[Congressional Record Volume 145, Number 65 (Thursday, May 6, 1999)]
[Senate]
[Pages S4881-S4882]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                   CLOSING THE SCHOOL OF THE AMERICAS

  Mr. FEINGOLD. Mr. President, I rise today to express my strong 
support for the closing of the United States Army School of the 
Americas, located at Fort Benning, Georgia. I am pleased to be an 
original cosponsor of S. 873, a bill to close this troubled school once 
and for

[[Page S4882]]

all, which was introduced recently by the Senator from Illinois, Mr. 
Durbin.
  The School of the Americas (SOA) was created in 1946 to train Latin 
American military officers in combat and counterinsurgency skills with 
the goal of professionalizing Latin American armies and strengthening 
democracies. Originally located in Panama, SOA moved to Fort Benning in 
1984. There has been a great deal of controversy surrounding some of 
SOA's alumni, leading it to be called ``the School for Dictators.'' 
Some of SOA's notorious graduates include Manuel Noriega, Argentinian 
dictator Leopoldo Galtieri, at least 19 Salvadorean officers implicated 
by El Salvador's Truth Commission in the murder of six Jesuit priests, 
and two of the three officers prosecuted in Guatemala for their roles 
in the murder of anthropologist Myrna Mack.
  In 1991, following an internal investigation, the Pentagon removed 
certain SOA training manuals from circulation. On September 22, 1996, 
the Pentagon released the full text of those training manuals and 
acknowledged that some of those manuals provided instruction in 
techniques that, in the Pentagon's words, were ``clearly objectionable 
and possibly illegal.'' The ``techniques'' in question included such 
awful activities as torture, extortion, false arrest, and execution.
  Not only are the human costs of this training program unjustifiable, 
but so are its financial costs. When I first ran for this body in 1992, 
I included the School of the Americas as an item on my 82+ point plan 
for deficit reduction. With a national debt in excess of $5 trillion, 
we must carefully scrutinize every program to ensure that federal tax 
dollars are wisely spent. We certainly do not need to spend taxpayer 
dollars on this kind of activity.
  Since coming to the Senate in 1993, I have been contacted by hundreds 
of Wisconsinites who support closing the School of the Americas. Just 
this week, a number of Wisconsin residents joined scores of individuals 
from around the country at a protest here in Washington, D.C., against 
the continued operation of the school. The group from my home state 
included students, human rights activists, and members of several 
religious communities. I am pleased that so many Wisconsin residents 
are committed to working toward the closing of this school.
  Numerous organizations, including Public Citizen, the Washington 
Office on Latin America and Human Rights Watch also support the 
elimination of SOA.
  As a member of the Senate Committee on Foreign Relations, I am 
committed to promoting human rights throughout the world. In my view, 
our government cannot continue to support the existence of a school 
that counts so many murderers among its alumni. While it may be 
appropriate for the United States military to train its colleagues from 
other nations, it is inexcusable that this training should take place 
at an institution with a reputation as far beyond salvage as that of 
the School of the Americas. This legislation gives members of this body 
the opportunity to separate the legitimate training exercises conducted 
by the United States military from the sordid acts of many individuals 
who have been trained at SOA. We must lift the cloud of suspicion that 
has fallen on these programs by closing SOA.
  I am pleased that S. 873 includes language expressing the sense of 
the Congress that all foreign military training conducted by the United 
States should stress respect for human rights, the proper role of the 
military in a democratic society, and accountability and transparency 
in defense and security policy. This is an excellent opportunity for 
the Congress, which has oversight responsibilities for military 
training programs, to reiterate the importance of these basic 
principles to the Administration, the American people, and perspective 
candidates for military training from other countries.
  The bill also calls on the Department of Defense to vigorously screen 
all candidates for military training programs to ensure that they have 
not been implicated in human rights abuses, corruption, or drug 
trafficking.
  I urge my colleagues to support S. 873 and close the ``School for 
Dictators'' once and for all.

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