Text of Amendment Introduced by Sen. James Inhofe (R-Oklahoma), June 21, 2000

Text of Amendment Introduced by Sen. James Inhofe (R-Oklahoma), June 21, 2000

INHOFE AMENDMENT NO. 3528 (Senate - June 21, 2000)

[Page: S5567]
Mr. McCONNELL (for Mr. Inhofe) proposed an amendment to the bill, S. 2522, supra; as follows:
At the appropriate place, insert the following:

SEC. XX. SENSE OF THE SENATE ON UNITED STATES CITIZENS HELD HOSTAGE IN COLOMBIA.
(a) The Senate finds that--

(1) illegal paramilitary groups in Colombia pose a serious obstacle to U.S. and Colombian counter-narcotics efforts;

(2) abduction of innocent civilians is often used by such groups to gain influence and recognition;

(3) three U.S. citizens, David Mankins, Mark Rich, and Rick Tenenoff, who were engaged in humanitarian and religious work were abducted by one such group and have been held hostage in Colombia since January 31, 1993;

(4) these 3 men have the distinction of being the longest-held American hostages;

(5) their kidnappers are believed to be members of the FARC narco-guerrilla organization in Colombia;

(6) the families of these American citizens have not had any word about their safety or welfare for 7 years; and

(7) such acts against humanitarian workers are acts of cowardice and are against basic human dignity and are perpetrated by criminals and thus not deserving any form of recognition.
(b) The Senate--

(1) in the strongest possible terms condemns the kidnaping of these men;

(2) appeals to all freedom loving nations to condemn these actions;

(3) urges members of the European Community to assist in the safe return of these men by including in any dialogue with FARC the objective of the release of all American hostages;

(4) appeals to the United Nations Commission on Human Rights to condemn the kidnaping and to pressure the FARC into resolving this situation; and

(5) calls upon the President to raise the kidnaping of these Americans to all relevant foreign governments and to express his desire to see this tragic situation resolved.

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As of June 25, 2000, this document was also available online at http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/z?r106:S21JN0-906: