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106TH CONGRESS

1ST SESSION H. J. RES. 61

Calling upon the Government of Mexico to undertake greater and more

effective counterdrug measures, and for other purposes.

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

JULY 1, 1999

Mr. MICA (for himself, Mr. TRAFICANT, Mr. GILMAN, Mr. MCCOLLUM, Mr.

PORTMAN, Mr. SESSIONS, Mr. SOUDER, Mr. BARR of Georgia, Mr.

PITTS, Mr. STEARNS, Mr. KINGSTON, and Mr. OSE) introduced the following joint resolution; which was referred to the Committee on International Relations

JOINT RESOLUTION

Calling upon the Government of Mexico to undertake greater

and more effective counterdrug measures, and for other

purposes.

Whereas illicit drug abuse, traffic, and production are serious

threats to the national sovereignty and to the health and

well-being of the people of the United States and Mexico;

Whereas the drug problem must be addressed both on the national front and on the international front;

Whereas the fight against drug trafficking is a significant bilateral topic between the United States Government and

the Government of Mexico;
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Whereas neither the United States nor Mexico can unilaterally win the fight against drug trafficking;

Whereas the Government of Mexico passed the Federal Law

Against Organized Crime which gives the Government of

Mexico the capability to effectively fight criminal organizations linked to drug trafficking;

Whereas the Government of Mexico has made considerable efforts to comprehensively modernize its legal framework to

combat money laundering;

Whereas the Government of Mexico has instituted significant

regulations used to combat the illicit production and trafficking of precursor chemicals;

Whereas the Attorney General’s Office (PGR) and its units

that are used to combat drug trafficking have been restructured and reinforced with anti-corruption methods;

Whereas the Government of Mexico has been a world leader

in the percentage of eradication of illicit crops since

1994;

Whereas the Government of Mexico has increased its efforts

and capabilities to intercept illicit drug shipments;

Whereas the Government of Mexico has publicly committed to

spending $500,000,000 (in United States dollars) in fiscal year 1999 through fiscal year 2001 to purchase additional counterdrug technology and equipment such as

surveillance aircraft, x-ray machines, helicopters, patrol

vessels, and go-fast boats and, therefore, the Government

of Mexico should be strongly encouraged by the United

States Government to purchase counterdrug technology

and equipment manufactured in the United States;

Whereas significant amounts of black tar heroin are being

produced on Mexican territory and exported for consump-
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tion in the United States, and the United States Government, therefore, should furnish all appropriate assistance

to the Government of Mexico for the development of a

comprehensive and effective opium eradication program

in Mexico;

Whereas the United States House of Representatives during

the 105th Congress passed House Joint Resolution 58 on

March 13, 1997, by a vote of 251 to 175, which gave the

President of the United States the responsibility for reviewing the progress made by the Government of Mexico

in combating drug trafficking;

Whereas House Joint Resolution 58 conditioned certification

of Mexico under section 490 of the Foreign Assistance

Act of 1961 on assurances that the Government of Mexico make substantial progress in and commitment toward

taking concrete measures to find and eliminate law enforcement corruption in Mexico, insofar as Mexico has exhibited the lack of will to cooperate fully with United

States law enforcement personnel on narcotics control

matters;

Whereas House Joint Resolution 58 also conditioned such

certification on assurances that the Government of Mexico make substantial progress in and commitment toward

(1) extraditing Mexican nationals, particularly drug kingpins, wanted by the United States Government for drug

trafficking and other drug-related offenses, (2) securing

aircraft overflight and refueling rights, (3) installing adequate aircraft radar coverage to monitor and detect all

aircraft entering and transiting through Mexico that are

suspected of involvement in drug trafficking, and (4) a

long-term maritime agreement with the United States to

allow vessels of the United States Coast Guard and other
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appropriate vessels to halt and hold drug traffickers pursued into Mexican waters;

Whereas the Government of Mexico has not made substantial

progress to find and eliminate law enforcement corruption in Mexico in order that it may cooperate fully with

United States law enforcement personnel on narcotics

control matters;

Whereas the Government of Mexico, during 1996 through

1998, has fulfilled United States nondrug-related extradition requests at a rate of 65 percent, but has not extradited any Mexican nationals wanted by the United States

Government for major drug trafficking and other drugrelated offenses;

Whereas the Government of Mexico has not made substantial

progress in securing aircraft overflight and refueling

rights;

Whereas the Government of Mexico has not made substantial

progress toward installing adequate aircraft radar coverage to monitor and detect all aircraft entering and

transiting through Mexico that are suspected of involvement in drug trafficking;

Whereas the Government of Mexico has not made substantial

progress toward a long-term maritime agreement with

the United States to allow vessels of the United States

Coast Guard and other appropriate vessels to halt and

hold drug traffickers pursued into Mexican waters; and

Whereas the Government of Mexico has received 73 Huey

helicopters from the United States Government for

counterdrug purposes since 1995, yet only 40 of these

aircraft can fly, no support and maintenance agreement

for the helicopters was agreed upon by the 2 govern-
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ments, and there is no adequate end-use monitoring

agreement to verify the deployment of these aircraft, and

the Government of Mexico claims that they are not useful

in fighting illegal narcotics: Now, therefore, be it

1 Resolved by the Senate and House of Representatives

2 of the United States of America in Congress assembled,

3 That Congress—

4 (1) calls upon the Office of National Drug Con5 trol Policy to report to the Congress by January 30,

6 2000, on the progress made by the Government of

7 Mexico on those matters set forth in the preamble

8 of this joint resolution;

9 (2) considers these matters to be of paramount

10 importance to the bilateral relationship between the

11 United States and the United Mexican States;

12 (3) calls upon the Government of Mexico to im13 mediately return the excess Huey helicopters to the

14 United States Government if in fact it no longer

15 wants custody of this drug fighting equipment, in

16 order that the helicopters might be used elsewhere

17 by countries that need such equipment;

18 (4) will consider these matters at the beginning

19 of the 2d session of the 106th Congress and review

20 whether the Government of Mexico has made sub21 stantial progress in these matters;
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1 (5) calls upon the Office of National Drug Con2 trol Policy to submit to Congress a plan to promptly

3 redistribute the Huey helicopters returned to the

4 United States by the Government of Mexico to other

5 drug fighting countries cooperating with the United

6 States on counternarcotics efforts; and

7 (6) calls upon the Government of the United

8 States to intensify efforts to secure a maritime

9 agreement with the Government of Mexico and

10 promptly provide the terms of such agreement to the

11 Government of Mexico in order to facilitate greater

12 counternarcotics cooperation.

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