Despite warnings from a top House Democrat that President
Clinton could not accept it, the House Rules Committee
Wednesday made in order a Republican amendment overturning
Clinton's certification that Mexico is aiding antidrug
efforts unless that country met a series of new standards
within 90 days.

The House today is slated to take up a resolution,
approved by the International Relations Committee,
overturning Clinton's Feb. 28 certification that Mexico had
cooperated with U.S. drug enforcement but also providing a
oneyear waiver of the decertification to give both
countries time to make more progress in the drug war. The
Rules Committee's move came as administration sources said
late Wednesday that the White House will seek to delay
today's scheduled House vote. However, the sources conceded
the effort to defeat the measure is probably doomed to
failure in the House, forcing the president to invest most
of his energy in heading off a similar measure in the
Senate.

The House Rules panel made in order an amendment to be
offered by Chief Deputy Majority Whip Dennis Hastert,
RIll., that would delay decertification for 90 days while
Clinton attempts to get "reliable assurances" from Mexico
of "substantial progress toward" six areas of improved
antidrug cooperation.

The Hastert amendment requires that for the
decertification provision in the underlying bill to be
waived after 90 days, there would have to be progress
toward allowing more U.S. drug agents to work in Mexico;
letting them carry firearms in Mexico for selfdefense;
requiring Mexico to "find and eliminate law enforcement
corruption"; permitting the extradition of more Mexican
nationals wanted in this country; allowing more U.S.
aircraft to overfly Mexican airspace and refuel there; and
making progress towards a permanent agreement that would
allow U.S. Coast Guard ships and other vessels to halt and
hold drug traffickers chased into Mexican waters. The
amendment, which Hastert said is backed by the House GOP
leadership, also would create a High Level Commission on
International Narcotics Control that would review the
annual certification process on foreign nations'
cooperation in antidrug efforts.

During the Rules Committee hearing, Rep. Martin Frost,
DTexas, a panel member, noted that language in the Hastert
amendment referring to "the failed antidrug policy" of the
last several years paints too negative a picture of
administration efforts to combat drugs compared to efforts
in the 1980s, when the White House was under Republican
control.

"Everyone was afraid this (decertification resolution)
would be Mexico bashing, now we seem to have decided to
bash our own government," Frost said. He asked
International Relations ranking member Lee Hamilton,
DInd., what he thought the impact of that language would
be.

"You make it impossible for the president to sign the
bill, he just wouldn't sign it," Hamilton told Frost.

Hamilton also expressed concern that if Mexican
President Ernesto Zedillo agreed to the changes in the
Hastert amendment, he would be seen at home as "giving in
to American demands." And Rep. Cliff Stearns, RFla., who
unsuccessfully urged the Rules panel to allow debate on his
amendment to delay decertification for 90 days until a
different set of circumstances is met, argued that the
United States would put Zedillo "in a real tough spot if we
dictate too much to him."

A House Democratic aide Wednesday night said Minority
Leader Gephardt, who has previously declared his opposition
to Clinton's decision to certify Mexican cooperation with
antidrug efforts, will oppose the Hastert amendment. "It
seeks to lay the blame (for the U.S. drug problem) at the
president's feet," the aide complained of language in the
Hastert amendment.

But House Democrats Wednesday night had still not
decided whether they would offer a motion to recommit the
decertification resolution, with or without instructions.
The strategy could revolve around whether Hastert's
amendment passes.

An administration source, after a meeting Wednesday
evening that included Clinton and about a dozen senators,
said administration officials will try to get House leaders
to delay today's vote and give all sides time to come to an
agreement. Asked by CongressDaily Wednesday night about
such a move, Gephardt said, "I have no problem with
delaying the vote."

Even if the White House is unable to stop the vote in
the House, one source said Clinton is committed to working
out an agreement with the Senate to approve language that
would put some type of conditions on the certification for
Mexico.

During the White House session Wednesday, newly
installed United Nations Ambassador Richardson stressed the
importance of resolving the situation before the
president's scheduled trip to Mexico on April 11, sources
said.

Sen. John Kerry, DMass., who attended the meeting,
said that placing conditions on Mexico would ease his mind
and likely would avoid a decertification vote in the
Senate.

"If the president and the Congress and the
administration can come to agreement on a set of steps that
we could take that are different than simply certifying,
then we could avoid a vote, or come up with a vote that
many people could participate in," he said. "And I think
that's going to be our effort at this point." Others
attending the meeting included Sens. Charles Robb, DVa.,
Joseph Lieberman and Christopher Dodd, both DConn., and
Max Cleland, DGa.