Worried Lawmakers Assess Border Security After Drug Cartel Attack

Two top members of Congress headed to the border Sunday to investigate a drug cartel attack on a U.S. Border Patrol helicopter, which raised more concerns about escalating violence spilling north.

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.

The Obama administration has said the drug cartel violence in northern Mexico is troubling but has been quick to insist that the bloodshed has remained chiefly south of the border and hasn’t spread into the U.S. The bigger cities along the border are among the safest of their kind, the administration said.

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