WASHINGTON -- The rest of the country now seems to be catching on to a reality El Pasoans know all too well: The drug wars in Mexico are getting worse, and the violence threatens to spill across the border.

Ground zero for the violence is Juarez, where Mexican President Felipe Caldren has deployed thousands of troops and federal police to calm areas plagued by gangland violence.

Now, Texas lawmakers like Sen. John Cornyn, D-Texas, and Rep. Silvestre Reyes, D-El Paso, are calling for action from President Obama.

Last week, Cornyn asked the president to see the violence firsthand, saying no resource should be spared when it comes to protecting Texans living along the border.

Some conservative groups, like the Federation for American Immigration Reform, want to see the almost 700-mile border fence completed as soon as possible with the installation of a second layer.

But as a former border patrol agent, and now chairman of the House Intelligence Committee, Rep. Reyes says he knows firsthand that fences will not contain the chaos. Recently, he wrote a letter to Obama asking that border fence construction be temporarily halted pending re-evaluation of the project.

The answer, Reyes says, lies in providing Mexico with more money for law-enforcement training and equipment.