In the mid-1980s, Congress -through the Anti-Drug Abuse Acts of 1986 ( P.L.99-570 ) and 1988 ( P.L. This and related sections require the President to certify, subject to congressional review, thatdrug-producing or drug-transit countries have cooperatedfully with the United States in drug control efforts in the previous year in order to avoid a series of aid and tradesanctions. In 1987, theSenate Foreign Relations Committee reported out a resolution to disapprove the presidential certification, and in1988 the full Senate voted 63-27 to disapprovethe President's certification. As a result, whenthe President fully certified Mexico in lateFebruary 1997, congressional resolutions of disapproval were introduced by Representative Shaw ( H.J.Res. In early March 1998, resolutions of disapproval were introduced in both houses of Congress. S.J.Res. 42 was defeated by a vote of 45 to 54. Congressional Action in 1999: Resolutions of Disapproval Introduced in the House But Not Passed; Narcotics Kingpin Designation Act Passed

President Clinton certified, on February 26, 1999, that Mexico was fully cooperative in drug control efforts,citing the broad array of cooperation between thecountries, the arrest and conviction of some major traffickers, and the continuing eradication and interdictionprograms. The measure was referred to the House InternationalRelations Committee, but no further actionwas taken. However, by the endof the 30-day congressional review period, no resolution of disapproval had been introduced in either house ofCongress to overturn the President's certification. Following the election of Vicente Fox of the conservative Alliance for Change as President of Mexico in the July 2, 2000 election, ending 71 years of presidentialcontrol by the dominant party, bills were introduced to exempt Mexico from the drug certification requirement inFY2001 in order to avoid an early confrontationwith the new government. Noadditional action was taken on these measures. Congressional Action in 2001: Efforts to Modify Drug Certification Requirements End with One-Year Waiver and Modified Procedure

In the period leading up to the deadline of March 1, 2001, when President Bush would be required to certify thatMexico and other drug producing or drug transitcountries had cooperated fully with the United States in drug control efforts, there were a number of congressionalefforts to modify or suspend the longstandingdrug certification requirements. On October 24, 2001, the Senate passed the Foreign Operations Appropriations for FY2002 ( H.R. In congressional action on the Foreign Relations Authorization for FY2003, the conference report on H.R. 107-228 ) onSeptember 30, 2002. In short, Section 706 requires the President to designate and withhold assistance from the worst offending countries (those that have "failed demonstrably" tomake substantial counter-narcotics efforts). It also permits the President to use his discretion to maintain a higherstandard and to withhold assistance and applyother sanctions against countries that are failing to cooperate fully with the United States in counter-narcotics effortswhenever he determines that such actionswould be helpful.
Beginning in 1986, Congress required the President to certify annually, subject to congressional review, that drug producing or drug transit countries hadcooperated fully with the United States in drug control efforts to avoid a series of aid and trade sanctions. Mexicohas been fully certified each year, but Congressclosely monitored these certification decisions and submitted resolutions of disapproval in some years.
In 1987 and 1988, Congress took some initial steps on resolutions to disapprove the certification of Mexico, and, in 1989 and 1996, it passed some drug-relatedrestrictions on Mexico. In 1997, congressional efforts to overturn the President's certification of Mexico advancedthe furthest when both houses passed separateresolutions of disapproval, and President Clinton provided additional reports on Mexican and U.S. efforts inspecified areas in compliance with the Senate-passedversion. In 1998, resolutions of disapproval were introduced in both houses, but S.J.Res. 42 was defeatedby a vote of 45 to 54 in the Senate, and nofloor action was taken in the House. In 1999, resolutions of disapproval were introduced in the House, but no actionwas taken, and no resolutions of disapprovalwere introduced in the Senate.
In 2000, despite some congressional criticism, no resolutions of disapproval were introduced in either house to overturn the presidential certification of Mexico. Following the mid-year election of opposition candidate Vicente Fox as President of Mexico, measures wereintroduced but not passed to exempt Mexico fromthe drug certification requirements in FY2001.
In 2001, no resolutions of disapproval were introduced in either house, and the Senate Foreign Relations Committee reported out two measures ( S. 219 and S. 1401 ) that would have modified the certification requirements for three years. By the end of theyear, the only measure that passed wasthe Foreign Operations Appropriations for FY2002 ( H.R. 2506 / P.L. 107-115 ) that waived the drugcertification requirements for FY2002 only, butrequired the President, with some waiver authority, to designate and withhold assistance from the worst offendingcountries that had failed demonstrably to adhereto international counter-narcotics agreements.
In 2002, both houses passed the Foreign Relations Authorization for FY2003 ( H.R. 1646 / P.L. 107-228 ) that permanently modified the drugcertification requirements. Section 706 requires the President, with some waiver authority, to designate andwithhold assistance from the worst offendingcountries that have "failed demonstrably" to make substantial counter-narcotics efforts. At the same time, it permitsthe President to use his discretion to withholdassistance and apply previous sanctions against countries that are failing to cooperate fully with the United Statesin counter-narcotics efforts whenever hedetermines that such actions would be helpful.