{"database": "press", "table": "releases", "rows": [["https://www.cornyn.senate.gov/news/cornyn-chairs-drug-caucus-hearing-on-national-security-threats-posed-by-mexican-drug-cartels/", "Cornyn Chairs Drug Caucus Hearing on National Security Threats Posed by Mexican Drug Cartels", "2026-06-24", "2026", "2026-06", "Republican", "Senate", "TX", "John Cornyn", "C001056", "www.cornyn.senate.gov", "cornyn", "https://www.cornyn.senate.gov/news/", "scraper", "WASHINGTON \u2013 U.S. Senator John Cornyn (R-TX) delivered the following opening remarks during the Senate Caucus on International Narcotics Control hearing he chaired entitled, \u201cBeyond Our Shores: The Global Reach of Mexican Drug Cartels and Risks to U.S. National Security.\u201d Excerpts are below, and video can be found here.\n\n\u201cThis Caucus\u2019 first two hearings in the 119th Congress focused on the illicit activities of nefarious nature from outside the Western Hemisphere in our own backyard, namely Hezbollah, Chinese-organized criminal groups, but today\u2019s hearing looks outward to expose the activities of Mexican drug cartels largely beyond the Western Hemisphere and the web of criminal connections that they have spun around the world.\u201d\n\n\u201cPresident Trump has made countering the cartels in Mexico a major priority of his second administration.\u201d\n\n\u201cNationwide, fentanyl seizures by the DEA have decreased from a high of 77 million pills and 12,000 pounds of fentanyl powder in 2023 to 47 million pills and 10,000 pounds of fentanyl powder in 2025.\u201d\n\n\u201cThe cartels can fetch approximately double the price for cocaine in Europe compared to sales here in the United States, so it should come as no surprise that the cartels are exploiting the European market, nor is it surprising that the cartels have expanded trafficking to Australia and New Zealand, two of the most lucrative drug markets in the world.\u201d\n\n\u201cI would understand the temptation to dismiss this as Europe\u2019s problem, or India\u2019s problem, or Africa\u2019s problem, or Australia\u2019s problem, but where do those revenues from the drug sales ultimately flow? Well, they come right back to this continent.\u201d\n\n\u201cCartels are not merely a U.S. problem or a Mexican problem. In other words, they are a global problem. The purpose of today\u2019s hearing is to investigate their worldwide activities. We will explore how the U.S. and other countries have been working to address this threat and will identify opportunities to improve on those efforts.\u201d", 1, "2026-06-25T06:30:03Z", "2026-06-25T06:31:21Z"]], "columns": ["url", "title", "date", "year", "month", "party", "chamber", "state", "member_name", "bioguide_id", "domain", "scraper", "source", "date_source", "text", "has_text", "collected_at", "updated_at"], "primary_keys": ["url"], "primary_key_values": ["https://www.cornyn.senate.gov/news/cornyn-chairs-drug-caucus-hearing-on-national-security-threats-posed-by-mexican-drug-cartels/"], "units": {}, "query_ms": 0.9979270398616791, "source": "dwillis/congress-press", "source_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press", "license": "MIT", "license_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press/blob/main/LICENSE"}