Speech by Rep. Jim Kolbe (R-Arizona), March 15, 2006

Mr. KOLBE. Mr. Chairman, I move to strike the last word.
Mr. Chairman, as the gentleman from Indiana has indicated, this amendment he has offered here does represent a compromise that we have worked out so I do rise to say that we support this amendment. Let me say I do agree with my colleague, the ranking member of the subcommittee, the gentlewoman from New York, in many of comments that she made. It is correct that when President Uribe, for whom I have the greatest respect and believe he has been one of the truly great leaders of Colombia in recent decades, I think when President Uribe came to visit with us, he did not give us any indication that this was the money that he was seeking, that he needed additional funds for.
However, having said that, I believe this is an important aspect of our efforts to interdict drugs coming to Central America and Mexico, and then on into the United States. For us it is the frontline of our war against drugs, and for that reason I do think that this amount which represents a reasonable compromise and does not damage our other programs from which the funds are taken in Iraq, for that reason, I think it is one that can be supported.
Mr. Chairman, I would support this amendment.

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