Mexican officials say the U.S. has committed to giving their country $1 billion over two years to fight drug trafficking, the Washington Post reported Oct. 5.

Carlos Rico, Mexico's undersecretary for North American affairs, said the Joint Strategy to Combat Organized Crime -- which would have to be approved by the U.S. Congress -- would be similar in scope to the multiyear, multi-billion-dollar Plan Colombia. U.S. lawmakers say that President Bush is expected to call for an emergency appropriation to get the funding approved this fall.

"We are going to have some hurdles in Congress," said Rep. Henry Cuellar (D-Texas). "But at the end of the day, this will get done."

The money will go toward training and equipment, but there will be no U.S. military presence in Mexico as there has been in Colombia, Congressional aides said. "They talk about Plan Colombia," Rico said. "Here, we have the operational capacity to do it ourselves ... This is not a 'Plan Mexico.'"