Hunter to WH: Pull Mexico aid

Hunter to WH: Pull Mexico aid
By DAVID ROGERS | 5/9/08 5:44 PM EST

The ranking Republican on the House Armed Services Committee asked the White House Friday to withdraw its $500 million request for aid to Mexico as part of the new Merida Initiative to fight drug-trafficking into the U.S.

California Rep. Duncan Hunter (R-Calif.), who chaired Armed Services for years under Republican rule, said Congress should first debate and authorize the multiyear commitment which has been a top priority for Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice.

The House Foreign Affairs Committee is scheduled to mark up an authorization bill next Wednesday. But mindful that its own power is running out, the Bush administration has been anxious to move more quickly as a sign of good faith with the government of Mexican President Felipe Calderon.

Calderon has won praise for cracking down on violent drug-trafficking areas, and the new money is intended to provide training and equipment, running from computer software to aircraft able to transport troops and improve surveillance.

Rice has lobbied hard — in the White House and Congress — for the money to be included in an emergency spending bill to fund military operations in Iraq and Afghanistan. And even this week, she telephoned top lawmakers hoping to stave off cuts in the request.

President Bush weighed in as well at a White House meeting Wednesday with Republicans. But Hunter’s stance reflects what has been a steady undercurrent of criticism on the right. In trying to pull together the wartime spending bill and still meet other budget priorities, Democrats argue that it is unrealistic for Rice to expect the full $500 million at this time.

In his letter to Bush, for example, Hunter argues that the $500 million has no place in the bill “much like other programs not intended to support military operations in the combat theaters of the global war on terrorism.â€