Transcripts For CSPAN2 Key Capitol Hill Hearings 20240622

And reuters highlights another comment from the Kentucky Republican where he said it is absurd lawmakers must chose between the Iran Nuclear Agreement or going to war. We will watch that News Conference now. It is half an hour. Morning, everyone. Today after the election at a Similar Press conference like this i said the American People expressed their opinion in the election and two things were on their mind. One was it was helpful to us obviously the president was not very poplar. But the other issue is the issue of dysfunction. The sense that nothing every gets accomplished here. To observers they were not sure what dysfunction was but if you worked here you know it was the senate. The senate was basically shutdown for literally years. How do you measure dysfunction . One way is do you vote on amendment amendmentamend amendments. We had 15 votes before this and 60 this year. The law requires us to pass a budget, not when we feel like it, but every year. We have done that. That is not enough. But my goal looking at the government the American People gave us a divided government, which is not unusual, we have had divided government more often than not since world war ii. I think nay are saying why dont you look for things you agree on and try to make progress for the country. So what i tried to do is empicizeemp says empicize empicize there was agreement. We led off on the keystone xl pipeline and it passed with pretty overwhelming bipartisan majority. We passed a budget. Theas that is not a bipartisan issue. Trade promotion authority, rewrite of no child left behind multi year highway bill. The senate is up and running and trying to focus on areas where we can make progress. What is not helpful is rhetoric like the president has been using as recently as this morning comparing republicans uncongress, who have legit concerns over the Iran Nuclear Agreement to those in the streets yelling death to america in iran. My view of this issue is whether than this crass, political rhetoric we ought to teach this issue with the dignity it deserves. We will handle this debate in the following way i said to the senate. We will try to reach an agreement to have a specified amount of time to talk about it. I am going to ask every senator to be at their desk actually listening to what others are saying saying. Each senator will get an opportunity to speak and be listened to by other senators. This is an important issue for our country now and in the future. Remember the president is gone in a year and a half and the rest of us will be libing with the consequences of this living extraordinary agreement which certainly has transformed the middle east. It certainly has. We are now entering into an agreement in which we are basically being asked to trust the biggest funder of terrorism in the world today. So it is important to have some uncertainty about a debate of this magnitude. Regardless of what the president talks about or his rhetoric we will deal with this in a respectful way dealing with the facts surrounding the issue and treated with dignity and respect it deserves here in the senate. With that i will be happy to throw it open and see what you would like talk about. Another thing you had after getting reelected is we will not be having a government shutdown. You repeated that yesterday. We are not doing government shutdowns or threatening to default on the national debt. There is a debate around planned parenthood and members of your own party are using their platforms loudy sayingly to say the only way they will go forward is shutting down planned parenthood. You may have heard me say this before. This was tried in the 90s. If the focus is on the government is shutdown not the underlying issue being protested. So look what planned parenthood is engaged in is truly outrages. The videos are beyond disturbing. The question is what is the best way to go forward . We had an opportunity on monday to put senators on record about how they felt Going Forward with a bill that would have taken the funding going to planned parenthood and used it for Womans Health not a penny less, but a under the proposal of senator ernst was wereproposing. There are 134 Community Health centers and two planned parenthood clinics. Not a penny less for womens health. But spent in a way that actually is consistent with the law. Anybody . So senator grassley is going to be investigating. As you know he has a record as a thorough and tough investigator. The author of the whistler blower law. We continue to pursue the facts and no body is better at doing that than Chuck Grassley and we will look for other opportunities to make our voices heard on planned parenthood. I am wondering what you expect expect from the pope who is visiting . I dont know what the popes press will be but we are honored to have him at the capital and i am sure the attendance will be great. You would be interested in this. We have gotten more request for this appearance than anything every calls around here. It is a big event but i have no idea what he will say but we are happy to have him. This is regarding the economic i will come to you next. I am right here. It is the 50th anniversary of and a lot of democrats feel gutting the main were protections of that. What will you do to help make it happen . Any advice for the candidates in the election . First to the Voting Rights act, i was here that day. I was an intern for the senator who was involved in breaking the filibuster on the civil rights bill in 1964 and made friends like a lot of interns and came back the next summer to visit him and just happened to be here on this day 50 years ago. I was waiting in his outer office in the hopes of talking to him for a few minutes. He walked out and said i have something important and you should see. He bought me over here and i stood in the back of the room and watched johnson sign the Voting Rights act of 1965. It has been a big success. It worked. The Supreme Court did not strike down the Voting Rights act. Racial discrimination in voting remains the law of the land. But i think it is important also to understand how different the south is now. America has come a long way. The vote rights act is enact. It was not truck down. I have a question regarding the eight pack treaties. What changes are you planning . I have not given a moments thought to that. We have a lot of things going on and i dont know how we are going to handle those right now. Immigration is found to be a big topic tonight. It was at the tuesday formuum in new hampshire. What is your chance of any Immigration Reform . Not this congress. I think when the president took the action he did after the 2014 election he made it impossible for us to go forward with Immigration Reform this congress. The concern we expressed about that i think was validated by the fact he is currently under a court order not to go forward with what he decided to do. And so the atmosphere for dealing with that issue in the wake of what he did is not appropriate to get the kind of Immigration Reform we probably need to address, hopefully in the next congress we will have a different president. You said earlier this would be a good chance to seek concessions. What concessions are you keeping it . Dollar to dollar on spending increase . I think this will create a discussion, a negotiation. That is what we do here. And both of these issues will generate a discussion about spending. And all of that will be addressed in the fall. I am not opposed to negotiation. I remind you as the leader we had three different ways. We will talk about the way forward and each side will to the give things they dont want to give and we will get to an agreement. On iran, the president S National Security advisor said he is very confidant that there will not be a veto. What do you think the prospect of that is . I dont want to handicapped the issue. But i want to say this is a big issue. We intend to handle this with dignity and respect and we will see what happens. The president strikes me as treating this like a Political Campaign. Demonize your opponents. Spin up the base. Get the democrats all angry and rally around the president. To me it is a different kind of issue. This is not your typical political debate. This is an enormous debate that the president will leave in a year and a half and the rest of us will deal with the consequences. And i wish he would tone down the rhetoric and talk about the facts. I cannot handicap the numbers but i think our members will dive to the details and make an interest they believe is the best decision were the country. Look, i mean this has been an incredibly productive First Six Months of the new majority. For any americans paying a differents there is a difference between this majority and the last one. We will continue to look forthi forthi for things we can make progress on. I would have loved to finish Cyber Security this week but we have an agreement that will allow us to finish it in september on top of the ones i mentioned. Highway, trade promotion authority, rewrite of no child left behind Defense Authorization, justice for victims of trafficking we have been wrestling with that for 17 years. Fixed. This is going to be an extroidinarily product extraordinary productive congress. I am going to continue to look for things that make a difference to the country that can clear the senate a body that requires 60 votes to do both things. [inaudible question] i cannot enter into negotiations with you and i will not pursue all of the hypotheticals. But we will talk about all of this. We have divided government. We have to talk to each other and figure out the way forward. Senator ted cruz has been a thorn in your side when it comes to bigger issues and negotiations. How do you plan on dealing with him when it comes to government funding and the debt ceiling and he said he will use all procedural means possible to get at his specific priorities . For any of our members there is a lot of procedural tools to slow things down and they have been used frequently and we worked through them on the highway bill and the justice for victim of trafficking bill. It is easy for any senator to make it more difficult to pass bills. It is routine around here which is why the senate doesnt do things as quickly as i ask. But we have been able to surmount those kind of challenges all year long that have been thrown out by one senator or another and we have an record of accomplishment and a lot more left to do. Senator on the issue of budget resolution are you considering letting the senate consider and pass a budget reconcilation bill that would be put together and passed by the house, as opposed to the senate putting together its own reconcilation bill . The use of reconciliation and in active consideration by the house. Anything through reconciliation is likely to be a republicanonly exercise and unlikely to be signed by the president. So looking at ways in which we would deploy budget reconciliation in a way he may not agree with but it is important to us. And the biggest candidate for that not surprising to you would be to try to repeal as much as obamacare as reckon reckonsilliation. So i would put that at the top of the list. Who do you expect to see new mentors of the congress before going through the reauthorization and do you think that you could threaten the congressional profession in the broader trade agenda particularly trade embargo . I dont think so. We have two bills in conference i expect to get to Defense Authorization and customs. So i dont think so. On the trade issue we are watching what is going on in negotiation for tpt. We have given the president a grant of authority which i was in favor of. Not only for him but the next president as well. This is a six year bill. We are certainly interested in what comes out of it. I would remind the president and administration that given the politics of trade on the democrat side they will need virtually all republicans to pass whatever they do negotiate and many of us arehave taken an opportunity to convey that. We will see. Any timeline on customs . As soon as they finish. Thank you, senator. Regardless of what procedural tactics senator cruz tries to pursue, do you think you have a bill today to keep funding the government without Defunding Planned Parenthood . You you keep trying, dont you . Yeah we will fund the government. I cannot tell you what will finally end up in or out of any government funding resolution. I can tell you whatout clear contradiction there wile be no government shutdown. You told the coalition that you would like to see abortion legislation on the floor. There is not a left time left in the session and a lot of mustpass edge legislation. Do you expect to see Something Like that . As we know it takes 60 votes to do everything except budget process. We anticipate having a vote to proceed to the 20week pain capable bill sometime before the end of the year as well. If you respond to the president s intention that you doubled down on yesterday that the alternative to the nuclear deal is war. How do you respond to that . That is absurd. They had that it is either what the president negotiated with iran or it is war. That has never been the alternative. Let me suggest had the president and his team spent as much time trying to ratchet up the sanction sanctions on the iranians as they have entering into an agreement which most of us are skeptical of it having any positive impact it would be a different place. It is not just this deal versus war. It is either this deal or a better deal or more sanctions. And i think that has been a huge mistake on his part. He is gambling. This is going to completely transform the middle east. It probably will. You have sunniarab allies who are scared to death except for their public statements, that america is no longer a dependable ally. You have the Israeli Government overwhelmingly opposed to the agreement. It has the potential to transform the middle east all right. But it strikes me not into a safer middle east. But one more wracked with discord. I think jimmy carter summed it up the best. I cannot recall every quoting jimmy carter in my political career. We can probably stipulate that is not routine. I am paraphrasing but he said this jimmy carter couldnt think of a single place the world where we were better off today than we were when the president took office. It sounds like you use the negotiation involving appropriation and the debt limit and passing the highway transportation and there isome a limited number of offsets. Do you view this as one global negotiation where the democrats might be better on one part of and you would do better on the other. Can you sharkize any discussion you or the office had with the white house . Let me tell you how we ended up where we are. For the first time in six years, the Senate Appropriation committee reported all 12 bills. For the first time in six years. The democrats quite publically said we will not pass any of them even though a number of democrats voted for most of all those bills on the committee because we want to ball the process up and force you into a negotiation in the fall. So that is how we got to where we are. I would have devoted weeks to passing appropriation bills had we begin allowed to the negotiations. They will have a discussion in the fall. They forced it. But i cannot handicap the outcome outcome. Inaudible question. I think we put out a statement yesterday and i would refer you to that. I was curious if you plan to watch the debate tonight and if so i do. Yeah, i do. What are you hoping to see . I am hoping to see a two hour debate. Should be a lot of fun. About highway voting you talked about a possible conference in the fall i know their current goal is to do International Sanctions reform. Is this something that can be resolved in congress . It seems hard to find middle ground on immigration tax reform. Let me tell you, i look at it as two separate issues. Senator boxer and i put together a multi year highway bill with credible pay forward and passed it. The speaker was asked to come up with a multi year highway bill to come up with it pay for it pass in september, and go to con conference with us. That is one issue. The issue of tax reform is the second issue. There has been a lot of focus on the territory system. I might well be excited about that but i view it as a totally separate track unrelated to the highway issue. You are getting back to the multiply things we are talking about this fall that several of you brought i dont blame you for bringing it up. We will do an extended package and i hope it isnt at the end of the year because the taxpayer has to go through the whole year without the decision and you drop the package at the end of the year covering the year you have been in. I dont like that and hopefully we will not do that. Have you already had one . Yup, you are up. [inaudible question] all of these questions are are you. But we dont know the answers. The house and government dont also see everything the same. I am remembered of a story tom followallolly used to talk about. He was asked by one of this young members who is the opposition and he said the opposition is the republicans. But the enemy that is the senate. So there is also institutional differences. I think the speaker and i worked hard to minimize those and had a very respectful and open relationship. There will be challenges. Any time you ball up the process like the minority did in the senate this year it creates a big negotiation. And that is regretful. But that is where we are. To make the point of republicans having to report. I think the president ought to treat this like a National Security debate rather than a Political Campaign and tone down the rhetoric and talk about the facts. I think that would be beneficial for all of us. Regardless of the rhetoric we uses, that is how i chose to try to conduct this debate in the senate and i assure you that is what we are going to do. Thanks a lot everybody. Bob corker also criticized president obamas remarks on iran yesterday making the comments as he opened a hearing on human trafficking. Then ben cardin responded. This is six minutes. The white house had a veto threat because they didnt want a public debate on iran. Obviously the committee chose otherwise. We passed it out on a 190 vote. Everyone here voted el chapo they said the senator who has questions about the iran deal senator menendez who has questions about the iran deal by the way both of which voted against the iraq war if i remember correctly. Senator johnsonton who has concerns about the iran deal. We are being compared to the hardliners in iran because we have concerns. Concerns we have trying to have answers. Just a few months ago, the president publically was talking about what a thoughtful principle person i was. But now because i have concerns and i think everyone has concerns, and people are knowing to have to make a decision, this is going to be one of the toughest decisions, but he is trying to shutdown debate by saying these who have questions, legitimate questions are somehow unpatriotic or somehow compared to hardliners in iraq. It is the shut debate again. It is to make this about something other than arguing deon the merits of the deal. I am very disappointed. I know senator cardin was meeting with the president last night. I do want to see, senator, i wish you had been there last night to hear the discussion about parching and Wendy Sherman said in banking she would serve how that arrangement was working. I called her early this morning if she would at least at a minimum let us have her notes from when she was briefed by the acrobatics iaea. This isnt about irans confidentality. People understood how the parching thing was going done. We thank sarah sewall for being here. The fact we have concern about trafficking about again on unanimous vote we voted to end slavery in the world. And we will not be viewed as people who are unpatriotic or be viewed as people who are not serious about the issues. In regards to your opening comments, i think you are continuing and have been a thoughtful principled person. I know you to know that. I respect greatly your leadership on the committee in the manner we have been able to work together. Hopefully if i disagree with you once you wont compare me to the hardliner side in iran. And i want to i am still going through the review process. I have not reached a decision on the vote that will take place when we return in september. And i want to underscore the point that senator corker and i working with our leadership encouraged our leadership to provide for the debate on the floor of the United States senate that we think is fitting this critical issue. Yesterday, without any objection we moved on to the bill. On tuesday we will not have to go through in september we will not have to go through a poacher vote or go through procedural hurdles. We will be on to the bill. At that point, i expect the majority leader will put forward the bill that we will be voting on and we will be right on that debate when we return and use that week to debate the issue and each member of the u. S. Senate make up he or she mind on the best interest of the country. I didnt interpret from the president s remarks he is challenging any of our independent judgment on this. You are correct. I voted against the iraq war. I dont see a comparison between this and the iraq vote. A sidebar on this, i voted against the authorization of military force in iraq and in my district Congressional District in the state, it was overwhelmingly unpopular. It wasnt a close call. It was one of the most consequential votes i casted in me three years in the house. It was interpreted to have an impact on my election. This is not the case with this vote. This is a divided situation. This is not a clear view where the poplar view is support or oppose the president. There are strong views on both sides. That was the clear use we will go for force here. I disagree with the president s interpre interpretation on the issue. But i dont disagree with the strong statement of he is doing what we expect the president of the United States to do. So strength in his position and taking the case of the American People as i expect he would. I dont join by good friend and principled leader in the interpretation of the president s remarks the house and senate are out until september 8th. The house schedule is unclear at this point but the senate will consider a judicial nomination when they are back. They set votes in september on resolution to disapprove of irans Nuclear Agreement with Senate Majority Mitch Mcconnell asking senators to sit at their desk during debate on the accord. When the senate takes its august break we will feature booktv beginning at 8 eastern and at the end of the summer look for two special programs. On september 5th, we are live for the 15th annual National Book festival and on sunday live indepth for senior fellow lynn cheney. Booktv on cspan2, television for serious readers. 57 of the Homeless Population in the u. S. Doesnt have Health Insurance compared to 13 of the total population. What is the relationship between stable housing and Health Outcomes . Specifically for those receiving medicaid which provides Health Coverage for low income people children pregnant women and the elderly. We will have live discussion on cspan2 at noon eastern tomorrow. Up next a discussion on mexicos political and economic outlook. Panelist at the interamerica dialogue spoke about the president , government corruption, and the escape of the criminal el chapo guzman. This is about an hour and 40 minutes. Good morning and thank you all for joining us us today. It seems like it wasnt too long ago when there was a lot of talk in this citys about mexicos promise, mexicos moment and a new administration. A political pact among the same parties and latin americas most ambitious reform agenda that seemed to enjoy broad support. Many important measures were enacted in a short period of time. Lately, the news from mexico has been a greater concern. Security and human right issues rule of law challenges have come to the for. Disappearance of 43 students a year ago highlighted in dramatic fashion the persistent problems. Last month on july 11 cartel leader, El Chapo Escaped from prison. Corruption allegations have dogged the president and his administration. And less than a week ago, last friday in fact mexican photo journalist and four women were murder in mexico. A stark reminder of the danger of being a journalist in mexico today. The administration which has three and a half years left in its term is at a critical junction. The president s Approval Rating dropped to 34 , its lowest point yet. But in many other countries latin american leaders are rough roughly at the same level. Mexico mexicos growth is not taking off as promised and many expected. This morning we will take a measure of the Current Situation and review possible political and economic scenario over the coming months and years. Will the president slide in the polls continue . Or will we recover some ground . Is there a chance that recent developments will be a wake up call that will galvanize affective action and strength in the laws in mexico . Are the reforms producing positive changes . Moving forward . Or risk being stalled because of the security and rule of law issues. Are u. S. Mexico reerationlationrelations affected . Are their steps we should be taking to pursue common agenda . We are thrilled to have dr. De Denise Dresser and ambassador jim jones. Denise is one of mexicos most highly respected analyst. When she speaks or writes people pay careful attention. She teaches Political Science has authored many books and writes columns. She is a high profile in the mexican media, both tv and radio. She is a personal friend for many years and someone who has been close to the dialogue. She was here as a visiting senior fellow in the 1990s and contributed to the third edition of constructing democratic governance, a mage dialogue initiative. And most recently spoke here at an event we organized on reproductive rights in latin america. It is a delight to have her here and we are grateful she has taken time to be here. We will hear from jim jones chairman of the jones global strategy and formally served as the u. S. Ambassador to mexico as well as a member for many years of the u. S. House of representatives. Jim knows mexico extremely well and tracks developments very closely there. He participates in many dialogue activities and serves on the ad vizry board of a daily publication, the latin american difficultly ad daily advisor which copies are in the back. We will invite your questions and comments after they speak. I want to thank you for coming. A few friends here from the Mexican Embassy and thank you for being here. Denise, i will turn it over to you. Thank you very much michael. And the dialogue for hosting me. I feel that the dialogue is a home for me in washington. And i especially appreciate your reference to our friendship which means a great deal to me. There was a widely circulated photograph that is a metaphor for the government in mexico. It was a picture that El Chapo Escaped from. A maximum security prison. And there she was nicely dressed in high heels and a suit peering down the hole from which el chapo had escaped from. A hole that led to a 1. 5 kilometer tunnel that had a motorcycle and air conditioning and you are probably familiar with the architectural and engineering marvel that the tunnel was. And her peering into the hole signified a great deal. It seemed to represent what is happening in mexico today. Peering into the the hole and looking at a mess. A very difficult moment and perhaps some of you would say this is just a western being critical. However, i think what i am saying today represents the consensus of most analyst in mexico and the feelings captured in the polls of the general population be of the government the Political Parties, the presidency, and the corruption. The peso is depreciateing and there are arguments on why that is occurring but remember in mexico, the parody of the peso for most ordinary dollars is a psychological metric of how the country is doing. And the fact it is sliding at such a rapid pace is an indicator of the lack of confidence in the government and not just what is happening in International Currency markets. The price of oil is down as michael said the president s Approval Ratings are the lowest of any mexican president in the last 20 years. Uno, which was the first step in the Energy Reform that involved the elicitation of the series of potential oil deals proved to be a disappointment not attracting the amount of Energy Excitement or bids that the Mexican Government had expected. It was deemed by many a failure particularly in light of the very High Expectations that the Mexican Government had created regarding Energy Reform as being the detonator of high growth in the country. I think there are four is that i will speak of that capture the moment. Imcomptence, insecurity inquality and impunity that are creating a sense of no captain and no captain in charge. Starting with incompetent. The polls show it. I take political cartoons very seriously i for one. They are a graphic position of a mood and sometimes much sharper than what a column can be. And the tele president because his image seems to matter so much more than the reality on the government. This is because he has a very how would i call it. Well trumplike hair cut. Or more eloquently a mixture of the imagery of the presence of the telemarketing of the current presidency accompanied by the material of the past. You can see this reflected in the International Press coverage of mexico from delirium to disenchantment. To the sense that the dog was too big for him and for the team of largely people from the state of mexico that he had brought with him. Or the old guard of the pri that doesnt seem to know how to adapt to current circumstances. Now, if members of the pri were here and perhaps certainly members of the Mexican Embassy that are here, if they are comforted by the thought of them winning the Midterm Election, i would like to say it could turn out to be a pyrrhic victory in so far as yes they won the Midterm Election but if you look at the numbers what are they showing you . They are loosing votes very quickly, it would not have won the majority in congress it has had it not been for its ealliance with the green party and the multiply irregularties that the green party committed that remain unsanctioned to this day. The jewel and crown of mexicos democraticization has sense become tarnished because what happened after the transition in the year 2000 when we began to develop effective counter weights and checks and balances including federal authorities the parties discovered they didnt like this. They removed many of the elements that made electrical authorities and now you have an enick that is facing a huge loss of creditability because of the unsanctioned behavior breaking every law and accumulating fines. All of this committed by the green party that as i said went unsanctioned. The negative perceptions and disapproval are growing. And analyst are saying the president s project is showing its limitations. Limitations that were there from the inception but that many didnt recognize or understand. I think wooed by the 11 struck struck Structural Reforms that were passed leading to the sense that modernization was truly occurring. That vision and sense of moving forward at this point in time in mexico is compromised. The perception of most analyst is the project is more about reconcentrating power than it was about truly reconstructing the state or reconstructing the way demaamocracy works or the incentives by which Political Parties operate or reconstructing the incentives by which mexican capitalism works. It was a broad project built on reforms that came too late and i would say this about Energy Reform where we are four or five years too late in terms of opening up the market. Or reforms that are being badly implemented or not sufficient as is the case of tele com or education reform. But i think the foundational problem was that they were built upon corruption and are being undone by corruption. Because the idea was not to make the pie bigger. What we have seen now is the project was to slice it up in a different way. What was wanted was not really competition. But rather state administered competition that could continue to shore up mexicos system of crony capitalism just with other cronies and the project wasnt about combating punity but taking advantage of the root. There is a sense of malaise, crisis social indignation in which they did win the midterm but does not convince even after 11 Structural Reforms that have failed to take off. And when i referred to the deprec depreciation of the mexican peso many have argued this has to do more with what is happening with the american dollar. But a recent article in the Financial Times that did research on this article, what did it show . It underscored my intuition all along. Mexican households with savings are taking money out. Yesterday the bank of mexico spent 200 pesos trying to prop up the currency because they know what it means for the mexican psyche. And people are converting their money because they fear there is an oncoming crisis and a major devalueation and we will end this in the way many other pi6 ended because of the lack of fiscal responsibility and the accumulation of debt this administration occurred in the first three years, because of the huge gap in government revenue and income as a result of the drop in oil and a fiscal reform that is insufficient to cover the gap. And the crisis brought on by what i proceed is a mismanagement of events the government seemed unprepared for. That it has not shown it knows how to confront in a way to display willingness to resolve deep rooted crisis some of which are conjunctional. Others we have been dragging along for some time as corruption that is becoming more essenuated. You have the military executing 22 people and that there is no a recent report investigation by the central probe action about this. Then you have the 43 murdered students. And let alone the fact that 43 students were murdered. What was revealed was to what degree corruption and crime had penetrated government institutions because those responsible for what happened at least in the official version that we have up until now was a municipal presence of the police and to an unknown degree the military. And then you have the white house scandal which i am sure all of you are aware of. A scandal that had it occurred in the United States, had it been revealed Michele Obama who owned a 7 million house but the owner or the title was in the name of a contractor who had won multibillion bids given out by the Obama Administration in all likelihood the Obama Administration would have been impeached or there would have been endless congressional investigations into the what is clearly a conflict of interest. I say this in a satirical fashion. So, this is followed by the revelation of the house owned by the finance minister that was purchased from the same contractor with the nonbanking loan at an Interest Rate of 5 when the going interestrate and i know this as i was paying big mortgage on my own house at 13 and this was the finance ministry the person in charge of collecting taxes, the person who is in charge of me can share that the budget is well spent so imagine the perception of ordinary mexicans who find out that their finance minister was involved in the same sort of very shady or at least highly questionable relationship with a contractor. And then you get the executions by the military people and the confrontation growth estimates that are lowered on a monthly basis by the bank of mexico and by every other Financial Institution in the country and then two weeks ago the presentation of a study that has had a great deal of impact for oxfam on inequality in mexico with some startling numbers. So put this all together and combine it with the fact that friends and colleagues who had fled the photojournalist that fled because of threats and had become the most dangerous place in the country to become a journalist. 15 journalists have been killed there in the past three years. He had fled to mexico city seeking protection from the mechanism for the protection of journalists which i can say personally from my own experience is a sham. It provides you with allegedly a panic button but it takes them six months to determine whether your case is urgent or not so in those six months he was killed and i spent friday afternoon with one of his friends a political cartoonist. We are all trying to get out of the country. Thats how things are so what has the response been . They feel misunderstood. They feel that the criticism is from those who dont want reforms, that those who criticize them and they are against modernity, against Structural Reforms, that we dont want competition, that the resistance comes from the interest being affected by the reforms. In other these cases that i have mentioned, the white house the cancellation of the bid for the highspeed train the escape of el chapo, there has not been a single resignation of a Single Member of the administration or the cabinet. And which in my mind and the mind of many mexicans at the very least what should occur not only resignation but what it would entail, a recognition that mistakes are made, a recognition that the course has to be changed, that the buck stops here that heads have to roll because if heads dont roll then it means what credibility does the term maximum security prison in mexico have when someone can build a tunnel and please reflect for a moment on how is it possible for a tunnel to be built over the course of a year in what is allegedly a highly supervised and controlled area in a prison where they were digging from below and a whole was actually dug up, doug from above . So yes there was clearly complicity from the people at the prison but one wonders as mexicans do whether it was just corruption involving the prison system or whether its much more deeply ingrained and affects higher levels of government and mexico all the way to the top or at the very least the federal police or the military. What does nieto say about el chapos escape, that he was deeply upset that it was a regrettable incident, that it was an on the gunfight incident and that every day he asked the minister are you sure it will never escape . So what did the escape to . While it tarnished the governments reputation even more. They put the issue of government competence at the center of the public debate revealed deep institutional weaknesses not only of the prison system but of just security in general and competence. I mean what does it say when a government cannot keep the most soughtafter criminal in the world today in prison . Was and this is in the context of nietos visit to france which he didnt cancel where he took along 441 gas and shortly afterwards his wife appeared on the front cover of like People Magazine or vanity fair, not even that. Revealing in the minds of many mexicans a profound insensitivity in the same week of el chapos escape, the pictures coming out, the imagery of the administration is of him and not grading a security event in france. So what are the hypotheses and im not an expert on Security Issues but i have friends who work on this. What do they say . The hypotheses are el chapo was going to be extradited, the u. S. of formal request and he didnt want to be extradited because you cant run a business and a american prison like a canon mexican business. They didnt want to extradite him because they had too much information about how many people had been paying off but then they Mexican Government structure for the past 15 years. Another hypothesis is that he was set free deliberately so the tea could actually regain, reestablish the primacy of the Sinaloa Cartel and in the violence because the violence has not come from stable cartels. The violence calms when the heads of cartels are either arrested or killed and infighting begins. The one thing i can say having no information to validate any of these hypotheses and i dont think anyone in mexico does in terms of independent analysts, the one thing i can say and i agree with alejandra on this as hes not going to be caught anytime soon if ever. The incident has turned the administration into the blood of a thousand jokes. The first where the city was paralyzed for a day due to infighting between the government and the cartels or you get and the a recent report i was alluding to in the case what does it show . What does the report say . The mexican military has an order now and this morning as i was preparing my notes i did not know how to translate the word. Take on civilians during the night and report includes official government documents. These are the orders and in the minds of many in the in the minds of the mexican military means to kill. It doesnt mean to apprehend and submit for trial. It means if you believe someone is a criminal you kill him and thats the problem of having the military substituting for what is a dysfunctional police force. Or at least not trained well to deal with civilians in terms of confrontation. The order is not apprehend and take to trial. So for now the attention has been centered on el chapo and to allow him to escape and i will make a bet with you and if i lose i will come back to the dialogue and i will take you all out for and my bet is the only people who will be found responsible for his escape will be lowlevel Prison Guards and prison administrators and no one else. But the escape and everything surrounding it reveals a fundamental problem that this government and the calderon government didnt know how to deal with which is a nondeclared war on drugs because we dont call it that anymore. We dont refer to it in that fashion anymore as a war but it continues to be a war. A defect of suspension by the military in confrontations with civilians and drug cartels that in my mind and in the minds of experts on drug issues in mexico cannot and this accompanied by the rising tide of criminality and violence that the war has produced. So i go to my second which is impunity. A very respected academic of us to report of corruption in mexico where she examined that it is present in almost all transactions. There are 4 million acts of corruption in mexico committed on a yearly basis. Corruption is everpresent in everyday life. From the bribe you have to pay the person who collects the trash, who works for the City Government at the gasoline pumps where you pay more than what you get for. Corruption present in the escape of el chapo corruption present in the elicitation of public goods whether it eats spectrum or whether it be a highspeed train. Corruption present in tax breaks for mexican companies. Increasingly negative consequences because im sure there are people here who would argue well that cant be the issue thats Holding Mexico back. Look at china. Its a country that is extremely corrupt and yet its growing. The problem for mexico is its an emerging market that is competing for Foreign Investment with other emerging markets that dont have this problem. Its a problem that is also accompanied by the absence the absence of the rule of law or the intermittent application of the rule of law. So very negative consequences in terms of Foreign Investments is slowing Economic Growth. In 2014 mexico obtained a score of 35 points out of 100 possible from transparency international. 90 of mexicans believe that corruption to the priority of problem, 91 lead that all Political Parties are corrupt yet ordinary mexicans are also complicit. A predatory state generates a population that is predatory. A state that dole sought justice in a discretionary manner leaves citizens to take justice into their own hands. A state that breaks the law generates the population that doesnt believe in it and thats why i think the resolution of the casablanca will be a thermometer as to whether this administration intends to take the issue of corruption seriously or not. They said they would be a report released in the next two weeks about whether or not there was a Public Interest in that case or not. My third eye in equality, and im told i have very little time but add to this mix as i said the weakening peso all over growth predictions and then in the last two weeks the report that property in mexico had grown by 2 Million People in the last year. And the report with numbers that are just mindblowing. 1 of the most wealthy in mexico 21 income. 10 of income concentrates 4. 4 of the well. The wealth of mexicos ultimately theres grew by 35 between 2007 and 2012. The wealth of the 16 mexican multimillionaires on the top of the list represented 2 of gdp five years ago. It now represents 9 of gdp. The four men in the first four places of that list have made their wealth in sectors that involve public goods such as spectrum and telecommunications and transportation. These are creatures of the state rent seekers who have grown in power and influence due to poor regulation or excessive and fiscal privileges leading to the perpetuation and ive argued this many times before, of mexicos suboptimal capitalism accompanying by a huge failure in social policy and the impact is a vicious cycle of already the institutionalization of a permanent underclass of 50 Million People 23 million of which should not have enough money to eat. Understand why then there isnt polarized Violent Society where six how you call them contestant grace six are discovered every day. It has become the most violent municipality in the country and they knew this years ago and no one asked it. This accompanied by a lowgrade democracy captured by interests that constantly put public house at their disposal. A government that cannot create Economic Growth due to its inability to create loving level playing for capitalism despite the 11 Structural Reforms and growth is simply cannot occur in the context of the state that lacks the credibility that institutional mechanisms provide equity Transparency Regulation accountability about the white house or any other issue. And how is this playing out with equally and this i will end. Under the circumstances i described, what you see as a growing rejection of liberal parties and the crisis over ip ip representation and that explains the wind independent candidate who did not come out of the party won in mexicos most important economically speaking state where the later participation in a Midterm Election which is usually 40 grew to 70 because people believed that an independent candidate outside of the party system was the way to go because there is no longer any trust in the party system. There is a growing disillusionment with electoral democracy in mexico. And the sense that independent candidates could save us. There were only 127 independent candidates out of 16,000 that ran for election in this last election. And what does this mean for politics and the president ial race in 2018 . Two days ago a poll came out with the following numbers. At the head of the pack with numbers that range from between 25 to 29 of the vote. Second place filipe coloradans wife the wife of the former president taking the Hillary Clinton route trying to be a candidate for the National Action party with 14 of preferences. And 14 for any pir candidate presented so what does the show you . The pir at this point does not have a viable president ial candidate and the winner of this crisis is the man who has built a political career as the leader of the opposition to the establishment, the antiinstitutional leader he will make government corruption the centerpiece of his campaign. And i leave you with this food for thought. The crisis is transparency and representative this and thats why you see someone like him winning over the parties. Corruption intransigence intolerant that are deeply damaging our collective ship. I for one continue to remain on the ship and will continue to battle but the impression that one gets from the government and from the parties at this point is a sense of the rearrangement of the deck chairs on the titanic and not a sense of clarity as to how we deal with this crisis how we resolve these problems, how we pull mexico out of the hole that the attorney general was peering into and that as i said as they, and implement a kimmage about how mexicans feel regarding a country today. Thank you. [applause] c thank you very much denise do now for pessimistic view. Im just kidding. [laughter] thank you for inviting me to comment on these remarks. Dr. Dresser is a very eloquent and harsh critic of mexico and the business and political leaders and has been ever since i first met her nearly 20 years ago and i think such criticism is important even if i disagree with the good part of it because what hopefully will do is to arouse the mexican people to actually take the government and the country in their home hands which is something that is not then part of their history up to this point. I do have a different point of view about mexico and where it is now and where i think its going to go. I have one of the advantages of having a long life. I have had a long history with mexico going back 50 years when i was a young assistant to president johnson at the white house and he asked me to go to mexico to set up his first trip there in 1966. It truly was a third world country. It was amazing. You talk about corruption today while was really magnified in those days. And 23 or 24 years ago i became ambassador of the United States to mexico and at roughly the same time mexico decided to enter the world having joined a couple of years before that which is today the World Trade Organization in the final throes of negotiating the north american freetrade agreement which really opened up mexico to the world. It was a country at that time i was an inferior industry and inferior businesses and inferior form of government democracy and has been transformed in many ways in the last 25 years. It clearly isnt that the optimum yet but it is so different than what i discovered 50 years ago or even 25 years ago that it is a different country. Im not here to defend an individual or officeholder in mexico or any institution. The doctor dresser outlined with the various greek dances nor mike grievances nor am i here to defend the United States the situation we have in the United States where 1 of our population controls an enormous disproportionate amount of the wealth in the activity in the United States. While im not here to defend the gun violence that happens all across the United States from california to louisiana and tennessee and new york in various states across this country and we are not able as the government to get ahold on the control of the use of guns in our society nor am i here to defend little parties where justice in mexico the American People are fed up with the current state of our Political Parties and it shows in the polls. That leads to another one im not here to defend, the antics of donald trump who the American People have turned to because of their dissent jam and with the traditional Political Parties in the United States. All im saying is both of our countries are going through similar throes of democracy and i think both of our countries are going to cannot have it just fine. I was actually when el chapo was released or when he got out that was a mistake. [laughter] when he got out i was hoping we could get him here in washington to help with their mattresses on on metro system that all of the hypothesis that dr. Dresser outlined are very familiar because those are the same ones that i experienced a mexico 20 some years ago when they have been biggest drug lord seem to be acting with impunity and one attempt to get him was compromised within the ptr and therefore he got out but when he was caught not too long after that he was on a plane headed to houston. His mother must have been very athletic we could see had both a texas and a mexican burst certificate and the Mexican Government decided to recognize the texas birth certificate and two expel him and to this day hes in that maximum security prison in colorado. But those same issues were raised 20 some years ago and all i am saying is you can get past those things and i think the public outcry helps to get you there. I think also we have to recognize where mexico was 25 years ago and where it is today. 25 years ago it was one of the most closed economies in the entire world. It was one of the most closed noncompetitive political systems in the entire world and i think what you have today is one of the most competitive Economic Systems in the world in terms of trade with a country that has more freetrade agreements with other countries than any other country where you have a legal system that clearly has its flaws still but his competitive and where the government cant intervene and basically pick the winners. I was speaking with jesus who was their ambassador to an audience and i was commenting on the 1994 election. We had a great deal to do with that having International Servers and a lot of u. S. Government collects a system and while the campaign up until the election was still fraught with the problems the past where the government obtained with different kinds of resources the fact is on election day and on the conduct of the election all of the International Observers and the u. S. Embassy said that these were free and Fair Elections conducted on election day. And we also didnt have a media that was as competitive as it is today. If you will recall the Mexican Government directly or indirectly controlled wouldnt wouldnt one into the Mexican Press and that was not their ability to do that today. One of the reasons we see things that are going on in guerrero for example and other states of similar problems is the fact that they are being reported and similar things oneonone i was ambassador but they were never reported. They were covered up so to speak so i think while things are still not where we would want them and not where mexicans would want them, the fact is they are substantially ahead of where they were just 25 years ago. So where do they have their greatest efficiencies and dr. Dresser alluded to that in all of her comments and that is while a first world country needs an open competitive political system and an open competitive Economic System it needs a rule of law that people can have confidence in and that is what mexico still needs and still must work on. They have made some strides forward with the elections with judicial reforms of 2008 which was supposed to be implemented fully by next year and we hope theyre way behind on that and we hope they will make progress on that but that is where mexico really needs help because a rule of law with sound institutions that can enforce a rule of law is what cuts into corruption, cuts into the kinds of things dr. Dresser talked about. And if you have a rule of law that people have confidence and i think you will not have the same kind of insecurity that exist in several of the states in mexico and you will not have the kinds of corruption that exist in many states in many governments in new mexico. With the reforms that occurred three years ago. Particularly in the energy, and education, and labor. The latter two of which still have to be implemented, to have the 33 at least have to be implemented well. Thats going to be a test and to look at mexico, how serious are they in implementing the education reforms. Education in mexico is behind, their competitives competitors and asian elsewhere, because it is a system that has just not performed up to the standards of international communication. Thats a big test. On energy. Im not so concerned with the problems of the first round of auction. Here you have a situation where they have no experience basically and how do you run an auction, how do you have a premarket premarket system and energy, this generation has never seen that. So they are going to make mistakes along the way, the question is are they learning from those mistakes and will the next round be more fair and open . If it is you will see a lot more Foreign Investment, disclose disclose mexican investment, if not it will be a failure, i think it will be asked a success. So i guess there are many more notes i have made for comments the fact that it broke apart, if you ever run from office you know its inevitable, you are not going to get three major Political Parties agreeing on everything as you go forward. So the fact that you could get that done in the first year was remarkable its not remarkable or unusual that it would break apart because each of those Political Parties want to have their own identity so they can go to the polls in the next election and try to have success. I dont think that is anything that we should be concerned about, i do believe there is another reform that holds promise of having a more Representative Government in mexico. Thats the reelection which has never been possible before. When you get a situation when you have to run for reelection you have to present yourself to the constituents who elected you one time, you want to show them what you have done for them, what have you done for them lately, and in your time. I i think youll see a much more Representative Group of people elected to office as a result of that. We wont know because this goes into effect in 2018 or Something Like that. I think its something to keep our eye on, so i think its very good to criticize whats going on, on a constant basis its good for democracy. I think we all have taken a realistic view as to where the country was, where it is now and where it is going and i am positive am positive on that. Thank you. Why dont we take some questions and you can respond we have about half an hour and a lot of issues, if i could could just ask you to identify yourselves, wait for the microphone be brief if you have a comment thats fine. Well start with jose. Im a reporter from mexico, a question on how you see the u. S. Role with you, in the administration not saying that much about mexico that these days, how are you feeling . David. Given what happened, have you yourself felt pressured, do you feel youre under threat of losing your job in any particular area that youre not working . I have one right here in the will go to the back just need one microphone. Hello i am from mexico my question is its been growing in mexico and its been very strong, but i dont know right now . Out take the first three questions and i have a rejoinder to jones. I think your use of the word resigned is absolutely appropriate. I think the u. S. Has given up on mexico and what i mean by given up . The Obama Administration has it give it too much on his plate in terms of isis, domestic politics police, i dont have to delve on the list, you are aware of it. From what i sense and from speaking to american officials in mexico, is that ever since the scandal erupted the Obama Administration made a deliberate decision not to be involved. It could have taken a stand it could have alluded to conflict of interest issues it could have alluded to corruption, it has decided not to do so. I believe that is a deliberate stance on the part of the Obama Administration. In this sense of disconnection, i think has been and will be heightened because what was the first news to come out in the New York Times . That government officials had immediately contacted the Mexican Government offering assistance to help find him, drones and all sorts of all intelligence and the Mexican Government was not responding. So tight that to the hypotheses about an escape and you will understand the frustration of the u. S. Government read guarding mexicans handling of l chapel and others. Its fascinating about how l chapel was actually captured with u. S. Assistance but that assistance was never made public, so if indeed that was the case, and that was reported from washington if it was presented as a try above the Mexican Administration how does he feel now that they had escaped . Two weeks after the formal extradition request was put inches second question, do i do i feel pressured about losing my job . One of the things i always tell my students and anyone who is involved in the public debate in mexico is, you cannot cannot ever have just one job. Because that makes you extremely vulnerable. So i have five different jobs. I am a professor, i am a columnist, i give conferences, i write books, because i know if because i know if i am fired from one, at least i can have the others. In what ways have i felt pressured . This has been very, very ugly. I was one of the advocates of the vote in the Midterm Election it was a position ahead in 2009 and it was very influential in 2009 because it 2009 because it led to an agenda of political reform, and the agenda for reform was reelection and it was many things that became part of the political reform that was pushed through. Why did i supported on this occasion . Because i dont see incentive of the party system to change, i was part of the movement that push something where we called on every candidate in the midterm to disclose his his tax return, and the other was potential conflict of interest issue. Because these three things are not required of candidates by law in mexico. We pushed, and pushed and pushed only 397 candidates out of more than 16000 complied with the request. The other roll that i was involved in as an activist was to get signatures for the National Electoral institute to consider taken away the registration of the green party because of the multiple violations of the law. We managed to get 175,000 signatures, which is the largest signatures, which is the largest number that we have ever got in mexico. Nothing has happened, there hasnt even been a debate within the electoral institute. But because i pushed forward the parties hated me and those who are pushing for it, because it expose the party system. It says dont vote dont legitimize, instead of abstaining please go and i know your vote because it is a sign of discontent. And heres the agenda for what it was. After that, the threats came. Death threats, deliberate campaign on the part of the mexican left, that was the faction that felt the most vulnerable of the annulment of the vote. Because others establish themselves as the real opposition and if we were saying and know your vote because there isnt a real opposition, and there isnt a party, so the most paradoxical thing of my entire career has been to yield the worst threats in my professional credit career and efforts just look on twitter youll see. And then i am an american spy because there is a cable that described a practice that i had at the u. S. Assembly, and on and on. So the Worst Campaign to try to get me removed from my multiple jobs has come from the left. The role of Civil Society that is my source of optimism, here is my rejoinder to investor jones comment. He said with Harsh Criticism i would say they are realistic, i would say who is being realistic here . Because met mexico as a country of many men, in 1966 i was three years old, but i had witnessed the changes of mexico and i could list them and they are significant. But the problem for me is when i hear these arguments of zero well, at least they are competitive in manufacturing and they and have competitive elections, now theres more media at least theyre revealing corruption even if theyre being killed for it, its like waving a red flag in front of bubble. At the very least, we are better off and this is what he said three days ago in mexico headlines their countries that are better off than mexico. Well i am sorry, its not at the level of the ground. I am not going to congratulate myself and congratulate the country as other intellectuals do because what do people used to say, well speaking in spanish. Well there had been many reforms. And i had lived through the reforms. Which created many of the problems that we are dealing with now. Reforms that were applauded and were very poorly instrumented and contributed to cementing the system of phony capitalism that makes the economy a noncompetitive. Because yes there is competitiveness in manufacturing, look at other sectors, this is not my impression, these my impression, these are the numbers that the World Economic forms, and we are falling behind time and again. So why cant we reform properly . Why cant we receive our full potential, why is it with the privileged geographical location, millions of talented hardworking people end up in this country . We move sideways. Time and again. Because there isnt enough i honesty amid diagnosis of the situation of our country. And when theres not enough honesty the solution are not appropriate once and they are not as deep as they should be, and they do not take on the vested interest as they should. Why do i please place my hopes elsewhere . Because i do not believe trying to influence the mexican Political Class ii, on its own adopt appropriate Public Policy reform to benefit mexican citizens, that is not going to happen. Its not going to happen unless theres pressure from below. And that i agree with amb. Jones, its its time for mexico to take their country. Its very difficult to do so as a Civil Society because they lack the channels, i can get a hundred 75000 signatures on twitter in a week, and i can go and take this to every single congressman, and they will ignore the single pictures. Because there is no reelection because there is no incentive to be connected to your constituents. Because yes there is competition, but there competition, but there is no accountability or representation, so yes its a democracy with competition and works very well for the parties, because, because weve adopted a system of public financing. Where their survival doesnt depend on the boat, it depends on a mathematical formula related to how many people turn age 18 every year in the electoral roll call. I call it a system of restriction without representation, Civil Society is learning how to organize that it gets tired, it gets tired because it globalizes comment organizes, it petitions, it lobbies and changes very difficult to enact in a system that has been established to not represent people. Investor jones says, all reelection i was among many who push for reelection and we got the reform and what happened . The parties set up a system of controlled reelection whereby they controlled the list of who can be reelected, its not reelection as it is viewed in the United States or is it works in other countries, its another reform that is applauded and badly instrumented so it will not have the effect that we all wanted to have. This is what what happens in mexico time and again. So, yes i celebrate the fact that we have education reform, that at t at t will come to mexico, that there will be a chance for citizens to have telecom reform, i can see the little light, but those little lights are not enough i dont think its fair to compare income concentration in mexico with income concentration in the United States. Here you you have that level of income concentration but you do not have half of your population living in poverty, and you have a substantial middleclass that actually has political representation. One citizens in this country organize a petition with 175,000 signatures, they get listen to,. The problem in mexico is that with this electoral system in this party system, we cannot move. Thank you we will take a few more questions and i will give you an opportunity to have a read joiner, peter lets go with you. Primarily to denise or jones, you said you had some optimism about that there may be some can you trace out a few of the specs of what you might call the best scenario that you can imagine even if its only 1 or 5 , what is the scenario that might in ten or 15 years lead mexico to a better place . Tell me what country you might want mexico to have as its objective, is it brazil, chile, china, what is the objective you want to get to . Sir in the back. You recently wrote that mexican newspapers were shedding their investigative whats the governments role in this . Yes sir, you been patient. Thank you, regarding your second comments i believe that in mexico it we havent a responsibility i think we look at everything from the center, from mexico city, i wonder how do we empower the communities the local society . Instead of having the council, by the way they also report to the party not the society, i think at this time its read time to return mexico to the basics. Let the towns be responsible. If you could elaborate more on the spike in journalist especially veracruz, what what do you attribute this to . Why have the number of tax been so high with this administration, and what can be done including institutions that are dysfunctional . And the final question. I would like to collaborate a little bit more about whats happening whats happening in the government with the green party please elaborate a little bit more and that. Jim back to you. First of all in the inequality issue, mexico made a mistake right after the passage of nafta something we talked about. That that is you cannot have half of your population left out of the system basically and still hope to have a viable democracy. They didnt do the things that could have been done at that time namely put massive infrastructure into the southern half of mexico, put real education into the southern half of mexico educate healthcare delivery. They didnt happen at that time and they still need to be approved upon. I think thats the major way youre going to close that cap of inequality and wealth. Secondly on the threats, anybody who sticks their head above water is going to have threats, most of them personally, as i have had in my political career, and Death Threats et cetera. And to your job. That goes with the territory. I applaud dr. Dressler for sticking her head above water and recognizing that threats go with it, i think more that needs to be done. In 1994 elections against the better wishes of the mexican a government we really insisted that it be an open transparent election election and we insisted on having International Observers there to make sure of that. That was not well received, but it was done and it was done well. After the election, one of the major Civil Society and gao asked to see me and we visited he said what should we do next . I suggested they are to start a common cause, which is is what john gardner started in the United States where citizens can elect their representatives, and he shrugged his shoulders and said they will never listen to us. To me it was very discouraging. They are beginning to listen but they are now where they should be, i think the the more you construct Civil Society to get involved the Better Future mexico is going to have. In terms of dr. Dressler talked about the competitiveness of telecom and broadcasting, that is just beginning and i have great hopes that she expressed that is going to be successful as it rolls out. Democracy and changing of lifestyle of years, and years in the country overnight just does not happen. You have to stay after the government, stay after those that are implementing these kind of reforms in order to see them happen as you want. If they are not happening as dr. Dressler said as she would like, if there only partially there, then stay after them to go the whole roots. As far as the United States government taken a handsoff, its not as public i think it would be a mistake diplomatically to the United States to jump in and start lecturing the mexicans about how this is the way you should do business. Im not surprised that our government didnt chastise the mexican president anymore than they dont chastise putin. So i think we have to be sensible when we have a diplomatic relationship, the the United States is doing that