Speech by Rep. Porter Goss (R-Florida), March 29, 2000

Speech by Rep. Porter Goss (R-Florida), March 29, 2000
Mr. Chairman, I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from Florida (Mr. Goss), the distinguished chairman of the Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence.

(Mr. GOSS asked and was given permission to revise and extend his remarks.)

Mr. GOSS. Mr. Chairman, I thank the gentleman from New York (Mr. Gilman), the distinguished chairman of the Committee on International Relations, for yielding me this time.

Mr. Chairman, I rise in support of this bipartisan amendment. It is a strong statement of the U.S. effort to deal with the human rights issue. It is an amendment with teeth, and it deserves the support of every Member of this House.

We know we have to be especially sensitive to possible human rights abuses by recipients of U.S. assistance. We understand that. The American people deserve to know that we have done our very best to ensure that their tax dollars do not distribute to such horrific activities, the kinds of things we read about with disgust.

The gentleman from New York explained that the amendment does several things, but I want to focus on what I believe is the critical part. It prohibits any military assistance from being made available until the President of the United States certifies to Congress the following: first, that Colombia has a sound strategy to eliminate illicit drug cultivation by 2005. If the U.S. is going to provide assistance, we reason, we better make certain our partner is up to the task and has the tools to do it.

Second, that the Colombian armed forces have the authority to deal with human rights violators in their ranks. This is a new departure, and it is critical; and it is part of the deal.

Third, that the Colombian military is cooperating with civilian authorities in the investigation and prosecution of gross human rights abuses.

These three requirements really get to the crux of the debate. They ensure that U.S. money is being provided to a partner that shares our determination to put the drug traffickers out of business and our commitment to do so in a way consistent with U.S. values and human rights concerns. On top of that, we have added a few dollars to make sure that the monitoring capabilities of our U.S. embassy and other appropriate concerns are fully provided for.

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