SENATE PANEL BACKS HUTCHISON ON BORDER DRUG WAR

WASHINGTON -- Embracing an initiative pushed by Sen. Kay Bailey
Hutchison, R-Texas, a Senate committee agreed Thursday to include $100
million in a federal spending package to help border-area law
enforcement agencies combat drug trafficking and violence tied to
powerful criminal gangs in Mexico.

The aid, approved by the Senate Appropriations Committee, would be
used in border-area counties and other high-intensity drug trafficking
areas.

The package includes $10 million to fund Project Gunrunner, a Justice
Department program designed to stem the flow of firearms into Mexico
for use by drug cartels.

At least 90 percent of weapons seized in Mexico are from the United
States, according to the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms
and Explosives.

President Bush is asking Congress to approve $560 million to help
Mexico fight the drug cartels, but Hutchison has said she does not
support the initiative without an increase in aid for U.S. law
enforcement.