Jeff Bingaman United States Senator from New Mexico

It is a pleasure to be with you here today.  First, I would like to thank you for everything you do in keeping our Nation’s communities safe.  As a former state Attorney General, I know how much time, effort, and dedication law enforcement officers and prosecutors devote to their jobs. 

I would also like to especially thank Director Melson, Deputy Attorney General Ogden, Assistant Secretary Morton, Assistant Attorney General Breuer, and Director Jarrett, for holding this important conference.

I’ve been asked to discuss my thoughts on the ongoing drug-related violence in Mexico and the role weapons trafficking plays in fueling this violence.

Earlier this month, right here in Albuquerque, the Administration released its plan for combating drug trafficking along the Southwest border.  This plan, the 2009 National Southwest Border Counternarcotics Strategy, lays out the Federal government’s comprehensive approach to addressing drug-related criminal activity throughout the border region. 

While the report focuses on some ongoing strategic objectives, such as northbound drug interdiction, improved intelligence gathering, and enhanced cooperation among law enforcement agencies, for the first time the border plan also includes a separate chapter specifically devoted to weapons trafficking and the role it plays in enabling the cartels to maintain their operations. 

We must appreciate the impact these weapons are having in fueling the violence in Mexico.  Since Mexican President Felipe Calderon began cracking down on the drug cartels there have been over 10,000 deaths.  The cartels are forcefully confronting the military, police, and each other as they seek to maintain their drug shipment routes.  The ability of these drug organizations to easily access high-powered assault weapons and sniper rifles allows them to outgun Mexican law enforcement and implement a campaign of violence and intimidation.

There are about 55,000 firearm dealers throughout the country, and about 6,700 of these are located in the four Southwest border states.  While the vast majority of these dealers run lawful operations, criminals are still able exploit the availability of firearms in our country to smuggle weapons into Mexico for significant profits.  Just as Mexico has a responsibility to do everything it can to stop the drugs flowing north, we have a responsibility to prevent weapons from going south.

I believe we can disrupt these trafficking networks by focusing on three primary areas:  hampering the ability of criminal networks to obtain firearms in the United States; interdicting the southbound flow of weapons over the border; and tracing the firearms seized in Mexico to provide domestic law enforcement agencies with investigative leads that can be used to systematically deprive drug gangs of their so-called “tools of the trade.”  I believe this is an effective approach that also provides due respect for the Second Amendment by targeting our efforts on the bad actors.

As a result of the good work DOJ and DHS are doing in these areas, I strongly believe we are on the right track toward achieving these objectives.  The President, Secretary Napolitano, Secretary Clinton, Attorney General Holder, and ONDCP Director Gil Kerlikowske, have demonstrated their commitment to tackling this problem.

ATF is working cooperatively with the gun industry to identify so-called “straw purchasers,” significantly expanding its successful “Project Gunrunner,” and working with Mexican authorities to trace the weapons they are seizing. 

Last year Mexican authorities only submitted about 25 percent of the firearms they confiscated for tracing, but with the further implementation of the Spanish eTrace program this figure is likely to increase significantly.  For too long weapons were treated as contraband to be confiscated and discarded, rather than a source of investigative leads that Mexican authorities could provide to U.S. law enforcement to help stop the overall southbound flow of firearms.

ICE is also doing a great job disrupting smuggling operations as part of the “Armas Cruzadas” initiative and through its BEST teams, which have created very effective federal, state, and local partnerships.

Both DHS and DOJ have developed excellent working relationships with their Mexican counterparts and have greatly elevated the extent of bilateral cooperation.  And of course, our U.S. Attorney’s are doing a great job in prosecuting the cases.

I would also like to take a moment to briefly comment on our broader efforts to address drug-related criminal activity, and share with you some of my thoughts on this subject.

First, our approach to combating drug trafficking organizations must be comprehensive.  For far too long we have simply focused on inbound contraband, the final drug product, without giving adequate attention to the money and guns that are being smuggled back into Mexico.  The new border strategy’s emphasis on southbound smuggling is an important step in recognizing the effectiveness of dealing with the flow of contraband over the border in a more comprehensive manner.

In addition, our overall national control drug strategy needs to pay more attention to prevention and treatment efforts.  According to the Department of Health’s National Survey on Drug Use and Health, in 2007, the most recent year for which data is available, there were about 20 million Americans aged 12 and older who were current illicit drug users—meaning they used drugs within the past month.  This is about eight percent of our population and is a level that has remained constant since 2002. 

The reality is that as long as the market demand for drugs remains strong, the associated criminal activity will not go away. There is only one reason why traffickers send narcotics into our country—to make money.  And they are indeed making money.  According to the 2009 National Drug Threat Assessment, about $90 billion a year in drug proceeds flow back to Mexico and Canada each year.

If there are drug users, there will be a drug market, and if there is a market there will be those who seek to make a profit even if it is illegal.  For this reason, maintaining a balanced approach between enforcement and demand reduction efforts should be a key aspect of any comprehensive approach. 

Second, cooperation and coordination among domestic and international law enforcement agencies is critical.  ATF, ICE, DEA, local police, and their Mexican counterparts are doing a much better job of working together, sharing intelligence, and utilizing their unique skills to achieve common objectives.  I think this conference is a good example of the Administration’s commitment to fostering these interagency partnerships.

Third, it is essential that Congress allocate adequate funding to implement a comprehensive strategy.  The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, the stimulus package, included funding for local border law enforcement agencies to address drug-related criminal activity, and the recently-passed Emergency Supplemental bill includes hundreds of millions of dollars I helped secure for DHS and DOJ to step up your efforts.  The legislation also provides additional assistance to continue to support our Mexican counterparts with their struggle against the cartels.

It is also important to not forget that when we consider providing additional resources to address this problem, that there are costs we need to consider beyond basic investigative and prosecutorial expenses. 

As a Senator, I know that it is often easier to get money set aside for the front end of the legal process without giving due consideration to the back end.  When we enhance our enforcement efforts, we also need to think about the impact it will have on the judiciary and our prison population.

And if we want to save taxpayers money in the long run by reducing recidivism rates, we also need to make sure there is adequate funding available for rehabilitation and reentry programs so when prisoners are released they can become productive members of our society.

Lastly, our strategy must be adaptable.  Drug traffickers may be brutal and violent, but they are also creative and well-funded. 

As we have stepped up security along the border, smugglers have built sophisticated tunnels under the border to avoid detention.  As we’ve cracked down on money laundering in the financial sector and hampered their ability to move money through traditional banking means, they have shipped more of their drug proceeds as bulk cash over the border. 

And now as we dedicate additional resources toward intercepting the southbound flow of bulk cash and weapons, we must be prepared to adapt as they seek arms from other sources and move money by other means.  While our overall objectives may remain constant, we should also be constantly reevaluating and adjusting our strategic approach as drug traffickers adjust theirs.

Before I wrap up, I would like to make one final point. 

I think it is also important to note that as a result of heightened border security efforts, as well as our economic downturn, DHS announced this month that in 2008 we saw the lowest apprehension rate of illegal immigrants by Border Patrol since 1973.

We have approximately 20,000 Border Patrol agents, double the force we had in 2001, so it isn’t a matter of us not catching people because we don’t have the boots on the ground.  We do.  What we are seeing is a significant reduction in the number of people who are illegally entering our country.

For example, in the El Paso Sector, which includes the entire state of New Mexico, there were 122,000 apprehensions in 2005—this last year there were 30,000.  While that number is still too high, that’s a decrease of about 75 percent.  It is my hope that this reduction will allow us to focus a greater degree of our law enforcement resources on drug traffickers and weapons smugglers than on basic unlawful entry immigration cases that have overwhelmed our prosecutorial and judicial systems in the past. 

It has been a pleasure to be with you today.  Once again, thank you for everything you do and for giving me an opportunity to address this important conference. 

Thank you.