Nita Lowey Leads Congressional Delegation to Mexico

Mexico City | February 16, 2009

Representative Nita Lowey (D-NY), Chairwoman of the State and Foreign Operations Appropriations Subcommittee, and a delegation that included five other members of the U.S. House of Representatives, including Representative Kay Granger, Representative Adam Schiff, Representative Ben Chandler, Representative Ander Crenshaw and Representative Marion Berry, just completed a visit to Mexico City, the first stop on a Congressional oversight trip. This was the first U.S. Congressional delegation to come to Mexico this year.

Representative Lowey’s trip to Latin America is intended to conduct oversight of programs and agencies funded through her Subcommittee, to ensure taxpayer dollars are accounted for and advance American foreign policy. Representative Lowey, whose subcommittee funds the Merida Initiative, expressed her view that security is a joint endeavor, and that improving Mexico’s security and combating lawlessness south of our shared border also furthers U.S. national security.

The delegation met with President Calderon the morning of February 16 and discussed progress on the implementation of the Merida Initiative and ways to further deepen bilateral cooperation. They toured the SSP Command Center in Iztapalapa, where they saw first-hand how Mexican security forces are coordinating their strategic response to organized crime and other threats. The delegation also visited non-governmental organizations funded with support from the U.S. Agency for International Development and State Department. They departed today for Colombia.