04 March 2002

Ridge Reviews Border-Management Issues with Mexican Officials

President Bush strongly believes that the United States has "no relationship in the world that is more important" than the one with Mexico, says Governor Tom Ridge, the U.S. director of homeland security.

Speaking at a March 4 press briefing in Mexico City, Ridge told reporters that heightened security challenges in the wake of the September 11 terrorist attacks against the United States have dramatically underlined the need for more effective measures to safeguard the U.S.-Mexico border. For that reason, "President Bush has asked me to come talk with [Mexican] leaders and consider steps we can take together to make our societies and countries not only safer, but also stronger, better and more prosperous," he said.

Ridge suggested that the existing border infrastructure and the current approach to border management are out-of-date and inadequate, in view of new security requirements. It is "vital" that both Mexico and the United States embrace technological advances to boost security along the two countries' shared border, he said.

Ridge also emphasized that a closer U.S.-Mexico partnership should facilitate the legitimate cross-border traffic of people and goods from one country to the other. Moreover, President Bush "is very eager to continue this dialogue with [Mexico's] President Fox when they meet in [the Mexican city of] Monterrey" on March 22, he said.

Following is a transcript of Ridge's remarks, as well as the subsequent question-and-answer session with reporters:

Governor Tom Ridge: Good afternoon. I am very pleased to be here again and feel very much privileged to be part of an effort that is so important to the countries of the United States and Mexico. President Bush on many, many occasions has stressed to me just how important the relationship is between our two neighbors. Six months ago, tomorrow, he stood together with President Fox at the White House and said it very directly and very plainly: We have no relationship in the world that is more important that the one with Mexico. He talked about the ties of "commerce, culture and kinship" that unite us. And President Fox talked about the mutual respect that is, and must be, at the core of this partnership.

It is also nearly six months since September 11. The events of that day have compelled us to come to grips with critically important new priorities.

These new challenges underscore the continuing importance of our relationship with Mexico -- and together, our relationship with our other democratic partners in this hemisphere. That is the essence of why I am here today. President Bush has asked me to come talk with your leaders and consider steps we can take together to make our societies and countries not only safer, but also stronger, better and more prosperous.

Together, we will find better ways to combat international terrorism. More broadly, we will find better ways of protecting the important human and economic interests at the heart of the U.S.-Mexican ties. We have a remarkable demographic relationship and one of the most dynamic and modern trading relationships in the world today. And so much of these hinges on the way we manage the long border that joins our two countries.

Speaking frankly, our relationship long ago outpaced both our border infrastructure and our approaches to border management. We're trying to serve and enhance a 21st-century relationship with an old intellectual and physical approach to our borders.

It is vital to both countries that we move beyond this, that we embrace technology, that we take advantage of the growing trust and opportunity in this relationship and that we find ways to make our border more secure, more efficient, and more friendly to the legal traffic -- both people and goods.

We certainly have some ideas on specific steps that could start this process and are eager to hear the views of our Mexican counterparts. I am here with a highly talented team of senior U.S. officials:

• Ambassador Otto Reich, Assistant Secretary of State for Western Hemisphere Affairs -- Ambassador Frank Taylor, Secretary Powell's top official for counterterrorism -- Ambassador Mary Ryan, Assistant Secretary of State for Consular Affairs -- Judge Robert Bonner, United States Commissioner of Customs -- INS (Immigration and Naturalization Service) Commissioner Jim Ziglar -- Ambassador John Maisto, President Bush's Special Assistant for Western Hemisphere Affairs

These officials have already been working very hard with their Mexican counterparts on these challenges. These challenges are associated with the creation of a smart, user-friendly 21st-century border.

I'm personally most grateful to President Fox and his administration. They've greatly extended themselves during our days here with planning and preparations and accommodations. We certainly are looking forward to meeting and discussing these issues with President Fox, with Secretary Creel, Secretary Castaneda, Attorney General Macedo, Secretary Vega, Secretary Peyrot, and Secretary Gertz.

I am anxious to learn how the Mexican government believes we can move this extremely important process along. Since I am here at the direction of President Bush, I will be reporting back to him upon my return to the [United] States. And I know he is very eager to continue this dialogue with President Fox when they meet in Monterrey later this month. Thank you.

[We now have time for a few questions.]

Milenio (daily Mexican Newspaper): Governor Ridge, I would like to ask you, are you satisfied with the efforts made by the Mexican government to secure its own southern border with Central America? Do you believe that it is necessary to have U.S. Customs agents in Mexican territory in order to advance the security issues in both countries?

Governor Ridge: We are all grateful for the extraordinary cooperation and the extent to which President Fox and his administration have done everything possible today to provide greater security at their southern border. Obviously this has been a concern of both countries, but I would say that the kind of cooperation demonstrated thus far during this administration suggests that greater cooperation will be had in the future. With regard of the presence of Customs officials, the first thing we need to, I would say with great respect, is that we understand and appreciate the sovereignty of this great country and whenever another country seeks to place some of its officials on their border, that can only be done with an understanding and delicacy attributed to a recognition of the sovereignty of that country. We have our Customs director with us and these matters may come up for discussion that time.

ABC News: Mr. Ridge, last October an intelligence alert went out to a small number of government agencies. The reports said that terrorists were thought to have obtained a 10-kiloton nuclear weapon to smuggle it into New York City. We want to know if there was such a threat, and who was told, and why there was no public warning.

Governor Ridge: One of the challenges that the intelligence community confronts, whether they are in the United States, Mexico or anywhere else, is to distinguish between reliable, credible information and the information that lacks credibility, corroboration and is basically a hoax. There was a report early on in October relative to the possible securing of a 10-kiloton weapon, believed from a Russian arsenal, with that information held and known by several administration officials. But upon investigation and review, [the information] was determined not to be credible and therefore there was no additional notification given. It's one of the challenges that I see every day that anybody in the intelligence-gathering community around [the United States] has to face and that is the amount of communication, walk-in traffic. For these men and women, these professionals, to be able to distinguish between the kind of information that has the ring of truth that they can confirm and corroborate from other sources is one of the most complex challenges that they have.