Speech by Rep. Tillie Fowler (R-Florida), March 29, 2000

Speech by Rep. Tillie Fowler (R-Florida), March 29, 2000
[Page: H1522]
Mr. YOUNG of Florida. Mr. Chairman, I yield 1 1/2 minutes to the distinguished gentlewoman from Florida (Mrs. Fowler).

Mrs. FOWLER. Mr. Chairman, I rise in strong opposition to the Obey amendment which would gut the effort we are making here today to fight the drug war in Colombia. I have been to Colombia, and I have seen the crisis that exists there today.

To the extent that Congress determines that emergency funding is necessary to stem this crisis, military assistance must be a part of that effort. The Obey amendment would strike all military assistance from the emergency funding. Should his amendment pass, there would be no funding for the 45 helicopters needed to ferret out the narcoguerrillas that enforce the state of lawlessness there, and there would be no funding for training, equipping and deploying the Colombian army's counternarcotics battalions.

The Obey amendment would retain the funding for economic and agricultural assistance, but would take away the military aid that is needed to create an environment in which such assistance could function. This is the equivalent of sending social workers into a crack house unarmed and without police accompaniment.

I urge my colleagues to vote `no' on the Obey amendment.

As of March 30, 2000, this document was also available online at http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/z?r106:H29MR0-173: