Pubdate: Fri, 27 Sep 2002 Source: El Paso Times (TX) Copyright: 2002 El Paso Times Contact: http://www.elpasotimes.com/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/829 Author: Diana Washington Valdez Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/coke.htm (Cocaine) AREA'S REPS SUPPORT DRUG MORATORIUM The region's three congressmen supported the House effort to give Mexico and other nations the benefit of the doubt regarding cooperation with the United States in the fight against illegal drugs. As part of a larger bill to fund the State Department, the House on Wednesday approved a provision to grant a two-year moratorium on the annual drug certification program. Under the program, the State Department grades nations on their efforts to assist the U.S. anti-drug war. The nations that don't comply will not receive U.S. aid. U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell had requested the moratorium. The moratorium was approved on a voice vote, which means a roll call was not taken and which is a method lawmakers sometimes use to avoid controversy. Rep. Mark Souder, R-Ind., chairman of the House Government subcommittee that deals with drug issues, was outraged. "Annual drug certification is one of the strongest tools we have as a nation," Souder said. "Clearly, Americans should not be asked to subsidize the programs of countries that won't help us stop drug traffickers." Supporting the moratorium were U.S. Reps. Silvestre Reyes, D-Texas; Henry Bonilla, R-Texas; and Joe Skeen, R-N.M. "Congressman Reyes has always felt that the U.S. drug certification process is not conducive to a good working partnership with Mexico," Ashley Atwell, Reyes' press secretary, said Thursday. From his experience as a former Border Patrol administrator, "he believes the process was not effective in reducing the smuggling of narcotics," she added. Bonilla said: "I find the Mexico certification process counterproductive. ... The current certification process sets up phony targets and creates a periodic crisis each year. Mexico is only part of the problem. We must fight the war on drugs on both fronts. Mexico has a long way to go, but we need to also work on this side of the border to decrease our demand for drugs." Skeen's spokesman, Paul Ostrowski, said Skeen viewed the bill as noncontroversial and agreed with the moratorium. Powell and the Bush administration had lobbied Congress for the moratorium because they believe drug certification was counterproductive and alienated U.S. allies, including Mexico. The Senate is expected to pass the bill. Bush is expected to sign it into law. Some experts say U.S.-Mexico relations have chilled, mostly because the White House has not advanced any U.S. immigration changes that Mexican President Vicente Fox sought early in his administration. Bush is scheduled to meet with Fox on Oct. 8. In the past, Mexico has argued that U.S. drug certification is a unilateral process that is demeaning. Richard Schwein, a retired FBI agent who worked in El Paso from 1987 to 1994, agreed that the U.S. drug certification did not help drug investigators at the front lines of the drug war to stop the flow of drugs. "With or without certification, the drugs keep pouring across," he said. "We're never going to decertify Mexico, because doing so would cause such a big stir with our next-door neighbor. The answer to the problem is for people in this country to stop using drugs, but I don't see that happening either." Drug Enforcement Administration officials estimate that about 55 percent of the cocaine in the United States comes across the U.S.-Mexico border, and that Mexican-based criminal organizations are the largest distributors of methamphetamine in the United States. Mexico's most powerful and extensive drug cartel is based in Juarez. It is allegedly operated by Vicente Carrillo Fuentes, a man wanted by U.S. authorities in 10 murders. - --- MAP posted-by: Terry Liittschwager