Press release by Rep. Benjamin Gilman (R-New York), March 29, 2000

Press release by Rep. Benjamin Gilman (R-New York), March 29, 2000
NEWS FROM THE
House International
Relations Committee

Benjamin A. Gilman, Chairman

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

DATE: March 29, 2000
FOR RELEASE: Immediate

Contact: Lester Munson, Communications Director (202)225-5021

GILMAN CALLS ON CONGRESS TO PASS COLOMBIA AID PACKAGE

WASHINGTON (March 29) - U.S. Rep. Benjamin A. Gilman (20th-NY), Chairman of the House International Relations Committee, made the following statement today in the floor debate of the House concerning H.R. 3908, the Emergency Supplemental Appropriations Act:

I compliment Speaker Hastert, Chairman Young, Mr. Callahan and all those who have worked hard to bring this emergency anti-drug aid package forward today.

Mr. Chairman, I rise in support of H.R. 3908, the Emergency Supplemental Appropriations Act. Passage of this bill will affect every school, hospital, courtroom, neighborhood and community across America.

This bill will provide badly needed assistance to our allies in Colombia who are on the front lines of the war against illegal drugs. The numbers are shocking. Eighty percent of the cocaine and seventy-five percent of the heroin consumed in our nation comes from Colombia. Illegal drugs cost our society more than $100 billion per year. 15,000 American lives are snuffed out by illegal drugs each year.

After years of inattention from the administration, the civil war in Colombia is going badly for the government. This past weekend, 26 anti-drug police were killed by the narco-terrorists in Colombia. The specter of a consolidated narco-state only three hours by plane from Miami has made it patently clear that our nation's vital security interests are at stake.

As my colleague, Sonny Callahan, the Gentleman from Alabama, has said, "If anyone thinks drug use in the United States is not at emergency status, you'd better think again."

Colombia, the second-oldest democracy in our hemisphere, may not get any older. Profits from the staggering 120,000 hectares of coca and more than 6,000 hectares of opium poppy subsidize radical guerrillas who would overthrow the government. These narco-guerillas have destabilized a region where Colombia, Ecuador and Venezuela provide nearly 25 percent of the oil we use here in America. Yet, until recently, the Administration has ignored Colombia's pain.

As the sun begins to set on his administration, President Clinton has finally turned to face the reality of the Colombian drug-fueled crisis with this emergency supplemental request. As former Supreme Court Justice Felix Frankfurter eloquently noted, "Wisdom too often never comes, and so one ought not to reject it merely because it comes late."

Heroes like Colombia's anti-drug police leader, General Jose Serrano, want the United States to stand with them in their fight against the drug lords, including the right-wing paramilitaries. The Colombian police -- whose human rights record is above reproach -- have lost more than 4,000 men and women in the war on drugs. This legislation provides more assistance where it can do the most good -- with the Colombian anti-drug police.

Colombia is not asking for, nor should we offer, American troops. We are, however, the only country in the world that has the courage and the vision to provide the equipment and tools that the Colombians need to do the job for themselves.

Investing American aid dollars now in Colombia to stem the hundred-fold costs to our society is common sense and is the proper role for our federal government. We at the federal level have the responsibility to help eradicate these drugs at their source. This package also provides sorely needed aid for the Colombian military, which will be administered in accordance with the Leahy human rights provisions.

I urge my colleagues on both sides of the aisle to support this package. I am hopeful the other body can also move expeditiously on this proposal. Colombia's survival as a democracy and our own national security interests are at stake. The stakes couldn't be more critical and clear.

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As of March 30, 2000, this document was also available online at http://www.house.gov/international_relations/press/62prmar29.html