Speech by Rep.
Sam Farr (D-California), June 9, 2006
Mr. FARR.
Mr. Chairman, thank you very much for yielding.
I rise in strong support of the McGovern amendment and in incredibly
strong appreciation for the great job that Chairman Kolbe does on this
committee. I do not think there is anybody that knows these issues better
than he does, but I am just in disagreement with the approach here,
and I do not think it is Mr. Kolbe's approach. It is the administration's
approach and it comes under Plan Colombia.
The problem that we have, and as I say, I am speaking from some experience
having lived in Colombia several years as a Peace Corps volunteer in
the 1960s, is if you do not deal with people on the ground, who are
struggling with the culture of poverty, you cannot wipe out an agricultural
crop by just bombing it. You wipe it out by creating economic opportunities
that are alternatives to coca growing. You do not have to retain as
much money as you can get from growing coca, because what you do is
you build infrastructure, school and health care, and just like this
community, most people will do things as long as people will have a
better life, as long as there are resources there.
I think what America fails to look at, whether it is in Iraq or other
areas, is how poorly we do at developing post-country capacity, and
that is what this amendment is all about. It is the use of money to
better build host country capacity to sustain themselves other than
having to grow illicit crops.
Alternative development programs have enabled Colombians to move to
alternatives, and when they did, they were very successful with it,
but we are not putting enough effort into it.
Colombia is a huge country. It is the second most biodiverse country
in the planet. It can grow just about anything. You just have to put
energy and get people access to places to grow, and in this case, because
we are not doing enough in the alternative, they are going to go into
growing more coca, as Mr. McGovern's pointed out.
After 6 years of sustained, robust U.S. assistance, 40 percent of the
Colombians still remain underemployed in a formal Colombian economy.
So I rise in strong support because I think this is moving money to
what we really need to invest in which is investing in host country
capacity.
...
Mr. FARR.
Mr. Chairman, I rise in strong support of the McGovern amendment. I
was a Peace Corps Volunteer in Colombia. I know first hand that Colombians,
if given the skills and opportunities, can develop a sustainable economy
in rural areas. They don't need a continual hand-out.
That is why I am very appreciative to the Chairman for increasing funding
for alternative development and institution building in Colombia. These
tools will help Colombians help themselves. Alternative development
programs lay the ground work for sustainable development and an economy
based on legal crops.
Alternative development programs have enabled Colombian farmers to grow
more specialty coffee, supported the growth of agricultural cooperatives,
increased market access and taught marketing promotion to small growers.
For the last six years under Plan Colombia I, and now with this installment
of Plan Colombia: II, over 80% of US assistance goes toward military/police
and aerial fumigation and only 20% goes toward economic and social assistance.
This is not a winning solution for peace and sustainable development
in Colombia. After 6 years of sustained and robust US assistance, 40%
of Colombians remained underemployed in the Colombian formal economy.
I suggest we need a new paradigm for Colombia, one that brings greater
parity between economic and military assistance that will enable a legal
economy to flourish in rural Colombia.
The McGovern amendment recognizes this gross imbalance and shifts $30
million from, the Andean Counterdrug Initiative to the Emergency Migration
and Refugee Account.
Data from the ONDCP proves that our drug fumigation policy is not working.
If Plan Colombia I had been successful, the street price of cocaine
would have skyrocketed, and purity would have decreased. The opposite
has happened.
The McGovern amendment recognizes this flawed policy, and redirects
a modest amount--$30 million out of a $384 million allocation--to an
account that is desperately underfunded. ERMA provides funding for emergency
humanitarian needs such as water, shelter and medical care for refugees
under siege in places like Darfur, Congo, and Northern Uganda. The McGovern
rights an egregious wrong on both accounts. I urge my colleagues to
support the McGovern amendment.
As of June
13, 2006 this page was also available at http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/R?r109:FLD001:H53648
