Newt Gingrich: “I wanted to take the floor to begin this debate today on the drug war and the specific question of certifying Mexico's…”

“I wanted to take the floor to begin this debate today on the drug war and the specific question of certifying Mexico's role in the drug war to make several points to all of my colleagues which I hope will be noted throughout the debate, and I hope on our side of the aisle that the managers both of the debate on the rule and the debate on the actual bill will help communicate. This is an effort on our part to help the people of Mexico to help the people of Colombia and to help the American people. All of us are faced with a terrible challenge of international drug lords who are ruthless and who use the profits of American money from sales to Americans in order to sustain a level of violence that is tragic. No American can look at the thousands of Colombians who have died, no American can look at the Mexican prosecutors, the Mexican police who have died risking their lives to try to free their countries from the scourge of drug dealers and then talk in a self-righteous manner about these countries. We have a challenge in America of ending the drug trade protecting our children and cutting off the flow of money to drug lords wherever they are.”