U.S. Sen. John Kerry, D-Mass., and two fellow senators left El Paso today after a three-hour hearing having heard from six witnesses that violence has dropped off in Juarez and National Guard troops aren’t needed on the border.

And any notions that the violence has spilled over the border in El Paso or anywhere in Texas, that the cartel forces in Mexico may number 50,000 and that al-Qaeda cells in Mexico making their way to this country were were dispelled.

Still, Kerry said if he were a cartel leader involved in moving drugs north or guns south, “I would be laughing at our efforts” to stop them.

He made that comment after William McMahon, deputy assistant director for field operations of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco Firearms and Explosives said his agency had the same number of officers 10 years ago that it has today.

"What federal action would make you say they're serious about getting it right," Wicker asked.

More resources, McMahon said, noting that he has asked for 1,000 more agents.

He and others noted that smuggling weapons into Mexico is relatively easy because south-bound vehicles are not subject to inspection on the U.S. side and only erratically on the Mexican side.

The panelists for the Senate Foreign Relations Committee' field hearing were Kerry, the committee chairman, and Republican Sens. John Barrasso of Wyoming and Roger Wicker of Mississippi. U.S. Rep. Silvestre Reyes, D- El Paso, joined the panel.

Barrasso said the short term solutions to drug and weapons smuggling are beefing up the border with law enforcement, the mid-term solution is allowing the Merida Initiative funding and efforts to take hold and the long-term
answers are reforming the Mexican judicial system and curtailing drug addiction and use in the U.S.

But, he said, he would draw the line at any effort to ban the manufacture or private sale of assault weapons in the United Sates.

"More gun control in the U.S. will not solve the cartel drug problems," he said.

The most dramatic testimony of the day came from the former police chief of Ciudad Juarez, Ricardo Garcia Carriles, and UTEP Professor Howard Campbell.

Garcia said with the additional 5,000 troops that the Mexican government has sent to Juarez, “the violence has been reduced dramatically.”

“The fear has almost disappeared, but there is fear of what will happen when they go,” Garcia said.

Until Operation Clean Sweep resulted in the dismissal of 700 corrupt city police officers in Juarez, he said, the police force served as the army for the Juarez cartel.

The clean up is not finished yet, said Garcia, who served only one year as the police chief.

Asked by Kerry why he left, Garcia said, “That’s a very difficult question to discuss in public.”

Drug trafficking has been so deeply embedded in the city that “We have lost two generations in Juarez.”

“They ask, ‘Why should I become a doctor? I’d rather be a drug dealer with impunity,’ ” Garcia said, referring to the 3 percent chance of being caught by law enforcement.

Campbell went as far as to say that the warring “cartels have pulled out of Juarez.”

“They’re waiting to see what happens next,” he said. “The temporary solution of more soldiers has worked. but we need to be thinking about the long term solution.”

He then asked, “Is it possible to change the laws and decriminalize or legalize marijuana and take the criminal element out of the trade?”

That comment drew strong applause from the audience.

Kerry noted that that was one of the topics that the committee could spend the day discussing, but it was a topic they did not return to in testimony or questions.

Sticking to law enforcement issues, he asked El Paso County District Attorney Jaime Esparza what it would take to show that the federal government was committed to solving border drug and weapons problems.

Esparza recommended devoting of more resources to the El Paso Intelligence Center, the West Texas High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area Program, cooperative drug prosecutions between the federal and state courts and to addressing addition and drug-use issues through an existing and effective court program in El Paso.

"I do not believe we have reached a point where the National Guard is necessary," Esparza said.

Asked about spillover violence, he said, media accounts have exaggerated the story and that there has been little spillover in any Texas city.

But, Esparza said, "If you go to Juarez, you have to be careful."

"I do not hear you advocating additional gun control laws on the people of the United States," Wicker said.

"You do not," Esparza replied.

Ratification of CIFTA treaty on arms tracking

In her testimony, Harriet Babbitt, a former ambassador to the Organization of American States, addressed a treaty that the United States signed but has not ratified intended to help trace weapons.

“I am here today to urge ratification by the Senate of what can be an important tool in our common fight, the Inter-American Convention against the Illicit Manufacturing of and Trafficking in Firearms, Ammunition, Explosives and Other Related Materials,” she said, adding the treaty is known by its Spanish initials, CIFTA.

The U.S. was one of the original signers in 1997 when she was ambassador to the OAS. In the Americas Hemisphere, 33 nations have signed the treaty and 29 have ratified it.

The treaty required marking all weapons when they are made or manufactured so they can be traced, ensuring that weapons are legally exported to other nations and that the signing nations cooperate in investigating violations for firearms laws.

The U.S. already effectively complies with the treaty provisions but not to the extent called for in the treaty.

Ratification of the treaty would give the U.S. added standing to push other countries to enforce the treaty’s provisions, including extradition.

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To reach David Crowder, write to dcrowder@epmediagroup.com or call (915) 351-0605, ext. 30

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Opening statements and witness testimony at the U.S. Senate Foreign Relations Committee field hearing that took place this morning at UTEP.

"We stand beside them in this fight": U.S. Sen. John Kerry's opening statement
by NPT Staff
Our response should be made in partnership with the Mexicans. The idea of dispatching the National Guard to the border is premature and possibly counterproductive. read more »

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Need for more "more manpower, more resources, and better infrastructure to keep America’s border secure": U.S. Rep. Reyes' opening statement
by NPT Staff
Over the course of the last few months, there has been a lot of media coverage about Mexico’s violence. Unfortunately, some have generalized the violence as occurring on the border, when in actuality the violence is occurring in Mexico. read more »

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Witness testimony to the Drug War hearing at UTEP
compiled by NPT Staff
Prepared testimony from scheduled panelists to the U.S. Senate Foreign Relations Committee, meeting today at UTEP. read more »