Speech by Rep. Henry Hyde (R-Illinois), March 6, 2002

Speech by Rep. Henry Hyde (R-Illinois), March 6, 2002

Mr. HYDE. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.

I rise in strong support of this resolution. In our ongoing war on terrorism, we have an extremely volatile situation in our own hemisphere that cannot be ignored any longer: the threat against democracy in Colombia.

Colombia has been beset by many years of violence that have culminated in numerous terrorist attacks in the past month. This oldest representative democracy in South America is under attack as we speak by terrorists known as the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, otherwise known as the FARC, another violent left-wing group, the National Liberation Army, known also by its Spanish acronym ELN, and illegal right-wing paramilitary groups. The Secretary of State has designated all three groups as foreign terrorist organizations that threaten the security of the United States and our citizens.

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These groups regularly engage in criminal acts, such as murder, kidnapping, extortion and narcotics trafficking. They are currently holding captive dozens of Colombian security force officers, soldiers and civilians. The FARC and the ELN have kidnapped more than 50 Americans and have murdered 10 of our citizens.

Colombian President Pastrana invested his presidency, indeed his entire political fortune, in an attempt to negotiate peace with the FARC for the past 4 years. This protracted peace process ended February 20 when the FARC hijacked a commercial airliner and kidnapped a prominent Colombian senator, the leader of the Colombian Senate Peace Commission. The senator is now the fifth legislator being held captive by the FARC.

On that same day, President Pastrana ordered the Colombian military into the 16,000 square mile demilitarized zone that he ceded to the FARC in his efforts to negotiate peace. Since that time, the FARC has waged even more bloody terrorism against the Colombian Government, its democratic

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institutions, and its civilian population.
In fact, in the past 5 weeks or so, there have been more than 120 separate terrorist attacks committed by the FARC, including numerous bombings, the kidnapping of a presidential candidate, and a foiled attempt to destroy the city of Bogota's principal water reservoir.

Colombia's elected representatives have been targeted by these terrorists. Seven members of the Colombian Congress have been killed in the past 4 years. This past weekend, yet another legislator, Senator Martha Catalina Daniel, was tortured and murdered.

The FARC and the paramilitary forces are destabilizing democracy in Colombia. Legislative elections are this month. Presidential elections are in May. Colombia is calling on the United States for help in defending itself against terrorism by providing intelligence-sharing, spare parts for equipment, and the unburdening of restrictions on equipment currently being used in counter-narcotics operations. The administration has decided to move forward to respond to some of these concerns. The administration must now quickly complete this policy review and work with Congress to help Colombia save itself from terrorism.

The global war against terrorism is our administration's highest priority. We are training troops in the Philippines, the former Soviet Republic of Georgia, and Yemen all in the name of fighting this global war. However, in the meantime, a conflagration is burning at the foot of the land bridge that joins North and South America.

It is imperative that we recognize the dire consequences of inaction in this horrific situation, not just for Colombians, but for the rest of the hemisphere. It is time to help the Colombian people defend themselves. As a major defender of democracy, we must try to bolster it wherever we see it seriously threatened, especially in our own hemisphere. Passing this resolution is an important first step. I urge my colleagues to join me in supporting this measure.

As of March 7, 2002, this document was also available online at http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/B?r107:@FIELD(FLD003+h)+@FIELD(DDATE+20020306)