Remarks at the Inaugural of the 21st Binational Commission

(10:05 a.m. EST)

Good morning, ladies and gentlemen, Secretary Derbez and your colleagues and all of my colleagues present. We're so pleased to be joined together to begin the 21st Binational Commission meeting that our countries have held. And it is the fourth BNC that I have been privileged to co-chair.

I'm pleased to be joined here by so many of my Cabinet colleagues, Secretaries Ridge, Mineta, Paige and Jackson, Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Leavitt, and Peace Corps Director Vasquez and many other officials representing my country. The caliber and scope of our delegation reflects the importance that President Bush attaches to our relationship with Mexico and the importance he attaches to the work of the Binational Commission.

We are always glad to see Secretary Derbez and his distinguished colleagues from President Fox's cabinet. Above all, it is a pleasure for me and my colleagues to once again be in Mexico and, particularly, in this historic and vibrant city.

I look forward to co-hosting with my Mexican and U.S. colleagues the working groups on foreign policy, border security, and cooperation on migration and consular affairs. Other working groups will focus on law enforcement, economic development, agriculture, energy, education, the environment, labor, health, housing, and transportation.

Whether guarding against terrorists, stopping drug traffickers, arresting those who prey on migrants, or moving our vast commerce, our two governments are engaged every day in a cooperative effort on behalf of our peoples. The Binational Commission is an important expression of that daily work in service to our citizens, and our work together delivers results that benefit both nations.

The last decade of Mexican-U.S. relations has been momentous, marked by visionary initiatives such as the North American Free Trade Agreement. I believe that the past four years have been particularly productive. Let me just cite a few examples. I might note at the beginning that in the ten years of the North American Free Trade Agreement, trade between our two countries has tripled, benefiting both nations so, so richly.

We have deepened and broadened our law enforcement cooperation and especially our counter-narcotics cooperation. We have intensified and expanded our counter-terrorism and border security efforts. The public-private alliance we call Partnership for Prosperity, that partnership launched by Presidents Fox and Bush, is already creating important economic opportunities in Mexico. Under the Partnership for Prosperity, the Peace Corps' first volunteers are in Mexico. They are beginning to work in the areas of information technology, small business development, and environmental technology.

Last year, the Overseas Private Investment Corporation committed more than $40 million in financing, financing that would go to small U.S. businesses operating in Mexico, and we anticipate providing hundreds of millions more in the coming months.

Together, we have accomplished very much, but there is considerable work ahead, and the citizens we serve are leading the way. We in the government need to keep up with our citizens.

Entrepreneurs, workers, and consumers in both of our countries have made Mexico the second largest trading partner of the United States. Over a million people cross our borders every day. Mexico is the top foreign destination for U.S. travelers. Nearly 16 million U.S, citizens visit Mexico each year, and nearly ten million Mexicans visit the United States. Ten million Mexicans live in the United States. Over 400,000 U.S. citizens live in Mexico, and 25 million of my fellow citizens are of Mexican origin.

The United States is proud to be a nation of immigrants, but too many of those immigrants living and working in our country today have no legal status. Early last year, President Bush proposed a temporary worker program to match willing foreign workers with U.S. employers and to offer legal status to immigrants who contribute to our economy as they work to support their families. But the President remains committed to comprehensive immigration reform as a high priority in his second term, and we will work closely with our Congress to achieve this goal. Together, we can work together to make North America more globally competitive.

How best do we do that? By working cooperatively to improve education so that our citizens can be successful in a 21st century world by improving the infrastructure on both sides of the border to meet the needs of people and commerce while making it easier to start new businesses in both of our countries. At the same time, we must also be innovative in our efforts to stop those who abuse the openness of our societies along the border, who would use this openness to harm our citizens through trafficking in drugs or trafficking in human beings or by committing acts of terrorism.

And so, the challenge for the governments of Mexico and the United States today, and every day, is to do what ordinary Mexicans and Americans seem to do so easily. We need to get on with the work of tomorrow, working together today to increase economic opportunity and to defeat common threats. As our citizens well recognize, those shared aims -- our open system with mutual respect for national sovereignty, working in partnership to help our citizens become prosperous and secure is exactly what our fellow citizens expect us to do, and what our Binational Commission is all about.

And so, on behalf of the United States delegation, I want to take this opportunity to thank Secretary Derbez and his colleagues for so graciously hosting this year's meeting. We look forward to a day of intense and productive discussions, which I am sure will further improve the close relations that our two countries already enjoy.

Thank you very much. (Applause.)
2004/1207
[End]