Excerpts from Speech by President Bill Clinton, May 17, 2000

Excerpts from Speech by President Bill Clinton, May 17, 2000
THE WHITE HOUSE

Office of the Press Secretary
(New London, Connecticut)
________________________________________________________________________
For Immediate Release May 17, 2000

REMARKS BY THE PRESIDENT
AT THE U.S. COAST GUARD ACADEMY'S 119th COMMENCEMENT

Cadet Memorial Field
U.S. Coast Guard Academy
New London, Connecticut

11:40 A.M. EDT

Finally, we have to deal with the global challenge of narco-trafficking and drugs. We have to do a lot here at home: zero tolerance for drug use, treatment for those who suffer, punishment for those who profit. But we also have to fight these big drug cartels, and the criminal empires they finance. Ninety percent of the cocaine consumed in America, two-thirds of the heroin seized on our streets comes from our through just one country: Colombia.

Now, Colombia has a courageous new President, Andreas Pastrana, who has asked for our help to finance his comprehensive "Plan Colombia" to fight drugs, build the economy and deepen democracy. I've asked Congress to give $1.6 billion to pay our share of Plan Colombia over the next two years. The House has passed a bill; I hope the Senate will do so as soon as possible. It is a national security issue.

For Colombia, Latin America's oldest democracy, is not just fighting for its peoples' lives and its way of life, it's fighting to preserve stability in the entire Andean region, and it's fighting for the lives of our kids, too. So, again, it's not in the Department of Defense budget in a direct way, or in the Department of Transportation budget in a direct way, but it directly affects our national security and I hope you will support it.

As of May 19, 2000, this document was also available online at http://www.pub.whitehouse.gov/uri-res/I2R?urn:pdi://oma.eop.gov.us/2000/5/17/4.text.1