Excerpts from Additional views of Rep. Jose Serrano (D-New York) in House Appropriations Committee Report 107-480, May 20, 2002

Excerpts from Additional views of Rep. Jose Serrano (D-New York) in House Appropriations Committee Report 107-480, May 20, 2002
ADDITIONAL VIEWS OF MR. SERRANO

…

Colombia. --Assistance to Colombia was originally approved by this Congress after numerous assurances by both the Clinton and Bush Administrations that its purpose was to control the production of illicit crops and would not involve the United States in a wider war. The Colombian military has not made progress on human rights issues and refuses to suspend, investigate and prosecute the highest level officials involved in human rights violations and in aiding and abetting the paramilitaries.

The Supplemental is not the time or the place to expand our assistance to Colombia from efforts to target narcotics trafficking to counter-terrorism activities. Allowing fiscal year 2002 funds made available to the Department of Defense and the Department of State to be used against organizations designated as terrorist organizations such as the FARC, the ELN, and the AUC will represent a significant increase in our country's involvement in Colombia's civil war.

As of May 21, 2002, this document was also available online at ftp://ftp.loc.gov/pub/thomas/cp107/hr480.txt