Sec. 1015. Sense of Congress regarding security in the Western Hemisphere
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Congress makes the following findings: The stability and security of the Western Hemisphere has a direct impact on the security interests of the United States. Over the past decade, there has been a marked increase in violence and instability in the region as a result of weak governance and increasingly capable transnational criminal organizations. These criminal organizations operate global, multi-billion dollar networks that traffic narcotics, humans, weapons, and bulk cash.
Conflict between the various transnational criminal organizations for smuggling routes and territory has resulted in skyrocketing violence. According to the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, Honduras has the highest murder rate in the world with 90 murders per 100,000 people. United States Northern Command and United States Southern Command are the lead combatant commands for Department of Defense efforts to combat illicit trafficking in the Western Hemisphere. To combat these destabilizing threats, through a variety of authorities, the Department of Defense advises, trains, educates, and equips vetted troops in the region to enhance their military and police forces, with an emphasis on human rights and the rule of law.
As a result of decades of instability and violence, tens of thousands of unaccompanied alien children and their families have fled to the border between the United States and Mexico. In fiscal year 2014, approximately 66,000 such children were apprehended crossing into the United States from Mexico. It is the sense of Congress that— the Department of Defense should continue its efforts to combat transnational criminal organizations in the Western Hemisphere; the Department of Defense should increase its maritime, aerial and intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance capabilities in the region to more effectively support efforts to reduce illicit trafficking into the United States; and enhancing the capacity of partner nations in the region to combat the threat posed by transnational criminal organizations should be a cornerstone of the Department of Defense’s strategy in the region.