Speech by Rep. Cass Ballenger (R-North Carolina), March 6, 2002

Speech by Rep. Cass Ballenger (R-North Carolina), March 6, 2002

Mr. BALLENGER. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself 3 minutes.

Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of this resolution. The gentleman from Massachusetts (Mr. DELAHUNT) and I have been to Colombia many times on many occasions since I became chairman of the Subcommittee on Western Hemisphere. I have seen a terrible situation unfold in that troubled nation. On my last trip in January, we met with President Andres Pastrana as he was forced to issue an ultimatum to the FARC in a last-ditch effort to get them to come back to the negotiating table.

No one has done more to hold the door open to a negotiated, political solution to end the violence in Colombia than President Pastrana. His perseverance and forbearance have made one thing clear: it is the FARC's willful disregard for the rule of law and human rights that led President Pastrana to make the decision to end the safe haven and send in Colombia's security forces to reestablish legitimate government authority.

Colombia today is a nation under siege by three terrorist organizations. Two of these terrorist organizations, the FARC and the ELN, have kidnapped over 50 Americans and murdered at least 10 Americans. The third, the United Self-Defense Forces of Colombia, is a vicious, violent terrorist organization that indiscriminately murders Colombians. Individuals who aid those terrorists dishonor and discredit themselves and the institutions that they represent.

All three of these terrorist groups have been designated by the Secretary of State as foreign terrorist organizations because it has been determined that they are a threat to our Nation's

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security. Terrorism in Colombia is financed by illegal trafficking in narcotics that kill and destroy the lives of our young people in the United States.
The FARC has, in essence, declared war on the Colombian people. This group is attacking Colombia's democratic institutions. Five Colombian legislators are being held hostage by the FARC. The FARC has been attacking the infrastructure. It attacks police stations with propane gas cylinder mortars that indiscriminately kill innocent people.

The Colombian Government is continuing its efforts to negotiate a peace agreement with the ELN, and we should support those efforts.

It is time, however, that we reassess our policy towards Colombia. This resolution expresses the sense of the House that the President, without undue delay, should transmit to Congress for its consideration proposed legislation, consistent with United States law regarding protection of human rights, to assist the Government of Colombia protect its democracy from United States-designated foreign terrorist organizations and the scourge of illicit narcotics.

We cannot afford to fail to help the people of Colombia in their darkest hour. Colombia is a democracy and an ally of the United States, and it is under attack by terrorist organizations funded by illegal drugs. Colombia is not asking us to send troops. The democratically elected Government of Colombia is asking that we make it possible for us to help them defend their democracy from these terrorists. I urge my colleagues to join me in supporting this reasonable, bipartisan resolution.

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)