Speech by Sen. Paul Wellstone (D-Minnesota), June 6, 2002

Speech by Sen. Paul Wellstone (D-Minnesota), June 6, 2002

Mr. WELLSTONE. Mr. President, everyone has spoken on one side.

I ask for 1 minute.

The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Minnesota.

Mr. WELLSTONE. Mr. President, one other perspective: For the record, the FARC and ELN are involved in narcotrafficking up to their eyeballs. For the record, the paramilitary and the AUC are involved in narcotrafficking up to their eyeballs. For the record, two-thirds of the extrajudicial killings last year were by the AUC and the paramilitary. And for the record, there is one documented case after another after another about the military and the paramilitary being all too connected.

So before we provide direct military assistance and weapons that can be used in counterinsurgency by the military, we ought to take a real close look at what is going on in Colombia. I wanted to say that tonight. We will have debate later.

I yield the floor.

As of June 19, 2002, this document was also available online at http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/R?r107:FLD001:S55163