[Congressional Record Volume 140, Number 36 (Friday, March 25, 1994)]
[House]
[Page H]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Printing Office [www.gpo.gov]


[Congressional Record: March 25, 1994]
From the Congressional Record Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]

 
  SPECTER AMENDMENT 1378 ON SHIFTING ALLOCATION FOR ANTIDRUG PROGRAMS

 Mr. LEAHY. Mr. President, I want to give my views on the 
amendment of Senator Specter, which calls for a reallocation from 
international antidrug programs to drug treatment and prevention 
programs.
  I am a strong supporter of programs to reduce the domestic demand for 
drugs. I believe these programs are essential to solving the drug 
problem in this country. The President shares this view, which is why 
the overwhelming bulk of funds for antidrug programs are aimed at 
reducing demand here at home.
  But I do not believe we should ignore the source of the drugs that 
are coming to this country, and for that reason I do not agree with the 
Senator's amendment.
  As chairman of the Foreign Operations Subcommittee which appropriates 
funds for international antidrug programs, I was a strong critic of the 
Bush administration's Andean Drug Initiative. In fact, I included a 
provision in the fiscal year 1994 foreign operations bill which 
withholds funding for antidrug programs in the Andean countries until 
the administration develops a new strategy and consults with the 
Congress about it.
  I recently met with State Department counselor Tim Wirth, who 
oversees this program, and we discussed the Clinton administration's 
proposed international antidrug strategy and some of my concerns. The 
administration plans a shift in emphasis away from transit zone 
interdiction and in favor of supporting the democratic institutions and 
law enforcement capabilities of the source countries. This is a step in 
the right direction, if it is done in ways that are consistent with 
protecting human rights and without involving U.S. personnel in combat 
operations. There are other aspects of the administration's proposed 
strategy that continue to concern me, any my discussions with them on 
this are continuing.
  But while I agree with the Senator that there is no point in throwing 
money away on programs that do not work and he is right to be critical 
of the past administration's international antidrug program, I cannot 
agree with his solution. The solution is to give the new administration 
a chance to reshape the international antidrug program so it can 
achieve its goals, not to scrap the whole idea and walk away from these 
countries.
  Colombia, Bolivia, and Peru are under constant threat of the drug 
cartels. Many of the traffickers are closely connected to guerrilla 
groups. They threaten the very survival of these governments. It would 
be folly for the United States to end all support for their efforts to 
combat the traffickers.
  Rather than reallocate the small amount of funds available for 
international antidrug programs, I would hope that the Senator would 
work with me to assist the administration in developing a strategy that 
reflects our concerns.

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