I look forward to working with you, Mr. Thompson, in a bipartisan way to increase resources for what I consider should be one of the highest priorities of the Federal Government...

The Department of Homeland Security must have all the resources and authorities it needs to protect our border.

Thank you for your service and your colleagues who really put themselves in harm's way every day.

What is our plan down there and what is our strategy down there?

I think there are lessons learned from what we did in Colombia that we can be applying in Mexico to help win this war.

I think she understands this, but the President needs to show leadership on this issue.

I think there is a much larger phenomena that we need to take a look at because if we limit our scope to simply what is happening on the border then I think we are mentioning a much bigger picture.

We don't ask our soldiers to go into combat unarmed, and we should not do the same to our Federal law enforcement agents.

I know Merida is part of it and what you are doing, but who is in charge of this?

This is growing into another Afghanistan right on our border, and unfortunately, as much as I would like to say, 'Don't send my guys there if we can't protect them,' we play a critical role there and we do need to be there.

I respectfully ask that this subcommittee continue to seek answers from the State Department and the heads of our Federal law enforcement agencies.

I completely agree with you that that targeting, now, of U.S. law enforcement is a game changer, both in Mexico and in the United States.

You can't look at the crimes one-dimensionally.

I have declared war on these drug cartels which threaten the security of my nation.

I would hope that you would be able to continue that support.

However, he went on to say that we don't perform law enforcement activities there and seemingly minimized the risk we face by describing their role--or our role--there as advisory.

I agree with Ranking Member Frank, and that will be his birthday present, that the interest deduction should not go away.

I am proud to be a part of a committee that is having this dialogue.