Speech by Rep. Mark E. Souder (R-Indiana), July 24, 2001

Speech by Rep. Mark E. Souder (R-Indiana),
July 24, 2001
Mr. Chairman, I move to strike the requisite number of words. This amendment has the right heart but the wrong idea.

We all support increased efforts to address the world's HIV-AIDS crisis and the chairman of this committee is to be commended for his efforts to fund such programs. But the solution to AIDS is not to reduce the funding to combat illegal drugs on the streets of the United States or to reduce assistance to our allies.

This amendment reduces military assistance to many of our allies. Approximately half of this budget is dedicated to Israel and another large percent to Egypt. It is earmarked. That leaves only $177 million for the rest of the world, of which this amendment would strike $22 million, putting pressure both on Israel and Egypt as well as the rest of the countries of the world.

I represent a large Macedonian population. The country of Macedonia allowed our troops to be based there. They were drawn into the Balkan wars. A unified government that represented all different parts of Macedonia has come under duress because of their willingness to support America. Now we would turn around with this amendment and reduce aid to them.

I particularly rise as chairman of the Subcommittee on Criminal Justice, Drug Policy and Human Resources to discuss the importance of fully funding the Andean Regional Initiative, to ensure we continue effective efforts to reduce the supply of drugs to the United States. Of our total narcotics control budget, and I believe in a balanced approach, we spend just 17 percent on interdiction and all international aid programs, including our past support of Plan Colombia at $1.3 billion. We spend almost twice as much, 31 percent, on demand-reduction programs as well as other issues.

Although I strongly believe we must pursue a national strategy evenly balanced between supply and demand reduction, it is clear that our funding for international programs is not only extremely reasonable in proportion to overall drug control spending, but dollar for dollar has a disproportionate impact on our strategy. Moreover, it is a critical time to our allies in Central and South America.

In Colombia, opium growing in the north has continued unchecked and now provides the vast majority of the heroin that is on the streets of America and in our neighborhoods. In south Colombia, we are at the start of an aggressive program to eradicate the primary source of the world's cocaine. It is important for my colleagues to understand that we are still at the start of Plan Colombia. We are likely to falsely hear over and over today that it somehow has not worked. How can the plan have worked when the first helicopters are just arriving at the end of this month and in the next month? Last year's funding is just reaching there now.

Yet we already see the coca growers and the poppy growers starting to move to other countries which is why we now have an Andean initiative.

The political situation continues to be unstable and politically volatile. The consequences of a lack of resolve on the part of the United States to maintain stability and democracy in Colombia will be monumental. Many of those consequences will be felt almost as harshly on the streets in our hometowns and in our neighborhoods in America.

To ensure that our efforts are effective, it is equally critical to support a regional strategy to maintain stability and democracy throughout the Andean region. Almost half of the money requested for the Andean initiative is for countries other than Colombia. Without military aid to help restore order, terrorism and conflict funded by American and European drug habits have exported terrorism and an unbelievable mess in each of these countries.

When you look at this, we talk about rebuilding their legal systems, we talk about alternative economic development, but when the judges are being killed, when families and children are being kidnapped, we first need to get order. As we work towards order, then we help to rebuild their countries. These countries need our help to ensure that narco-traffic does not simply spread from Colombia to destabilize and corrupt other nations, especially those who have made a concerted effort to eliminate the drug trade from their countries.

We need to battle the AIDS virus but we also need to battle the drug crisis.

As of October 5, 2001, this document was also available online at http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/B?r107:@FIELD(FLD003+h)+@FIELD(DDATE+20010724)