Pubdate: Thu, 15 Feb 2001
Source: Minneapolis Star-Tribune (MN)
Copyright: 2001 Star Tribune
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Author: Ken Guggenheim, Associated Press Writer

SENATOR OFFERS US-MEXICO DRUG PLAN

As President Bush prepares to visit Mexico, a key senator is proposing 
relaxing one of the biggest sore spots in U.S.-Mexican relations: drug 
certification.

The proposal, expected Thursday from Sen. Charles Grassley, chairman of the 
Senate Caucus on International Narcotics Control, would change the process 
to focus more on countries with poor records in fighting drugs. That would 
spare other countries, presumably including Mexico, what they see as 
humiliating annual critiques.

" We can improve the process, keep accountability, but still remove some of 
the elements that have given everyone so much heartburn, " Grassley, 
R-Iowa, said in a statement Wednesday.

Grassley has been one of the biggest defenders of certification and has 
opposed efforts by other lawmakers to eliminate or change the process. With 
his proposal, he raised hopes that an agreement could be worked out on the 
issue.

" It' s a significant and constructive development, " said Marvin Fast, 
spokesman for Sen. Christopher Dodd, D-Conn., who has sponsored a bill to 
eliminate certification. But Fast noted Dodd has not seen the proposal and 
doesn' t know if it addresses all his concerns. " The devil is in the 
details, " he said.

A strong supporter of certification, Sen. Jesse Helms, R-N.C., hasn' t 
reviewed Grassley' s proposal closely enough to take a position, but it 
seems like a " pretty good" idea, said Roger Noriega, a senior staffer on 
Helms' Foreign Relations Committee.

For 14 years, Congress has required the president to certify annually which 
countries are cooperating in the fight against drug trafficking. Those 
considered not to be doing enough can be " decertified" and face possible 
sanctions.

The process has infuriated many countries, most notably Mexico, that view 
it as a condescending and hypocritical exercise by the nation that is the 
world' s largest consumer of illegal drugs.

Lawmakers have become increasingly skeptical about the certifications' 
effectiveness and worried that the hard feelings it causes might undermine 
drug cooperation.

After last year' s election of President Vicente Fox, who ended Mexico' s 
governing party' s 71-year hold on the presidency, Sen. Kay Bailey 
Hutchison, R-Texas, proposed exempting Mexico from the certification 
process for one year. She plans to reintroduce similar legislation Thursday.

Grassley and other supporters of certification argue that certification is 
an effective tool and contend it' s reasonable to expect that U.S. trading 
partners and beneficiaries of U.S. aid help fight drugs.

Under existing law, the president must prepare a list by Nov. 1 of major 
drug producing or transporting countries. He must decide by March 1 whether 
to certify them.

Grassley is proposing that the Nov. 1 list include only countries that 
violate international drug enforcement standards. If they fail to improve 
by March 1, they could be decertified.

" My bill preserves certification' s main intent, gives the president a 
more useful tool, and addresses the main concerns of some of our major 
allies and friends over how it works, " he said.

But some of certification' s critics may feel that Grassley' s proposal 
doesn' t go far enough. Sen. Phil Gramm, R-Texas, wants the certification 
program eliminated, said his spokesman, Larry Neal.

" Senator Gramm decided quite some time ago that the certification process 
is simply too flawed to function, " he said.
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MAP posted-by: Keith Brilhart