    [Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States: William J. Clinton (1997, Book I)]
    [May 1, 1997]
    [Pages 518-521]
    [From the U.S. Government Publishing Office www.gpo.gov]

    Interview With the San Antonio Express News, the Los Angeles Times, and
    the Dallas Morning News
    May 1, 1997

        The President. Hello?
        Elizabeth Shogren. Mr. President, good morning. This is Elizabeth
    Shogren with the L.A. Times.
        The President. Hi, Elizabeth.
        Ms. Shogren. How's it going?
        The President. Fine, thank you.

    [[Page 519]]

    Mexico-U.S. Antidrug Efforts

        Ms. Shogren. I spoke with Senator Feinstein a couple minutes ago,
    and she mentioned to me some particular evidence of progress on drug
    issues that she'd like to see from your trip--in particular, indications
    from the Mexicans that they're going ahead with money-laundering law and
    will give DEA agents permission to carry sidearms. I wondered if you are
    going to press for measurable indications from Mexico of progress on the
    drug issues or if you have some other strategy?
        The President. Well, first of all, as you know because it's reported
    in the press today, the Mexicans have announced significant
    reorganization of their antidrug effort, which I think is very
    encouraging. And they have cooperated with us in a number of ways. As
    you know, we do have DEA agents assigned to our Embassy in Mexico City
    in a liaison capacity. We are committed, both of us, to increasing our
    law enforcement, counter-drug cooperation, and we're committed to the
    safety of our law enforcement personnel, and we're working with the
    Government of Mexico to make sure we can assure their security. So I
    feel that we will be able to resolve that.
        But our participation in task forces, in terms of being detailed to
    Mexico, will have to require some resolution of this safety issue, but
    we're working on it. They have done--in almost every other area, they
    have continued to cooperate with us and have produced a lot of results,
    and money laundering is the next thing we're working on.
        But I believe you'd have to say that Zedillo's government has worked
    with us. Now, we know what the problem is in a lot of these countries
    that are dealing with poor people, often living in reasonably remote
    areas and with unlimited amounts of money to try to corrupt local
    officials. But I believe that Zedillo and his team are committed to
    trying to work with us, not because they want to work with us any more
    than they want to clean up Mexico and have Mexico be a good place for
    the people who live there.
        We both have a huge stake in this anti-drug effort. Obviously, for
    us, we're trying to keep drugs from being imported into the United
    States; for them, they're trying to keep the narcotraffickers from
    undermining the integrity of their democracy and the long-term success
    and stability of their society.
        So I'm--that's why I've strongly supported continuing their
    certification status. I think they want to work with us, and we're going
    to keep doing it.
        Kathy Lewis. Mr. President, this is Kathy Lewis [Dallas Morning
    News].
        The President. Hi, Kathy.
        Ms. Lewis. Hi. There was a report this weekend that the U.S. has
    quietly been debating proposals to impose economic penalties against
    Mexican drug traffickers. How seriously are you considering freezing
    U.S. assets and blocking traffickers' access to their bank accounts? And
    have you made a decision?
        The President. Well, we work on that all the time. And if we can
    identify people whose assets--who are narcotraffickers and whose assets
    we can legally freeze, we would do that without hesitation. We have--I'm
    very encouraged that we have increased our capacity to identify, for
    example, Colombian companies that are essentially fronts for drug money
    and are able to freeze their assets and limit their activities in the
    United States. So we would do that for companies from anywhere, and
    we're working on it all that time.

    Mexico-U.S. Trade

        Gary Martin. Mr. President, this is Gary Martin with the San Antonio
    Express News.
        The President. Hi, Gary.
        Mr. Martin. Hi. Your administration has been criticized in Texas, by
    Texas officials, for banning organized labor and delaying the
    implementation of NAFTA accords that would allow Mexican and U.S.
    truckers to haul cargo into border States. What's being done to resolve
    that issue? And will we see an announcement lifting the ban made in
    Mexico City?
        The President. Well, we're working hard on that. But let me just
    say, we think there are some legitimate questions which we raised. And
    we believe that we're committed and duty bound to allow Mexican motor
    carriers and drivers to operate in the United States if they are safe.
    And we're trying to identify steps that we can agree upon between the
    United States and Mexico to jointly take to benefit the motor carriers
    and the customers and enhance public safety and security at the same
    time.
        Our trade--U.S.-Mexico trade came to $130 billion in 1996. If you
    have a relationship this

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    broad, there is going to be some areas of disagreement, just like we
    have continuing areas of disagreement with our neighbor to the north,
    Canada. But that represents a very small portion of our bilateral
    commerce. And we have to try to resolve it.
        We've had a couple of other disagreements. We're trying to work
    through these things. But they're going to--we knew from the beginning
    that there would be some areas of disagreement, that no comprehensive
    agreement like this is perfect. But I think it's clearly been best for
    both Mexico and the United States.

    Antidrug Efforts

        Ms. Shogren. Mr. President, this is Elizabeth Shogren again. Given
    that the certification process, as it stands now, has given you and the
    Congress and the Mexican people so much trouble each time it comes up--
    it's a huge hassle--do you have any plans to change that process? And
    will you speak about these plans with President Zedillo or others in
    Mexico?
        The President. Well, I don't expect that we will discuss that since
    that decision is behind us now, assuming we continue our cooperation
    here. But I believe that the question of whether this whole
    certification system is the best way of dealing with the fight against
    drugs and securing cooperation is a legitimate question. There's a lot
    of debate about it in the Congress now. Congressman Lee Hamilton made a
    public statement about it just a couple of days ago. I know that the
    Speaker and others have voiced their questions about it. And what I have
    tried to do here is to set in motion a little bipartisan discussion in
    the Congress about it, try to evaluate whether we should keep the system
    we have and, if we change it, what we put in its place, what they
    believe the best alternatives are.
        It's the sort of thing that it's easy to demagog if you seek to
    change it, but if it's not working, we at least ought to--or if there's
    serious reason to doubt whether it's the most effective way to fight
    drugs, then we ought to have an honest evaluation of it. I know General
    McCaffrey has some questions about it. So what I've asked our people to
    do is to try to get knowledgeable people in the Congress together on
    both sides and really take a hard look at this and make a recommendation
    to us and see if we can't make a bipartisan decision here and move
    forward with that.
        You don't want to do something which appears on the surface to be
    tough but actually undermines the ultimate objective. The ultimate
    objective is to reduce the volume of drugs coming into the United
    States.
        Ms. Shogren. Right.
        The President. So, yes, we're looking at it.

    Mexico-U.S. Relations

        Ms. Lewis. Mr. President, U.S.-Mexico relations are always delicate,
    but you're traveling there at a particularly sensitive time because of
    drugs and immigration and the concern about it on both sides. Will you
    be able to address that with both the people of Mexico and those in the
    United States having their concerns eased? And also, do you feel the
    trust has been recovered that was lost since the decertification debate
    and the arrest of Mexico's drug czar?
        The President. Well, first of all, I think we ought to see this in
    the larger context. I mean, if you compare our relationship with Mexico
    today, for example, with several years ago, there's no question that
    we're stronger today, that when NAFTA was passed it brought us closer
    together commercially, that we were growing closer together anyway, that
    the fact that we came to Mexico's aid when the economy was teetering and
    threatening to destabilize the economies of many other Latin American
    countries, and that, in turn, they paid their loan back to us ahead of
    schedule and with $500 million profit in interest. I think those things
    ought to be seen as enormous positives, bespeaking a new partnership.
    They were also--Mexico is a very active part of the Summit of the
    Americas, and we know that a lot of our common future is tied up with
    Mexico.
        Secondly, with regard to immigration, keep in mind that the United
    States is now the fifth largest Hispanic nation in the world, with 22
    million legal residents. And obviously, they're from many, many
    different countries, but the largest source is Mexico.
        So I think that we have a positive trend here toward economic reform
    in Mexico, toward political reform with a third of Mexico's people
    living, at the State and local level, under opposition party leaders to
    the governing party, freely elected in free elections. And now I think
    there's a serious effort being made to deal with the drug issues.
        So the framework, I think, is quite positive, especially if you look
    to the years ahead. Now,

    [[Page 521]]

    what we have to do is just to continue to work on our economic
    relationship, continue to work on the narcotrafficking. And what I think
    for our part in the United States we have to do is to make--on the
    immigration issue, I think it is absolutely imperative that the
    provisions that were tacked onto the welfare bill--they're not part of
    the welfare reform bill, they were tacked onto the welfare reform bill--
    hostile to legal immigrants already living in this country be changed.
        And I think it's important for us to be sensitive in the way that we
    implement the new law dealing with illegal immigration. But after all,
    what that law requires us to do, it seems to me, is eminently sensible.
    It gives us the tools to strengthen border control, to toughen worksite
    enforcement, and to increase the removal of criminal aliens and others
    who are deportable and come in contact with the Government in some way.
        I think that this is not an anti-immigrant country. We let in
    960,000 immigrants legally last year. But we do have to do our very best
    to see that any immigrant who comes into this country, comes in legally.
    And if there are no consequences to coming in illegally, it will be
    impossible to do that.
        So we have to do this in a humane and decent way. We have to
    continue to show that we're a nation of laws. We have to respect human
    rights and not have any kind of discriminatory treatment or massive
    deportations. But this new law will give us tools we need to try to
    increase the integrity of our immigration system so that we can continue
    to maintain support for legal immigration but be more effective in
    deterring illegal immigration.

    Murderer of DEA Agent

        Mr. Martin. Mr. President, what do you plan to say to President
    Zedillo about the Mexican judicial system's decision to vacate a
    killer's conviction for the slaying of DEA agent Enrique Camarena, which
    many Americans believe smacks of official corruption itself?
        The President. Well, it's my understanding that he's seeking to use
    a procedure that's similar to our habeas corpus procedure to appeal the
    conviction. And furthermore, it's my understanding that even if he were
    to win his appeal, he'll still be subject to 35 more years in jail in
    Mexico.
        In any case, we have a standing immediate-arrest request in Mexico
    for the purpose of extraditing him to the United States as soon as he's
    released from confinement in Mexico for whatever reasons. So, if he's
    going to serve 35 more years in jail, that's one thing. If for some
    reason we're wrong about our understanding of the facts and a court
    would release him, we would expect his immediate extradition to the
    United States so that he could be prosecuted here.
        Deputy Press Secretary Mary Ellen Glynn. OK, thanks everyone.
        Mr. Martin. Thank you.
        Ms. Shogren. Thank you, Mr. President.
        Ms. Lewis. Thank you.
        The President. Goodbye. Thank you.

    Note: The President spoke at 11:22 a.m. by telephone from the Oval
    Office at the White House. In his remarks, he referred to President
    Ernesto Zedillo of Mexico and Rafael Caro Quintero, who was convicted of
    the murder of DEA agent Enrique Camarena.