The legislation aims to target Mexican drug cartels.
Last week, U.S. Senator Dave McCormick introduced bipartisan legislation to call on the State Department to devise a better strategy on American investment in dismantling Mexican drug cartels.
McCormick partnered with Senator Mark Kelly, a Democrat of Arizona, to introduce the legislation.
The bipartisan Mexico Security Assistance Accountability Act requires State Department officials to ensure American taxpayers are getting what they are paying for from the millions of dollars invested in Mexico.
The legislation would require State Department officials to develop a strategy for invested funds meant to improve Mexico’s military and public security capacity and to “combat public corruption and impunity”, according to a news release issued by the senators.
The strategy by the State Department would have to include clear priorities, milestones, and methods to track results.
“For far too long, the Mexican drug cartels have poisoned communities in Pennsylvania and across the country with deadly fentanyl, killing more than 4,000 Pennsylvanians each year. We need a clear strategy to dismantle the cartels that has real accountability and metrics for success, so we know security cooperation is actually achieving results,” McCormick said in a statement.
The United States has invested $3 billion into security assistance in Mexico over the past 15 years. During this period, “the Mexican drug cartels have gained significant ground,” the lawmakers said.
In March, McCormick also introduced bipartisan legislation with Democratic Senator Chris Coons to create a joint task force to better coordinate the federal agencies combating the flood of illicit synthetic narcotics and targeting China’s role in the opioid crisis.
Targeting fentanyl trafficking networks is a promise McCormick campaigned on in Pennsylvania, and he has prioritized that promise in Washington since starting his Senate term.
McCormick’s push against the crisis comes with a broader effort by the Trump administration to curb illicit fentanyl distribution and increase military presence at the Southern border.
