Lawmakers expect revised border violence plan from Calderon visit

Lawmakers are expecting the White House and Mexican President Felipe Calderon to announce a revised two-country plan aimed at addressing the increasing drug violence along the border region when the two heads of state meet next week. The meeting comes as several members of Congress also say they’ve heard rumblings that President Barack Obama is inching closer to sending National Guard troops to the U.S.-Mexico border region, though none could confirm that to definitely be the case. A spokesman for the White House said Obama was still considering whether to send National Guard troops. In the midst of a renewed focus by Congress on the issue of border violence, a bipartisan group of 17 House lawmakers from the southwest region sent a letter late last month to Obama calling on him to deploy National Guard troops to their home states to combat the growing violence. Next week Congress is planning to continue its heavy focus on the escalating levels of violence, drug smuggling and illegal gun running along the U.S.-Mexico border with hearings flanking Wednesday's state dinner in honor of Calderon...more