procedures 
is that we have just seen a huge election in Mexico in which, for the 
first time in 71 years, there is a president from the opposition party, 
from the PRI, which has been the ruling party in Mexico all this time.
  Democracy is beginning to be real in Mexico, and we want to do 
everything we can to encourage this democracy. We want to do everything 
we can to have good relations, better relations, with our sister 
country to the south, Mexico.
  Vicente Fox has visited the United States. He has opened the door for 
better relations. I know our next President, whoever he may be, will 
also want to do the same thing.
  It is a very simple bill. It is a bill that says for 1 year we are 
not going to go through the certification-decertification process, and 
hopefully our two new Presidents will begin a new era of cooperation in 
this very tough issue that plagues both of our countries. Having a 
criminal element in Mexico and a criminal element in the United States 
certainly is a cancer on both of our countries, and we want to do 
everything we can to improve the cooperation in combating this issue.
  The inauguration of Vicente Fox as President of Mexico on December 
1st should usher in a sea change in Mexican politics as well as the 
U.S.-Mexico relationship. Not only will 71 years of rule by the 
Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI) come to an end, but hopefully 
so too will come an end to the flood of illegal drugs from Mexico into 
the U.S.
  Despite the promise of a new day in our relationship with Mexico, a 
dark cloud looms on the horizon--the annual drug certification ritual 
in which Congress requires the President to ``grade'' drug-producing 
and drug-transit countries each March 1 on their progress in the war on 
drugs.
  The facts have remained essentially unchanged over the past several 
years. Mexico is the source of about 20-30% of the heroin, up to 70% of 
the foreign grown marijuana, and the transit point for 50-60% of the 
cocaine shipped into the United States.
  Mexico has never been decertified, but the thought of being in the 
company of Iran, Iraq, and Afghanistan on this list, has done little 
except to antagonize their political leadership and thwart expanded 
cooperation. There is no reason to go through this exercise next March 
and grade President Fox after fewer than 120 days in office. Further, 
with a new U.S. President taking office on January 20, there is no 
reason to set up a major confrontation between the two before they have 
even had an opportunity to work together cooperatively.
  I am proud to introduce legislation with Senators Pete Domenici, 
Christopher Dodd, and Dianne Feinstein which will grant Mexico a 1-year 
waiver from the annual certification process. I hope the Congress will 
pass this waiver legislation before we adjourn.
  This 1-year waiver will give President Fox the time he needs to 
develop and implement a new drug-fighting strategy in Mexico. And it 
will give the United States the time we need to work with President Fox 
in the creation of this new strategy, and to finally put in place the 
law enforcement needed to stop the flow of drugs across our 2000-mile 
shared border.
  The United States has enjoyed a long-term partnership with Mexico 
that has grown closer and more cooperative over time. The North 
American Free Trade Agreement cemented and strengthened our 
relationship--and our interdependence. Just last year, Mexico surged 
past Japan as our nation's second largest trade partner.
  But partnership is a two-way exchange, and in recent years we have 
drifted into tolerance of unacceptable conditions in the arena of drug 
trafficking and the endemic corruption it causes in communities on both 
sides of the border. The border has been a sieve for drugs, and it has 
resulted in a degree of lawlessness in Texas and along the U.S.-Mexico 
border that we have not seen since the days of the frontier. Even 
worse, the war on drugs plays out daily on nearly every schoolyard 
across our nation.
  I am more optimistic than ever, though, by the election of Vicente 
Fox, that Mexico is prepared to make the sacrifices necessary to 
contain the drug threat. And as he seeks to make progress on this 
almost overwhelming issue, we do not need to poison the spirit of early 
cooperation by injecting drug certification.
  Specifically, this bill waives for one-year only the requirement that 
the President certify Mexico's cooperation with the United States in 
the war on drugs. This waiver does not exempt Mexico from any of the 
reports or other activities associated with the certification process. 
It simply says the President does not need to ``grade'' Mexico by 
choosing between certification, decertification, or decertification 
with a national interest waiver.
  This 1-year drug certification waiver will give both the United 
States and Mexico time to develop a process that will make us partners 
rather than adversaries in addressing the one issue that can make moot 
all of the promising opportunities between our two nations.
  Still, President-elect Fox and the Government of Mexico should make 
no mistake about the priority the United States places on winning the 
war on drugs. We will expect this to be a top priority of our new 
President, and we hope that this will be a priority of President Fox.
  The Mexican government must take effective, good-faith steps to stop 
the narco-corruption that infects and demoralizes both of our 
countries. We ask them to take effective action to destroy the major 
drug cartels and imprison their kingpins, implement laws to curtail 
money laundering, comply with U.S. extradition requests, increase 
interdiction efforts and cooperate with U.S. law enforcement agencies.
  President-elect Fox has shown every willingness to work with the 
United States in developing these objectives. He knows the challenges 
ahead, and especially the ones that will come as Mexico's democracy 
continues to evolve and be tested. The United States should not add the 
pressures of the certification process next year to a situation so full 
of risks and opportunities.
  Mr. DOMENICI. Mr. President, I commend Senator Hutchison, along with 
Senators Dodd and Feinstein for introducing this bill today. I am 
pleased to join in this effort.
  The election of Vicente Fox as President of Mexico is a remarkable 
event in the history of our neighbor to the south.
  After 71 years of rule by the Institutional Revolutionary Party, 
Mexico is about to embark on an important test of its new democracy.
  Mr. Fox has spoken very eloquently and persuasively in recent weeks 
and he has offered some interesting new ideas on critical issues which 
affect both of our countries, like immigration, trade and controlling 
illegal drugs.

[[Page S8213]]

  Some of his ideas are quite impressive, and they certainly will spur 
debate both in the United States and in Mexico.
  I think it is important for our leaders in the United States, 
particularly those in the border region, to engage Mr. Fox, talk with 
him, listen to his ideas and offer our own thoughts to him.
  In this spirit of cooperation and acceptance, I think it is critical 
for the United States to suspend the drug certification process for 
Mexico this coming year.
  Mr. Fox needs time to build his administration, and to develop his 
own plan for dealing with the drug cartels.
  As we all know, the history of drug cooperation between the United 
States and Mexico has not been great.
  Mexico remains the source of 70 percent of the foreign grown 
marijuana in the U.S., 50-60 percent of the cocaine and 25-30 percent 
of the heroin.
  In recent months, our federal law enforcement authorities have 
dismantled a major heroin ring operating out of Nayarit, Mexico, which 
was responsible for much of the black tar heroin in the Southwest.
  It is this heroin which has torn apart the northern New Mexico county 
of Rio Arriba, which has the highest per capita heroin overdose rate in 
the Nation.
  President-elect Fox has said that he will redouble his country's 
efforts to fight the drug cartels, and will increase the number of 
criminals extradited to the United States to stand trial.
  I have fought for years for more extraditions, and I am pleased that 
President Fox shares my goal.
  I want to give Mr. Fox time to prove that he means what he says. 
Engaging in the certification process in March of 2001, within only 120 
days of Mr. Fox's first day in office, will only serve as a hindrance 
to developing mutual cooperation between the two new administrations.
  The bill we have introduced today merely waives for one year the 
requirement that the President make a certification decision about 
Mexico.
  This waiver would not exempt Mexico from any of the annual reports or 
other activities associated with the certification process, including 
review by the State Department in its annual report to Congress.
  It simply says that the next United States President need not grade 
Mexico and its new President in his first four months in office by 
choosing between certification, decertification or certification 
through a national interest waiver.
  Mr. Fox should make no mistake--Senators from the Southwest care 
deeply about the drug problem, which affects our communities, courts, 
jails, hospitals and border region like no other issue.
  We expect Mr. Fox to set concrete, measurable goals and timetables 
for crippling the drug cartels and ending narco-corruption.
  This is a fair bill, one that respects the new democracy in Mexico, 
and recognizes that the new administration needs time to set its own 
agenda.
  I look forward to working with my colleagues in the Senate and the 
new President of Mexico on this and other important issues of mutual 
interest between our two countries.
  Mr. DODD. Mr. President, I commend my friend from Texas for this 
proposal. I am pleased to be a cosponsor of it, along with the Senator 
from New Mexico, Senator Domenici, and Senator Feinstein from 
California. We hope others will join us and will soon be circulating a 
dear colleague letter inviting them to do so.
  We believe that this is a very sensible and timely proposal in light 
of the dramatic changes that have occurred this past July 2 with the 
election of Vincente Fox, candidate for the National Action Party, as 
the next President of Mexico. His inauguration later this year will 
bring to an end 71 years of the office of the Mexican President being 
held by a representative of the Institutional Revolutionary Party. 
Clearly President-elect Fox has an enormous task before him to put in 
place his new administration and to formulate policies and programs 
that he believes are consistent with his campaign promises and 
priorities. Among the many issues that he has suggested will be 
priorities of his administration is enhanced counter narcotics 
cooperation with the United States.
  I have made no secret of the fact that I believe that the annual 
unilateral drug certification procedures have been an obstacle to 
furthering cooperation between U.S. and Mexican law enforcement 
authorities. Rather than encouraging them to work closely together to 
thwart the corrupting impact of the drug kingpins in the United States 
and Mexico, the certification process degenerates annually to a 
shouting match across our southern border with respect to whether the 
Mexican government has done enough to warrant a passing grade from us 
on the counter narcotics front. Needless to say, Mexican officials 
resent the fact the they are being unilaterally graded on their 
performance by us while U.S. policies and programs are never subject to 
similar review or criticism.
  Frankly, Mr. President, this year elections on both sides of the 
border give us an opportunity to start afresh with respect to counter 
narcotics cooperation next year. By suspending the certification 
process for FY 2001, the climate for working more closely on these 
important programs will not be soured right off the bat by the March 1 
grading of Mexico. It is my hope that the new U.S. and Mexican 
administrations will make it a high priority in the early days of their 
administrations to put forward a joint plan for ensuring enhanced 
cooperation on counter narcotics issues that will replace the existing 
and counterproductive unilateral annual certification process with a 
multilateral mechanism to monitor progress in combating drug 
trafficking and related crimes in all affected countries. I would 
certainly be prepared to support an additional suspension of the 
certification process for a second year if additional time is needed to 
put in place a multilateral mechanism to ensure that international 
cooperation on such matters is working.
  Mr President, this is an extremely important issue for not only 
Mexico and the United States both for countries throughout this 
hemisphere. Certainly we need to address the problem of consumption 
here at home. Our neighbors in this hemisphere, that are either 
involved in the production, in the chemical transformation of these 
products, or the transportation or the money laundering have a 
different set of issues to address in our joint efforts to reduce both 
production and consumption of illicit drugs. It is vital that there be 
a high level of cooperation if we are going to be successful in 
stemming the tide and flow of narcotics that pour into this country, 
that result in the deaths of 50,000 Americans every year in drug-
related deaths in this country. I believe that the certification 
procedures are impeding that kind of cooperation. We believe that the 
legislation we have introduced this evening will improve the prospects 
that this will be done. I would hope that all of our colleagues will 
join us in endorsing this approach.
  Mrs. FEINSTEIN. Mr. President, I rise today to offer my support to 
the legislation introduced by my distinguished colleague from Texas, 
Senator Hutchison.
  Essentially, this bill would--for 1 year only--suspend the 
certification process with respect to Mexico.
  It is my hope that this one-year hiatus will be viewed as a sign of 
good faith between our nations, and that our two countries will 
dramatically increase the level of our cooperation in the coming year. 
The problem of drugs is as serious as any we face, and only with a true 
partnership with Mexico and other source countries can we hope to 
succeed in the battle against illegal narcotics.
  Mr. President, let me be very clear--my support for this legislation 
this year should not be taken as a sign that I am any less concerned 
with the rampant corruption and increasingly serious problem of illegal 
narcotics flowing from Mexico into the United States. I sincerely hope 
that President-elect Fox and the government of Mexico will with 
innovation and commitment launch a new and effective war against the 
cartels that are currently of unparalleled strength and viciousness.
  The Zedillo administration has made some progress in cooperating with 
the United States in this fight.
  For instance, the Zedillo administration:
  Allowed, for the first time, the extradition of two Mexican Nationals 
on

[[Page S8214]]

drug charges--although these were lower level participants in the drug 
trade. This is a beginning, but just that--there is still a long way to 
go.
  Fired more than 1400 of 3500 federal police officers for corruption; 
and so far, more than 350 officers have been prosecuted.
  Cooperated with the FBI late last year in an investigation on Mexican 
soil.
  And greatly increased seizures of illegal narcotics.
  On the other hand, not nearly enough has been done:
  Mexico is still the conduit to as much as 70% of the cocaine consumed 
in the United States (much of it originating in Colombia);
  Mexico supplies the majority of marijuana to the U.S., and, according 
to the United States Forest Service, Mexican cartels are now sending 
people across the border to grow marijuana in our national forests and 
on other federal lands;
  Despite recent successes in disrupting methamphetamine production in 
Mexico, the meth cartels are now increasingly setting up meth labs in 
the United States;
  To date, not one major drug kingpin of Mexican nationality has yet 
been extradited to this country, nor has a major kingpin even been 
arrested, with the exception of the Amezcua brothers, currently in 
jail, while the Mexican government decides whether to extradite. Until 
the cartel leaders are arrested, tried, convicted and imprisoned, there 
can be no real improvement.
  In the meantime, Mexican drug cartels are becoming ever more vicious. 
Tijuana, for instance recently saw its second police chief gunned down 
in less than 6 years, as dozens of judges, prosecutors and drug agents 
have been killed in Tijuana alone in recent years.
  Last April, the bodies of two Mexican drug agents and a special 
prosecutor for the Mexican Attorney General's anti-narcotics unit were 
found in such a mangled state that identification--even by the spouse 
of one of the agents--was impossible. According to press accounts, one 
investigator who saw the photographs of the crime scene said ``They 
told me it was a body. I've never seen anything like that.''
  The Arellano Felix organization is responsible for many of these 
crimes. They hold such a strong grip over their community that former 
DEA Administrator Thomas Constantine recently said that ``in Tijuana 
and Baja, they have become more powerful than the instruments of 
government in Mexico.''
  The Arellano Felix cartel operates with an estimated one million 
dollars in bribe money every day. With that money they pay law 
enforcement to look the other way, prosecutors to leave them alone, 
judges to let them go free, and for information about their enemies.
  This leads to the largest single threat in this war against drugs--
the level of corruption within Mexican law enforcement and even 
extending into this country. Honest law enforcement officers cannot 
know who to trust. Anyone who gets too close to capturing cartel 
members is subject to exposure and assassination. And the cycle of 
corruption and failure continues.
  The corruption is evident at all levels of Mexican law enforcement, 
and this is a problem that can only be solved through a concerted, 
comprehensive effort on the part of the Fox administration.
  Until the history of corruption is reversed and the drug cartels are 
brought to justice, this nation will have no respite from the scourge 
of drugs flowing across our borders.
  I cosponsor this legislation today as an experiment to see that, if 
by putting aside the contentiousness of a certification debate next 
March, there can be a new, more productive process. I will follow this 
closely. If reports do not reflect substantial, positive change, we 
will know clearly that decertification may be the only course.
  I thank the Chair, and I yield the floor.
  Mrs. HUTCHISON. Mr. President, if Senator Domenici would yield for 1 
more minute, I would like to, first of all, thank him for allowing us 
the time to introduce this bill. If we are going to be able to pass 
this by the end of the session, it is imperative that we get the bill 
into the process. I also thank the Senator from New Mexico, the Senator 
from Connecticut, and the Senator from California for being prime 
cosponsors because this will show the Mexican people and the new 
President-elect of Mexico that we do want cooperation.
  I believe it is in our long-term best interests that we develop trade 
relationships with our neighbor to the south, that we work with them on 
investments because as we increase the standard of living in Mexico, I 
think many of the immigration problems and the problems dealing with 
illegal drugs will also be wiped away.
  So this is a new era. I think this bill will signal that we do want 
cooperation and friendship. I have high hopes for President-elect 
Vincente Fox. I have high hopes that our new President will focus on 
this issue as well, to try to come up with a whole new process beyond 
certification and decertification, which certainly has not worked very 
well in the past.
  I yield the floor.

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