Speech by Rep. Sherrod Brown (D-Ohio), July 24, 2001

Speech by Rep. Sherrod Brown (D-Ohio), July 24, 2001
Reclaiming my time, Mr. Chairman, I rise in support of the McGovern amendment to shift the $100 million from aid to Colombia's military to global health programs.

Since Plan Colombia began last year, the human rights situation has worsened. There are reports of atrocities both by right-wing paramilitary groups and left-wing guerrillas.

The AUC paramilitary group has gone on a bloody rampage across Colombia, massacring hundreds of civilians.

In the Naya River Valley and other places throughout Colombia, the military has failed to take sufficient steps to prevent paramilitary massacres, despite ample public warnings about the attacks.

Our own State Department has documented the ongoing links between the Colombia military and the paramilitaries. According to the State Department, impunity for military personnel who collaborate with members of paramilitary groups is all too common.

Mr. Chairman, we have a great opportunity on the floor of the House. We have an opportunity to cut $100 million out of $2 billion, but $100 million which will, on the one hand, curb human rights abuses and, on the other hand, take that $100 million and spend it on maternal health and on polio and on tuberculosis control.

When we look at what the world has done in the last 20 years when we have the resources, it is clear that $100 million can be spent very, very well. In one state in India a couple years ago because of government and public health authorities involvement in a tuberculosis pilot project, they reduced the death rate by 94 percent from tuberculosis in that one state in India.

Polio was eradicated in the Western Hemisphere in 1991. The last case was in Peru because of government health authorities and NGOs and others making that commitment. Since then we have almost eradicated polio around the world and should have eradicated it by 2005.

In one day in 1999, in the country of India, where NGOs from around the world and public health authorities from around the world and the government of India concentrated on vaccinations that day and immunized, in one day in India in December, 1999, 134 million children.

The point, Mr. Chairman, is when we use these public health resources well, we can make a big difference. The McGovern amendment does that. It is a small but important step in our efforts to eradicate infectious disease, to curb human rights abuses and to make this world a more healthy place.

As of October 3, 2001, this document was also available online at http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/B?r107:@FIELD(FLD003+h)+@FIELD(DDATE+20010724)