[Congressional Record Volume 141, Number 39 (Thursday, March 2, 1995)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E501]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]


                      1994 NARCOTICS CERTIFICATIONS

                                 ______


                          HON. LEE H. HAMILTON

                               of indiana

                    in the house of representatives

                         Thursday, March 2, 1995

  Mr. HAMILTON. Mr. Speaker, I would like to call to my colleagues 
attention the President's certifications on cooperation by major 
narcotics producing and transit countries for 1994, Presidential 
Determination 95-15.
  The Foreign Assistance Act of 1961 requires that the President 
withhold 50 percent of the assistance allocated to those countries that 
are major producers of narcotics or major transit countries until he 
has certified that those countries are either fully cooperating with 
the United States on narcotics issues or that the national interests of 
the United States require continued assistance. Countries that are not 
certified become ineligible to receive virtually all forms of U.S. 
foreign assistance.
  I would like to commend the Clinton administration for its honest 
attention to the certification requirement. The spirit and the letter 
of the law had been ignored by successive administrations for many 
years, largely because of unrelated political concerns. In contrast, 
the Clinton administration has consistently made objective assessments 
of the performance of the 29 countries subject to certification on the 
very important issue of controlling the production and trafficking of 
narcotics.
  I would particularly note the President's decision this year to use 
the waiver authority of the Foreign Assistance Act to continue to 
provide assistance to Colombia, despite problems in our narcotics 
cooperation in 1994. While this decision may have some political 
consequences in our bilateral relationship with Colombia, it was the 
right decision. In my opinion, our cooperation with Colombia last year 
fell short of that which would have justified full certification. 
However, as the source of over 80 percent of the world's cocaine, and 
given the enormous threat to Colombia posed by narcotics trafficking, 
United States national interests are best served by continuing to work 
with the Colombian Government to address this problem.
  Some may argue that addressing the drug problem overseas is a waste 
of time and money. However, I believe that any effective, comprehensive 
national drug control program must have an international component. All 
of the cocaine and heroin in America comes from overseas. We cannot 
deal with this problem only by trying to stop the drugs at the borders. 
If we ignore the source and transit countries, the volume of drugs 
coming to America will increase exponentially.
  I believe that we need to do more domestically to reduce the demand 
for these drugs, and give our law enforcement agencies adequate tools 
to address the violence that is so often associated with narcotics 
trafficking. But we also need to attack the production and transit of 
drugs overseas.
  Once again, I commend the administration for its effort in this area 
and urge my colleagues to review this year's certifications.


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