FOX URGES CONGRESS TO GRANT RIGHTS TO MEXICAN IMMIGRANTS

WASHINGTON, Sept. 6 -- President Vicente Fox of Mexico urged a joint
meeting of Congress today to grant legal rights to millions of undocumented
Mexican immigrants, saying they bring large economic and cultural benefits
to the United States.

"Let me be clear about this," Mr. Fox said. "Regularization does not mean
rewarding those who break the law. Regularization means that we give legal
rights to people who are already contributing to this great nation."

Alternating almost seamlessly between Spanish and English, he asked
Congress for stronger ties and greater trust between the United States and
Mexico. It is a theme that has been highlighted on his first official visit
to Washington.

Mr. Fox also urged the legislators to show confidence in his government,
the first to be led by a president elected from the opposition, by
supporting legislation that would exempt Mexico from the United States's
drug certification program and that would allow Mexican trucks on American
highways.

President Bush, playing host for the first state visit of his
administration, expressed support for Mr. Fox's proposals and said he
understood the Mexican leader's urgency. He warned Congress that he would
veto an appropriations bill that would ban Mexican trucks from the United
States.

Mr. Bush also called the drug certification process counterproductive and
unfair to Mexico. Every year since 1986, the White House has had to certify
to Congress that Mexico is doing its part in the war on drugs.

"We are committed to becoming a true partner with the United States in the
fight against drugs," Mr. Fox said. "But trust requires that one partner is
not unilaterally judged by another." On Mr. Fox's quest to reach an
agreement on the immigration issue by the end of the year, Mr. Bush said,
"I want to accommodate my friend." Then he explained the political struggle
ahead.

"This is an incredibly complex issue," Mr. Bush said. "It is complex to the
point where my administration is going to spend a lot of time on resolving
that type of question. But to make matters even more complicated, we've got
to work with the Congress, and we've got to come up with a solution that
Congress can accept."

Legislators seemed divided along party lines on Mr. Fox's proposals to
expand programs for guest workers and to give legal work status to 3.5
million Mexicans in the United States. Richard A. Gephardt, the House
Democratic leader, said that he agreed with Mr. Fox's request for quick
action on immigration and that he thought that legislation was possible by
the end of the year.

But Representative Tom Tancredo, a Colorado Republican who heads the
Congressional Immigration Reform Caucus, said he opposed any amnesty for
illegal immigrants.

Despite the partisan differences, legislators expressed admiration for Mr.
Fox and for the ties that he has forged between the two countries that have
shared a wall of distrust for much of the last century.

"The bottom line is the fences are going to go down between these two
countries," Senator Joseph I. Lieberman, Democrat of Connecticut, said.
"And it's in the interest of both countries that we make it work."

House Speaker J. Dennis Hastert, Republican of Illinois, called the speech
"muy excelente."

Mr. Fox boasted of his legitimacy before American legislators. "The dream
that for decades was unfulfilled is now a reality," he said, bringing
legislators to one of three ovations.

It is a legitimacy that Mr. Fox hopes will help level the playing field in
negotiations with the United States over contentious issues like narcotics
trafficking and illegal immigration. He also hopes to turn the burgeoning
feelings of trust between Washington and Mexico City into reforms and
programs that will help lift his struggling nation out of social distress.

"Give trust a chance," he said, to more applause. "Give our two governments
a chance."

In a joint statement released after the address, both presidents celebrated
the "special friendship and authentic partnership" that they had achieved.
The statement indicated that the two had reached accords on sharing assets
seized in joint law-enforcement operations, on a $50 million college
scholarship program to spur studies in economic development and the
creation of a public-private alliance to generate growth in the private
sector throughout Mexico.

The Mexican national security adviser, Adolfo Aguilar Zinser, said the two
governments had nearly worked out the organization of new binational
law-enforcement units to combat intellectual property crimes, corruption
and the smuggling of immigrants.

In his speech, Mr. Fox emphasized that his government had already
demonstrated its commitment to fighting organized crime by arresting
important drug traffickers and smugglers of immigrants over the nine months
that he has been in office.

Calling the North American Free Trade Agreement an incomplete treaty, Mr.
Fox urged legislators to back away from safety standards that have
prohibited Mexican trucks from entering the United States.

He said he spoke in the name of 100 million Mexicans in his country seeking
similar hopes for a more prosperous Mexico. But some of his most earnest
pronouncements were directed at Mexicans who are living in the United
States. He told the legislators that immigrants were always more of a
benefit than a cost to the countries that receive them.

He said he was seeking measures that would lift the ceilings on the numbers
of Mexicans who are granted permanent visas to the United States, expand
opportunities for Mexican guest workers and save lives on the United
States-Mexico border.

Reminding legislators of this country's immigrant past, Mr. Fox paid homage
to "the brave men and women who had taken the challenge to build new lives
for themselves and their families."

Then he spoke to Mexico's immigrants in the United States. "Mexico will
never forget you," he said. "We will support you. And we will not fail."