Posted: 2:47 pm EDT
[twitter-follow screen_name=’Diplopundit’ ]
The House Oversight and Government Reform Committee held a hearing on September 9, to examine the efforts to ensure the safety of U.S. personnel and assets in northern Mexico and along the U.S.-Mexican border. The Committee notes on its introduction the risks posed to U.S. personnel and the public by the criminal violence in northern Mexico are numerous including:
- February 2015: the U.S. Consulate in Matamoros reported 227 separate security incidents in the U.S. border region.
- May 2015: two government buildings in Matamoros were struck by bomb attacks.
- June 2015: a gunman on the Mexican side of the border fired multiple shots at a U.S. Customs and Border Protection helicopter.
- June 2015: a U.S.-contracted vehicle was hijacked by armed criminals which resulted in the theft of over 11,500 Border Crossing Cards.
The video is available here. The witnesses include three officials from the State Department (DS, OBO, WHA), an official from DHS/CBP, and a representative from the American Federation of Government Employees (AFGE). There is no representative from the American Foreign Service Association (AFSA) in this hearing.
U.S. Mission Mexico | Border Posts
| William H. Moser | Deputy Director, Bureau of Overseas Building Operations | U.S. Department of State | Document | |
| Gregory B. Starr | Assistant Secretary, Bureau of Diplomatic Security | U.S. Department of State | Document | |
| Sue Saarnio | Deputy Assistant Secretary, Western Hemisphere Affairs | U.S. Department of State | Document | |
| Robert L. Harris | Director, Joint Task Force – West | U.S. Customs and Border Protection | Document | |
| Brandon Judd | President, National Border Patrol Council | American Federation of Government Employees | Document |
The hearing is also available here via C-SPAN.
#