Pubdate: Sat, 09 Sep 2000
Source: Washington Post (DC)
Copyright: 2000 The Washington Post Company
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Authors: Eric Pianin and Karen DeYoung, Washington Post Staff Writers

HOUSE CONSIDERS MORE AID FOR COLOMBIA

Just a week after President Clinton delivered $1.3 billion in aid to 
Colombian officials for military equipment, counter-drug training and 
economic assistance, House leaders are considering whether to approve 
millions of dollars more for anti-drug assistance to the Colombian national 
police.

House Speaker J. Dennis Hastert (R-Ill.), a strong advocate of anti-drug 
aid to Latin American countries, said this week he is reviewing a request 
for an additional $99.5 million to purchase more aircraft, ammunition and 
other equipment for the Colombian police.

"We're just looking at the feasibility," Hastert said. "I don't know if we 
can do it or not and what the need is."

Congress spent the better part of the year thrashing out an economic and 
military aid package for Colombia, overcoming strong resistance from 
critics who fear that U.S. troops will be drawn into Colombia's protracted 
war against leftist guerrillas and disagreement over whether the military 
or police should get the bulk of the money.

Although the administration's original proposal heavily favored the 
Colombian military, congressional Republicans succeeded in transferring a 
significant portion of the package, including 14 new helicopters, to the 
police.

Now a group of 17 conservative lawmakers, headed by Reps. Dan Burton 
(R-Ind.) and Benjamin A. Gilman (R-N.Y.), are threatening to reopen the 
controversy by insisting on new funding for police requests they said were 
sacrificed during the negotiations. In a letter to Hastert, they have asked 
for the additional funding as part of a foreign assistance spending bill 
for the fiscal year that begins Oct. 1.

Burton, chairman of the Government Reform Committee, and Gilman, chairman 
of the International Relations Committee, have long championed the work of 
the Colombian police against drug producers and traffickers – 
including widespread aerial fumigation of drug crops – and argued that 
they should be in the forefront of the U.S. effort in Colombia. Two years 
ago, they provided funds to purchase six UH-60 Black Hawk helicopters for 
the police, over administration objections.

In proposing an expanded effort in Colombia last spring, the administration 
insisted on the importance of developing a new, anti-drug role for the 
Colombian military. Since much of the drug cultivation territory there is 
under the control of guerrillas and right-wing paramilitary groups, 
eradication efforts were of little long-term value unless backed by armed 
force that could permanently secure the territory.

In a letter to Hastert before the August recess, Burton and Gilman praised 
the police for their "clean human rights record" and "proven track record 
fighting drugs at the source" and noted they "have been the favored 
recipient of Congressional assistance."

The funding they are seeking includes $39 million for three Buffalo 
transport and supply aircraft with tail ramps, $15 million for an 
additional Black Hawk utility helicopter, $25 million for a year's supply 
of .50-caliber ammunition and $5 million for Schweizer SA2-37A/38 
intelligence aircraft for counter-narcotics operations. Their request also 
asks for $10 million for antimissile kits, floor armoring and other 
defensive weapons for new and existing police Black Hawks.

The administration has requested a total of $312 million for worldwide 
anti-narcotics activity in the coming year. Clinton is scheduled to meet 
with congressional leaders early next week in search of a final compromise 
on spending and the request for additional aid to Colombia could come up 
then, according to a House Appropriations Committee aide.
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