Congressional Record United States Th of America PROCEEDINGS and DEBATES of the 105 CONGRESS, FIRST SESSION
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E PL UR UM IB N U U S Congressional Record United States th of America PROCEEDINGS AND DEBATES OF THE 105 CONGRESS, FIRST SESSION Vol. 143 WASHINGTON, MONDAY, MARCH 10, 1997 No. 29 Senate The Senate met at 12 noon and was As I announced on Thursday, there The Senator from California is recog- called to order by the President pro will be no rollcall votes today during nized to speak for up to 2 hours. tempore [Mr. THURMOND]. our session, and any votes ordered f today will occur on Tuesday, either PRAYER early in the morning or, more than STATE DEPARTMENT EXPLA- The Chaplain, Dr. Lloyd John likely, after the party conference and NATION OF MEXICO'S CERTIFI- Ogilvie, offered the following prayer: caucus lunches. I will be continuing CATION Gracious God, You have promised discussions with the Democratic leader Mrs. FEINSTEIN. Mr. President, that ``In quietness and confidence shall in the hope of reaching an agreement Senator COVERDELL may well come to be our strength.''ÐIsaiah 30:15. on the resolution which would allow us the floor during this period. I hope he Thank You for prayer in which we to complete action early this week. does. I will be happy to defer, and yield can commune with You, renew our con- In addition, it is possible the Senate parts of my time to him as well. victions, receive fresh courage, and re- will consider the PenÄ a nomination this Mr. President, 1 week ago I joined affirm our commitment to serve You. week. I will notify Senators as to when with Senator COVERDELL and Senator Here we can escape the noise of de- that nomination is scheduled and when HELMS to introduce resolutions of dis- manding voices and pressured con- a vote will occur. But I presume that approval, to overturn the President's versation. With You there are no vote would probably not occur before decision to certify Mexico for antidrug speeches to give, positions to defend, late Wednesday, or Thursday more cooperation. party loyalties to push, or acceptance than likely. Last week I went home and I read the to earn. In Your presence we can sim- Also, there is a likelihood this week State Department's Statement of Ex- ply be and know that we are loved. You that the Senate will consider the Hol- planation, which is just 11¤2 pages. love us in spite of our mistakes and lings resolution relating to a constitu- I must say, I read this document with give us new beginnings each day. tional amendment regarding campaign disbelief. At best, this documentÐ Thank You that we can depend upon reform. which purports to make the case for Your guidance in all that is ahead of I thank all Senators for their atten- Mexico's certificationÐis a fairy tale. us. Suddenly we realize that this quiet tion. I suggest the absence of a At worst, it is a complete whitewash. moment has refreshed us. We are re- quorum, Mr. President. Today, I would like to take some time plenished with new hope. The PRESIDENT pro tempore. The Now we can return to our outer world and go over parts of it, and indicate my clerk will call the roll. thoughts on some of the subjects men- of challenges and opportunities with The legislative clerk proceeded to greater determination to keep our pri- tioned and refute some of the claims. call the roll. Let me begin by saying that section orities straight. We want to serve You Mrs. FEINSTEIN. Mr. President, I 490 of the Foreign Assistance Act re- by giving You our very best to the ask unanimous consent that the order quires the President to certify that leadership of our Nation to which You for the quorum call be rescinded. Mexico has ``cooperated fully with the have called us. In the name of our Lord The PRESIDING OFFICER (Mr. SES- United States, or taken adequate steps and Savior. Amen. SIONS). Without objection, it is so or- on its own'' to combat drug trafficking. f dered. Despite the best intentions of Presi- f RECOGNITION OF THE MAJORITY dent Zedillo and the best efforts of the LEADER RESERVATION OF LEADER TIME State Department to put a pretty face The PRESIDENT pro tempore. The The PRESIDING OFFICER. Under on the situation, the Department's able majority leader is recognized. the previous order, the leadership time Statement of Explanation, I believe, Mr. LOTT. I thank the Chair. is reserved. defies credibility. SCHEDULE f The State Department claims that Mr. LOTT. Today, under a previous ``The Government of Mexico's 1996 order, a number of Senators are sched- MORNING BUSINESS counterdrug effort produced encourag- uled to speak in morning business. At 3 The PRESIDING OFFICER. Under ing results and notable progress in bi- p.m., following the allotted morning the previous order, there will now be a lateral cooperation.'' The facts tell a business, the Senate will begin consid- period for the transaction of morning different story. eration of Senate Resolution 39, the business not to extend beyond the hour Let me begin with drug seizures: Governmental Affairs Committee fund- of 3 p.m., with Senators permitted to The State Department's Statement ing resolution, which was reported out speak therein for not to exceed 5 min- of Explanation indicates that ``Drug of the Rules Committee last Thursday. utes each. seizures and arrests increased in 1996.'' · This ``bullet'' symbol identifies statements or insertions which are not spoken by a Member of the Senate on the floor. S2035 S2036 CONGRESSIONAL RECORD Ð SENATE March 10, 1997 While this is technically trueÐyes, ing the increased drug shipments falls impunity. He also described how the there was a slight increase in 1996 in disproportionately on United States Mexican drug cartels are expanding both drug seizures and arrests of drug border agents because Mexico does lit- their criminal reach into the United traffickersÐthat is only because the tle to enforce the border. States. 1995 levels were so dismal. A larger United States Customs and Border As we debate whether or not to dis- look of Mexico's record of drug sei- Patrol officials have said publicly that approve of Mexico's certification, I zures, going back just a few years to Mexican traffickers are today going to hope all of my colleagues will take the 1992, gives a very different perspective. extraordinary lengths to move their time to read Mr. Constantine's testi- The 23.6 metric tons of cocaine seized products. They are constructing secret mony. It makes the case better than by Mexico, while slightly higher than compartments in 18-wheelers. They are anything I have seen that Mexico's ef- in 1995, is just about half of what was saturating areas with hundreds of forts have, in fact, not met the stand- seized in 1993. So, you see, in 1993 they mules carrying backpacks with 40 kilos ard for certification. seized 46.2 metric tons of cocaine. Look of marijuana each, and even sacrificing Mr. President, I ask unanimous con- how it has dropped off and leveled off large loads of marijuana at the border sent that Mr. Constantine's testimony since then. to allow more valuable shipments of be printed in the RECORD after my re- Second, drug arrests did increase cocaine and heroin to slip through be- marks. modestly in 1996 over 1995. But look hind them. And they have begun to use The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without back a few years and it tells a more sea lanes in much greater proportion. objection, it is so ordered. compelling picture. In 1992 you had For the State Department to state (See exhibit 1.) 27,369 drug arrests. In 1996 you had that there has been improved perform- Mrs. FEINSTEIN. Mr. President, I 11,038. That is not a stepped-up effort, ance by Mexico in intercepting drugs understand the Government Printing it is a stepped-down effort. So, after a at the border is incomprehensible to Office estimates that it will cost $1,152 precipitous drop, by more than 50 per- me. Low seizure figures, low arrest fig- to print this testimony in the RECORD. cent, a barely discernible 5- or 10-per- ures, falling street prices in our I also ask unanimous consent that the cent increase, in my view, is not im- citiesÐthese are hardly indications of Government Printing Office estimate provement. They are not encouraging full cooperation by Mexican authori- be printed in the RECORD at the conclu- results and there is not notable ties in combating drug trafficking. sion of my remarks. progress. Let me speak about the cartels in The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without Today, Mexico is the transit station Mexico. The State Department's State- objection, it is so ordered. for 70 percent of the cocaine, a quarter ment of Explanation touts the arrests (See exhibit 2.) of the heroin, 80 percent of the mari- of ``several major drug traffickers,'' in- Mrs. FEINSTEIN. I do this, Mr. juana, and 90 percent of the ephedrine cluding Juan Garcia Abrego, leader of President, because I think this is testi- used to make methamphetamine, en- the Gulf cartel, Jose Luis Pereira mony that is crucial to a decision that tering the United States. Salas, linked to the Juarez and Colom- will shortly be before the Senate. This These statistics reflect, I believe, bian Cali cartel, and Manuel Rodriguez is our No. 1 drug enforcement agency more drugs flowing into our cities and Lopez, linked to a minor operation in the United States, and I think it is our communities.