[Congressional Record Volume 140, Number 74 (Tuesday, June 14, 1994)]
[Senate]
[Page S]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Printing Office [www.gpo.gov]


[Congressional Record: June 14, 1994]
From the Congressional Record Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]

 
                    THE CRITICAL SYRIAN DRUG PROBLEM

  Mr. DeCONCINI. Madam President, there is an issue of great importance 
which I feel needs to be addressed immediately.
  The drug production and trafficking in Syria is critical. Ninety 
percent of all arable land in Syria's Bekaa Valley is being used to 
cultivate narcotics and Nigeria is being used as the main transfer 
point for narcotics from this area.
  The Bekaa Valley has become one of the most concentrated areas of 
marijuana and opium production in the world and the drug trafficking 
throughout Syria is escalating at an alarming rate.
  Madam President, we have failed to address the serious implications 
of corruption in the Syrian Government. The only way that narcotics can 
exit Syria is with the cooperation of the Syrian Government. Thousands 
of tons of narcotics are passing under the noses of government 
officials, and not a peep of protest is being made by administration 
officials. How can we work so hard to prevent drug trafficking in 
neighboring countries, and yet close our eyes to it in Syria? I am 
outraged that other United States foreign policy considerations appear 
to take precedence over holding Syria accountable for its illicit drug 
trade. Soon, Mr. President, we will have to face the perilous drug 
problem in Syria, and by then it may be too late.
  We need to strike at the heart of the problem and immediately 
confront President Assad and pressure him to take action against the 
traffickers operating throughout the country. We need to take action to 
prevent this situation from mushrooming into something much worse.
  Policemen in the Bekaa Valley make $500 a year. After receiving 
bribes from drug kingpins, however, for the transfer of drugs through 
the country, income for these policemen rises to $50,000 per year. This 
sort of blatant corruption cannot be allowed in this day and age, Mr. 
President, and it is our duty to confront the administration of Syria 
with these grievances.
  One continuing point of tension between the United States and Syria 
has been United States refusal to remove Syria from our list of 
terrorist countries, due to their long-standing history of harboring 
terrorist groups from the Middle East and beyond. While the CIA states 
that there is no evidence of Syrian terrorist attacks since 1986, I, 
for one, hope that we will not even consider removing Syria from that 
list until Syria renounces all terrorist activities, improves its human 
rights record, and cleans up its drug problems.
  Initiating antidrug programs in Syria must rank near the top of 
United States foreign policy agenda. The time to act is now, before the 
situation becomes unmanageable. We cannot stand by and let this 
situation continue. Affirmative action must be taken.

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