    [Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States: George W. Bush (2002, Book I)]
    [March 22, 2002]
    [Pages 480-482]
    [From the U.S. Government Publishing Office www.gpo.gov]

    ``The Monterrey Commitments'': Joint Statement by the Presidents of the
    United States and Mexico
    March 22, 2002

        Our meeting today was a valuable opportunity to celebrate the
    strength and vitality of the U.S.-Mexican bilateral partnership over the
    past year, and discuss our priorities for the year ahead.
        Our two nations have developed a historic level of trust and mutual
    respect, strengthened by common values and purposes, that has
    facilitated an unprecedented degree of bilateral cooperation over the
    past year. It is a high national priority of both nations to continue
    building on that cooperation over the coming years and harnessing it for
    the achievement of the important goals of economic and social
    development, security, and rule of law that are essential to both
    countries' wellbeing.
        In this context, we agreed that the international campaign to
    eradicate terrorism requires us to address pressing new priorities and
    shared goals central to defending our societies and ways of life. At the
    same time, we recognized that the events of September 11 underscore more
    than ever the importance of the U.S.-Mexican relationship, as partners
    and neighbors, in the attainment of those goals and in realizing the
    vision we have set forth for our countries' future. Hence, we reviewed
    what we are doing together to create a ``smart border'' for the 21st
    century. We will build a border that protects our societies against
    those who would do us harm, and that truly serves the human and economic
    needs of our dynamic relationship. We share a vision of a modern border
    that speeds the legitimate flow of people and commerce, and filters out
    all that threatens our safety and prosperity.
        The ``smart border'' declaration and action plan we have just
    adopted sets out a series of specific steps we will take to move
    concretely toward that vision. The twenty-point action plan comprises
    measures that will enhance the secure flow of goods and people, and
    build a modern and efficient infrastructure that keeps pace with
    commerce. We intend to monitor this process closely to ensure the
    fastest possible implementation of these and other steps on which we may
    agree. Both governments will work expeditiously to prioritize
    infrastructure investment needs and cooperate to identify funding
    sources.
        Slightly more than one year ago, in Guanajuato, we talked about
    migration as one of the major ties that join our societies. We launched
    then the frankest and most productive dialogue our countries have ever
    had on this important and challenging subject. Those talks have
    continued over the past year, and have yielded a clearer assessment of
    the scope and nature of this issue. This bond between our nations can
    render countless benefits to our respective economies and families. Over
    the past year, important progress has been made to enhance migrant
    safety and particularly in saving lives by discouraging and reducing
    illegal crossings in dangerous terrain.
        On September 7, 2001, during President Fox's historic State Visit to
    Washington, we issued a joint statement instructing our cabinet-level
    working group to provide us with specific proposals to forge a new and
    realistic framework that will ensure a safe, legal, orderly, and
    dignified migration flow between our countries. We have today

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    agreed that our Cabinet level migration group should continue the work
    we charged it with in Guanajuato and Washington.
        When we first met as Presidents, we described our shared vision to
    help unfetter the economic potential of every citizen, so each may
    contribute fully to narrowing the economic gaps between and within our
    societies. To help implement that vision, we launched the ``Partnership
    for Prosperity.'' The Partnership seeks to leverage private resources to
    create jobs and promote prosperity in less developed areas of Mexico.
    Today, we welcomed the Partnership's action plan of concrete and
    innovative initiatives on housing, agriculture, infrastructure,
    remittances, communications, development financing and information
    technologies. Some examples include:

         Lowering the cost to Mexicans and Mexican-Americans in the
                United States of sending money home so that their families
                get to keep more of their hard-earned wages;
         Increasing the accessibility of capital to Mexican
                entrepreneurs so that they can grow their businesses and
                create more and better jobs.
         Increasing investment in housing, and the creation of a
                secondary mortgage market, so more Mexicans can become
                homeowners.

        Our aim is to foster economic development so that no Mexican feels
    compelled to leave his or her home for a lack of a job or opportunity.
    While achieving the Partnership's goals will require time and persistent
    effort, the initial steps detailed in this report will build a strong
    foundation for long-term success. We will closely follow implementation
    of these promising steps. We are confident that the high level officials
    we have tasked with turning our vision into reality will produce results
    that will make us both proud and benefit both our countries.
        We commend the ongoing success of the Training, Internship,
    Education and Scholarship program (TIES), designed to support the
    Partnership for Prosperity by enhancing conditions for sustained
    development in Mexico. Over the next five years this $50 million
    initiative is expected to implement 35 partnerships between Mexican and
    U.S. higher education institutions and to provide hundreds of
    scholarships for undergraduate exchanges and graduate studies in the
    United States.
        When we met in Washington in September we talked about the
    importance of addressing urgent environmental priorities on the border.
    After a series of discussions with border states, the local communities,
    and other stakeholders, our binational working group has finalized a
    series of specific recommendations to strengthen the performance of the
    North American Development Bank (NADBank), and its sister institution
    the Border Environmental Cooperation Commission (BECC).
        As these institutions continue to work on urgent environmental
    infrastructure priorities in the border areas, both governments will
    work with their legislatures to make the recommendations a reality. The
    recommendations include measures to make financing more affordable,
    expand the geographic scope on the Mexican side of the border in which
    projects can be financed, replacing the two institutions' separate
    boards of directors with a single board to oversee their work, and
    facilitate efforts to work with and co-finance environmental projects
    with the private sector.
        Cooperation against organized crime remains a cornerstone of the
    bilateral agenda. We acknowledged major successes achieved by Mexico in
    the fight against narco-trafficking. We agreed on the importance of
    redoubling judicial cooperation aimed at bolstering the rule of law in
    both countries and strengthening our ability to ensure the safety of our
    citizens.
        We also reviewed regional political issues of interest to both
    countries, including sharing assessments of the situations in Argentina,
    Colombia, Cuba and Venezuela.

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        We have consulted frequently, as friends and neighbors, over the
    past six months as we have sought to advance a vision of growing
    partnership aimed at increasing prosperity, greater economic convergence
    between our two economies, raising living standards, and ensuring the
    security of both societies. Our commitment to this fundamental agenda,
    and to the importance of our partnership, is stronger than ever. We will
    continue our close and productive dialogue in the months and years ahead
    as we take full advantage of the great opportunities before our two
    nations.

    Note: An original was not available for verification of the content of
    this joint statement. The Office of the Press Secretary also released a
    Spanish language transcript of this joint statement.