it will come to order we have to know in controversy a bill is on the agenda it's the intention of the chair to consider these measures and block and by unanimous consent authorize the chair to report certain measures to all house the consideration of the remaining bills of those bills under suspension of the rules and also the next bill as well members are given leave to insert remarks on the measures into the record to choose to do so so without objection the chairman is authorized to see consideration of the following bills under suspension of the rules and the amendments to those measures which the members have before them should be deemed adopted we're talking about eight h reza levin ninety four reaffirming the support of the house of representatives for the legitimate democratically elected government of lebanon under prime minister of how  your h resolution of eleven ninety five expressing condolences and sympathy to the people's republic of china for the grave loss of life and vast destruction caused by the massive earthquake centered in sichuan province before we begin discussion the legislation today i do want to make clear the committee's policy on handling protests in case anyone the idea and feels the need to speak out during these proceedings we don't have any objection to audience members wearing t shirts and have had six pressing their views but to maintain order in the hearing room we request that audience members do not hold up or wave signs make gestures to attract attention stand up and protest shout or y or otherwise disrupt this business meeting of the committee well i asked the capitol police to remove anyone from the room who violates this policy and it is the policy of the capitol police to arrest anyone who was ejected from the  and now pursuant to notice i call up to bill h r sixty twenty eight the matter initiative to combat illicit narcotics and reduced organized crime authorization act of two thousand and eight for purposes of markup and i recognize myself to explain the bill as i think my colleagues would all agree the crisis facing the drug crisis facing united states remains a top national security threat ninety percent of the illegal drugs entering the united states arrive here via the mexico central america corridor at the same time drug gangs that operate in the united states mexico and central america are dangerous undermining the security environment south of our border with considerable spill over onto us soil under president calderon mexico has stepped up its fight and its citizens and government have paid a very high price drug cartels have been blamed for six thousand deaths in two and a half years of this battle in mexico twelve mexican federal police officers officials have been assassinated in the past two months just a few days ago the chief of mexico's federal police was gunned down just south of the border with california he was shot nine times and this past saturday the deputy police chief of juarez was murdered president bush and mexican president calderon met in the city of mattered last year giving rise to the proposal the president sent to congress to address the cost border narcotics and the violent problems that the drug trade spawns the merit initiative represents the u s part of a partnership to confront the immediate security threat of drug gangs to help build the capacity of our neighbors law enforcement agencies and to enhance the rule of law in the region the legislation before the committee puts our stamp on this initiative devoting resources to disrupting the drug supply lines and cracking down on the criminals who operate them the act is underpinned by several basic elements that responsibility for illegal narcotics trafficking and violence across the border is shared and that we have arrived at a critical moment of opportunity to execute comprehensive joint action that the armed forces in both mexico and central america may be called upon in the short term to stabilize the security situation but to describe them falls into the realm of law enforcement and we therefore must help build law enforcement capacity that ultimately the solution to this problem lies in respect for the rule of law and strength of the institutions charged up holding it the legislation authorizes one point six billion dollars over three years for counter narcotics work for the fight against organized crime as well as law enforcement modernization institution building and support for the rule of law it offers authorizes considerably more funding than the administration has proposed for the fragile central american region the legislation contains significant human rights safeguards including a stringent requirement to investigate allegations of human rights violations committed by anyone receiving assistance under the matter the initiative it prohibits cash payments of any kind concentrating on equipment and training and finally the bill requires the president to devise a means by which the program's success or failure can be measured and mandates regular reports to congress on the results of responding to requests from the mexican government the bill authorizes almost seventy four million dollars to bolster our country's efforts in stemming the illegal flow of arms going south by significantly expanding the a t f project gunrunner perhaps most importantly this legislation recognize recognizes that the spread of illicit drugs through this region into the united states as well as the violence that accompanies it cannot be halted without a comprehensive interdiction and security strategy this strategy must be planned and executed jointly with our southern neighbors the bill incorporates many features discussed at the america summit last year i believe it reflects the work of the bush administration in congress to gather to find a way to work with our southern neighbors against the drug scorch i also want to thank members of the committee for their thoughtful contributions including the chairman of the subcommittee western hemisphere mr ng misgives of arizona the ranking member and all the other members of the committee who participated and mr burton as well as the ranking member of the subcommittee and i are giallo my colleagues to join me in supporting this important legislation and i now you know the ranking to explain her views on the legislation thank you so much mr chairman and i'm pleased to support authorization of the merit initiative as it sends a clear message to our partners throughout the hemisphere that the united states stands ready to work with our friends to confront the perils of illicit drugs and organized crime for too long these evils have plagued the prosperity of our region threatening the future of our children and curtailing the stability of our nations together as equal and trusted partners we have a shared responsibility and indeed an obligation to confront this deadly scourge in mexico president calderon has made actions against criminal organizations and drug traffickers a cornerstone of his presidential trip ten year allocating one third of mexico's overall security budget to the fight and sending more than twenty five thousand soldiers and federal police to the country's most dangerous drug trafficking hotspots this pressure has put on this is put pressure on the cartels and the sacrifices be made to confront these criminals must be recognized just last week alone as the chairman pointed out three high ranking federal security officials were murdered in retaliation for the government's actions against organized crime countries and central america also stepping up to the plate collectively and individually bolstering their efforts to fighting crime and impede and impunity the security strict a strategy for central america and mexico was published late last year demonstrating the political will of these countries to work together to confront these issues regionally here in the united states we spend billions of dollars each year to stem the dangerous drug demand holding many of our youth hostage i have seen in my own district in miami make tremendous strides to overcome the hold the drugs once held in our vibrant city throughout the country in fact we have seen great success and yet it is clear that we have a long road still ahead of us with ninety percent of the narcotics used to feed the u s drug demand transiting through mexico central america corridor alone is essential that we step up our efforts to coordinate with our neighbors against narco traffic in organized crime the merit initiative affords us the ability to do this to make this important commitment in a comprehensive and transparent way this initiative allows the united states to support the capacity and sustainability of mexico and the rest of central america's efforts to meet the challenge of confronting crime and supporting the rule of law it is a historic opportunity for our governments to put behind the old days of finger pointing and instead do what  people in our communities need us to do to take the necessary steps to stem the flow of drugs in arms restore the rule of law and strengthen our common ties in the interest of our nations the bill before us the merit initiative to combat alyssa dark arctics and reduce organized crime authorization act of two thousand and eight fully supports this opportunity and takes it even further additional emphasis in aid is allocated to institution building and the rule of law and metrics and reporting requirements are put in place to minimize corruption and enhance accountability in the recipient countries the position for a high level coordinator is also created to oversee implementation of the initiative and ensure program and policy coordination among u s agencies to maximize the accomplishment of our u s goals furthermore the authorization takes into account the need for assistance to be made available for domestic efforts to confront drugs and organized crime it authorizes a significant expansion of project gunrunner an a t f program dedicated to stemming the illicit flow of firearms across the us mexico border and supports the assignment of additional a t f agents to the border region to work with mexican law enforcement agencies in conducting criminal investigations the violence  the struction these twin twin evils of drugs and crime cause cannot continue to define the potential of our hemisphere by supporting efforts such as these we are making the way for democracy and development to instead take hold we're also addressing the conditions that help breed instability in the region and create fertile territory even for islamic terrorist recruitment i fully support this initiative and i hope that the appropriations committee will look at this committee and this bill for direction when determining funding levels for the merit initiative and mr chairman we have many of some of our republican members like mr will and i appreciate your wonderful remarks in support of the legislation and its the chairs and tend to recognize the chairman of the western hemisphere subcommittee and the ranking here the ranking member of the subcommittee for opening comments and then to the extent there are other members who want to just to address comments about the legislation i'd suggest moving to strike the last word in the gentleman from new york mr engel is recognized thank you mr chairman as the chairman of the western hemisphere subcommittee i would like to personally commend you for pressing ahead with this important initiative that authorizes full funding for the merit initiative we should be proud of the work of this committee is doing under your leadership mr chairman so thank you just last week the chief of the mexican federal police was brutally murdered his home as was mentioned before and then the deputy police chief of dad juarez city smack on the border with the united states was shot dead this past saturday furthermore in april twenty second the total number of murders in mexico reached a thousand since the beginning of the year two thousand and seven mexico did not even cross this deadly threshold until may fourteenth and in two thousand and six it did not breach until july so this is accelerating something must be done and clearly clearly the time to act is now let us not forget why we are here today the narco violence in mexico is not only undermining the safety and security of our friends to the south but it is fueling the drug trade and violence here in the united states we care about what's happening in mexico and central america because obviously what happens there affects us we stand with our friends during their difficult times as we ask them to stand with us i was pleased to work with chairman berman in developing this legislation and was pleased to contribute two key parts first the central america piece of this legislation authorizes a much greater amount of assistance for the severi june in the bush administration initially proposed quite frankly when the was first unveiled last october many of us were concerned about the disparity in funding between mexico and central america the initial initial fifty million dollars proposed for central america was really just a drop in the bucket especially considering that ninety percent of the cocaine shipped from the andes to the united states flows through central america h r six zero two eight earmarks at least fifteen million per year for youth gang prevention programs with approximately seventy thousand gang members in central america and the transnational connections linking gang members there to the u s this is a vast improvement over the administration's proposal which significantly underfunded these programs i hope we've learned by now that failing to adequately invest in prevention programs will only hurt us in the future i was also pleased to work the chairman on a provision in h r six zero two eight which establishes a merit a coordinator at the state department my staff and i have to offer men frustrated by the inability to obtain information on marital activities or to figure out who is responsible for what or what falls under america america coordinator will keep track of all u government assistance which would fills the goals of american issued of and will coordinate among agencies of the us government to avoid duplication or conflict among programs finally i was delighted that the southwest border violence reduction act of two thousand and eight was incorporated into h r six zero two eight i am an original co sponsor of this important bill which was introduced by my good friend ciro rodriguez the bill helps us live up to to the mexicans to do a better job curbing the flow of arms into mexico i was astonished to learn last year that ninety percent of the weapons seized in mexico originated in the united states we found this out through one of our subcommittee hearings this is simply unacceptable as was mentioned before we hope that the appropriations committee will continue to raise the amount of money appropriated for this important initiative and i've just been informed by the majority leader that the proposal has been up to one hundred million dollars and so i thank you mr chairman i think that our our pressure and our talks really really helped pump that number up and it's really just so important mr chairman thank you again for your leadership on this important legislation and your commitment to the governments and people of central america and mexico i look forward to having this important bill pass our committee and pass the flo back are there any amendments to this legislation mister merida initiative to build also on our neighbors capacity to fight narco trafficking and i'm particularly interested in the human rights safeguards have been written into the legislation as chairman the people of mexico and central america are getting it from both sides right now they are suffering terribly from the outrages perpetrated by the narco trafficking gangs and from the general lawlessness these gangs have spread especially along the border but people are also suffering from the human rights abuses committed by the mexican and other central american police forces but most of the human rights abuses have not been perfectly substantiated there are far too many of them for us not to take this concern very seriously many of us on this committee have signed a congresswoman solis is a letter to mexican officials on the case of a large group of women raped by police in south salvador atenco mexico and also sending a letter requesting an investigation be pursued vigorously i want to mention another horrifying case which members of this committee are very well aware of the hundreds and hundreds of young women murdered or reported missing in juarez mexico of those whose bodies were found many have been mutilated or the victims of the most brutal sexual violence is a border a hope for drug smuggling northward and major human rights groups have suggested that the murders might be an end ritual for narco trafficking rings many others have suggested that corruption by narco traffickers has presented prevented the murders from being properly investigated in any case human rights groups have long documented the deep flaws in the mexican police who have a history of serious human rights violations a culture of almost impunity the situation in juarez has gone on for so long and is so terrible that it is drawing worldwide attention in two thousand and six this house passed a resolution pointing up the mexican prosecutor's evidence that the war as police had been negligent in investigating these horrific crimes last week i'm proud to say students georgian court university which is in my district not only held a prayer service for the murder victims and a march to urge mexican authorities to redouble their efforts but in march of this year five georgian court students accompanied by sister geiger traveled to the border to learn more and they have become much more proactive ever since so in the one hand the tragedies of san salvador atenco and juarez highlight the need for this bill the professional training  capacity building in the mexican police we believe i believe that sections of this bill will help to ensure that human rights guards are in place sections one fourteen three zero one five zero three could be a tool for reforming the mexican police in most of these the gentleman from texas what purpose is he coordination to strike the last words gentlemens recognize five minutes chairman i won't use a whole five minutes i'd like to play a statement into the record without objection and i'll just briefly say we know presidents come and go but members of congress sometimes are here much longer i think we're seeing a great deal of record nation between between our respective legislative bodies in mexico and united states there's support in mexico for this they had some concerns at first mainly on the human rights issues and i think they can take care there's and we have some provisions in this to do it what's happening in mexico and in the success but also the tragedies of mexico trying to control what's happening in their own country states as a neighbor and we would benefit from it because because of their their efforts and that's why i support the bill and we hope will will pass it because they give me just start by saying that i appreciate the chairman's and the ranking members work on this critical issue drugs and cartels and the violence and terror that bring not only undermine public safety but their national security threat and we need to or cooperate with those nations that are on the front lines of this war however i'd like to mention one fact that i think is very important last summer news reports highlighted the unwillingness of the mexican government to work with the united states to resolve that one and a half mile boundary dispute near columbus new mexico because of a mapping error the fence was constructed on mexican land although the u s government promptly notified the mexican government the air the mexican government demanded that the mistake cost of three million dollars to the united states and the taxpayer despite the fact that a previously existing boundary had never been in dispute prior to notification by the u s and the fact that the u s provided more than seven hundred fifty two hundred seventy million dollars in aid to mexico between two thousand and four and two thousand and seven including more than one hundred forty million for counter narcotics and law enforcement and today where authorizing funding for an additional one point six billion dollars over three years last july five forty five which states that it is the sense of this congress that if mexico does not work together to resolve the boundary dispute u s assistance to mexico should be reduced in that exact amount of three million dollars if the u s and mexico are truly partners and i believe that we are or we should be we should be working together in all areas including the construction of the fence which plays a key role in our international interdiction efforts i'd like to work with the chairman and the ranking member to ensure that these concerns are addressed as we move forward and time of the gentleman has expired the gentleman from california strike last word gentleman is recognized for five minutes with please don't make the fourth fourth of my bills i don't have my i don't have my feet and cement on those but the bill looks bad as far as i'm concerned this  is to the degree that we have problems down in mexico with human rights abuses by their law enforcement and also by their military and this is true throughout central america as well to the degree that we  the people good people down there find that their government is lacking honesty we are not going to be able to solve that problem for them and this by inserting ourselves this way what we're going to do is we  the people of mexico when their police begin abusing them in the next five or six years they will blame the americans when their military is abusing them they will blame the americans and we will have become so involved in their society maybe we do deserve some of the blame if we're willing to go down there and give them weapons and trained them and say this is the way you should be doing things i think this is the type just the type of intervention that leads to a mosque the united states among the people of various countries of the world let's put it this way mexico is a fabulous lee wealthy country there is a briefing that i recently had indicated that there are massive offshore oil resources of the coast of baja california these are these are huge and these are wealth producing assets that mexico has and we cannot go down there and restructure their society and i notice in here some of the money that we're going to be out of this one point six billion dollars is going to be going to try to thwart the violence between husbands and wives in latin america i mean what type of social intervention is that the people who died states we're going to go down and try to teach the husbands and wives and latin america how to get along with one another that coupled with of course youth gang trying to of cultural and military and law enforcement intervention that is going to reap very negative returns for the united states and results by turning off the american people to meet the people  mexico and latin america to the united states by having us take the blame for some of the falls from their own country the last thing we need to do is something like this thank you very much their ranking member has convinced me to get this show on the road amendment for five minutes thank you mr chairman i i like a lot of number of my colleagues have reservations about this program but if we're going to go ahead with it it seems to me that there ought to be a provision in the underlying bill for micro enterprise development assistance to be provided through a specific agency and that agency in my opinion should be the u s i d s micro world finance program if we use the money and it's administer that program it could facilitate creating more investment and jobs on the mexican side of the border which would cut down on illegal immigration and maybe some of the gangs that are coming in the united states i sponsored a lot of bills and co sponsored over twenty five bills dealing with illegal immigration but one of the things that would help with the illegal immigration problem is to create more jobs and opportunity on the side of the mexican american border and my amendment won't hurt the bill at all it'll be a positive adjunct to the bill and it will create a way for jobs to be created on the mexican side of the bill which should help hopefully to cut down on some of the problems we're facing with the gentleman yield is the gentleman will accept support from someone who has no reservations about this bill i think it's a good amendment and i'm happy to support it thank you mr chairman and because of that i will say no more as anyone else seek recognition  adopted the gentleman from nebraska mr chairman i have an amendment as well the clerk will read gentleman from nebraska is recognized for five minutes thank you mr chairman this is a straightforward amendment the tries to augment the reporting section of the bill i think as we potentially move forward on this important piece of legislation we also ought to understand the potential impact it's going to have on movement of drug trafficking areas are our movement of drug trafficking into more vulnerable areas in other words a substitution or displacement effect operative kelly in the caribbean mean this is actually i think a very appropriate i mean because the balloon effect whereby a successful counter narcotics effort pushes the drug problem to another area is already taking hold in the caribbean and for that reason we're contemplating expansion of this bill dominican republic and so i think the reporting on the effect of merit or assistance on the trafficking patterns throughout vulnerable caribbean countries would be a welcome development to ensure that congress  informed of the full impact of the assistance in this bill and i ask my colleagues to join me in supporting your amendment thank you mr chairman i understand the ranking member as well so i appreciate their efforts very good  or read amendment excuse me amendment to h r six zero two eight offered by mr poe of texas in section one fifteen a of the bill strike three hundred fifty million for fiscal year two thousand eight three hundred  ninety million for fiscal year two thousand and nine and forty member memon will be considered as read if there is no objection the gentleman from texas is recognized on his amendment thank you mr chairman as a former prosecutor and long time judge for over twenty two years i've always been concerned about drugs in the corruption that the drug industry brings into many countries great sympathy for and compassion for the mexicans that live on the border especially those that live on the texas mexican border i've been there thirteen to fourteen times and each time i go and visit with those individuals on the border the situation seems to be worse according to the da five hundred people were murdered in thousand and five and most of those cases were never solved in a good many of those were peace officers there's been four hundred capping kidnappings in a way below radio and forty one of those are american citizens none of which have been solved i doubt if anyone would be surprised to find out that the drug cartels are to blame for most of the violence on the border what you might be surprised to learn is that the united states is trying mexican forces and some of those have deserted and have become responsible for these attacks department of homeland security has reported in the last ten years there have been over two hundred and fifty documents of incursions by suspected military forces into the united states most of those have been along the borders of texas california and arizona have been down to nearly pass where the sheriff's department had witnessed these incursions by mexican military and in order to gain ak control of access corridors into the united states the drug cartels are hiring a hitman from an elite force in mexico's military the group is called are military deserves that were trained in the united states at the former school of the americas in fort benning georgia as an elite force of anti drug commandos they were sent by the mexican government to the united states mexican border to combat drug trafficking instead they switched sides and deserted and became assassins and recruiters for mexican drug cartels officials suspect that there are more than two hundred zetas including former mexican police officers and this group the problem isn't just at the border either there's a it is operate over a vast area of the united states mexican border and authorities believe they are responsible for drug related murders as far north as dallas aside a sign that the group is extending their deadly operations into the united states the brownsville herald newspaper has reported that the gulf cartel has hired at least thirty one mexican soldiers to be zedd zetas and work with them as a does have developed strong ties with the  organization but they are from guatemala like to say as many of them receive training once again in the united states in counterinsurgency operations and like the zetas many of them have deserted the special forces and have begun to help the drug cartels specifically the gulf doctor cartel mr chairman this is a photograph taken by sheriffs in the texas mexican border of parent below is coming from mexico into the united states you notice they're all in black uniforms carry and a k forty seven s and each one of them has a backpack that contains a coke tank cocaine these individuals like the zetas trained in the united states and have switched sides the problem with all of this of course is the fact that we are now attempting to send money in the form of training and equipment south of the border to be used by these same areas to protect or to stop the drug cartels there's a it is our targeting military mexican military and law enforcement now because they've been promised in their recruitment better food free cars life insurance and houses for their family and with all those benefits we can see why people are deserving and are becoming corrupt along the border under the fox administration a national police commander was caught with two four point four million dollars in his car he was later convicted of this offense in the ninet we were promised the mexican government would have a new drug store czar and the u s drug czar gave him great praise and it turned out that he was taken bribes from the drug cartels and these are reason why this amendment is being offered  i'm very concerned about drugs as i mentioned but it seems as though that the united states has a history in some cases of giving support and that support turns around and is used against the very people that we're trying to protect and in this case it's us the united states we have knows assurance that the equipment we're sending to mexico will be turned over to the drug cartels and they used a guest just this amendment basically does one thing it cuts the money and half half of it stays on the u s side to be used by state and local officers to fight the drug cartels the other half then would would go to mexico as the bill proposes an issue later and i would hope adoption of this amendment however mr chairman i understand that there is a point of order amendment to h r six zero two eight offered by mr meeks of new york in section two to the bill at the end before the period the following and includes haiti and the dominican republic the leave gaps in coverage and aged transshipment point that is connected to drugs and weapons trafficking cannot be left out or else we risk of the problems faced by the us and the countries identified in this bill we know that haiti and american republic are growing transshipment points for drugs headed to the united states the data tells us that there has been at least a thirty eight percent increase in drug smuggling flights from the island of hispaniola has penniless it is evident that haiti in the dominican republic need help to control criminally infested airspace recently when these countries have joined forces with the united states there's been success in overcoming the challenges just the adjoining interdiction operation with the united states drug enforcement administration resulted in seizure of over one thousand pounds of cocaine international narcotics control strategy reports has outlined that progress has been made in both haiti and dominican republic to quell corruption and clearing these nations and this bill would allow the united states to deepen its efforts to help institutionalize judicial reform and good governance and expand the united states narcotics control strategy in the region this image would also allow the haitian government to assert better control over their territory including working closely with you not you and stabilization mission and haiti i want to point out that as an associate member of the central american and ente system the dominican republican has participated in a regional summit focused on finding ways to better secure central america and the caribbean basin notably and october two thousand and six the governments of  the honduras and nicaragua and the dominican republic proposed legislation to make a local felony and to a regional felony and pledge to improve intelligence sharing within the region i urge my colleagues to support this amendment and give haiti and the dominican gentleman yielding and i thank him for his thoughtful amendment in the context of the men from the gentleman from nebraska we discussed the balloon effect that occurs  when you're in terms of pushing a drug problem to another area and this is already happening in both a d n the dominican republic and while we have programs i think it makes a lot of sense to and include these two countries in in this initiative drug flights especially coming from venezuela a country that has not been helping regional anti drug efforts have increased significantly spaniel and there is a rumor floating around that the supplemental may include haiti and the dominican republic as well so i support you remember and i know the i believe the gentleman well i will yield back and let the gentleman from new york speak for itself tha meeks for offering this important amendment quite frankly when the merit initiative was first unveiled i was disappointed to see that the administration had failed to include haiti and the dominican republic we all know even if we're successful in mexico and central america experience tells us that this will not end drug production or trafficking it will merely go elsewhere and the logical place seems to be the caribbean seems to be haiti and the dominican republic two weeks ago officials from the joint interagency task force south in key west florida said that more and more drug traffickers are flying into the dominican republic and dropping off cocaine packages suspected drug smuggling flights to the d surged to one hundred seven last year compared to only thirty three the in two thousand and six the year before so in one year we had a more than a three fold increase and we've already seen the devastating impact that drug trafficking has had on haiti the poorest country in the hemisphere with the smallest capacity to handle the problem the d e a s successfully carried out operation rum punch in early two thousand and seven which helped divert drug traffic from haiti but then the operation ended and the drug traffickers naturally returned we must more actively and consistently support our friends in haiti and the dominican republic and i thank congressman meeks for doing so with this important amendment i might also just add that when i learned that i was going to become chairman of the western hemisphere subcommittee after our side won the elections in two thousand and six and six in december haiti in the dominican republic with the two first two countries that i let a codel to that i visited because they are so important to the united states we obviously have a large haitian american into minicon american communities in the united states in fact the dominican american community is here today on capitol hill lobbying and it's very very important that we coordinate things with our friends in haiti and the dominican republic so this is a very very important and good amendment and i'm happy to be associated with it i thank mr meeks for offering it and i thank you mr chairman for indulging me the time when the gentleman has expired as anyone else the great commission on this amendment the gentleman from california mr are back or i moved last were recognized for five minutes and i certainly support the amendment because it also exemplifies why the bill itself should be opposed why certainly we let's let's include these countries let's include all the countries of the hemisphere in fact let's include all the countries of the world because as as our good friend eliot just mentioned we squeeze that toothpaste tube and try to cut off the drugs here it's going to just screwed over here someplace else so let's just follow that toothpaste and go all over the world and make commitments to everybody every country needs a military help every country need some counseling on how their wives and husbands shouldn't beat up on each other which is included in this bill for latin american countries this is the worst the worst kind of social and political and military intervention ism that turns the world against us in the long run believe me we can go into mexico and into latin america and provide their military with new equipment and  end if we can send our military advisers there we can send our advisers in to tell them how to run their courts how to run their country this will breed nothing but animosity against the united states the people of mexico the people of latin america are proud and decent people they don't need us to come in and dictate to them and show them do things our way now they do have a corruption problem there they've got it they've got gang problems they've got all these problems that are outlined in the bill for us to take that on to our shoulders and to expect that it's not going to come back to bite us in the end when the when the people of those areas start blaming us for those problems because our interventionism isn't going to solve all these problems of course as we say we could include all the rest of the countries of the world too because that would be consistent and i don't think that that we have  we could use eight helicopters rather than giving them to the mexican military let's send those eight helicopters down to our own border patrol agents they'll be very grateful to have those kind of resources available to them so and on top of this this looks like to me frankly to be another step towards this grandiose schemes dream and some scholars head somewhere that's been accepted by some policymakers somewhere that there should be some kind of a north american union that in the end we can just use into this situation where the united states and mexico just have the same government that is not good for our people it's not good for the mexican people and i think that this effort while certainly it's a very good hearted effort it's all based on positive motives trying to help the poor little people down there in mexico and latin america this is it is arrogant it's insulting it's interventionism at its worst we should oppose it and i will certainly back my time to the chairman the gentleman yielding i do want to say for the record this is the fourth bill i've had this congress that you the gentleman from florida is recognized for five minutes thank you mr chairman thank you ranking member ross layton i'm very concerned about the safety of our men and women in uniform who patrol our borders every day and put their lives on the line at the very least we should be kept informed as to how they merit and impacts violence at the border as such i have offered a very simple amendment that would add to the matters to be including the president's report on the activities authorized under a description of the impact that they have had on the violence against u s and mexican border personnel i hold my colleagues agree that having this information will help us to better measure the effectiveness of billions of tax payer dollars that will be expanded to fight this insidious evil and instr just about the necessity of future measures to help our border personnel to do their jobs as safely and effectively as possible that's my explanation mr bill we want to make sure that the administration there's a lot of monitoring provisions in this bill and monitoring specifically specifically how america is affecting the security of u s and mexican personnel  fits right in to the whole purpose and thrust of this legislation and it's in the spirit of our efforts to ensure that the administration has metrics chairman the efficacy of the initiative and i support your amendment and i yield back thank you  i for five minutes thank you mr chairman i have some deep concerns about this initiative since the bush administration sent the funding request to congress last year in particular i was dismayed that a program that was to be a reducing drug trafficking to the us mexico border was developed behind closed doors without consulting local law enforcement agencies federal law enforcement agencies in regions like southern arizona i also found that the proposal some clear coordination among federal agencies furthermore it was sent to congress without transparent or measurable benchmarks and metrics for determining the initiative success i wrote to you mr chairman with recommendations to address these key deficiencies in the ministrations plan those recommendations reflect what we've all heard in committee hearing and what i've learned through meetings with local and state law enforcement officials throughout southern arizona i represent a portion of the tucson sector of the border which is the most porous sector along the entire two thousand miles of the border more than forty eight percent of the nation's drug traffic and forty four percent of all the legal immigrants which is approximately a thousand forty nine per day twenty seven hundred pounds of marijuana each day cross into southern arizona with this high amount of traffic southern arizona has seen very steep increase in crime and violence so it is clear that a comprehensive approach is vital to addressing initiative that only provides funding for programs and equipment in mexico and central america would fail to recognize the need for funding engagement on both sides of the southern border so i commend the chairman and members of this committee for drafting legislation that takes a more responsible and comprehensive approach this bill matches funding with requirements for international domestic coordination as well as putting in place some clear metrics for reporting to track the progress of authorized activities we have to make sure that the u s our taxpayer the u s dollars being put into use in mexico and central america that deliver or should be delivering results here at home would be seen in terms of decreasing violen crime drugs gun running human trafficking here in the united states some particularly pleased to see expanded assistance for law enforcement to address the southward bound flow of illegal guns into mexico from states like arizona that assistance includes the assignment of additional agents of the bureau of alcohol tobacco firearms and explosives to the us mexico border i also appreciate the thoughtful consideration that chairman berman and western hemisphere subcommittee chairman angle has given to this initiative it provides an important opportunity for coordination between the united states and southern partners to secure our communities i think it also highlights a need for additional resources on our side of the us mexico border we have to keep in mind that our communities in arizona and along our two thousand miles of southern border are on the frontlines of this national struggle to stop the flow of guns drugs and violence in the united states so i support the efforts of my colleagues to add funding for those domestic justice and border programs into the bill and i think that congress must continue to work to address the drug crisis in a comprehensive way and i commend this committee for your role in the process so well i think her comments and no one thing i would like to add i agree with her  section blank additional funding for certain d o j programs in addition to any amounts authorized or appropriated in any other act there is authorized to be appropriated to the department of justice for the period of fiscal year two thousand and eight through two thousand ten number one six hundred million dollars to carry out the edward burns memorial justice systems grant program authorized under sub part one of title one of us crime control and safe streets act of nine hundred sixty eight with respect to grant program that objection the reading will be dispensed with and gentleman from texas is making nice for five minutes i think the chairman of the united has an eminent security threat on store step it's not in iraq it's not in afghanistan it's not in pakistan it's just across the border from my home state of texas just a stone's throw away from american soil i met with president calderon several months ago he's deployed thirty thousand troops to the border this is a military strategy he said he is at war with the drug cartels and in my judgment we need to fight that war i think that's what this authorization does the threat counts from brazen mice can drug cartels breed violence and corruption and flourish in a lawless environment the cartels employ any means necessary to sell their drug store children and increase market demand for their product they're responsible for violence and murders and united states cities which accompany their drug trade they seek to confront and overpower our own law enforcement on the border as they have done with m authorities this is a frightening threat that i warned about in my two thousand and six report a line in the sand which is become the reality we face today to face this reality we need a military strategy to confront and destroy and take out these drug cartels there is no other alternative just last week the cartels murdered mexico's interim federal police chief shooting him ten times outside his home in mexico city the next day they are believed to be responsible for the shooting of the commander of mexico city's investigative police force both murders were in retaliation in for mexico's renewed commitment to attacking these drug cartels the violence carried out by these mexican drug cartels amounts to narco terrorism as a former chief of counterterrorism the u s attorney's office in texas i see no distinction between this narco terrorism and the war on terror both constitute a clear and present danger to our safety and our national security just as the united states is taking aggressive steps to root out terrorism in iraq and afghanistan we must take action similar against these drug cartels on their own turf they are the root cause of our problems we must in supporting this program not forget also though the brave men and women on our side of the border who are fighting the agents of the drug cartels that have already infiltrated our southern border and to that end i offer this amendment which essentially it mr chairman offers an equal amount of resources to our federal state and local law enforcement or our border sheriffs offers an equal amount of funding for resources that this authorization provides to knock out the drug cartels on the mexican side and it seems to me that if this initiative has a two pronged approach a two pronged assault on the drug cartels that has the question about your restriction on the proper committee but if this is ruled in order here in this committee i have planned support the gentleman's amendment and i commend him for a way to attack what is the byrne program and the need for detention facilities and judicial personnel and i mean particularly in the border areas is just enormous and so i actually think it's a great amendment but it's  encourage the gentleman to withdraw it in order to and i printed it are an order that i don't have to rule against him and i like reclaim my time i appreciate the chairman support for this from him and i understand the jurisdictional issues here but i would ask for your support on the judiciary committee as i've received from the ranking member of the judiciary committee also in the senate i know there's equal amount of funding it seems offered by mr tancredo of colorado and then section three zero one a of the bill to read as follows in general the president may not provide assistance under title one or type or two to a foreign country for  a member will be deemed to have been read and the gentleman from colorado is recognized for five minutes thank you mr chairman i was just going to say i don't think you're going to have the same sort of conflict emotional conflict over this amendment as you had in the past so with that in mind i would but i'm not going to rule it out of order to mr chairman i'm glad to hear that too i think we all agree on this panel that latin america particular mexico needs help in fighting the drug cartels but what we have dealt with now for so long this is unfortunately not really as a set of new ideas as was mentioned i think earlier by congressman shabbat we have in various ways supplied mexico with over seven hundred twenty million dollars of aid over the past several years unfortunately it has not yet achieved any of the desired goals and there's a problem i think that that is really the basis of my concerns with regard to any any bill of this nature and that is it really doesn't address the underlying root cause of the problems in mexico and other areas of latin america that the bill is directed to and those problems deal with of course the corruption that is in demick going from the cop on the beat unfortunately to sometimes the highest level of government my amendment or the underlying bill requires the president to make a number of determinations before a can be dispersed to recipient governments unfortunately all of the required determinations in the underlying bill deal primarily with human rights related issues and although human rights related issues are certainly important and human rights abuses they are not the primary problem confronting mexico today they are significant they in fact comprise a significant problem i will give you that the maintenance of elementary law and order in the face of organized against law enforcement and legal institutions infiltration on the armed services and local police by drug cartels and demick corruption at all levels of government are the primary threat to mexico's people and the democratic institutions today my amendment would require that the president make a number of additional determinations that i hope will help address the problems without the safeguards of money i think we're sending to mexico where they should put it in that way that we send to mexico is likely to end up helping the cartels more than hurting them among other things the amendment would require determination that the armed forces and our law enforcement agencies in the recipient country are not involved or complicit in the drug trafficking activity weapons or people now we've already heard the discussion so i will not go into it with regard to the zetas and other gangs that are operating in mexico that have and in fact receive training from the united states and other western countries use that training and even some of the hardware and equipment i'm told in pursuit of their goal of increasing drug the drug activity the drug shipments to the united states that endemic corruption is not only confined to the military it's also infected federal and local police amendment attempts to address this problem by requiring a determination that the recipient government has a program in place to thoroughly investigate crimes committed against americans united states citizens by law enforcement officers at the municipal and state  provisional level i remember also require that regard to assistance to mexico the president must determine that us mexico border is secure against illegal entry before any funds can be released we have a  responsibility to protect the american taxpayer here certainly everyone understands that many of those on the other side of spoken very forcefully and i've heard you mr chairman more than on more than one occasion wax eloquently about the fact that we have abdicated much of our oversight authority to the executive branch i agree that is the case that is why my amendment includes a provision that would require an up or down vote by congress on whether or not to accept the president's determination is before any money can be distributed we should not provide this in the straight in with a blank check once the state department makes a handful of claims to this committee that may or may not be supported by the evidence if the administration wants this money they should be able to convince congress to give it to them  the time the time of the gentleman has expired who seeks recognition the gentleman from new york chairman of the subcommittee thank you very much i will recognize for five minutes thank you very much mr chairman let me say that i oppose the amendment  i certainly understand the goals of the amendment from the gentleman from colorado but while his amendment may be well intentioned i believe it's not workable and will actually undermine the basic purposes of this bill  conditions in mexico have become unbearable and it is in our interest to help let's not forget why we're here today the narco violence in mexico is not only undermining the safety and security of our friends to the south but it is fueling the drug trade and violence here in the united states that's why i disagree with my good friend mr are back of california on this on this measure we care about what is happening in mexico and central america because what happens there affects us all they are countries that are closest to our borders so it's not just any country in the world it's countries that are close to our borders and affect what happens in our country so we stand with our friends during the difficult times as we ask them to stand with us what president bush and calderon achieved in the merit initiative i believe is unprecedented never before has the mexican government agreed to cooperate so closely with the united states on security matters mexico is spending billions of its own dollars and putting its own people on the front lines i'm not saying the mexican authorities a perfect neither a way and i'm not saying that abuses haven't been committed there because we can't even say that about us but we must not make the perfect the enemy of the good and the mexican and central american governments are today standing up to fight the narco violence and are willing to accept american help to become more effective and responsible that's a very good situation and we must support them in this as for the ten creative amendment while i may agree with the goals of the gentleman from colorado  forum i believe would shut down the entire program this would endanger the citizens of our country which this bill is trying to affect china protest further the bill already contains strong provisions which achieve many of the goals of the ten creative amendment while not halting the entire initiative under this legislation countries cannot receive assistance unless vetting procedures are in place to ensure that the units have not committed human rights violations and that the personnel using u s supplied equipment have been fully vetted furthermore the bilk significant assistance to mexico and central america to professionalize their security services this is a very very important provision of this bill so in conclusion mr chairman the merit initiative is a critical effort to improve security for citizens of the united states our subcommittee t very seriously we've had and number of hearings on the merit initiative mexico central america and the united states are all in this together so let's not shut down the program with a well intentioned but i believe misguided amendment i urge my colleagues to oppose the tancredo amendment now yell back i just time the gemma's expired who seeks recognition on this amendment the gentleman from california last word gentleman recognized for five intentioned bill is actually fulfilling its purposes or not and we just heard described that this amendment is well intentioned but on workable i would suggest that this bill is well intended but workable congressman mccall's approach refocuses at least some of the resources that we're talking about on our side of the border to try to improve what how we handle ourselves in the united states i think mr mccall's approach is on target as as in fact the entire amount that's being committed by this bill should be focused on our side of the border the people of mexico and people love america are very proud people and they have credible resources available to them they're very hardworking people  the thing that they demand the most and i think justifiably so is that we treat them with respect and they do not believe the united states in the past has treated the people of mexico and perhaps some of the people of america with the respect that we would expect to be treated with and i think this bill reflects an attitude that is less than respectful i think this is bill reflect s an elitist attitude that we're going to go in and tell the people of mexico what to do now most people here understand that i am one of the leading spokesmen against illegal immigration into our country whether it's from mexico or latin america or or any other part of the world but that in no way should indicate that i don't respect the people of those areas that want to come here but our goal in the united states should not number one have people come here and siphon off good people from these countries but at the same time it should also not be that we're telling those countries how to run their affairs and intervene in their in what they're doing mr t suggesting if we do let's make sure that there are some some standards to which judge whether we remain successful and let me just note the purpose of this legislation this grand scheme of interventionism that is being proposed today the purpose is to try to confront the threat of narco terrorism and it's been expressed or there's no doubt about it the purpose and the well meaning of this bill and this consumption in our country is all wrong the fact is that if we spent our time and effort trying to curb the appetite for illegal drugs of our own people rather than trying to bolster the military and political forces and police forces of other societies i believe it would be much more effective in the long run and the people of mexico have every right to say to us look it's your demand it's your appetite for  drugs that feed this narco terrorism let's get to the heart of the matter here let's be honest with each other rather than beat around the bush ad just improving the military capabilities and the  police capabilities of mexico is not going to solve this problem and until we are serious about it and are willing to admit that we're not going to make headway and in fact no matter how well intended it won't work and in the long run we will actually cause the people of those areas to dislike us the good people who do want to cooperate with us will be turned against us they will blame us for the problems in their country because we have intervened internally rather than looking at our own selves to try to correct our own drug problem thank you very much mr chairman the time a gentleman has expired i recognize myself to strike the last word for five minutes  the gentleman last point about the demand side i think is very important i find it somewhat ironic a gentleman is supply side on economics and demand side on drugs  mexican people deserve our respect and this has nothing to do with either the author or the author's intentions but when i read this amendment this amendment does not treat the mexican people with respect here the new conditions that are set forth before any money can flow from this legislation the government of the foreign country let's call it what it is here it's called mexico is fully copyright cooperating with all united states extradition requests well i would not contend that their mexico cooperated with all extradition requests but i know one thing the position of mexico on our exit of additional requests over the last five years has improved markedly the second point in many ways  number thirteen as essentially this says no funds i'm sorry number eleven no funds can go in this program if any law enforcement agency  the recipient country is involved with are complicit in the trafficking of drugs weapons or people so the whole thrust of this program would be totally vitiated if a local law enforcement agency had been infiltrated by the cartels had been involved in this and the federal police and the federal administration wanted to to use all of it's resources all the resources they can manage to go after that it creates an impossible situation the very reason for this initiative is not a five by that particular condition and finally with respect to assistance to mexico a determination that the united states mexico border is secure in other words no money can go unless the border is secure and the border will never be secure as long as the drug cartels and all of the people they operate with inside certain aspects of law enforcement on the outside with the people in this country in coordination l s o unless those people are stopped the border will never be secure so a second impossibility and all this or cars or prepare a presidential certification and then a joint resolution of congress yes we should have oversight over this issue the way we have oversight is by the monitoring provisions that we have in this legislation the reports we have in this last year solution and the fact that we will annually appropriate the funds in this legislation giving one senator who might just be from oklahoma a chance to put a hold on a joint resolution of approval is not the kind of oversight i think is is meaningful and i urge the amendment be ms watson votes now mr smith of washington mr smith of washington votes no mr carnahan mr carnahan votes no mr tanner mr miller mr miller votes now ms sanchez and sanchez votes no mr scott mr costa mr pence mr wilson mr wilson both yes mr bozeman mr barrett mr barrett votes yes mr mac members wishing to cast a vote the gentleman from new york mr ackerman mr ackerman votes no gentleman from florida mr wexler votes no gentleman from forward thinking effort i had the opportunity to meet with the ambassador from the united states to mexico and i think this is more of a challenging mountain to climb that we might even imagine i do think we can work together in partnership and i've asked that the president of the united states on the basis of my amendment accept or submit a report assessing the role of the relevant united states government departments and agencies including the department of homeland security i asked that there be a report on the particular staffing and resources that are being used i asked that there be an assessment on the border security operations of relevant homeland security or government identifying additional resources now i know that we are moving this bill forward through foreign affairs and so was my attempt to put this on the wreckage to indicate that we must have a continued partnership between the stay department and department of homeland security having just come back from the border and looking at the utilization of a new technology i realize that we have to do this together i would like to work with the  committee to ensure that this initiative has those parameters and has the teeth to do the job let me conclude by acknowledging that the legislation mr chairman does have a sense of congress relating t drug use is here in the united states i think if we were to put a map up before our colleagues to see the pinpoints of drug activity in the united states as was shown to us in our meeting with the ambassador we would look  and so the more we can do to ensure that the violence of drug trade does not continue on our border and then victimize those in the united states i think the more effective this effort in these resources will be and that being the case i'm going to ask unanimous consent to withdraw this amendment but to work with the chairman recognizing that our goal is to get this on the floor and pass to ensure that there are vital elements of this that can work because we are collaborating with between now on the floor of homeland security does need to be involved directly with the state department on this and for all the reasons you mentioned and i appreciate generally these request and without objection the amendment  favorable recommendation of h r six zero two eight as ended to the house the question occurs on the motion by the gentleman purport h r six zero two eight as amended favorably to the house all in favor say  all opposed to a no the ayes have it and the motion is adopted without objection the bill will be reported as a single amendment of the nature of a substitute incorporating the amendments adopted by the committee and the staff is directed to make any technical and conforming amendments thank you all very much for your participation and as and and the meeting is a