Rep. Tom Tancredo (R-Littleton) today put forth an amendment in the House Foreign Affairs Committee attempting to block foreign aid under the Merida Initiative to Mexico. The amendment would block all funding until the President of the has certified that the Mexican government has met a list of requirements.
"The maintenance of elementary law and order in the face of organized violence against law enforcement and legal institutions, infiltration of the armed services and local police by the drug cartels, and endemic corruption at all levels of government - these are the primary threats to Mexico' s people and democratic institutions today," said Tancredo.
Among other things, the amendment would have required a determination that the armed forces and / or law enforcement agencies of Mexico (or any other recipient nation seeking aid) are not involved or complicit in the trafficking of drugs, weapons or people.
The original leaders of the notorious "Zetas," the violent enforcers of the Gulf Cartel who have brought murder and mayhem to the Rio Grande Valley , were former Mexican military personnel with special forces training who deserted the army.
"We know that some of these guns for hire' had U.S. military training. We must insist that our dollars never again train soldiers who then take that training and expertise and use it to serve organized crime," said Tancredo. "Mexico must be required to clean up its act before we send truckloads of our tax dollars south - or we run the risk of American aid being siphoned off by the very drug cartels we are trying to defeat."
The amendment would also require the President to certify that the U.S.-Mexico border is secure before aid could be provided to Mexico.
"The cartels only exist to smuggle drugs and people across our southwest border. If that border is made secure against all such smuggling, the cartels will be deprived of most of their profits - profits that feed corruption," said Tancredo.
Tancredo's amendment would also require, as a condition of receiving any U.S. aid, that a foreign government cooperate with all U.S. extradition requests and efforts to deport or repatriate nationals of that foreign country. The foreign government must also not assist or encourage its nationals to illegally immigrate to the U.S.
The amendment would also require a congressional vote on the President's certifications before aid could flow.
"Congress should not provide this administration with a blank check once the State Department makes a handful of claims to this committee that may or may not be supported by evidence," said Tancredo. "If the administration wants this money, they should have to convince Congress to give it to them."
"We have to insist that governments like the one in Mexico tackle their internal corruption and get their houses in order before we start handing out tax dollars," concluded Tancredo. "Without these safeguards, money sent to Mexico is as likely to end up in the pockets of the drug cartels as it is the reformers."
The amendment failed 23 votes to 10. Those opposing the amendment were Howard Berman (D-CA), Gary Ackerman (D-NY), Eni Faleomavaega (D-AS), Donald Payne (D-NJ), Brad Sherman (D-CA), Robert Wexler (D-FL), Eliot Engel (D-NY), Gregory Meeks (D-NY), Diane Watson (D-CA), Adam Smith (D-WA), Russ Carnahan (D-MO), Lynn Woolsey (D-CA), Sheila Jackson-Lee (D-TX), Ruben Hinojosa (D-TX), David Wu (D-OR), Brad Miller (D-NC), Linda Sanchez (D-CA), Albio Sires (D-NJ), Ron Klein (D-FL), Joseph Crowley (D-NY), Barbara Lee (D-CA), Ileana Ros-Lehtinen (R-FL) and Luis Fortuno (R-PR). Those in favor were Tom Tancredo (R-CO), Gabrielle Giffords (D-AZ), Dan Burton (R-IN), Dana Rohrabacher (R-CA), Ed Royce (R-CA), Joe Wilson (R-SC), Gresham Barrett (R-SC), Michael McCaul (R-TX), Ted Poe (R-TX) and Gus Bilirakis (R-FL)