Political Positions of Dianne Feinstein - Crime and Drug Trafficking

Crime and Drug Trafficking

Senator Feinstein has taken a tough stance on international trafficking in her role as chairman of the Senate Caucus on International Narcotics Control. The Caucus is aimed at stopping trafficking from Mexico and Central America as well as Taliban drug trafficking from Afghanistan. In 2011 Senator Feinstein signed into law the Border Tunneling Prevention Act of 2011, building off of a previous 2006 act meant to allow both federal and state law enforcement more ability to detect and stop cross boarder subterranean tunnel systems coming into the US. The issue of tunnels being built into the United States from Mexico for the purpose of smuggling drugs has been a serious one. Along with her anti-tunneling legislation, Senator Feinstein has been working with Congress to increase support of Mexican authorities working to dismantle the brutal drug cartels operating in Mexico. Currently the US sends billions of dollars in aid to Central America to combat the drug production; this has been a corner stone of US foreign policy going back to the Nixon administration. In October 2007 the US and Mexico entered into an assistance program known as the Merida Initiative with approximately 1.5 billion dollars being given to Mexico by the US. The Caucus wrote an extensive report in May 2011 citing the successes and failures of the Merida Initiative. According to the report the US needs to increase judicial sector assistance to each Mexican state, increase the aid to Mexican law enforcement, and strictly monitor the sale of firearms to ensure they are not able to be smuggled across the border. According to another report written by Dianne Feinstein, as well as Charles Schumer and Sheldon Whitehouse, a large number of the nearly 35,000 deaths from the drug trade in Mexico have occurred with weapons that have been traced back to the US. The report recommends a number of solutions to help stop the import of military grade weapons to Mexico, including the introducing background checks on the unlicensed sale of firearms at gun shows. Another major recommendation, which was addressed in the second Romney Obama debate, is the banning of assault weapons. The ban, originally signed in 1994 and expired in 2004, stopped the sale of assault weapons, armour piercing rounds, and high capacity magazines to civilians. Senator Feinstein believes the ban should be resigned, not only to stop violence in Mexico and California but to decrease the amount of gun violence in California and across America. The issue of nationally security is tied to the narcotics trade in Afghanistan, another report written by the Caucasus in 2010 lists some recommendations on how to decrease the flow of opium from Afghanistan and the money coming into the Taliban. With similar prescriptions as the Merida Initiative, the United States is using DEA officers in conjunction with military personnel in Afghanistan to root out Taliban drug lords. The practice of eradication of the poppy crop only managed to drive farmers to side with the Taliban, as their livelihood was destroyed. The US is funding legitimate projects in Afghanistan in an attempt to get the work force out of the drug trade. The major issue in Afghanistan is corruption, the report estimates around 2.5 billion dollars is doled out in bribes per year. How the US will continue to combat drug production as the scale back their military presence in the coming years remains to be seen. Senator Feinstein has a firm position on the narcotics trade and she has a major player in the United States’ war on drugs both domestically and internationally. California has a high stake in this conflict as it is on the frontlines of much of the drug trade with Mexico, as well much of the movement of firearms into Mexico comes from California