[Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents Volume 33, Number 19 (Monday, May 12, 1997)]
[Pages 653-654]
[Online from the Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]

<R04>
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 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.

[[Page 654]]

    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 Gov. Bob Miller of Nevada, chairman, National Governor's 
Association.