MEXICO TO BE JUDGED IN DRUG FIGHT

WASHINGTON (AP) Refusing to certify Mexico as a fully cooperating
partner in the fight against drug trafficking would send an unwise and
wrongheaded political message, White House drug policy director Barry
McCaffrey says.

The Clinton administration was scheduled to announce today whether it
would certify that Mexico, America's second-largest trading partner
behind Canada, was fully cooperating with U.S. antidrug efforts.

"I don't expect any surprises," White House spokesman Joe Lockhart
said Thursday when asked if President Clinton would certify Mexico's
antidrug efforts.

The U.S. ambassador to Mexico, Jeffrey Davidow, also indicated
Thursday that Clinton would certify Mexico.

"Mexico's efforts in fighting narcotics are appreciated in the United
States," Davidow told the American Chamber of Commerce in Mexico City.
"Acting alone, we cannot face, we cannot confront and beat the
narcotics traffickers. We have to do this in a cooperative fashion."

By law, the president must judge the performance of all foreign drug-
producing and transiting countries by March 1.

Countries not certified as fully cooperating and not given a
national security waiver would be hit with economic penalties.

Some members of Congress have expressed doubt about Mexico's
commitment to stop narcotics trafficking. But McCaffrey said Thursday
the country is struggling to rid itself of drug-related corruption.

"We're trying to work in practical cooperation with men and women of
good will who share our view that this drug threat is a terrible
menace to their own political institutions and their own children," he
told the House Government Reform Committee's panel on criminal
justice, drug policy and human resources.

Lawmakers who contend Mexico has failed to meet its responsibilities
may move to block its certification.

"I'm going to have to ask the Senate, 'Is it time to say no, you do
not get recertified?"' Senate Majority Leader Trent Lott, R-Miss.,
said Thursday. "They're not doing what they're supposed to be doing on
the drug wars."

Meanwhile, House Speaker Dennis Hastert criticized McCaffrey's goal of
reducing U.S. illegal drug use and availability by 50 percent by 2007.

"As Republicans, we have insisted that the nation's drug czar meet
achievable performance standards by 2003," said Hastert, R-Ill.
"Moreover, we need the Clinton-Gore administration to share our
commitment to fight to win the war on drugs."

Hastert also announced that Reps. John Mica, R-Fla., Rob Portman,
R-Ohio, and Bill McCollum, R-Fla., would lead the new Drug-Free
America Working Group, a task force of House Republicans working on
the drug issue.