Letter from 17 members of the House of Representatives to Speaker Hastert requesting additional police aid, July 18, 2000

Letter from 17 members of the House of Representatives to Speaker Hastert requesting additional police aid, July 18, 2000

July 18, 2000

The Honorable J. Dennis Hastert
Speaker
U.S. House of Representatives
Washington, DC 20515

The Honorable Sonny Callahan
Chairman
Foreign Operations Subcommittee
Washington, DC 20515

Dear Mr. Speaker and Chairman Callahan:

We are writing to once again request your assistance in providing vital equipment for the Colombian National Police (CNP). While the Colombia Supplemental provided nearly $1 billion for the Colombian military, it provided just over $100 million for the CNP, our longtime allies, who have been the favored recipient of Congressional assistance for the last five years because of their clean human rights record and their proven track record fighting drugs at the source.

The Burton Amendment to the FY 2001 Foreign Operations Appropriations Bill identified an essential list of items for the CNP. This modest list reflects items taken from a list of priorities provided by the CNP as vital to their participation in the Plan Colombia mission, as well as protecting the equipment this Congress has previously provided them over the last few years.

The Burton Amendment, as a gesture of good faith, was withdrawn after discussions with Chairman Callahan on the House floor. But, we feel that priorities contained in this modest list should be included in the FY 2001 Foreign Operations Conference so that we can be sure that the 46 helicopters Congress provided in the Colombia Supplemental can be used as intended.

$39 million -- to provide 3 Buffalo transport / supply aircraft
$25 million -- to provide a year's supply of NEW .50 caliber ammunition
$1 million -- to provide a spare parts supply line for the CNP DC-3 supply aircraft
$10 million -- to provide flare and chafe defensive anti-missile kits, floor armoring, Star Saffire InSb FLIRs and GAU-19A defensive weapons system for both doors for all new and existing UH-60L Black Hawk utility helicopters
$5 million -- to provide Schweizer SA2-37A/38 intelligence aircraft for counter-narcotics operations
$1 million -- to provide 5 Cessna trainer aircraft for the CNP fixed wing pilot academy
$3.5 million -- to provide unform Sig-Arms sidearms for CNP's key counter-narcotics units, the DANTI, COPES, DIJIN, and CIP
$15 million -- to provide one UH-60L Black Hawk utility helicopter so that the CNP can establish a workable maintenance stagger schedule which will permit them to sustain counter-narcotics operations tempo while one third of their fleet is down for scheduled maintenance.

It is clear to us that the Colombian National Police remain our best hope to stop the flow of drugs from the jungles of Colombia to American streets and schoolyards. The heroic efforts of the CNP will eventually be supplemented by three U.S.-trained Coutner-Narcotics (CN) Battalions of the Colombian Army, once the funds contained in the Supplemental start to arrive. It will be a coordinated effort and, while critical funding for the CNP was overlooked in the Colombia Supplemental package, we are hopeful this modest list will be included in the FY 2001 Foreign Operations Appropriations Conference so as to permit the CNP to continue to fulfill its mission to stop drugs and enforce the rule of law in Colombia.

We hope that you will see the importance of this request and continue to show your commitment to the war on drugs.

Sincerely,

Dan Burton
Chairman
Government Reform Committee

Porter Goss
Chairman
Select Committee on Intelligence

Ray LaHood
Member of Congress

John Shimkus
Member of Congress

Greg Walden
Member of Congress

Bill McCollum
Chairman
Crime Subcommittee

Cass Ballenger
Vice Chairman
Western Hemisphere Subcommittee

Pete Sessions
Member of Congress

Bob Barr
Member of Congress

Doug Ose
Member of Congress

Amo Houghton
Member of Congress

John Sununu
Member of Congress

Mark Souder
Member of Congress

Jim Maloney
Member of Congress

Benjamin A. Gilman
Chairman
International Relations Committee

Ileana Ros-Lehtinen
Member of Congress

Todd Tiahrt
Member of Congress