Texas senators stress need to stop Mexican violence from spreading to U.S.

By: Tom Benning/The Dallas Morning News

Texas Sen. John Cornyn and Kay Bailey Hutchison pressed for more federal action Wednesday in securing the Mexican border and preventing violence from spilling over into the United States.

“We need to change the mindset here in Washington, D.C., that somehow we’ve done everything we need to do in terms of border security,” Cornyn said.

The call for help came during a Senate hearing that gave a devastating rundown of the fallout from Mexico’s brutal drug war. More than 22,000 drug-related murders in Mexico since 2007. Rising reports of home invasions and cross-border kidnappings. And the growing threat of spillover into Texas and other border states.

“We are in an emergency,” Hutchison said. “We need manpower. We need help.”

Border safety has taken on additional importance in recent weeks, as debate on immigration has intensified, and the urgency was emphasized by senators and law enforcement officials who gave testimony at the hearing before the Senate Caucus on International Narcotics Control.

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