Center for International Policy

U.S. Government Information:
The House Foreign Operations Appropriations Subcommittee

The Foreign Operations Subcommittee of the House Appropriations Committee met on June 27, 2001 to mark up the 2002 foreign aid bill, which includes the Bush Administration's funding request for an Andean Regional Initiative of aid for Colombia and its neighbors.

The draft of the bill that the committee considered (known as the "mark") included a $55 million cut to from the administration's $882 million request. The cut comes from the State Department's International Narcotics Control (INC) program, which accounted for $731 million of the original request. The INC program includes military/police and economic aid, and is active in all seven Andean Regional Initiative countries. The committee did not specify whether any particular INC programs should be exempted from the across-the-board $55 million cut.

The cut was not a result of committee members' criticisms of the current policy (though several members were quite critical during the markup). It owed more to committee members' desire to use scarce foreign-aid funds for other needs.

Two amendments were introduced and withdrawn with a promise from subcommittee chairman Jim Kolbe (R-Arizona) to "work with" their sponsors. Nancy Pelosi (D-California) sought to transfer $100 million in military aid for Colombia to tuberculosis treatment programs, and Steven Rothman (D-New Jersey) sought a moratorium on fumigation funding until alternative-development programs are in place.

News coverage (all Spanish)

E.U. redujo su aporte al Plan
Silvia Dangond Gibsone
El Colombiano (Medellín, Colombia)
28 de julio del 2001
Al retomar el debate sobre el Plan Colombia, el congreso estadounidense decidió reducir los dineros que el presidente George W. Bush había ofrecido para fortalecer la estrategia antidrogas
Primer recorte a ayuda de E.U. al Plan Colombia
Sergio Gómez Maseri
El Tiempo (Colombia)
28 de julio del 2001
Con un marcado escepticismo tanto en demócratas como en republicanos, comenzó ayer en el Congreso estadounidense el proceso que definirá los aportes de Estados Unidos al Plan Colombia, para el año 2.002

Members

Republicans

Democrats

	Jim Kolbe (R-Tuscon, Arizona), subcommittee chairman. Office location: 2266 Rayburn HOB Phone: 202-225-2542 / Fax: 202-225-0378 ADA Liberal Quotient: 20 / ACU Conservative Rating: 77 Kolbe voted against amendments to cut military assistance to Colombia during last year's debate. He has been to Colombia a few times on official delegations.
	Sonny Callahan (R-Mobile, Alabama) Office location: 2466 Rayburn HOB Phone: 202-225-4931 / Fax: 202-225-0562 ADA Liberal Quotient: 10 / ACU Conservative Rating: 93 Callahan voted against amendments to cut military assistance to Colombia during last year's debate, speaking against them on several occasions. As subcommittee chairman last year, he helped shepherd the 2000-2001 aid package through Congress. Speech by Rep. Sonny Callahan (R-Alabama), June 29, 2000 Statement by Rep. Sonny Callahan (R-Alabama), March 29, 2000 Speech by Rep. Sonny Callahan (D-Alabama), March 29, 2000 Speech by Rep. Sonny Callahan (R-Alabama), March 29, 2000 Speech by Rep. Sonny Callahan (R-Alabama), March 29, 2000 Press release by Rep. Sonny Callahan (R-Alabama), March 16, 2000
	Joe Knollenberg (R-Farmington Hills, MI) Office location: 2349 Rayburn HOB Phone: 202-225-5802 / Fax: 202-226-2356 ADA Liberal Quotient: 5 / ACU Conservative Rating: 90 Knollenberg voted against amendments to cut military assistance to Colombia during last year's debate.
	Jack Kingston (R-Savannah, Georgia) Office location: 1034 Longworth HOB Phone: 202-225-5831 / Fax: 202-226-2269 ADA Liberal Quotient: 0 / ACU Conservative Rating: 98 During last year's debate, Kingston voted for the Obey amendment to delay military aid to Colombia, and against the Ramstad amendment to cut the military aid entirely.
	Jerry Lewis (R-Redlands, California) Office location: 2112 Rayburn HOB Phone: 202-225-5861 / Fax: 202-225-6498 ADA Liberal Quotient: 20 / ACU Conservative Rating: 83 Lewis voted against amendments to cut military assistance to Colombia during last year's debate, speaking against them on several occasions. Speech by Rep. Jerry Lewis (R-California), March 29, 2000 Speech by Rep. Jerry Lewis (R-California), March 29, 2000 Speech by Rep. Jerry Lewis (R-California), March 29, 2000
	Roger Wicker (R-Tupelo, Mississippi) Office location: 206 Cannon HOB Phone: 202-225-4306 / Fax: 202-225-3549 ADA Liberal Quotient: 0 / ACU Conservative Rating: 90 A critic of the 2000-2001 aid package, Wicker voted for both the Obey amendment to postpone military aid and the Ramstad amendment to cut it. Speech by Rep. Roger Wicker (R-Mississippi), March 29, 2000
	Henry Bonilla (R-San Antonio, Texas) Office location: 2458 Rayburn HOB Phone: 202-225-4511 / Fax: 202-225-2237 ADA Liberal Quotient: 0 / ACU Conservative Rating: 92 Bonilla voted against amendments to cut military assistance to Colombia during last year's debate.
	John E. Sununu (R-Manchester, New Hampshire) Office location: 316 Cannon HOB Phone: 202-225-5456 / Fax: 202-225-5822 ADA Liberal Quotient: 0 / ACU Conservative Rating: 95 During last year's debate, Sununu voted against the Obey amendment to delay military aid to Colombia, and for the Ramstad amendment to cut the military aid entirely. Letter from 17 members of the House of Representatives to Speaker Hastert requesting additional police aid, July 18, 2000

	Nita Lowey (D-White Plains, New York), ranking member. Office location: 2329 Rayburn HOB Phone: 202-225-6506 / Fax: 202-225-0546 ADA Liberal Quotient: 100 / ACU Conservative Rating: 5 During last year's debate, Lowey voted for the Obey amendment to delay military aid to Colombia, and against the Ramstad amendment to cut the military aid entirely. She spoke in favor of the Pelosi amendment to transfer some military aid to addiction treatment. Speech by Rep. Nita Lowey (D-New York), March 29, 2000 Letter from 38 representatives to President Andrés Pastrana about the San José de Apartadó peace community, March 30, 2001 Dear Colleague Letter from Members of the House to Secretary of State Madeleine Albright Congressional Letter to President Pastrana, June 21, 1999
	Nancy Pelosi (D-San Francisco, California). Office location: 2457 Rayburn HOB Phone: 202-225-4965 / Fax: 202-225-8259 ADA Liberal Quotient: 95 / ACU Conservative Rating: 2 A leading critic of the 2000-2001 aid package, Lowey introduced an amendment that would have shifted military aid funds to domestic drug-treatment programs. She voted for both the Obey amendment to postpone military aid and the Ramstad amendment to cut it. Press release by Rep. Nancy Pelosi (D-California), March 29, 2000 Speech by Nancy Pelosi (D-California), March 29, 2000 Speech of Rep. Nancy Pelosi (D-California), March 29, 2000 Speech by Rep. Nancy Pelosi (D-California), March 29, 2000 Speech by Rep. Nancy Pelosi (D-California), March 29, 2000 Dissenting view of Reps. David Obey and Nancy Pelosi in House Committee Report 106-521 on H.R. 3908, March 14, 2000 Speech by Rep. Nancy Pelosi (D-California), March 29, 2000 Letter to Appropriations Committee Chairman Bill Young (R-Florida) circulated by Reps. Tammy Baldwin (D-Wisconsin), Tom Campbell (R-California), Jerrold Nadler (D-New York) and Janice Schakowsky (D-Illinois), and signed by sixteen others, March 8, 2000 Letter from 38 representatives to President Andrés Pastrana about the San José de Apartadó peace community, March 30, 2001 Letter to President Pastrana signed by 16 House members, September 26, 2000
	Jesse Jackson, Jr. (D-Chicago, Illinois) Office location: 313 Cannon HOB Phone: 202-225-0773 / Fax: 202-225-0899 ADA Liberal Quotient: 100 / ACU Conservative Rating: 5 Jackson voted for both the Obey amendment to postpone military aid and the Ramstad amendment to cut it. He spoke in favor of the Pelosi amendment to transfer some military aid to addiction treatment. Speech by Rep. Jesse Jackson, Jr. (D-Illinois), March 29, 2000
	Carolyn C. Kilpatrick (D-Detroit, Michigan) Office location: 1610 Longworth HOB Phone: 202-225-2261 / Fax: 202-225-5730 ADA Liberal Quotient: 100 / ACU Conservative Rating: 4 Kilpatrick voted for both the Obey amendment to postpone military aid and the Ramstad amendment to cut it. She spoke in favor of the Pelosi amendment to transfer some military aid to addiction treatment. Speech by Rep. Carolyn Cheeks Kilpatrick (D-Michigan), March 29, 2000 Speech by Rep. Carolyn Cheeks Kilpatrick (D-Michigan), March 29, 2000 Speech by Rep. Carolyn Cheeks Kilpatrick (D-Michigan), March 29, 2000
	Steven Rothman (D-Hackensack, New Jersey). Office location: 1607 Longworth HOB Phone: 202-225-5061 / Fax: 202-225-5851 ADA Liberal Quotient: 100 / ACU Conservative Rating: 9 Rothman was not present during last year's House debate on Colombia aid.