Rep. Jason Chaffetz travels to Texas to investigate an apparent Mexican drug cartel attack on a U.S. Customs and Border Protection helicopter.
Reports The Washington Times (see also related The Blaze story):
Rep. Jason Chaffetz, Utah Republican and chairman of the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee, and Rep. Blake Farenthold, Texas Republican, were planning to get a firsthand look at the situation in Laredo, Texas, after the helicopter was forced to make an emergency landing Friday.
No injuries were reported, but the incident happened just days after Mr. Chaffetz and Rep. Filemon Vela of Texas, the ranking Democrat on the oversight subcommittee on border security, sent a letter questioning whether the State Department was taking the cartel violence seriously enough.
In particular, they wondered why the department was poised to cut the danger pay for its diplomatic personnel in Nuevo Laredo and Matamoros as authorities in northern Mexico were being attacked with stunning frequency in the drug war.
“In light of the widespread violence in northern Mexico, and the crime-fueled unrest in Matamoros, Nuevo Laredo and Guadalajara, we urge you to take all steps possible to reduce the level of violence, and to protect the lives of Americans working there,” the congressmen wrote last week to Secretary of State John F. Kerry.
