Speech by Rep. Douglas Ose (R-California), July 15, 2004

Mr. OSE. Mr. Chairman, I rise in opposition to the amendment.

It is interesting, the United States does a lot of things around the world. Some things we do very well, some things we do so-so, and some things we do not do very well. But it seems to me, curiously, that in a political body our history is that those things we do very well, we end up saying, ``Well, let's stop doing it.'' Those things we do so-so, we just kind of hold back. And those things we do very poorly, we end up saying, ``Let's throw more money at it.''

Well, I would share with the folks of this body that what we are doing in Colombia under Plan Colombia and have been doing under Plan Colombia for the last few years is working. We are helping a democracy in the Western Hemisphere get on its feet and protect its institutions with a minimum of investment.

Yes, we have spent $3 billion or $4 billion. Yes, we are going up incrementally, a very little bit, to 800 military personnel or as many as 600 civilian contractors under what is being discussed in the conference committee. But the net result, I say to my colleagues, is very positive. Let me just share a little with my colleagues.

Colombia, which has been a home for significant disruption in civil society over the past decade, let alone the 40 years that the gentleman from Michigan (Mr. Stupak) reported, homicides this year are down 16 percent from last year in the first 4 months of the year. Massacre events have dropped from 34 in the first 4 months of last year to 20 this year. Kidnappings have dropped from 820 to 447. Highway robberies have dropped from 445 to 336. Vehicle thefts have dropped from 4,859 to 3,489.

Mr. Chairman, the assistance we are giving our friends in Colombia is working. We are helping them protect their institutions and their civil society from encroachment by criminals and terrorists. It is absolutely important that we finish this job, that we help our friends protect their democratic institutions and come join us in the Western Hemisphere as a fully functioning democracy.

Now, I would just add that our efforts are not limited to law enforcement or military. We are also down in the despeje, helping the folks who used to do coca production learn other crops and alternatives. We are in there with the justice training, helping their justice system set up courts that function so that people have due process, so that we have fair trials. We are in there with USAID helping folks rebuild their country.

Now is not the time to pull the plug. Now is the time to pay attention to the effectiveness that we have clearly implemented in Colombia under Plan Colombia and move incrementally to improve their prospects.

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