Letter to Chairwoman Barbara Mikulski and Ranking Member Richard Shelby

Letter

Following the Obama Administration's decision to decline support for the Southwest Border Prosecution Initiative (SWBPI), which reimburses local government entities for costs related to prosecution and detention of drug traffickers and other violent offenders, U.S. Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas, today joined Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-California, and a bipartisan group of senators to restore the funding.

"The Administration's decision not to renew vital SWBPI border funding puts our local law enforcement officials at a serious disadvantage in the war on drugs," said Sen. Cornyn. "Now more than ever, as cartel and drug-related violence escalates, with the recent heinous murders of two U.S. citizens in Juarez, we need to be arming our local law enforcement and border patrol agents with every resource they need to keep Americans safe. Texas families and children cannot and should not have to wait for another dangerous act of violence to receive federal assistance to combat drug-related violence along our border."

The Senators sent a letter to Chairwoman Barbara Mikulski, D-Maryland, and Ranking Member Richard Shelby, R-Alabama, of the Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on Commerce, Justice and Science requesting they restore SWBPI funding for local law enforcement officials in Arizona, California, New Mexico, and Texas. The SWBPI programs reimburses state, county, parish, tribal and municipal governments for costs associated with the prosecution and pre-trial detention of federally-initiated criminal cases declined by local offices of the United States Attorneys. The program received $31 million in fiscal year 2010, but the Obama Administration did not request funding for the program in fiscal year 2011. Over the last seven years, Texas received $49.8 million in SWBPI funding to provide local law enforcement agencies with resources to prosecute drug trafficking and violent crime cases that were initiated federally, but referred to local jurisdictions. The full text of the letter to Sens. Mikulski and Shelby is below:

Chairwoman Barbara Mikulski
Subcommittee on Commerce, Justice, and Science
Committee on Appropriations
United States Senate
Washington, D.C. 20510

Ranking Member Richard Shelby
Subcommittee on Commerce,Justice, and Science
Committee on Appropriations
United States Senate
Washington, D.C. 20510

Dear Chairwoman Mikulski and Ranking Member Shelby:

We are writing to respectfully urge you to provide $31 million for the Southwest Border Prosecution Initiative (SWBPI) in the Commerce, Justice, Science (CJS) Appropriations bill for fiscal year 2011. This addition would restore funding for this program to the level Congress provided last year. These federal resources are crucial to local law enforcement officials in our states.

The SWBPI program reimburses state, county, parish, tribal, and municipal governments for costs associated with the prosecution and pre-trial detention of federally-initiated criminal cases declined by local offices of the United States Attorneys. This important funding provides local law enforcement agencies with the means to prosecute drug trafficking and violent crime cases that have been initiated federally but referred to local jurisdictions along the Southwest border.

Drug trafficking in the Southwest region is a serious threat to our homeland security and the federal government must provide meaningful support so that we can prosecute these crimes and stem the flow of illegal drugs throughout the United States. The Office of National Drug Control Policy estimates that 90 percent of the cocaine that is destined for U.S. markets comes by way of the Mexico/Central America corridor. Mexico is also the primary foreign source of marijuana and methamphetamine destined for U.S. markets.

Mexican drug trafficking organizations have infiltrated the cities, suburbs, national parks, public lands, and prisons of the United States. The National Southwest Border Counternarcotics strategy has made clear that the federal partnership with state and local law enforcement agencies is vital to addressing the threat posed by violent drug cartels in a comprehensive manner.

We believe it is our duty to provide these law enforcement agencies with the resources they need to keep our country safe and the Southwest Border Prosecution Initiative is a crucial component in this effort. We would also ask that the Subcommittee continue to provide a specific line item for the SWBPI, as it did last year. This will help maintain the program's distinctness from the State Criminal Alien Assistance Program. We urge you to restore this critically-needed funding as the subcommittee crafts this year's funding priorities.

Sincerely,

Dianne Feinstein, United States Senator
Barbara Boxer, United States Senator
John Cornyn, United States Senator
Kay Bailey Hutchison, United States Senator
Jeff Bingaman, United States Senator
Tom Udall, United States Senator