Paul Coverdell: “what we have before us is a resolution that has special standing on the floor. It is a resolution that will take the…”

“what we have before us is a resolution that has special standing on the floor. It is a resolution that will take the certification that the President has called for in the case of Mexico's fully cooperating with the United States on the drug war, and this resolution, if it is adopted, would overturn that and it would decertify. That would be a statement that the cooperation had not been full and complete. This Senator, the Senator from California and others have been deeply concerned about this matter for well over a year and believe that by saying Mexico should be certified, we are saying to the people of both the United States and Mexico that things are going along OK. It is a message of fulfillment. It is a message that we are making progress, and that is not true. That is not true. The situation, by virtually any measurement, is less now than it was a year ago when the Senator from California and I began to raise the issue. I am here reluctantly. I consider myself an ally of the people and the Government of Mexico, but we are losing this war, we are losing this struggle, and it is not appropriate to say otherwise.”