Mike Thompson: “I think clearly so. I have a broader concern in this, and that is, what is the signal that is being received from Mexico…”

“I think clearly so. I have a broader concern in this, and that is, what is the signal that is being received from Mexico and from Mexicans who watch this and listen to this debate and see all of these provisions which are clearly discriminatory, that we do not treat Canada this way, but we are treating Mexico this way. What kind of signal is that? We have a lot of highball rhetoric on the Senate floor about matters of discrimination, and worse, but I am wondering, in a situation such as this when it comes down to dollars or when it comes down to domestic interest groups that get involved in it, to try to pressure the United States to violate agreements we have entered into, what kind of signal that sends. And I wonder what President Fox, who has come in as a breath of fresh air, who has instituted components of democracy that they have not had, has reached out and is trying to get his arms around a tough economic situation in a complex culture and heritage, and has a good relationship with our President--I wonder what he must be thinking as he looks at all this. I don't think it is good.”