BORDER MEMBERS OF CONGRESS CALL FOR FUNDS TO FIGHT CARTEL VIOLENCE

Members of Congress representing areas along the border with Mexico
are asking for an emergency disbursement of at least $500 million in
federal funds to fight narcotics and organized crime along the frontier.

Nine U.S. representatives from border states - a group that includes
the entire Rio Grande Valley delegation - sent a letter to House
Speaker Nancy Pelosi urging her to include immediate funding for
border security in an emergency supplemental spending package.

The letter asks for an Appropriations Committee bill to include money
for improving communications capabilities in remote areas of the
border, supplementing a program that aids local law enforcement's
efforts to prevent spillover violence and putting more federal agents
along the border and at the nation's land ports.

"The will of governments in communities in the U.S. and Mexico to
combat criminal elements is strong," states the letter written last
week by U.S. Rep. Silvestre Reyes, D-El Paso, and signed by Reps.
Ruben Hinojosa, Henry Cuellar and Solomon Ortiz. "(The) United States
Congress must continue to honor that resolve with needed funding to
aid those serving on the front lines at this critical juncture."

The letter comes as escalating violence along the border - including
March's slaying of two Americans connected to the U.S. Consulate in
Juarez and regular shootouts and other violence in cities in northern
Tamaulipas - has again drawn national attention to cartel-related
crime in Mexico.

Mexican President Felipe Calderon is scheduled to meet with President
Barack Obama and address a joint session of Congress next month on
his country's work to combat drug trafficking.

His appearance before both houses of Congress reflects a keen
interest in strengthening security along the border, said Hinojosa,
D-Mercedes. By using an emergency appropriations method previously
used to fund the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq and provide for
disaster relief, Congress can quickly inject money into border protection.

"We are hoping to get this funding to the border soon, and we are
urging our leaders and colleagues to make it happen," Hinojosa said.
"We want to make sure our federal agents on the border have
everything they need to protect themselves, to protect us and to
protect the border."

The House Border Caucus wants at least $501.8 million in the fiscal
year 2010 emergency supplemental package currently being drafted by
the House Committee on Appropriations.

The lawmakers requested:

. $202.2 million to hire hundreds of additional U.S. Border Patrol
agents and inspection agents at ports of entry to alleviate understaffing.

. $200 million to go toward improving an antiquated communications
infrastructure used by U.S. Customs and Border Protection along
remote stretches of the border.

. $39.6 million to screen all CBP agents to prevent infiltration and
corruption efforts by cartels.

. $10 million to compensate border region health care providers as
they treat individuals wounded in Mexico who cross the border to seek
treatment at U.S. hospitals.

. $50 million to go toward Operation Stonegarden, a federal program
that assists local law enforcement in fighting violence and drug and
weapon trafficking.

Law enforcement agencies that are on the front lines can't depend
solely on resources from local governments for their work, said
Cuellar, D-Laredo, who spoke with Hidalgo County Sheriff Lupe Trevino
this week. Aiding them will help prevent violence in Mexico from
spilling across the border.

"We want to make sure that the border law enforcement get as much
support as they need," Cuellar said. "They understand we're doing as
much as we can from Congress to help them supplement the work they do."

Rep. Ortiz, D-Corpus Christi, said the violence in Mexico has
impacted communities on both sides of the border.

Responding to the violence has strained law enforcement agencies
charged with controlling the borders and securing land ports, he
said. Federal spending along the Southwest border protects the rest
of the country.

"The wars in Afghanistan and Iraq are thousands of miles away," Ortiz
said. "This one here is right in our backyard. This is a security
issue for our nation. We need to address it."