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Guest Commentary: September 7, 2001
Migration Is at the Top of
Our Bilateral Agenda with Mexico
The Honorable Henry Hyde
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Just over one year ago, on July 2, 2000, an extraordinary event took place. In a single day the people of Mexico peacefully ended seven decades of one-party rule with their votes. ...
The inauguration of Vicente Fox as Mexico's president has ushered in a new chapter in our Nation's relationship with our neighbor to the south. President Bush and President Fox have seized the opportunity to forge a new partnership. Both leaders have acted to leave the past and build a road to the future based on real shared interests.
The cornerstone of our relationship with Mexico is the North America Free Trade Agreement, initiated under the President's father's administration.
Commerce between the United States and Mexico increased from $83 billion in 1994 to nearly $200 billion in 1999. Total trade among the three NAFTA members, including Canada, reached $557 billion in 1999. Mexico has surpassed Japan as the United States's second largest trading partner. Even so, there is a belief abroad in our land that NAFTA is the culprit for the present economic downturn. This is simply not true.
The implementation of NAFTA, in fact, coincided with the longest peacetime economic expansion in the history of our Nation.
The trafficking of elicit narcotics through Mexico has left a swath of corruption and misery in its path. Securing Mexico's full cooperation in addressing the drug threat has long bedeviled our relations. President Fox has, however, demonstrated great courage in facing this violent and corrosive threat to the security of both of our nations. Under his leadership, Mexico has finally begun to extradite Mexican drug kingpins to face justice in the United States for their crimes.
Under President Fox's leadership, real law enforcement cooperation has begun at the working level where it counts, policeman to policeman.
Migration is at the top of our bilateral agenda with Mexico. The U.S. Census of 2000 revealed that almost 12 percent of the U.S. population is of Hispanic origin. Mexicans and Mexican-Americans constitute about 65 percent of that total. President Bush believes it is very important that America be a Nation that welcomes immigrants. He recognizes the huge contributions to our economy that immigrant workers, including Mexicans, have made and the vital role America has in welcoming people who will fulfill that role in our economy.
Note: This commentary has been adapted from a speech Rep. Hyde gave on the floor of the House, September 5, 2001.
 How to contact Rep. Henry Hyde (R-IL)
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