Here is Congressman Ted Poe's view on this expense. Too bad other member's of Congress did have the same view. Instead our tax money had been tossed to a government that will only give it to the drug cartels and stab us in the back.



This week, the US Congress voted to send $1.4 billion to Mexico and Central America to combat drug-trafficking in their countries. I voted AGAINST this bill because it did not allow for one red cent to be spent in our own country to fight the violence on our side of the southern border. While I fully support the efforts to aid our neighbors in their latest attempt to regain control of the border region, I do not agree that it is a one-sided war.

I just returned from Cameron County along the Texas/ Mexico border and let me assure you the violence is not just south of the border. I have been from one end of the Texas border to the other and I understand the gravity of the situation and the domestic consequences of the warring cartels in Mexico. It is imperative that we address the situation in Mexico, but it is irresponsible to do so while ignoring the fact that our side of the border is already infested with drug related crime and in desperate need of funding. Our border sheriffs are outgunned and outmanned by the cartels' hired guns, many of whom were trained in the US.

According to the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), there have been over 250 incursions by suspected Mexican military units into the US in the last ten years. In addition, kidnappings on both sides of the border and assassination of Mexican law enforcement continue to rise at an alarming pace.

Past agreements with Mexico to fight drug trafficking in their country have proven disastrous. Many members of the notorious ‘Zetas’ were Mexican military trained in our own country. Mexican officials originally supported the $1.4 billion gift, but then refused to take it if it was subject to US oversight. If that’s not a red flag, I don’t know what is.

Our border sheriffs’ needs in combating crime are just as important as those of Mexico and Central America. I cannot support a BILLION dollar effort that ignores our same needs while our border protectors have to beg, borrow and confiscate just to have enough to get by. And that’s just the way it is.

God and Texas,

TED POE
Member of Congress
TEXAS