US-MEXICAN LAWMAKERS HEAR NEW TONE

NAPA, Calif. (AP) - Mexican and American lawmakers said Saturday that
their countries have entered a new era in which they can discuss
disagreements without rancor.

``I think we have changed the tone of our conversations,'' Mexican
Sen. Silvia Hernandez said as delegations from the countries'
Congresses wrapped up an annual conference. ``We have gone from
confrontation to dialogue.''

U.S. Rep. Jim Kolbe, R-Ariz., agreed. ``We approach each other
without recriminations, without the kind of rhetoric and finger
pointing that has all too often characterized the relationship in the
past.''

It was the group's first meeting since Mexico's long-dominant
political party, the PRI, lost the presidency and its majorities in
the Mexican Congress.

Hernandez, a PRI member, said the conference gave Mexican lawmakers
an opportunity to show their American counterparts that they are no
longer rubber stamps of a PRI president.

``Clearly the Mexican Congress has a new and much enhanced and
important role than it has had in the past and that makes us in the
U.S. Congress anxious to work with our counterparts in Mexico,'' said
Kolbe.

The conference included closed-door discussions on energy problems,
drug trafficking, trade and immigration.

Sessions said there were no real agreements reached, but the two
delegations decided to hold a hearing on energy problems and to visit
border areas to see how illegal immigrants are treated by U.S.
authorities.

``This has never been (a conference) that reaches agreements and sets
policy,'' he said. ``But it shapes the attitudes of individuals on
both sides who will be providing leadership in the countries.''

He said Mexican lawmakers expressed concerns about how Mexican
immigrants are treated if they are arrested in the United States, but
Sessions said he thought those concerns were ``overblown.''

All three lawmakers said they doubted the two countries would have an
open border in the near future, but Sessions and Kolbe said the U.S.
Congress may be willing to authorize an expanded guest worker program
that would allow more Mexicans to work in the United States legally.

The two Americans also said that Congress may be willing to scrap or
significantly modify a law that ties U.S. aid to a country's efforts
to combat drug trafficking. That policy has been criticized by Mexico.

Sessions said Mexican lawmakers expressed strong concern that drugs
are threatening their country with addiction and corruption.

``Many told me in the meetings and in private that they recognize
that this is a serious threat to their long-term future and they are
prepared to deal with it,'' Sessions said. ``They would be more
effective in fighting drugs for that reason than simply to satisfy
some requirement of the United States.''