    [Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States: William J. Clinton (1999, Book I)]
    [February 23, 1999]
    [Page 244]
    [From the U.S. Government Publishing Office www.gpo.gov]

    Message to the Congress Transmitting a Report on a Western Hemisphere
    Drug Alliance
    February 23, 1999

    To the Congress of the United States:
        I am pleased to provide the attached report on a Western Hemisphere
    Drug Alliance in accordance with the provisions of section 2807 of the
    ``Foreign Affairs Reform and Restructuring Act of 1998.'' This report
    underscores the Administration's commitment to enhancing multilateral
    counternarcotics cooperation in the region.
        Strengthening international narcotics control is one of my
    Administration's top foreign policy priorities. Because of the
    transnational nature of the Western Hemisphere drug trafficking threat,
    we have made enhanced multilateral cooperation a central feature of our
    regional drug control strategy. Our counternarcotics diplomacy, foreign
    assistance, and operations have focused increasingly on making this
    objective a reality.
        We are succeeding. Thanks to U.S. leadership in the Summit of the
    Americas, the Organization of American States, and other regional fora,
    the countries of the Western Hemisphere are taking the drug threat more
    seriously and responding more aggressively. South American cocaine
    organizations that were once regarded as among the largest and most
    violent crime syndicates in the world have been dismantled, and the
    level of coca cultivation is now plummeting as fast as it was once sky-
    rocketing. We are also currently working through the Organization of
    American States to create a counternarcotics multilateral evaluation
    mechanism in the hemisphere. These examples reflect fundamental
    narcotics control progress that was nearly unimaginable a few years ago.
        While much remains to be done, I am confident that the
    Administration and the Congress, working together, can bolster
    cooperation in the hemisphere, accelerate this progress, and
    significantly diminish the drug threat to the American people. I look
    forward to your continued support and cooperation in this critical area.

                                                          William J. Clinton

    The White House,

    February 23, 1999.