Asa Hutchinson: “the importance of Mexico's full cooperation with the United States antinarcotics efforts cannot, I believe, be…”

“the importance of Mexico's full cooperation with the United States antinarcotics efforts cannot, I believe, be overstated. Drug use among American teenagers has nearly doubled in the last 5 years. More importantly, more than 70 percent of illegal narcotics coming into the United States flow through Mexico. I know that many of those drugs originate in Colombia, incidentally, which we decertified, but 70 percent of those coming into the United States now flow through the nation of Mexico. Mr. President, as we all know, on February 28, the Clinton administration certified that Mexico cooperated fully with United States efforts to combat international narcotics trafficking during 1996. However, on February 27, the day before, the administration received a bipartisan letter from 39 Senators--I signed it, Senator Feinstein signed it, and many of my colleagues signed it--urging our Government to deny certification to Mexico. The facts unequivocally show us that Mexico has not--I say, has not--fully cooperated with us. Not one Mexican national out of the 100 or more that the United States wants for trial here on serious drug charges has been extradited to the United States, despite our Government's numerous requests. Not one has been extradited. Our own DEA Administrator, Tom Constantine, has recently said: There has been little or no effective action taken against the major Mexico-based cartels.”