Kay Bailey Hutchison: “I rise to speak on the Dodd-McCain amendment that will put this charade of certification aside and try something new in…”

“I rise to speak on the Dodd-McCain amendment that will put this charade of certification aside and try something new in the war on drugs. I think, Madam President, all of us want the same result; we want to stop the illegal drugs from coming into our country. Today, 13 million Americans use illegal drugs; 1.5 million use cocaine, 600,000 use heroin, and 10 million use marijuana. Madam President, it is coming in through Mexico. Twenty percent of the heroin, 70 percent of the marijuana in this country, and 50 to 70 percent of the cocaine comes in through Mexico. This is under the process we have now--certification--which is insulting, which does not have any positive consequences and, I submit, really only has negative consequences. Madam President, how is the best way for us to attack the issue of illegal drugs coming in from Mexico? Is it to insult our neighbor? Is it to berate them? What does that give us? It gives us a hostile neighbor. Is that going to help? I hear people on this floor talking about Mexico as if it is 2,000 miles from our border. Madam President, Mexico is our border. We share family ties, we share a trade relationship, we share problems for both of our countries in illegal drug transit. It is bad for Mexico, it is bad for the United States. And I submit that we share friendship. We know Mexico is not doing enough; they know it. I have met with President Zedillo on this issue. I am convinced that he is trying to do everything he can.”