FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: April 21, 2008
CONTACT: Matt Mackowiak
Sen. Hutchison Introduces Southwest Border Violence Reduction Act
Bill would Authorize $15 Million for DOJ’s Project Gunrunner Initiative
WASHINGTON -- U.S. Senator Kay Bailey Hutchison (R-TX), Texas’ senior senator, today introduced S. 2867, The Southwest Border Violence Reduction Act of 2008, which will reduce border violence by cracking down on the illegal trafficking of arms.
“If we’re going to be successful in helping Mexico tackle its drug cartels, we must stop the flow of illegal weapons that ensure drug gangs are better armed than Mexican police departments,” said Sen. Hutchison. “We need to continue to expand our efforts to crack down on weapons trafficking.”
The Southwest Border Violence Reduction Act of 2008, cosponsored by Sen. Jeff Bingaman (D-NM), seeks to ramp up efforts to prevent gunrunning from the United States into Mexico.
According to the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF), 90 percent of the weapons seized in Mexico are from the United States. The bill authorizes $15 million in both fiscal year 2009 and 2010 to expand the U.S. Department of Justice’s “Project Gunrunner Initiative,” a successful initiative that targets gun trafficking networks.
The funding would enable ATF to hire, train and deploy additional special agents, enough for at least seven more Project Gunrunner Teams in the border region to investigate and help prosecute individuals that traffic weapons into Mexico.
The bill also authorizes $9.5 million in both fiscal year 2009 and 2010 to enhance cooperation between the United States and Mexico. This funding would allow ATF to assign additional agents to consulates in Mexico to support Mexico’s efforts to trace seized weapons and to train Mexican law enforcement officials in anti-trafficking investigative techniques.
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