Bingaman: Spending Bill Contains Millions of Dollars to Address Border Crime

Press Release

Bingaman: Spending Bill Contains Millions of Dollars to Address Border Crime

U.S. Senator Jeff Bingaman today voted to approve a spending bill that contains $15 million he sought to help stop the flow of illegal weapons into Mexico, and $90 million to assist local law enforcement agencies in tackling border-related crime. The bill passed, but must be approved by the House of Representatives before it can be sent to President Bush.

"This bill contains a significant level of funding to tackle violence in the border region," Bingaman said.

Illegal gun smuggling from the United States into Mexico has provided Mexican drug cartels with dangerous firearms, and in recent months there have been violent flare-ups along the border between cartels and Mexican authorizes.

Last month, Bingaman introduced legislation, the Southwest Border Violence Reduction Act, to prevent gunrunning by expanding the U.S. Department of Justice's "Project Gunrunner Initiative" - a successful initiative that targets gun trafficking networks.

The funding would enable Bureau of Alcohol Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) to deploy additional special agents as part of Project Gunrunner Teams in the border region to investigate individuals that traffic weapons into Mexico. The legislation would also give ATF the resources necessary to assign special agents to U.S. consulates in Mexico to assist Mexican law enforcement with arms trafficking cases.

Bingaman's bill is pending in Congress, but upon introduction he immediately began seeking funding for it. He said he is very pleased the Senate is poised to set aside $5 million to make ATF personnel available in Mexico to assist Mexican authorities in tracing illegal weapons confiscated from drug cartels, and $10 million for ATF anti-trafficking efforts in the border states.

The bill also contains $90 million in DOJ competitive grants to help local law enforcement agencies situated along the southern border and agencies located in high drug trafficking areas to hire additional personnel and purchase equipment. The funding is based on a proposal Bingaman first put forth in 2005 that would provide additional resources to border law enforcement agencies to address criminal activity.

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