    [Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States: William J. Clinton (1997, Book I)]
    [May 6, 1997]
    [Pages 546-548]
    [From the U.S. Government Publishing Office www.gpo.gov]

    Remarks on Receiving the Binational Commission Report in Mexico City
    May 6, 1997

        Well, thank you very much. Members of the Mexican Cabinet and the
    American Cabinet, thank you for your reports and for the specific
    concrete efforts that you are making to move our relationship forward
    and to help our peoples.
        Secretary Albright commented that the work of the Binational
    Commission was so broad because our relationship is so broad. This is a
    truly extraordinary thing to have this many people in our Cabinet, this
    many people in your Cabinet all working together on a broad range of
    issues.
        Let me say, Mr. President, as you know, I'm particularly gratified
    also to be joined here by strong bipartisan delegations from the United
    States Congress that are here from many States along the border, as well
    as Governor Miller of Nevada, the chairman of the Governors' association
    in the United States. So we're here because we know that we have to make
    this relationship work together beyond party politics, within our
    countries and across our borders.
        In the 21st century, we want our border to be our bond, and we want
    it to be rooted in a mutual commitment to the exchange of people and
    commerce across the border and to our

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    fidelity to the rule of law. The reports we have heard today are fully
    consistent with that objective.
        With regard to narcotics, I was very impressed by the drug threat
    assessment done jointly; by the proposal for an alliance, and I think
    the word is well taken--it must be an alliance undertaken in good faith
    and mutual respect; by the news that the alliance will actually
    articulate a strategy and specific tactics for implementing the
    objectives of the alliance by the end of the year.
        For our part, we in the United States know that we have to reduce
    our demand, and General McCaffrey will tell you we've presented the
    largest counternarcotics budget ever, but we also think we're doing more
    of the right things. The Attorney General is working very hard to pass
    the right kind of juvenile justice legislation. And as perhaps many of
    you in Mexico know, we have been quite successful in reducing drug use
    among people whom we thought were the biggest problem, young Americans
    aged 18 to 34. Drug use in our country is going up among Americans even
    younger, under 18. So we are devoting an enormous amount of time and
    effort to that problem, and we hope we can show progress on our side.
        I am confident, from the efforts which have been made and the
    statements which were made to me by the President earlier, that Mexico
    is equally committed to making progress on this side of the border.
        With regard to the migration report, I think it strikes the right
    balance. The Attorney General has explained what we are trying to do in
    the United States on this issue. I think we all know we have a deep
    stake in making the border crossings work, and we in the United States,
    in our Government, have no interest in causing any unfair or undue harm
    to immigrants in our country. We are a nation of immigrants. We have
    been deeply enriched by them. They have made us the fifth largest
    Hispanic country in the world, with 22 million Americans now of Hispanic
    descent. But we know that we also have to enforce the integrity of our
    immigration laws at the border, in the workplace, in the criminal
    justice system, and we are attempting to strike the right balance.
        As regard to the other issues, let me just say very briefly, I
    welcome the specific announcement on clean wastewater. We are trying to
    show our good faith by committing more funds to the environmental
    projects. We are concerned that the joint commission has approved
    something like 16 projects, of which only 4 have been approved for
    financing by the North American Development Bank, and we're committed to
    doing something about that.
        I'm especially pleased by the educational exchange comments and the
    commitment to increased educational exchange. I think that is very
    important. I'm very pleased that there will be a report back to us
    within 90 days from the relevant Cabinet officers on what we can do more
    to implement the labor and environmental accords.
        And finally, let me say, Mr. President, I'm glad to see that our
    Cabinet members are reaffirming the fact that NAFTA has worked. There
    are some people, still, who assert in the United States that it has not,
    but it has. If you compare what has happened in the last 3 years with
    what happened the last time Mexico had some economic distress, you see
    that American exports have fared much better, and the Mexican economy
    has come back much quicker and much stronger, and NAFTA is clearly
    partly responsible for that. So I'm glad to see that our Cabinet members
    are hanging in there and trying to get the evidence out because I think
    it's clear that we did the right thing.
        No one issue defines this relationship. The scope of it presents us
    with unique challenges and opportunities. It's vital that we work
    together, but I feel much better about our shared future because of the
    work that our Cabinet ministers are doing in this unprecedented forum.
    And I thank them for it, and I thank you for hosting us today.

    Note: The President spoke at approximately 11:30 a.m. in the Lopez
    Mateos Room at Los Pinos Presidential Palace. In his remarks, he
    referred to President Ernesto Zedillo of Mexico and Gov. Bob Miller of
    Nevada, chairman, National Governor's Association.

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