III

106TH CONGRESS

2D SESSION S. RES. 335

Congratulating the people of Mexico on the occasion of the democratic

elections held in that country.

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

JULY 13, 2000

Mr. HELMS (for himself, Mr. LOTT, Mr. BIDEN, Mr. L. CHAFEE, Mr. DODD,

Mr. LUGAR, Mr. COVERDELL, Mr. DOMENICI, Mr. LEAHY, Mr. GRASSLEY, Mr. BINGAMAN, Mr. GRAMM, Mr. MCCAIN, Mr. SMITH of New

Hampshire, Mr. CRAIG, Mrs. FEINSTEIN, Mrs. BOXER, Mr. FEINGOLD,

Mrs. HUTCHISON, Mr. ASHCROFT, Mr. FRIST, Mr. GRAMS, Mr. DEWINE,

Mr. KYL, and Mr. BROWNBACK) submitted the following resolution;

which was considered and agreed to

RESOLUTION

Congratulating the people of Mexico on the occasion of the

democratic elections held in that country.

Whereas the United States and Mexico share a border of

more than 2,000 miles;

Whereas Mexico is the second largest trade partner of the

United States, with a two-way trade of

$174,000,000,000;

Whereas United States companies have invested more than

$25,000,000,000 in Mexico from 1994–1999;

Whereas more than 20,000,000 people now in the United

States are of Mexican descent, a fact that in and of itself
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forges profound and permanent cultural ties between our

2 countries;

Whereas the well-being and security of the United States and

Mexico require governments willing and able to cooperate

fully to confront common threats, including organized

crime, corruption, and trafficking in illicit narcotics;

Whereas the people of Mexico have struggled for decades for

a true representative democracy, accountability, and the

rule of law and, in recent years, they have sought and obtained significant political and electoral reforms in pursuit of those objectives;

Whereas the Federal Electoral Institute and its regional

councils, now genuinely independent and representative

bodies, were responsible for organizing the federal elections on July 2, 2000, in which nearly 1,000,000 citizens

participated directly in conducting the balloting for a new

president, a new national congress, and state or local officials in Mexico City as well as 10 states;

Whereas the July 2nd elections were observed by approximately 2,500,000 domestic monitors and 850 foreign visitors, including delegations of the United States-based

International Republican Institute for International Affairs and the National Democratic Institute;

Whereas in the July 2nd elections, Vicente Fox Quesada of

the Alliance for Change (consisting of the National Action Party and the Mexican Green Party) was elected

President of the United Mexican States, receiving 42.5

percent of the 37,600,000 votes cast, according to preliminary results released by the Federal Electoral Institute; and
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Whereas, according to the Federal Electoral Institute and domestic and international observers, the July 2nd elections

were unprecedented in their degree of fairness and transparency, forming the foundation for a genuinely democratic and pluralistic government that represents the will

and sovereignty of the people of Mexico: Now, therefore,

be it

1 Resolved,

2 SECTION 1. CONGRATULATING THE PEOPLE OF MEXICO ON

3 THE OCCASION OF THE DEMOCRATIC ELEC4 TIONS HELD IN MEXICO.

5 (a) CONGRATULATING THE PEOPLE OF MEXICO.—

6 The Senate, on behalf of the people of the United States,

7 hereby—

8 (1) congratulates the people of Mexico for their

9 long, courageous, and fruitful struggle for represent10 ative democracy and the rule of law;

11 (2) congratulates Vicente Fox Quesada for his

12 electoral triumph and extends to him genuine best

13 wishes for great success in his formation of a new

14 government; and

15 (3) congratulates Ernesto Zedillo Ponce de

Leo ́ 16 n, current President of the United Mexican

17 States, for his historic commitment to ensure the

18 peaceful and stable transition of power.

19 (b) SENSE OF THE SENATE.—It is the sense of the

20 Senate that the United States should seek to—
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1 (1) expand and intensify its cooperation with

2 the newly elected Government of Mexico to promote

3 economic development and to reduce poverty to

4 achieve an improved quality of life for citizens of

5 both countries;

6 (2) confront common threats such as the traf7 ficking in illicit narcotics; and

8 (3) act in solidarity to actively promote rep9 resentative democracy and the rule of law through10 out the world.

11 SEC. 2. TRANSMITTAL OF RESOLUTION.

12 The Secretary of the Senate shall transmit a copy

13 of this resolution to—

14 (1) Vicente Fox Quesada, President-elect of the

15 United Mexican States;

16 (2) Luis Felipe Bravo Mena, president of the

17 National Action Party of Mexico;

18 (3) the International Republican Institute for

19 International Affairs and the National Democratic

20 Institute; and

21 (4) the Secretary of State with the request that

22 the Secretary further transmit such copy to Ernesto

Zedillo Ponce de Leo ́ 23 n, President of the United

24 Mexican States.

Æ