In the past few weeks you have probably heard a lot about gridlock in Washington, D.C. when it comes to addressing the challenges at the border. But this week in Tucson, leaders from Arizona and the Mexican state of Sonora will work together to make progress on issues important to our states, including border security, economic development and efficient travel between our states.

Sonoran Governor Eduardo Bours will join me at the Arizona-Mexico Commission (AMC) Plenary Session to address common issues we encounter. The AMC and its sister organization, the Comisión Sonora-Arizona, bring together regional stakeholders to enhance the economy and quality of life for Arizona residents through a positive, cooperative relationship with Mexico.

A priority issue at this meeting will be the increased violence along the Arizona-Sonora border. We will hear the latest on cross-border law enforcement partnerships, and discuss our regional approach to drug trafficking, human smuggling, and theft that is now all too common. This continues our effort with Sonora to cooperatively address this problem.

Our strong relationship with Sonora and our efforts of past AMC sessions have led to real results including:

• Meeting with Mexican President Felipe Calderón to seek greater support from Mexico’s federal government on security issues
• Securing more than $55 million for infrastructure improvements for Arizona’s ports of entry
• Creating the Arizona-Sonora 511 traveler information hotline to provide cross-border travelers with real-time traffic and construction updates in Arizona and Sonora

In this session, we will also work on our partnerships to inspect agricultural products moving between our states efficiently, improve infrastructure in our ports of entry, and increase cross-border investment to develop our regional economy.

The Arizona-Sonora region is an example to the world of what international partnership should be and successful regional collaboration.