By Jordy Yager The Hill
The chairman of the Senate Homeland Security Committee said Wednesday that the Homeland Security Department does not have enough money to fight crime along the U.S.s southern border.
Sen. Joe Lieberman (I-Conn.) in a letter to the Senate Budget Committee requested an additional $380 million to provide for enhanced border protection he told Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano on Wednesday.
President Obamas administration announced Tuesday that it planned to send hundreds more federal agents to the Southwest to battle the increasing levels of guns money and drugs trafficked across the border.
I think youre going to need more resources to get the job done" said Lieberman who in his 2010 fiscal year budget requested $250 million to hire an additional 1600 customs and border protection officers. I mean this is a kind of war.
Obamas plan would send to the region more than 300 Homeland Security personnel16 Drug Enforcement Administration personnel and 100 Alcohol Tobacco Firearms and Explosives personnel.
The recently passed omnibus spending bill included $300 million to supply the Mexican government with helicopters police training and other tools to wage war against the cartels which were responsible for more than 6000 murders last year in Mexico.
The 6000 homicides already noted in the Northern states of Mexico is a huge number" Napolitano said. But the fact that over 550 of them were assassinations of law enforcement and public official personnel is itself chilling. And that indicates itself the seriousness with which this battle must be waged."
Napolitano said she thought that the agencys existing funds would cover the costs of the administrations increased border region presence.
These actions so far are designed to be budget-neutral" she said. What I have done is identify other activities that are less urgent ... to be able to move these resources where I think they are needed most."
But Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) joined Lieberman in suggesting that perhaps more resources were needed to fight the growing levels of violence and drug trafficking. He also expressed his concern that other areas of law enforcement would suffer as they lost personnel to the Southwests increased manpower presence.
So we may have a friendly disagreement" said Lieberman of Napolitanos refusal to ask the committee for more money Wednesday. I may try to get you more resources than youre asking for."
Sen. McCain and me have an inherent tendency to want to support surges" Lieberman joked.
