For Immediate Release
Office of the Press Secretary
September 6, 2001
Joint Statement between the United States of America and the United Mexican States
September 6, 2001
Washington, DC
The three-day State Visit of Mexican President Vicente Fox to the United States celebrates the special friendship and authentic partnership that has been achieved by new leadership in the United States and Mexico.
Mexico.
This first State Visit of the Bush
Administration highlights the mutual trust and respect between our two
Presidents and governments. It also testifies to the
unequaled priority both Presidents attach to a practical and
cooperative approach to the common opportunities and challenges we face
as the well-being and prosperity of our peoples becomes increasingly
intertwined in our shared North American community. This
results-oriented approach, and the commitment to shared responsibility
and partnership undergirding it, are already generating unprecedented
levels of cooperation throughout our rich and diverse relationship.
With trade and investment between the
United States and Mexico at record levels, the Presidents took stock of
the success of NAFTA in bringing economic growth and development, and
with it higher wages, more jobs, and lower prices for our
citizens. They stressed the need to abide by the provisions
of our free trade agreement and agreed to the importance of vigorous
measures to ensure that the full benefits of economic development and
trade are extended to all regions of Mexico.
To serve urgent environmental priorities
in the border area, the Presidents agreed that immediate measures were
needed to strengthen the performance of the North American Development
Bank (NADBank), and its sister Border Environmental Cooperation
Commission (BECC), to identify and fund environmental infrastructure
projects on the border. Presidents Bush and Fox agreed that
a binational working group -- which will consult with national
legislatures, border states, communities, and other stakeholders --
will develop joint recommendations and report back to the Presidents by
October 31, 2001.
The Presidents praised the success of
efforts to heighten cooperation on legal issues as a major step toward
enhancing the rule of law and protecting public safety. They
highlighted growing cooperation against migrant smuggling and other
organized transborder crime, including a new agreement signed September
5, 2001, on sharing forfeited assets seized as a result of joint
investigations. They praised in particular the growing trust
between our law enforcement agencies that is making it possible to
broaden the scope of cooperation in this area. Presidents
Bush and Fox also expressed their support for new and more effective
national and multilateral measures to increase international
cooperation against drug trafficking. Specifically, they
expressed support for the Organization of American State's
?Multilateral Evaluation Mechanism? as a promising example of such
measures. In this regard, President Bush reiterated his
Administration's commitment to work with the U.S. Congress, on a
priority basis, to replace the annual counter-narcotics certification
regime with new measures designed to enhance international cooperation
in this area.
These and other areas of bilateral
engagement were highlighted in an historic joint meeting of the U.S.
and Mexican Cabinets on September 5. That session enabled the
Cabinet-level chairpersons of our Binational Commission, streamlined
and reinvigorated following the Presidents? meeting in Guanajuato,
Mexico in February 2001, to report on the specific steps achieved since
then to strengthen bilateral cooperation.
Their reports testified to the breadth of
our relationship and to the progress we are achieving in countless
areas that directly benefit the quality of life of our
people. Examples of other items covered in the reports
include: ? measures to improve safety and
protect lives along our shared border; ? means
of facilitating better coordination on border issues;
? a new agreement on food safety;
? steps to enhance cooperation on renewable and
more efficient energy resources and cross-border interconnections;
? a major new scholarship program ($50 million)
focused primarily on economic development disciplines; and
? regional cooperation to strengthen democracy
and prosperity in the Western Hemisphere.
President Bush and President Fox also had
a frank discussion about water resources and the importance of living
up to our mutual treaty obligations in this regard. They
agreed that in the future this could be well served by greater
cooperation aimed at more effective watershed management and improved
infrastructure, including formation of a joint advisory council.
The Presidents reviewed the progress made
by our joint working group on migration chaired by Secretaries Powell,
Castaneda, and Creel and Attorney General Ashcroft and noted this
represented the most fruitful and frank dialogue we have ever had on a
subject so important to both nations. They praised implementation of
the border safety initiative, and recognized that migration-related
issues are deeply felt by our publics and vital to our prosperity,
well-being, and the kind of societies we want to build.
They renewed their commitment to forging
new and realistic approaches to migration to ensure it is safe,
orderly, legal and dignified, and agreed on the framework within which
this ongoing effort is based. This includes: matching
willing workers with willing employers; serving the social and economic
needs of both countries; respecting the human dignity of all migrants,
regardless of their status; recognizing the contribution migrants make
to enriching both societies; shared responsibility for ensuring
migration takes place through safe and legal channels. Both
stressed their commitment to continue our discussions, instructing the
high-level working group to reach mutually satisfactory results on
border safety, a temporary worker program and the status of
undocumented Mexicans in the United States. They requested
that the working group provide them proposals with respect to these
issues as soon as possible. The Presidents recognized that
this is an extraordinarily challenging area of public policy, and that
it is critical to address the issue in a timely manner and with
appropriate thoroughness and depth.
To help address some of the root causes of
migration, they agreed to form a public-private alliance to spur
private sector growth throughout Mexico. This ?Partnership
for Prosperity? initiative will harness the power of free markets to
boost the social and economic well-being of citizens particularly in
regions where economic growth has lagged and fueled
migration. The development of this alliance
will be spearheaded by senior-level coordinators on both
sides, and will draw on the best expertise among Mexican and U.S.
economists, business people and civil society to develop a concrete
plan of action to be presented to the Presidents not later than March
1, 2002.
The Presidents expressed their strong
support for the launch of a new round of trade negotiations in November
at the WTO ministerial.
Both Presidents agreed that U.S.-Mexican
relations have entered their most promising moment in
history. Our governments are committed to seizing the
opportunities before us in this new atmosphere of mutual
trust. The depth, quality and candor of our dialogue is
unprecedented. It reflects the democratic values we share
and our commitment to move forward boldly as we deepen this authentic
partnership of neighbors.
# # #
|