Judd Gregg: “I would have to say at the outset that I believe the certification process is a mistake because clearly it isn't…”

“I would have to say at the outset that I believe the certification process is a mistake because clearly it isn't working. But the fact is that as long as we have it, we ought to have integrity in it. And the fact is that, if we are going to look at the question of whether or not there has been an effort to comply that meets the terms of the certification process by Mexico, we would have to conclude that they have failed. We can wish that they had complied. We can hope that they had complied. We can say as a matter of public policy we truly wanted them to comply. But the fact is that they have not complied. To claim they have complied is to delude ourselves. Essentially it would be the same as suggesting that the Red Sox are going to win the World Series. We want it to happen, but we know it isn't going to happen. The fact is that Mexico and the core elements that are necessary for us to pursue the drug war in Mexico have been undermined by the cartels which earn so much money from the sale of drugs. The real problem here isn't Mexico, though. The real problem is ourselves. We could use that phrase, ``We have met the enemy and it is us.'' The fact is that our consumption of narcotics has corrupted not only much of the mechanism of Mexico but has corrupted the mechanism of Belize, Colombia, a series of countries in the Central American area, Peru, and in the Caribbean. We, as a nation, should truly be ashamed of what we are doing to these nations.”