On the recordApril 20, 2010
I bring you news from the third front, that being the southern border with our neighbor Mexico, the first front being Iraq, the second front being Afghanistan. We are engaged in three conflicts, three wars. And the third front is the conflict on our border, the border war with the drug cartels. The $40 billion-a-year illicit drug trade in Mexico has resulted in a vicious wave of violence in northern Mexico and the United States. President Calderon of Mexico has said in the last few years 23,000 Mexicans have been killed and murdered on the streets of Mexico. To put it in perspective, that is over twice the murder homicide rate in the United States. Recently, there were two incursions by Mexican military helicopters across the Texas-Mexico border into the United States, and their intentions are still unknown. Those incursions were about 3 weeks apart. Some here in Washington questioned whether these astonishing reports of Mexican military helicopters actually were true. Well, here is a photograph, Mr. Speaker, that was taken by some individuals in Zapata County, Texas. That is on the border with Mexico. This is an RV park. And this is one of those Mexican military helicopters. It is a Russian-made, built helicopter. It has the word ``Marine'' on the side, that being the Mexican Navy's helicopter. And this photograph was taken by more than one individual. Photographs of the first incursion were also taken.
