Dianne Feinstein: “I rise to read into the Record a letter that I have just sent to the President of the United States, urging…”

“I rise to read into the Record a letter that I have just sent to the President of the United States, urging decertification of Mexico: Dear Mr. President: I am writing to urge you to deny certification that Mexico has taken sufficient actions to combat international narcotics trafficking when you report to Congress on the anti-narcotics efforts of major drug producing and drug-transit countries. I believe a reasonable examination of the facts leads to no other decision. Last year at this time, Senator D'Amato and I compiled a list of actions we considered it necessary for the Mexican government to take to beef up their anti-narcotics efforts. This list is attached. Regrettably, I have concluded that there has been insufficient progress, or no progress, on nearly all of the items on this list. Some of these failures are due to inability; others are due to a lack of political will. But all have set back the urgent effort to end the plague of drugs on our streets. I want to bring to your attention a number of the most significant examples of Mexico's inability and unwillingness to deal with the drug trafficking problem effectively: Cartels: There has been little or no effective action taken against the major drug cartels.”