U.S. SHOULD MAKE MEXICAN DRUG VIOLENCE A PRIORITY, LAWMAKER SAYS

WASHINGTON - A top Republican lawmaker criticized the Defense
Department yesterday for not making the drug violence in Mexico as big
a priority as Afghanistan and for not coordinating U.S. resources to
confront it.

Rep. Jerry Lewis, R-Redlands, told the Associated Press that the
Mexican turmoil is "a lot more important, in my own judgment, than
Afghanistan at this moment."

He added: "We need to raise this to a higher level."

Lewis praised the Homeland Security Department for deploying unmanned
aerial vehicles to track human activity along the U.S.-Mexico border,
but he criticized the Pentagon for not providing helicopters to help
patrol it.

You can't chase these people around in trucks," said Lewis, the
ranking Republican on the House Appropriations Committee.

Navy Cmdr. Jeffrey D. Gordon, a Pentagon spokesman, said the Defense
Department has been working with Mexican officials on ways to deal
with shared threats along the border, including training and equipping
counter-narcotics forces.

Since 2008, about 7,000 people have been killed in the Mexican drug
wars, and the violence is spilling into U.S. cities in some parts of
the country. There have been reports of drug cartel members settling
scores with adversaries in places such as Atlanta, Phoenix and
Birmingham, Ala.

It doesn't just involve Mexico and Mexicans, it involves our kids
dying in cities all over the country," Lewis said. "Every major city
in the country is being impacted by these cartels."

Lewis and other lawmakers yesterday hammered the need for U.S.
agencies to do a better job of working together to secure the border
and keep the drug cartels from spilling their violence into the United
States.

Most weapons the cartels are using come from the United States, said
Mark Koumans, deputy assistant secretary for the Homeland Security
Department's office of international affairs. Koumans testified before
the House appropriations homeland security subcommittee.

Rep. Sam Farr, D-Carmel, complained that the Bureau of Alcohol,
Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives is inspecting only 5 percent of the
7,600 federally licensed gun dealers in Southwestern states. He asked
that Homeland Security agencies take over this role if ATF can't do
the job.

Homeland officials testifying yesterday said they did not have the
authority to do this.