The unspeakable brutality that is occurring at the hands of the drug cartels in Mexico is alarming."
WASHINGTON D.C. Today
U.S. Senators Kay Bailey Hutchison and
John Cornyn signed a letter to Administrator J. Randolph Babbitt of the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) encouraging him to give priority consideration to the Customs and Border Patrols pending Certificate of Authorization for Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV) operations in Texas.
The full text of the Senators letter to Administrator Babbitt is below.
Administrator J. Randolph Babbitt
Federal Aviation Administration
800 Independence Avenue S.W.
Washington DC 20591
Dear Administrator Babbitt:
We understand that the Customs and Border Patrol (CBP) currently has five Predator B Unmanned Ariel Vehicles (UAVs) conducting high-quality surveillance along our nations international borders with plans to deploy two additional Predator B UAVs in the near future. The State of Texas has requested that CBP consider basing these additional UAVs in Texas to augment the efforts of local state and federal law enforcement agencies operating along the Texas-Mexico border. However the Department of Homeland Security has said that it is unable to take action on this request because the FAA has thus far failed to issue a Certificate of Authorization which is necessary to enable CBP to safely operate UAVs in Texas. We urge the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) to give priority consideration to CBPs pending Certificate of Authorization for Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV) operations in Texas.
The unspeakable brutality that is occurring at the hands of the drug cartels in Mexico is alarming. According to a report by the Mexican government more than 3365 lives were lost between January and March of this year as a result of drug-related violence in Mexico. In 2009 alone there were 2600 drug-related murders in Ciudad Juarez located across the border from El Paso Texas. Ciudad Juarez is not the only flash point in this crisis. The State of Texas shares 1254 miles of border with Mexico which is roughly 65 percent of the entire U.S.-Mexico border. The violence and bloodshed of recent gun battles between rival drug cartels in Reynosa and Nuevo Laredo have made national headlines in recent weeks.
Your action is needed to enable CBP to further promote and strengthen our nations security by safely conducting UAV operations in Texas. We request a meeting with you to discuss the current status of the pending Certificate of Authorization application as well as related issues regarding future UAV operations in Texas.
Thank you for your serious and prompt attention to our concerns.
Sincerely
KAY BAILEY HUTCHISON
U.S. Senator
JOHN CORNYN
U.S. Senator
