Pubdate: Fri, 14 Apr 2000 Source: Northwest Florida Daily News (FL) Copyright: 2000 Northwest Florida Daily News Contact: http://www.nwfdailynews.com/ COLOMBIA AID BILL DRAWS SKEPTICISM The most interesting aspect of a $13 billion supplemental appropriation passed by the House, including emergency spending for the failed Kosovo operation and a hefty $1.6 billion for aid to Colombia, was the emergence of a growing bipartisan skepticism about overseas adventures. The coalition of skeptics - or should that be realists? - didn't carry the day. But it showed surprising muscle. And the bill could run into more trouble in the Senate. A supplemental appropriation is perhaps the worst way for the government to spend money. It's an acknowledgement that the current budget was poorly designed, that it didn't take certain spending desires into account (or that the constituency for some programs wasn't sufficiently organized). A supplemental appropriation generally groups disparate odds and ends into one bill, including some programs for which committee hearings and oversight have not occurred. This bill fit the pattern. It included $40 million for Florida citrus growers whose trees have been damaged by a disease, $20 million for a new Food and Drug Administration lab in Los Angeles, and relief for North Carolina and other states hit by hurricanes. The main elements, however, were $2.1 billion for the mission in Kosovo and $1.6 billion for Colombia, whose 40-year civil war has intensified lately because of complications arising from the drug war. As expected - especially since House Speaker Dennis Hastert supported it so strongly - the bill passed, 289-146. But the most telling votes came on certain key amendments. The best showing by the skeptics came on an amendment from House Budget Chairman John Kasich to withhold half of the U.S. funding for Kosovo operations until certification that European Union countries step up their funding commitments. It got 200 votes (152 Republicans, 46 Democrats, 2 Independents), but spending advocates mustered 219 votes. An amendment from Democratic Rep. David Obey of Wisconsin to cut half the funding for counter-narcotics programs in Colombia got 186 votes (58 Republicans, 127 Democrats, 1 Independent) to 239 against. An amendment from Minnesota Republican Rep. Jim Ramstad to eliminate all of the funding for the Colombian intervention failed, 158-262. Kevin Zeese of Common Sense for Drug Policy found these numbers heartening. "We had expected to get perhaps 80 or 90 votes against the Colombian package," he said. "We now have a solid bipartisan nucleus whose influence could eventually change U.S. drug and foreign policies." The best news was that Senate Majority Leader Trent Lott, normally not much of a boat-rocker, is appalled at how this bill grew from $5.2 billion to $9 billion. "It is too costly," he told The Associated Press, "and I will do what I can to block it" - although he favors money for Kosovo and Colombia. The longer this proposal is delayed, the more likely opposition will increase. As it should. - --- MAP posted-by: Keith Brilhart