[Congressional Record Volume 146, Number 79 (Wednesday, June 21, 2000)]
[Senate]
[Pages S5536-S5542]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
FOREIGN OPERATIONS, EXPORT FINANCING, AND RELATED PROGRAMS
APPROPRIATIONS ACT, 2001--Continued
Amendment No. 3545
Mr. McCONNELL. Mr. President, due to some confusion in the processing
of cleared amendments, a mistake was made. Therefore, I ask unanimous
consent to vitiate action on amendment No. 3545.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. Is there objection?
Without objection, it is so ordered.
Mr. LEAHY. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that Senators
Coverdell, Kennedy, and I be added as cosponsors to the Dodd amendment
regarding the Peace Corps.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.
assistance to lebanon
Mr. ABRAHAM. Mr. President, if the distinguished Senator from
Kentucky will yield, I would like to clarify some issues regarding
additional assistance to Lebanon.
Mr. McCONNELL. I would be happy to yield to my colleague from
Michigan.
Mr. ABRAHAM. As the Senator knows, I have a special interest in the
provision of the bill that provides $15 million for development
activities in Lebanon, including support for the American educational
institutions there. I am pleased that this year that level of funding
is maintained in the bill as it was reported from committee, and I wish
to thank the Senator from Kentucky for his leadership and the interest
that he too has taken in Lebanon's future.
As you know, earmarking $15 million in economic assistance is an
important beginning to a comprehensive aid package to Lebanon. However,
the recent events in the South of Lebanon call for a more detailed and
larger aid package to Lebanon.
A larger aid package can help the country rebuild itself due to the
devastation of the past 30 years. Specifically, Lebanon needs the
financial assistance to: rebuild its schools; repair and rebuild its
sewage systems; repair its destroyed power generation plants; upgrade
its water purification facilities; and construct general infrastructure
projects.
In my opinion, a package similar to the recent Jordanian package of
$250 million would provide the type of support needed to effectively
launch the rebuilding effort.
Unfortunately, it appears that the Administration is not currently
prepared to present a comprehensive aid package. Several inquiries of
the Administration have produced no budgetary figures. This is
disappointing in that your legislation is clearly the appropriate
vehicles in which to include this funding. Notwithstanding their
reluctance, I would like to offer my amendment to increase Lebanon's
funding to $250 million.
Mr. McCONNELL. Thank you, Senator Abraham.
I, like you, am dismayed to learn that the Administration has not
offered any budgetary amounts for an aid package to Lebanon. You are
absolutely right that the current events in Lebanon demand that we
reexamine our foreign aid package to that country.
As such, I pledge to work with you every step of the way to see that
a more comprehensive aid package to Lebanon is considered here in the
Senate. I appreciate your suggested amount, and would like to work with
you once all the elements for a successive aid package are assembled.
This requires input by the Administration, and a plan as to what
programs would be funded and which ones would receive priority funding.
It is my hope that the Administration will consult with us as soon as
possible regarding figures for an assistance package. However, until
the Administration produces a comprehensive package, I will have to lay
your amendment aside.
Mr. ABRAHAM. I withdraw my amendment.
Mr. McCONNELL. The Senator's comments are appreciated. As always, I
will work with you and consult you as we put this package together. I
highly value your expertise on Lebanon.
Mr. ABRAHAM. I thank the Senator for that clarification. I also wish
to commend him and his committee for their strong interest in a
financial assistance package for Lebanon.
climate change language
Mr. BYRD. Mr. President, Sec. 576 of S. 2522 contains language
regarding implementation of the Kyoto Protocol. I would like to ask the
distinguished Chairman and Ranking Member of the Foreign Operations
Subcommittee two questions to clarify their understanding of this
provision.
The United States is currently engaged in climate change negotiations
to ensure meaningful participation of developing countries and to
ensure that greenhouse gas emissions reductions are achieved in the
most cost-effective manner. Is my understanding correct that this
provision is not intended to restrict the Administration from engaging
in these international negotiations related to both the Framework
Convention on Climate Change (FCCC), which was ratified by the Senate
in 1992, and the Kyoto Protocol to that Convention?
As you also know, the Senate has clearly expressed its views
regarding the Kyoto Protocol in S. Res. 98, adopted unanimously by the
Senate on July 25, 1997. That resolution calls on the Administration to
support an approach to climate change that protects the economic
interests of the United States and seeks commitments from
[[Page S5537]]
developing countries to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. The
Administration is aggressively engaging developing countries to reduce
greenhouse gas emissions through international projects and activities
emphasizing market-based mechanisms and environmental technology. It is
my understanding that this provision is not intended to restrict
international programs or activities to encourage commitments by
developing countries to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. Is my
understanding correct?
Mr. McCONNELL. I thank the distinguished Senator from West Virginia
for his questions. Your understanding is correct. Sec. 576 is not
intended to restrict U.S. negotiations or activities such as you have
described. Rather, it is intended to prevent the Administration from
implementing the Kyoto Protocol prior to its ratification.
Mr. LEAHY. The Senator's understanding is correct. Sec. 576 is not
intended to prohibit the United States from engaging in international
climate change negotiations or activities that would encourage
participation by developing countries.
the inter-american foundation
Mr. McCAIN. Mr. President, last year, the Senate adopted an amendment
to the FY 2000 Foreign Operations Appropriations Act that deleted
language restricting the availability of funds for the Inter-American
Foundation. I offered that amendment, which was included in the
managers' amendment to the bill and accepted without objection, because
the basis for restricting the Foundation's funding was inaccurate and
misleading. Chairman Stevens and Chairman McConnell, when apprised of
the facts of the situation, agreed to remove the language from the
bill, and I appreciate their willingness to do so.
This year, the report contains language that is similarly inaccurate
and misleading, and that implies that a principal reason for
terminating funding for the Foundation is an ongoing concern about the
activities of a staff member of the Foundation. Based on the agreement
of Chairman Stevens and Chairman McConnell to remove similar language
from the bill last year, as well as the subsequent resolution of this
matter, I was surprised to again see a reference to this matter in the
Committee's report.
First, let me say that I am not passing judgment on whatever other
reasons the Committee may have for terminating the funding for the
Inter-American Foundation. However, I object to the Committee's
continued reference to an individual staff member of the Foundation as
a reason for shutting down the Foundation. Let me take a moment to
clearly state the facts of the matter.
Last year, the General Accounting Office conducted an investigation
of allegations of contract and hiring regulatory abuses at the
Foundation that were reported anonymously to their fraud hotline. The
GAO completed their investigation and forwarded a report to the
Committee on May 20, 1999, and requested permission to brief the Board
of Directors of the Foundation on their findings, as well as certain
additional allegations received during the course of interviews at the
Foundation. On June 30, 1999, when Chairman Stevens and Chairman
McConnell agreed to remove language from the bill last year that
withheld funding for the Foundation until GAO completed a further
investigation, the GAO was free to brief the Foundation. At that time,
the Chairmen advised me that, by referring the matter to the
Foundation's Board, the Appropriations Committee would view this
investigation as complete and no further action would be taken by the
Committee regarding the subject of the GAO investigation.
GAO briefed the Foundation Board on July 23, 1999. The minutes of
that Board meeting indicate that GAO investigators stated that GAO had
issued a final report on their review of the Foundation's contracting
and personnel actions and that no further review would be undertaken.
In addition, GAO investigators stated to the Board that the anonymous
allegations received against a Foundation staff member were
administrative in nature and would not be further investigated by GAO.
Board members expressed concern and indignity at the allegations
against the staff member, and concluded that no further action would be
necessary. On August 5, 1999, the Board adopted a formal resolution to
that effect.
Mr. President, continued references to unfounded, disproven anonymous
allegations against this staff member contribute nothing to the
public's understanding of any legitimate reasons the Committee may have
for terminating the funding for the Inter-American Foundation. I would
like to ask Chairman Stevens if he agrees that long-resolved issues
regarding a now-former staff member at the Foundation are not related
to the Committee's action.
Mr. STEVENS. Mr. President, I share the views of my colleague,
Senator McCain, that the Committee's report language could be misread
to imply that the actions of a former staff member are a principal
reason to shut down the Foundation, and I do not believe that is or
should be cited as a reason for doing so.
Mr. McCAIN. Thank you, Senator Stevens. Mr. President, I would also
like to ask Chairman Stevens if he would agree to include in the
conference statement of managers on the FY 2001 Foreign Operations
Appropriations bill a clear statement disavowing this report language
regarding a now-former employee of the Foundation.
Mr. STEVENS. Mr. President, I would be happy to accept the Senator's
suggestion that we include clarifying report language in the conference
agreement.
Mr. McCAIN. Thank you, Senator Stevens.
Mrs. FEINSTEIN. Mr. President, I rise today to voice my strong
support for the long-in-coming supplemental appropriations request for
Colombia included as part of this Foreign Operations bill. I believe
that there are few requests more important to the security and well-
being of this nation in the coming years than this one.
I believe that it is critical that we move quickly to pass the
Foreign Operations bill and this emergency supplemental request for
Colombia.
Some have argued that the Colombia proposal is simply too expensive.
But I believe that this proposal represents the proper balance
regarding what should--in fact must--be one of this nation's highest
priorities: to stop the flow of illegal narcotics into the United
States.
As we debate this proposal today, Colombia faces an unprecedented
crisis.
Almost 40 percent of the country--an area itself the size of the
entire nation of Switzerland--is under the control of the Armed
Revolutionary Forces of Colombia, FARC. The FARC is an alliance of some
20,000 drug traffickers and terrorists who threaten the stability not
only of Colombia, but of the entire Andean region. And, as we all know,
there are right-wing paramilitary groups in Colombia who also have ties
to the drug trade.
Over 80 percent of the world's supply of cocaine is grown, produced
or transported through Colombia, and large swaths of Colombia, now
lawless or under FARC or paramilitary control, have become prime coca
and opium producing zones.
These FARC rebels earn as much as two or even three million dollars
per day from drug cultivators and traffickers who rely on their
protection or--perhaps even more likely--who fear their retribution.
The FARC is currently holding hostage as many as 1,500 to 2,500
people, including at least 250 military prisoners and 250 police
officers.
And, as the ability of the government of Colombia to govern large
areas of their own country continues to disintegrate, the FARC narco-
terrorists and paramilitaries continue to expand their base of
operations and attack surrounding areas.
All this, and Colombia is facing its worst economic recession in more
than 70 years: Real GDP fell by over 3 percent last year. Clearly,
something needs to be done. And clearly, Colombia will need help.
The situation in Colombia is not simply a problem in a far away land.
The events taking place in Colombia have direct and severe
repercussions for the United States and the rest of the world.
Colombia is the source country for 80 percent of the cocaine consumed
in the United States each year, and up to 70 percent of the heroin.
[[Page S5538]]
And the situation is getting worse, not better. Coca cultivation in
Colombia has doubled in the past decade alone, and shows no sign of
slowing.
In addition to undermining the democratic institutions in Colombia,
the violence that has become endemic has forced over 500,000 people to
flee Colombia; 65,000 have sought refuge in the United States.
According to the administration, illegal drugs account for over
50,000 deaths each year in the United States, and cost over $100
billion a year in health care costs, accidents, and lost productivity.
So the problem of narcotics production in Colombia is not just a
problem in Colombia: To the flow of drugs from Colombia has very real,
and very damaging effects, on our country.
Earlier this year, I joined many of my colleagues on the
Appropriations Committee as we met with Colombia's President, Andres
Pastrana. President Pastrana outlined a clear and comprehensive plan to
address the drug trade, and to start solving the deeper problems within
his country.
It is an ambitious plan, but one which I believe can be implemented,
and can promote the peace process, strengthen democracy, and help
revive Colombia's economy.
The Plan Colombia encompasses far more than the request we have
before us. A combination of internal and external sources will be
providing Colombia with most of the $7.5 billion over three years that
President Pastrana has deemed necessary.
The United States need provide but a piece of the overall plan.
Working with President Pastrana, President Clinton has asked Congress
to fund $1.6 billion of that total. The two-year package will assist
Colombia in combating the drug trade; help the country promote peace
and prosperity; and deepen its democracy. This is a large package, but
it is in our interest to provide it.
Without a major new effort, supported by the United States, the
Colombian military and police simply lack the resources and ability to
defeat the FARC and narco-trafficking forces.
Plan Colombia is focused on efforts to boost Colombia's interdiction
and eradication capabilities, particularly in the south, including:
Funds for special counter-narcotics battalions to push into coca-
growing regions of Southern Colombia;
Funds to purchase helicopters, desperately needed to provide the
Colombian National Police access to the remote and undeveloped regions
of the country where the narco-traffickers thrive;
Funds to upgrade Colombia's interdiction capabilities, with aircraft
and airfield upgrades, radar, and improved intelligence gathering;
Funds for equipment to be used in increased eradication efforts;
Funds to provide economic alternatives to coca growers; and,
Funds for new programs to promote human rights, help the judicial
system and to crack down on money laundering.
As many of my colleague are aware, there is some concern about the
human rights questions raised by this assistance package. This
supplemental request, after all, provides military assistance to an
army and a police force which, in the past, has had a less than Steller
record on human rights issues.
But it is my belief that the Leahy amendment, augmented by specific
language that has been added to this legislation in committee, goes a
long way towards meeting these concerns.
To begin with, any U.S. assistance to Colombian military and police
forces will be provided in strict accordance with section 563 of the
FY2000 Foreign Operations Act--the Leahy amendment.
In addition, this legislation contains new and specific provisions
intended to guarantee the protection of human rights. Colombian
military officers accused of human rights violations are to be tried in
a civilian court, for example, not in the military courts which have,
in the past, been far too lenient in how they treat these cases. There
are also requirements that any Colombian military units trained by the
United States as part of this antinarcotics effort be screened for
human rights abuses.
In addition, the committee has also included language at my request
relating to the proliferation of small arms and light weapons in the
regions which, I believe, has greatly contributed to the culture of
violence and lawlessness in Colombia.
I believe that any effective strategy to stabilize the region and
reduce the influence of the criminals, drug traffickers, narco-
terrorists, and paramilitaries must include the implementation of
stringent controls on existing stockpiles and the destruction of
surplus and seized stocks of small arms and light weapons.
The small arms and light weapons language calls for the creation of a
serial number registry by the Department of State and by Colombia to
track all small arms and light weapons provided to Colombia under this
supplemental request, as well as the creation of a small arms and light
weapons destruction initiative for the region. If any of the small arms
and light weapons the United States supplies to Colombia as part of
this assistance package are used in violation of human rights, this
registry will allow us to track, to the unit, who was using these
weapons and bring the responsible party to justice.
On the question of human rights then, I believe that although we must
remain watchful, the package crafted by the Appropriations Committee
does a good job in meeting the concerns that have been raised.
Let me take a minute here, however, to express my concern about one
specific part of the committee recommendations that I hope is addressed
in conference: The lack of Blackhawk helicopters.
The President asked for $388 million to fund 30 additional Blackhawk
helicopters.
These helicopters fly faster, farther, higher and hold more people
than the Huey II helicopters provided for by the committee.
In fact, I believe that the Blackhawk is critical to the terrain and
mission in Colombia for several reasons:
The Blackhawk can carry three times as many men as the Huey II; at
high altitudes the advantage of the Blackhawk is even more pronounced;
and the Blackhawk's maximum speed is 50 percent faster than the Huey
II.
I believe that the drug war is a serious one, and that we should be
devoting the best possible resources to this ongoing struggle.
I am not a helicopter expert, but the experts in the administration
and elsewhere are telling us that the Blackhawk is the right equipment
for the job. I do not think we should be second-guessing that decision
with so much at stake.
Let me also talk for a moment today about one other aspect of this
assistance package for Colombia that has come under some discussions:
The issue of demand reduction versus supply reduction.
Let me say that I strongly believe that even as we provide the
resources necessary to implement Plan Colombia that we must also attack
the demand side of the drug problem in this country with a multi-
pronged, concerted effort.
I support funding for domestic prevention and demand reduction
programs, and I believe we must continue to provide domestic law
enforcement with the tools they need to combat the drug trade within
our borders.
But much of the demand-side, domestic effort can be accomplished by
state and local governments.
What state and local governments cannot do is to keep drugs from
entering this country in the first place. That task can only be
accomplished by the federal government, which has control over our
borders and over foreign policy.
In fact, of the $18 billion in the Federal Government's counterdrug
funding, 32 percent goes to domestic demand reduction, 49 percent to
domestic law enforcement; 10 percent to interdiction along our borders;
and only 3.2 percent to international counterdrug efforts.
Less than 4 percent for the one area that is clearly and
unambiguously the one area in this fight that is the sole
responsibility of the Federal Government.
Even with passage of this package of assistance to Colombia this
figure will still be well under 10 percent.
So I say to my colleagues who believe more effort needs to be
directed to domestic programs to address demand that they are right.
More effort in this
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area is needed. Our states should do more. Our cities should do more.
But clearly more effort supporting our friends and allies in
international efforts to curtail production, refinement, and
transportation are needed too. And that is the one area where only the
Federal government can act.
Only with assistance from the United States will the Government of
Colombia be able to eradicate and intercept the tons of illegal
narcotics that leave that country each year bound for our shores.
The ongoing narco-crisis in Colombia and the overall crisis of drugs
in America represent an important threat to our nation's security and
stability. The war against drugs is real, and should be treated with
the same seriousness of purpose and resources as any other war.
The funding provided for the Colombia supplemental request in the
Foreign Operations bill, although expensive, is clearly within our
national interest. We face a crisis in this nation, and that crisis
demands action.
I urge my colleagues to support the Colombia package in the Foreign
Operations bill, and I yield the floor.
Mr. BIDEN. Mr. President, the foreign operations of the United States
are all undertaken to promote the national interests of our country.
They are all useful and important programs, and they deserve our
support.
The national interests that they serve, however, are of varying
importance. As George Orwell wrote in his novel ``Animal Farm,'' ``some
are more equal than others.'' All our foreign operations programs are
useful, but some are downright vital to our national security.
One element in this bill that is truly vital to our national security
is severely underfunded. I will introduce shortly an amendment to
address that severe problem.
The funding line to which I refer is known as ``NADR.'' That does not
refer to Ralph Nader. It does refer to ``Nonproliferation,
Antiterrorism, Demining, and Related Programs.'' The 10 programs in
this category are all on the front line of protecting our people from
terrorism and from weapons of mass destruction.
Unfortunately, the funding in this bill for 7 of those 10 programs is
37 percent below the levels requested by the President. (And that
ignores another $30 million that was cut because the Foreign Operations
Subcommittee concluded that a new counter-terrorism training center
must be funded in the Commerce, Justice, State appropriation.) I submit
that the national security requires that we provide substantially more
of those requested funds.
Let me describe the programs that are treated so badly in this bill:
In the non-proliferation field, the Department of State's Export
Control Assistance program helps foreign countries to combat the
proliferation of weapons of mass destruction.
Recently customs agents in Uzbekistan stopped a shipment of
radioactive contraband from Kazakhstan that was on its way to Iran,
with an official final destination of Pakistan. Some press stories
suggested that the shipment was really intended for a terrorist group
affiliated with Osama bin Laden in Afghanistan, who would have used it
to build a radiological weapon for use against Americans.
Those customs agents were trained by the United States. The equipment
they used to detect the radioactive material was provided by the United
States. In that case, the funding came from the Cooperative Threat
Reduction program.
But the Export Control Assistance program provides the same sort of
assistance when Nunn-Lugar funds can not be used, and it helps other
countries to enact the laws and regulations that they need in order to
have effective export controls. The personal ties that are forged by
this program with export control officials from other countries are
equally crucial to improving other countries' export control
performance.
This year, the Export Control Assistance program will enable the
Department of Commerce to assign a resident export control attache to
Russia. The Export Control Assistance program also sets up internal
compliance programs in Russia's high-tech industries and trains the
Russian personnel who staff those offices. These programs enable Russia
to police itself and give us increased visibility into plants that are
of particular concern from the non-proliferation standpoint.
Last year, Congress increased funding for this program from $10
million to $14 million. Indeed, the report on the bill before us takes
credit for that increase. This year, the President asked for $14
million, to maintain this vital level of effort, but the bill before us
includes only $10 million.
When the appropriators increased this program last year, they were
right. This year, they should do it again. We need more export control
assistance to help other countries keep nuclear materials out of the
hands of their dangerous neighbors.
Earlier this month, the National Commission on Terrorism warned that
it was ``particularly concerned about the persistent lack of adequate
security and safeguards for the nuclear material in the former Soviet
Union.'' That is a cogent concern, and Export Control Assistance is one
of the programs that helps to keep dangerous materials from crossing
former Soviet borders.
By the way, the Foreign Relations Committee favors full funding of
the President's request for this program. Indeed, at the suggestion of
Chairman Helms, we added $5 million in our security assistance bill to
support a new project in Malta.
Another non-proliferation program, the International Science and
Technology Centers, provides safe employment opportunities for former
Soviet experts in weapons of mass destruction who might otherwise be
tempted to sell their skills to rogue states. This program not only
helps those scientists. It also gives hope to, and helps to preserve
discipline at, the institutes where those experts work.
The activities of this program are guided by a Governing Board headed
by the Honorable Ron Lehman, a wonderful public servant who was
Assistant Secretary of Defense in the Reagan Administration and
director of the Arms Control and Disarmament Agency in the Bush
Administration.
Ron Lehman and I often disagree on policy matters, but we are in
complete agreement on the need to help Russia to restructure its
bloated, Soviet-era weapons complexes without leaving its
weapons experts prey to offers from countries like Iran, Iraq or Libya.
His program is doing some wonderful things, moreover. Since 1994, the
Science Centers have supported over 840 projects, employing over 30,000
weapons experts at more than 400 former Soviet institutes.
Some of these projects led to the formation of viable commercial
companies; others resulted in contracts with western companies to
distribute new Russian products like medical devices or high
temperature batteries. Around a fifth of Science Center funding now
comes from Western companies and government agencies that employ former
Soviet experts through this program.
Other projects have put weapons experts to work on public health,
environmental remediation, and non-proliferation projects that provide
real benefits to the former Soviet Union and its neighbors.
For example, the Russian Academy of Sciences, MINATOM, and the
prestigious Kurchatov Institute recently completed a six-year project
to map all the nuclear contamination sites in the former Soviet Union.
Science Center funding was the lifeblood of that project.
The Science Centers also funded fourteen Y2K readiness projects that
ensured the safety of nuclear power facilities and chemical and
biological storage areas.
The International Science and Technology Centers are multinational.
The U.S. Government provided only 31 percent of last year's Science
Center funding, compared to 36 percent provided by the European Union.
Japan, Norway and South Korea also participate in the program. But
without our leadership, this program will fail.
The bill before us would give that program only a third of what was
appropriated for this fiscal year. I know that the budget numbers for
foreign operations are unrealistically tight. They always are. But if
we cut the Science and Technology Centers program that much, we will
endanger our national security.
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It only takes a few experts in nuclear, chemical or biological
weapons to provide dangerous materials or technology to a ``rogue
state.'' We should do everything in our power to make sure that
economic desperation in Russia does not result in such a catastrophe.
The committee report on this bill states that it:
was disturbed to learn that, after at least 5 years of
interaction between the State Department and Russian
scientists, relations remain guarded.
I, for one, am not disturbed by that. Russia still has a nuclear
weapons program, just as we do. There are bound to be security concerns
that keep us at arm's length.
Unlike us, Russia may also have illegal chemical and/or biological
weapons programs. There are military biological institutes to which we
do not have access.
As a result, there is always a risk that non-proliferation assistance
will be diverted to illegal military research, or that the funds we
provide will keep afloat people or institutes involved in an illegal
chemical or biological weapons program. That risk pales, however,
compared to the risk of weapons proliferation if we leave those weapons
scientists unable to put food on their table. So we must be
``guarded,'' and we must do more.
The Science and Technology Centers program takes great care to
minimize the risk of diversion. The General Accounting Office, after
studying the Science Center's programs to employ Russia's former
biological weapons experts, reported recently that the Center:
. . . has directly deposited grant payments into project
participants' individual bank accounts, which prevents the
institutes from diverting funds for unauthorized purposes. .
. . Program managers from the Science Center review
programmatic and financial documents on a quarterly basis,
and the Science Center requires a final audit of every
project before it releases an overhead payment to an
institute.
In addition, the U.S. Defense Contract Audit Agency has
conducted internal control audits for 10 Science Center
biotechnology projects through 1999.
Those precautions work. A few months ago, Science Center officials
were warned by Russian scientists of a possible diversion of funds.
That information was received and acted upon in a timely manner, and
steps were taken to make sure that no diversion occurred.
The Science Centers program also takes steps to guard against
proliferation. After all, that's the point of this assistance. We can
be proud of the job that this program is doing to reduce the risk of
proliferation of Russian materials and expertise.
When the GAO looked at Science Center biotechnology projects, they
found that nearly half the recipients of project assistance were
``former senior weapons scientists.'' On the average, the scientists
devoted more than half of the year to Science Center projects.
Institute directors told the GAO that these projects ``were crucial to
their institute budgets.''
The GAO also reports:
Prior to the funding of any U.S. collaborative research
project, Russian institute officials must pledge that their
institute will not perform offensive weapons research or
engage in proliferation activities. According to a January
1999 State Department report, engaging in such inappropriate
behavior would have an immediate and negative impact on any
U.S. assistance.
Institute officials with whom we met consistently told us that they
are no longer involved in offensive biological weapons activities and
that they clearly understand the conditions of U.S. collaborative
research assistance.
The GAO report continues:
Officials at three institutes we visited reported that, in
the past, representatives of countries of proliferation
concern had approached them seeking to initiate questionable
dual-use research. Officials at the three institutes told us
they had refused these offers because of a pledge made to
U.S. executive branch officials as a condition of receiving
U.S. assistance.
The pledge includes avoiding cooperation both with
countries of proliferation concern or with terrorist groups.
State and Defense Department officials identified at least
15 former Soviet biological weapons institutes in which the
United States has evidence that these programs have
discouraged the institutes and scientists from cooperating
with countries of proliferation concern such as Iran.
The Department of Defense informed Congress in a January
2000 report that the access gained through the collaborative
research programs has provided ``high confidence'' that
Biopreparat institutes such as Vector and Obolensk are not
presently engaged in offensive activities.
Did everyone get that? This program is giving assistance to Russian
biological weapons experts in order to keep them out of the clutches of
rogue states. The GAO has found that it is succeeding in doing that. At
the same time, we are guarding against the diversion of our funds to
improper purposes. And the access we get to the institutes we assist--
thanks to this program--has enabled the Defense Department to say that
those institutes are clean.
Finally, we get useful research as an end product. If the executive
branch gets the funding it wants, we will get help on defending against
biological weapons. We will also help the Russians safeguard the
dangerous pathogens that they keep for research purposes, thus guarding
against their sale and reducing the risk of an accidental catastrophe.
The Foreign Relations Committee supports this program as well.
Indeed, in our security assistance bill, we added $14 million, so that
the Science Centers could fund all of the deserving projects that have
been proposed.
But the bill before us cuts $25 million out of this fine program,
leaving less than 45 percent of what the President requested, and
barely a third of what the Foreign Relations Committee recommends.
The price of such cuts could be far more than the $25 million in
would-be savings. If we leave Russian weapons scientists underemployed,
with time on their hands and not enough food on their tables, how will
they resist an offer from Iran or Iraq?
When we talk about keeping these Russian scientists usefully
employed, we're guarding against the spread of nuclear weapons and
dreaded plagues. We're not talking about budget caps, but rather about
life or death for millions of people.
I understand the need for efficient programs. But this program works.
That GAO report did not need to make even one recommendation.
And when millions of lives are potentially at stake, we should do
more than do less.
A third non-proliferation program is our contributions to KEDO, the
Korean Energy Development Organization, pursuant to the Nuclear
Framework with North Korea. Thanks to this agreement, North Korea has
ceased reprocessing spent nuclear reactor fuel.
Indeed, recently the last of the spent nuclear fuel was safely
canned, under IAEA supervision. That vastly lowers any North Korean
ability to produce nuclear weapons.
The Nuclear Framework Agreement has also led North Korea to let U.S.
experts visit an underground site that we feared might be a nuclear
plant. Our two visits showed that it was not a nuclear facility.
But there is a price for all these benefits, and part of that price
is U.S. contributions of heavy fuel oil. Now, traditionally we have
spent $35 million a year on that. But other countries have not helped
out as much as we expected--although South Korea and Japan are spending
much more than we are, to build new reactors in North Korea that will
not be readily used for bomb-making. In addition, as we all know, fuel
oil costs a lot more than it used to.
Appropriators have refused to allocate more than $35 million,
however. Instead, last year, they kept this line at $35 million and
added a separate, unallocated line of $20 million in the NADR account,
which actually went to meet our KEDO obligations.
The bill before us again allots only $35 million, but this time there
is no additional line with $20 million.
This money keeps the Nuclear Framework Agreement on track. That
agreement keeps North Korea from using a handy source of fissile
material to make nuclear weapons. It also provides a bit of stability
on the Korean peninsula, which has led to a suspension of North Korea's
long-range missile tests, to U.S.-North Korean negotiations on an end
to those programs and to North Korea's missile exports, and now to the
first summit ever between the leaders of North and South Korea.
Do we really want to put the Framework Agreement at risk, by failing
to
[[Page S5541]]
fund it? Do we want to derail all the delicate negotiations that are
ongoing with North Korea?
Perhaps the authors of this bill intend to fix this in conference,
once everybody admits that we need to bust the budget caps on foreign
operations. If so, I will be relieved. Maintaining KEDO and the Nuclear
Framework Agreement gets to the heart of our national security,
however, and I think we should make clear that we want this shortfall
remedied.
Another important program in this funding category is our
contributions to the Comprehensive Test-Ban Treaty Preparatory
Commission. These funds are used primarily to procure and install the
International Monitoring system, which serves United States national
security interests by enabling the world to detect, identify, and
respond to any illegal nuclear tests by other countries.
The International Monitoring System offers features that are of
particular value to the United States. Its network of seismic stations
will supplement those that the U.S. Government uses to monitor foreign
nuclear weapons tests. Indeed, some of those stations will be in
locations where we could not hope to get seismic coverage any other
way.
The controlled and affiliated seismic stations will also afford
regional coverage, rather than just long-range seismic collection. This
will result in improved detection, as well as better geolocation of
suspect events.
The International Monitoring System will include
hydroacoustic collection in the world's oceans, ultrasound collection,
and a large network of land-based atmospheric collectors to pick up
telltale contamination in the air. Use of those additional monitoring
techniques will increase the likelihood of getting multiple-source
evidence of an illegal nuclear weapons test.
In addition, the data from the International Monitoring System will
be widely available, and therefore usable for enforcement purposes.
This is important.
Although the Comprehensive Test-Ban Treaty has not entered into
force, signatories are bound--by international law and/or by custom--
not to undermine the ``object and purposes'' of the treaty. We have a
legal interest, therefore--and surely a security interest--in making
sure that other countries do not engage in nuclear weapons tests.
How do you enforce a ban on nuclear weapons tests? That takes more
than just monitoring. It requires exposure of the offending country and
convincing other countries that a violation has occurred. Only then can
we rally the world to threaten or impose penalties on the offender.
U.S. Government sources of information, as good as they are, often
can not be used to create a diplomatic or public case against an
offender. Our contributions to the CTBT Preparatory Commission will
help us to get the publicly usable information that is so vital to
putting a stop to any cheating.
The report on this bill states that in the past, the President has
requested more than was needed for this program. That is true. The
executive branch asks for our share of the coming year's tentative
budget, but we also work within the Preparatory Commission to scrub
that budget, and it usually comes in a bit lower.
But does that mean we can safely cut 30 percent? Not on your life!
The final U.S. obligation might be $20 million, as opposed to the
requested $21.5 million. But $15 million is simply out of the question.
That would presume a $25 million cut in the Preparatory Commission
budget proposed by their Secretariat, which would mean an intolerable
delay in fielding the monitoring system.
There may be some confusion because this program has been able to
absorb budget cuts in the past. In those years, the State Department
was able to apply previous-year funds to make up for the cuts.
Virtually all the Fiscal Year 2000 funds, however, have already been
obligated. Thus, a cut in Fiscal Year 2001 funding will be much more
harmful than were previous cuts.
The report also states that the Preparatory Commission should
reimburse the United States for services we have performed in setting
up monitoring sites. That, too, is true, and we will be reimbursed. We
will not be reimbursed, however, until the sites that we install have
been certified as operational. That guards against shoddy work by other
countries, and I don't think we want to give up that protection.
Certification has been achieved for one U.S.-installed site, and we
will get $500,000 in reimbursements in Fiscal Year 2001. That is
already taken into account in the President's budget request. Several
million dollars in reimbursement will be received in later years.
Cutting the 2001 budget will jeopardize not only the work program for
the monitoring system, but also any reimbursements for past or current
work that depend upon achieving certification next year.
The bottom line is simple: either we pay for our share of nuclear
test monitoring costs, or we delay significantly the work on a
monitoring system that serves our own national security. If we want to
catch any country that cheats and to expose that cheating, so that we
can sanction a violator, then we must pay our bills.
Non-proliferation programs were not the only ones to be cut in this
portion of the bill before us. The Department of State's Anti-Terrorism
Assistance program and its Terrorist Interdiction program are vital to
the security of United States diplomatic and military personnel
overseas.
The first line of defense against attacks like those on our embassies
in Kenya and Tanzania, or on the Khobar Towers complex in Saudi Arabia,
is not ours. Rather, it is the security services of the host countries.
All over the world, those countries need our assistance in border
control and airport security. They need our training in spotting
terrorist groups hiding behind legitimate charities, and in handling
terrorist incidents--including future attacks that could use weapons of
mass destruction. The Anti-Terrorism Assistance program does all of
this.
Right now, the Anti-Terrorism Assistance program trains up to 2,000
people per year. There is so much demand for our training that we could
help 3,000 a year, if only we had the funds and the facilities. An
increase in training funds would make a real contribution to our
security.
The State Department also runs a Terrorist Interdiction Program--
known as TIP--that provides other countries the training and equipment
needed for them to apprehend terrorists entering their countries. The
TIP program enables countries to compare a person's travel documents to
their own data-bases. It also works through INTERPOL to link these
countries and promote information sharing. Finally, it trains
immigration and customs workers in interview and screening techniques.
The State Department recently began a program to provide these
important capabilities to Pakistan. We all know about Pakistan, the
gateway to Afghanistan for Osama bin Laden and his buddies. Can anybody
think of a better place to beef up border security, so that terrorists
can be apprehended as they go to and from those Afghan training camps?
The first phase of the TIP program in Pakistan will be paid out of
Fiscal Year 2000 funds. But the bill for the second phase will come due
in Fiscal Year 2001. So will the first phase of a program in
Kenya, which we know all too well has been used as a terrorist gateway
to Africa, and site surveys in four more countries.
The proposed budget cut in the bill before us would force us to
choose between Pakistan and Kenya. It is simply contrary to our
national interest to force such a Hobson's choice.
These two anti-terrorist programs are utterly vital to our security.
They make foreign security services more competent in protecting our
own personnel, and they also foster ties that can be crucial in a
crisis. We should be increasing these programs, and the President's
proposed budget would do just that.
The bill before us would cut 22 percent of the funds requested. It
would impose a 7-percent cut from this year's funding for these two
anti-terrorist programs. This is simply unacceptable.
Finally, the Department of State's Small Arms program has
underwritten successful arms buy-backs in Africa, notably in Mali. This
is low-budget program is urgently needed in areas that are emerging
from civil war and still awash in automatic weapons. A
[[Page S5542]]
little bit of support can go a long way to drain the supply of arms
that otherwise end up going to drug-runners, bandit gangs, or renewed
civil strife.
The President proposed $2 million for this program. The bill before
us would slice away half of that. This is, indeed, a low-budget
program, but $2 million is really the floor for a workable program. To
take away half of that is to throw this effort into the basement.
The bill before us, Mr. President, leaves the Senate in a nearly
untenable position. It is under the budget request by fully $1.7
billion. This is no way to fulfill our obligations to world
organizations or to maintain either international influence or our own
national security. We must accept that there is no such thing as world
leadership on the cheap.
I deeply wish that I could restore the funds that this bill cuts from
the NADR account. The truth is, however, that we must wait for
conferees to break the ridiculous cap on this whole bill.
With that in mind, the amendment that I am introducing simply states
the sense of the Senate that the conferees should find the funds needed
to make NADR whole.
We have been through this drill before. In due course, more funds for
foreign operations will be found. The crucial question is how the
conferees will allocate those funds. This amendment calls on the
conferees to give priority to these important national security
efforts.
I am pleased to report that this amendment is co-sponsored by
Senators Lugar, Hagel, Bingaman, Conrad, Domenici and Levin. I urge all
of my colleagues to support it.
This amendment is not certain to succeed in conference--but it surely
is the least we can do. The safety of our diplomats and military
personnel overseas, and the safety of all of us from the proliferation
of weapons of mass destruction, demand no less.
Mr. DOMENICI. Mr. President, the Senate is now considering S. 2522,
the foreign operations and export financing appropriations bill for
fiscal year 2001.
The Senate bill provides $13.4 billion in budget authority and $4.5
billion in new outlays to operate the programs of the Department of
State, export and military assistance, bilateral and multilateral
economic assistance, and related agencies for fiscal year 2001.
When outlays from prior year budget authority and other completed
actions are taken into account, the bill totals $13.4 billion in budget
authority and $14.3 billion in outlays for fiscal year 2001.
The subcommittee is below its section 302(b) allocation for budget
authority and at its section 302(b) allocation for outlays.
Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that a table displaying the
budget committee scoring of this bill be printed in the Record.
There being no objection, the material was ordered to be printed in
the Record, as follows:
S. 2522, FOREIGN OPERATIONS APPROPRIATIONS, 2001: SPENDING COMPARISONS--
SENATE-REPORTED BILL
[Fiscal year 2001, dollars in millions]
------------------------------------------------------------------------
General
purpose Mandatory Total
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Senate-reported bill:
Budget authority....................... 13,384 44 13,428
Outlays................................ 14,273 44 14,317
Senate 302(b) allocation:
Budget authority....................... 13,385 44 13,429
Outlays................................ 14,273 44 14,317
200 level:
Budget authority....................... 15,306 44 15,350
Outlays................................ 13,527 44 13,571
President's request:
Budget authority....................... 15,097 44 15,141
Outlays................................ 15,329 44 15,373
SENATE-REPORTED BILL COMPARED TO:
Senate 302(b) allocation:
Budget authority....................... -1 ......... -1
Outlays................................ ........ ......... ........
2000 level:
Budget authority....................... -1,922 ......... -1,922
Outlays................................ 746 ......... 746
President's request:
Budget authority....................... -1,713 ......... -1,713
Outlays................................ -1,056 ......... -1,056
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Note: Details may not add to totals due to rounding. Totals adjusted for
consistency with scorekeeping conventions. Prepared by SBC Majority
Staff, May 18, 2000.
Mr. DOMENICI. Mr. President, I urge adoption of this bill.
____________________