[Congressional Record Volume 147, Number 13 (Wednesday, January 31, 2001)]
[House]
[Pages H155-H158]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                         THE WAR AGAINST DRUGS

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under the Speaker's announced policy of 
January 3, 2001, the gentleman from Pennsylvania (Mr. Weldon) is 
recognized for 60 minutes as the designee of the majority leader.
  Mr. WELDON of Pennsylvania. Mr. Speaker, I will not take the entire 
hour, but I did want to rise and summarize a trip that I took last week 
to Colombia and Ecuador to inform our colleagues and our constituents 
about the progress being made in the war against drugs.
  To be honest, Mr. Speaker, last year I was concerned when the 
President and the administration requested $1.3 billion to be used in 
the war against drugs in Colombia and South America. I was concerned 
because I was not sure that it was the right approach for us to be 
taking; that perhaps it would send the wrong signals, and that perhaps 
this should not be an issue in which the American military is involved.
  Mr. Speaker, I went to Ecuador and Colombia to see firsthand what is 
happening with those dollars, what is happening with our effort to 
interact with the leadership of Ecuador and Colombia to see what role 
we are playing and what role they are playing in solving this problem. 
I came back, Mr. Speaker, convinced that we made the right decision.
  I come to the floor this afternoon to encourage our colleagues to get 
more information about what is happening in Latin America, to better 
understand the type of threat that exists there, to understand the 
importance of what we are doing in Latin America in the war against 
drugs, and to understand that there will be additional requests for 
dollars this year in the President's budget and the requests coming to 
this Congress to continue this fight for at least a 5-year period.

                              {time}  1545

  Mr. Speaker, I started my trip in Ecuador in Quito, the capitol, 
where I met with and had a briefing with our Ambassador, Ambassador 
Gwen Clare, and with her in-country team, including the military. I had 
a full briefing on the impact in Ecuador of the activities involved 
with Plan Colombia. I heard from the Ecuadoran leadership that while 
Ecuador did receive some support from this program, approximately $20 
million, there is simply a greater need, both in terms of supporting 
their military efforts and the economic efforts, particularly along the 
northern rim of Ecuador, in dealing with the overflow of the drug 
cartels in Colombia.
  I also discussed with the Ecuadoran leaders, the issue of the 
Galapagos and the Environmental Damage being caused by the ship, that 
just a few days earlier, had crashed off of the coast of the Galapagos, 
and what we in America could do to assist Ecuador.
  In fact, in coming away from that trip, I was convinced that Ecuador, 
being the key ally that it has been with America is, in fact, a country 
that we should renew our focus on. In meetings both before my trip and 
today, I met with the Ecuadoran ambassador to the United States, and I 
can tell you that she appreciates the effort that America has put 
forward and is willing to work with us on additional initiatives to 
cause further integration with the efforts of Ecuador in solving the 
drug problem and America in solving the drug problem.
  In Colombia, Mr. Speaker, I met again where our in-country team, 
including our Ambassador, Ann Patterson, a very capable lady under very 
difficult circumstances. I met with our leadership, military 
leadership. I met with our CINC, our commanding officer for that 
region. I met with our military leaders from all the services.
  I spent an hour meeting with the Defense Minister from Colombia, the 
chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, and the senior leaders of their 
military.
  I also met with the general in charge of their police force that 
comes under the military, and then they flew me out to one of the base 
camps about an hour from Bogota near the FARC demilitarized zone, and I 
spent a half a day observing the training being provided by our troops 
to the Colombian military.
  Let me give you some impressions, Mr. Speaker, for our colleagues. 
First of all, American troops are not being used in any combat mission 
whatsoever. As you know, Mr. Speaker, we imposed a limitation of 500 
American troops in Latin America, in Colombia for the specifics of 
carrying out this plan, not one of our military is involved in any type 
of hostile action.
  They are not involved in any kind of overt action against Colombia. 
They are simply there providing training. They are doing training for 
the Colombian military in terms of going out and running exploratory 
patrols of how to take apart these precursor labs. They are running 
training in how to guard the helicopters and the planes that are 
spraying the coca fields.
  I can tell my colleagues, I was overwhelmingly impressed with our 
military. They are doing, as they always

[[Page H156]]

do, an outstanding job. All of our special forces and our military 
personnel there speak fluent Spanish. And I can tell my colleagues the 
relationship they have established at the one base I visited in 
Larandia was absolutely exemplary.
  The training that was going on was a reality training and the kinds 
of successes that the Colombian military is having, I think, is 
directly responsive to the efforts of the American military officers 
and enlisted personnel who are on the scene throughout Colombia.
  We have a dangerous situation, Mr. Speaker, in that part of the 
world. Our focus in Washington from an national security standpoint has 
traditionally been on the former Soviet Union and the 15 republics of 
that nation, China, the Middle East, and the threats posed by countries 
like Iran, Iraq, Syria, Libya and North Korea. But, Mr. Speaker, I came 
away from my trip and my meetings convinced that one of the most 
troublesome threats that we faced right now in America is the huge 
amount of cocaine coming into our country, primarily from Colombia.
  It is estimated that between 60 percent and 80 percent of all the 
cocaine used in America is produced in Colombia. On hundreds of 
thousands of acres of farmland that used to grow crops, used to grow 
coffee, used to grow the kinds of fruits and vegetables that Colombia 
and Latin America are famous for. When the FARC began its operations 
and the terrorists revolutionaries began their operations, they began 
to acquire a large area in Colombia, specifically, do grow initially 
marijuana, and then poppies, and now they are into coca, which is 
converted in local labs into cocaine, which is then sent back here to 
the States.
  Mr. Speaker, it is now a multibillion dollar industry in Colombia. In 
fact, the estimates are the FARC is receiving perhaps as much as $6 
billion to $7 billion a year in income, which has allowed the FARC, 
which has its own zone inside of Colombia that is absolutely isolated 
from the rest of the country. It has allowed the FARC to produce a 
military that has in excess of $20,000 armed troops.

  This military is well-trained. They have the latest in terms of 
communication systems, and they have an elaborate network in place to 
send that cocaine through whatever means possible to America, and they 
are doing that.
  In fact, just a few weeks before I arrived in Colombia, we were able 
to confiscate, or the Colombians were able to confiscate a submarine 
that had been built with the assistance of Russian scientists that the 
FARC was going to use to move cocaine from Colombia to America.
  Mr. Speaker, the FARC has become a major force that provides a threat 
to America's homeland defense. Now, I have worked for the 14 years I 
have been in Congress on issues involving the security threats coming 
from Russia. I was a member of the Cox committee that investigated the 
transfer of technology to China.
  I was on the speaker's advisory group on North Korea. I have spent 
hours and hours focusing on the threats coming from those nations 
providing technology to unstable nations and to unstable groups. But I 
can tell you, Mr. Speaker, I am now convinced that one of the greatest 
threats that we face in the 21st century is the threat to our society 
from the continued growth of the cocaine industry in America, 
especially when this cocaine industry is supporting a major military 
establishment in Latin America, a destabilizing military establishment.
  In fact, Mr. Speaker, the FARC and the revolutionary groups are 
creating serious instability in the areas in Colombia where they, in 
fact, are secure. And they are now spilling over into north Ecuador, as 
well as having an impact in other Latin American countries.
  The day before I arrived at the base camp at Larandia, there was 
intelligence that a FARC exploratory group was going to move into a 
small town, which is a typical operation for them. When they moved into 
that small town, they would burn the local police station, and they 
would hunt out the police officers and either intimidate them until 
they complied with the FARC or until they killed them.
  Mr. Speaker, 3,000 individuals per year on average are kidnapped in 
Colombia. Many of them are police officers at the local level trying to 
provide protection for the people of the towns. The FARC and the 
revolutionaries have been going into small towns and villages wrecking 
havoc on the quality of life in those communities.
  They have been taking peaceful farmers and forcing them to stop 
growing legitimate crops and instead produce the coca that the FARC 
then buys and uses at their precursor labs to produce cocaine, which is 
then shipped to America. And if the local farmers do not cooperate, 
they, too, are harassed.
  Their buildings are burned. Their vehicles are trashed and burned, 
and in the end, the people themselves are tortured. But the FARC is 
doing far worse than that, Mr. Speaker, and so is the result of the 
narcotrafficking trade in Colombia.
  The day before I arrived at Larandia, there was a confrontation. The 
military units of the Colombian base where I lived, Larandia, were sent 
out, because they had intelligence that indicated the FARC was going to 
raid a local community and take over its police department.
  The Colombian military met the FARC unit on a small road outside the 
village. A firefight ensued. The FARC was equipped with AK47s, the 
latest weapons available for a military anyplace in the world today, 
bought with those billions of dollars of money, most of it coming from 
wealthy Americans wanting to have their coke, at the same time they are 
proclaiming that somehow they are concerned about the drug problem in 
America.
  Mr. Speaker, the confrontation that ensued resulted in the death of 3 
FARC uniform personnel. One of the uniform personnel, Mr. Speaker, was 
a 12-year-old girl. The second FARC soldier that was killed was a 14-
year-old boy, and the third FARC military person that was killed was a 
17-year-old boy. And the mode of operation was the same as it always is 
with the FARC.
  When they get into a confrontation with the Colombian military, which 
may occur, 100 yards or 200 yards away so the soldiers cannot see who 
they are up against, the FARC pushes young kids in uniform out in the 
front so they are the first to be killed. They are the first to die.
  Mr. Speaker, this has happened time and time again throughout 
Colombia. In fact, with all of our concerns about the crimes of Saddam 
Hussein and Slobodan Milosevic, it is amazing to me that there is not 
an outcry in this country for a war crimes tribunal against the gross 
human atrocities being caused by the FARC and the revolutionary groups 
in Colombia and Latin America.
  Because what is occurring there? The hundreds of deaths, the 
slaughtering of young children, the slaughtering of families, the 
forcing of farmers to grow these illegal crops and the devastation of 
local villages, is a gross kind of human rights abuse that I do not 
think we have seen the likes of since Saddam Hussein was in his prime 
back in Iraq before the invasion.
  Mr. Speaker, we have no choice but to support the Colombians in this 
struggle and they are winning. They are making progress. The training 
is working.
  Mr. Speaker, I insert for the Record a summary of counternarcotics 
operations in Putumayo, which is the hot bed of this activity in 
Colombia. This was prepared at my request by our Ambassador. I submit 
this for the Record for all of our colleagues to review and for all 
Americans to understand the success that is occurring in Colombia as we 
begin to eradicate hopefully 100 percent of the coca production in that 
country which has led to the huge proliferation of cocaine into 
America.

 Summary of Counternarcotics Operations in Putumayo, December 19, 2000-
                            January 28, 2001

               (Prepared for Representative Curt Weldon)


                            I. Introduction

       The first six weeks of counternarcotics operations in 
     Putumayo Department in southern Colombia (the initial 
     geographical focus under Plan Colombia) have seen many 
     positive results. Two social pacts supported by the U.S. 
     Agency for International Development, which provide for 
     voluntary manual eradication and alternative crop 
     development, have been signed by over 1400 families in Puerto 
     Asis municipality, and six more are expected to be signed 
     before the end of March. Aerial coca eradication and ground 
     interdiction activities have taken place in south-central and 
     southwestern Putumayo. As of January 28, 2001, over 24,000 
     hectares

[[Page H157]]

     have been sprayed in Putumayo, the most densely cultivated 
     area in the world. There has been an unprecedented level of 
     cooperation between the Colombian Army Counterdrug Brigade 
     and the Antinarcotics Directorate of the Colombian National 
     Police. The operations have proceeded with relatively few 
     incidents of armed clashes or ground fire directed at spray 
     aircraft.


                         II. Aerial Eradication

       Although estimates vary, coca cultivation in Putumayo could 
     be as high as 90,000 hectares (about 225,000 acres). The most 
     dense areas of cultivation are located in southwestern 
     Putumayo. Aerial eradication in Putumayo began in that area 
     on December 22, 2000. As of January 28, 2001, a total of 
     24,123 hectares has been sprayed--22,332 hectares in 
     southwestern Putumayo (mostly in paramilitary-dominated 
     zones) and 1,791 hectares in south-central Putumayo. Spraying 
     is currently taking place in southwestern Putumayo. There 
     have been eight spray planes and/or escort helicopters hit by 
     hostile ground fire (in six incidents) since commencement of 
     spraying in Putumayo--fewer than expected, given the high 
     presence of illegal armed groups operating in Putumayo. None 
     resulted in any injury or serious damage to aircraft.


                   III. Colombian Military Operations

       As of January 28, 2001 there are approximately 3,000 
     Colombian Army troops deployed in Putumayo, including troops 
     from the First and Second Counterdrug Battalions of the 
     Counterdrug Brigade. The ground troops support aerial 
     eradication activities and conduct lab interdictions. Since 
     the start of operations in mid-December 2000, Colombian 
     military forces have attacked 40 targets in Putumayo, 
     including coca base labs, cocaine hydrochloride labs, and 
     weapons storage facilities.
       There have been five incidents of armed clashes between 
     Colombian military forces and illegal groups since the start 
     of Putumayo operations, one involving paramiltaries and three 
     involving FARC. These clashes resulted in the deaths of two 
     12th Brigade soldiers, 11 FARC, and one paramilitary. The 
     fifth incident was the firing (by unknown persons) of a 
     rocket-propelled grenade at an embassy-contracted fuel plane 
     (carrying Colombian National Police officers) departing Tres 
     Esquinas.
       The level of cooperation between Colombian military forces 
     and antinarcotics police during the Putumayo operation has 
     been unprecedented, given the historic rivalries between the 
     various armed forces and police. The forces have shared USG-
     supplied helicopters to move troops and police in and out of 
     the spray/interdiction areas. The Deputy Commander of the 
     Counterdrug Brigade now attends the daily briefings for the 
     spray pilots, hence is better able to deploy his troops into 
     the most effective areas and to alert the pilots to suspected 
     locations of hostile elements.


     iv. u.s.-supported alternative development/manual eradication

       A key aspect of the multifaceted Plan Colombia projects 
     targeted for Putumayo (and, later, other parts of the 
     country) is to encourage small coca growers to sign 
     agreements to voluntarily eliminate their illicit crops in 
     exchange for government assistance with alternative crop 
     development The U.S. Agency for International Development is 
     working closely with the Government of Colombia's National 
     Plan for Alternative Development (PLANTE), to put such 
     agreements into place. Two agreements have been signed to 
     date by a total of 1453 families in Puerto Asis municipality, 
     providing for the voluntary elimination of nearly 3000 
     hectares of coca. Six more agreements are expected to be 
     signed before the end of March 2001. The target is to enter 
     agreements with a total of 5500 families for the elimination 
     of approximately 10,500 hectares of coca. The signing of even 
     two elimination agreements has had a positive effect, in that 
     many more families are interested in signing them now that 
     they are perceived as a reality. The signings appear to have 
     lessened some local officials' opposition to aerial 
     eradication as well. While in the past they often complained 
     that government efforts were focused on the ``stick'' of 
     spraying but not the ``carrot'' of alternative development, 
     at least one Putumayo mayor has stated that the government 
     now apparently intends to keep its word to combine the two 
     efforts.


                            v. human rights

       Since the first Counterdrug Battalion was formed in April 
     1999, we have had no human rights complaints against the 
     Counterdrug Brigade, nor have we received any since joint 
     operations were launched in December 2000. There has been 
     minimal displacement, with some 20-30 people displaced since 
     spray operations began in mid-December. In contrast, 
     thousands of people were displaced in the area between 
     September-December 2000 as a result of the FARC's armed seige 
     of Putumayo.
       As required under the Leahy amendment, the Embassy vets all 
     military and police units which receive USG assistance by 
     reviewing the unit's human rights record and regular reports 
     from the Colombian Ministry of Defense on any units or 
     members of units which are undergoing formal investigation 
     for human rights violations. The 24th Brigade, a member of 
     the Joint Task Force-South under General Mario Montoya's 
     command, is currently the only element of the Joint Task 
     Force-South which is not approved to receive USG assistance.


                             vi. conclusion

       While the government of Colombia has achieved significant 
     success in the first phase of U.S.-supported counternarcotics 
     operations in Putumayo, much more remains to be done. Embassy 
     is encouraging the Colombian Army and Antinarcotics Police to 
     pursue more joint operations, and is encouraging the 
     Colombian Presidency to explain Plan Colombia more clearly to 
     its citizens. The Government of Colombia has shown the 
     political will to maintain its commitment to the aerial 
     eradication and interdiction aspects of Plan Colombia, even 
     if violence escalates (as is likely to be the case). Public 
     support for antinarcotics aid is strong, but continued close 
     engagement at all levels will be required to maintain the 
     GOC's resolve.

  Mr. Speaker, in this two-page summary, our colleagues will find a 
detailed assessment of the successes that we are achieving, of the 
cooperation of the Colombian military, of the brave efforts being put 
forth by military leaders and police leaders who everyday are being 
intimidated and whose families are being threatened by the FARC and the 
terrorist groups throughout Colombia.
  Mr. Speaker, I want to also assure my colleagues one of the major 
concerns we have in any country is that there not be human rights 
abuses by the military or the police of that country. In the training 
that I witnessed at the Larandia operation, a major part of our 
training program for the Colombian military deals with human rights, 
showing the soldiers on the ground in Colombia that while they are 
there, to weed out the corrupt narcoterrorists activity.
  They must adhere to strict human rights concerns that we have. They 
must comply with international norms. They must not abuse innocent 
people. And while there are still incidents as there are even in our 
own military, from time to time, of concerns relative to human rights. 
I can assure our colleagues that the Colombian military, the Colombian 
police department have made overwhelming positive strides in stopping 
human rights abuses from those who are enforcing the laws and from 
those who are going after the narcotics traffickers.
  Mr. Speaker, our military again is rising to the occasion and doing 
an outstanding job. The Colombian soldier on the ground understands the 
importance of maintaining human rights and dignity, even when they are 
dealing with thugs involved, with growing and selling off cocaine 
eventually for America's soil.
  This summary gives a glimpse of the kind of successes that we are 
having in each of these areas; the efforts at cleaning up the drug 
labs, the efforts at spraying the crops, the efforts at protecting the 
human rights, the efforts at helping to rebuild the economy of these 
areas that have been devastated by drug trafficking.

                              {time}  1600

  The role of America is not just training. We are also providing 
resources. Of the $1.3 million that we are placing into Plan Colombia, 
only a small portion is actually going to our military. Significant 
parts of the money are going into nonmilitary activities, such as the 
Department of State. Other parts are going into activities involving 
economic readjustment.
  In fact, Mr. Speaker, I have a series of charts that I will be 
providing for every Member of the House that give an assessment as to 
where the $1.3 million is going, the kinds of equipment that we are 
buying, helicopters to do spraying, and helicopters to accompany the 
helicopters and the planes that are doing the spraying of the crops.
  So the effort in Plan Colombia is not just about helping the 
military. It is about providing a broad strategy. It is about building 
democratic institutions. It is about helping local mayors and local 
councils have better control over their communities. It is involving 
ourselves through Colombia in creating additional economic activities 
for farmers who no longer are going to produce these drugs.
  Mr. Speaker, I am convinced that we must stay the course in Latin 
America. One of the concerns that I had when I traveled to Ecuador and 
Colombia was that we in America do not know enough about our southern 
partners. I am very pleased that our new President has made statements 
that he wants to reach south. He has already reached out to Mexico. I 
know that he

[[Page H158]]

wants to reach out to Central and South America.
  I am convinced, Mr. Speaker, that many of us, including myself, have 
not paid attention to our closest neighbors. We have not taken the 
opportunity to reach out to them as equal partners in terms of economic 
development, environmental cooperation, cooperation in health and human 
services, and also dealing with problems like the oil spill off the 
Galapagos or the drug problem in Colombia.
  That is why, Mr. Speaker, I had discussions in both countries and I 
am now suggesting to my colleagues, especially those on the Committee 
on International Relations chaired by the gentleman from Illinois (Mr. 
Hyde), that we look at the putting together an initiative, kind of a 
mini-Marshall Plan that would bring a special focus on the seven 
contiguous countries around Colombia, to let these countries know that 
Americans up north are not just in Colombia, Ecuador, Bolivia, Peru and 
Panama, that we are not just there because of the drug problem, that we 
want to establish a new relationship, one that encourages more economic 
investment and encourages real environmental cooperation, one that 
shows that we will assist them in improving their quality of life in 
health care and education; and in the end, a strong component that will 
support the rule of law and support the continued effort to help the 
Colombian people and the other nations rid themselves of this terrible 
narcotrafficking and production that has been occurring there over the 
past several years.
  I would hope that one of our objectives in this session of Congress 
would be to establish this mini-Marshall Plan to show our friends in 
South America that America wants to be true and close partners of 
theirs. Ecuador has been one of the closest allies to our country for 
years. It is time to let the people of Ecuador know that we appreciate 
that support and that we want to engage with Ecuador in a more 
aggressive way.
  I would hope that our colleagues on the Committee of International 
Relations led by such great people as the gentleman from North Carolina 
(Mr. Ballenger), who has traveled to that part of the world more than 
any of our colleagues, who along with his wife has a better grasp of 
the situation in Central and South America than many of our people who 
serve in State Department positions, that we reach out and work with 
the gentleman from North Carolina (Mr. Ballenger) and his subcommittee 
and work to shape a new policy, a proactive policy that has a military 
component but also shows the people of South America that we want to be 
their true friends and trading partners.
  I came away also, Mr. Speaker, from my trip with one additional piece 
of information dealing with a very controversial subject that will 
again be taken up by this Congress this year, and that is the School of 
the Americas. Every year, Mr. Speaker, when we bring up the defense 
authorization bill on the floor, there are several Members of Congress 
who offer an amendment to basically do away with the School of the 
Americas at Fort Benning, Georgia; and they use the argument that some 
of the graduates of that school have committed atrocities and have been 
involved in gross human rights abuses, particularly in Central and 
South America.
  Mr. Speaker, I am not challenging the fact that out of the thousands 
of people that have gone through the School of the Americas there have 
been some bad apples, just as I would acknowledge that you can take 
Harvard University or Yale or Princeton and find one or two graduates 
who have ended up in jail because of white collar crimes or because of 
things that they have done that are against our society.

  But I can tell you, Mr. Speaker, when I ask the question of the 
Colombians and the Ecuadorians and our leaders and our two ambassadors 
in those countries how important is the School of the Americas to your 
success, the answer was unanimous. The answer was unanimous from 
everyone I talked to, that the School of the Americas played an 
absolutely essential role in teaching South and Central American 
leaders that the military responds to the civilian part of society, 
that human rights is a part of what a military leader must consider 
every day he or she is doing their job, that the School of the Americas 
has trained young military leaders to understand the same types of 
leadership skills that our military has that are so frequently brought 
to their attention in serving in our services.
  So an additional point that our colleagues need to ask as they travel 
and deal with the situation in Latin America is how important is this 
institution to the continued success that we are having in cooperating 
with the militaries of the South American countries. Are they perfect? 
The answer is, no. Is our military perfect? The answer is, no. But we 
are both moving in the same direction, addressing the concerns of human 
rights and dignity as we enforce laws and as we deal with tyrants and 
dictators and thugs such as those involved with the FARC and the 
revolutionary groups that currently are running rampant in Colombia and 
other parts of South America.
  Mr. Speaker, in closing, the news is good. The success is documented, 
and I rise as someone who was not a big fan of this initiative 6 months 
ago.
  I was a skeptic. I am now convinced we are doing the right thing. Our 
colleagues, Mr. Speaker, are going to be asked this year to provide a 
second sum of money to continue this operation. Our colleagues need to 
get the facts. Our colleagues need to travel to Latin America.
  To this end, Mr. Speaker, I will again be organizing a delegation 
sometime in the mid to latter part of 2001. I have already received a 
commitment that Members of Congress will be able to stay overnight in a 
base camp so they can see firsthand and observe themselves the kind of 
training, the kind of interaction, can talk to the villagers, and can 
talk to people who are in the Colombian military to see the success 
firsthand that we are having.
  In Ecuador, we will meet with the leadership. We will also talk about 
environmental cooperation with pristine areas like the Galapagos. In 
Colombia and the other countries we visit, we will begin to focus on 
the success that we are having.
  I encourage our colleagues, Mr. Speaker, prior to the vote on these 
additional funds, to travel to that part of the world. The gentleman 
from North Carolina (Chairman Ballenger) takes trips to Central and 
South America on a regular basis. If our colleagues cannot join the 
delegation that I organize, they can contact the gentleman from North 
Carolina (Chairman Ballenger), and I am sure he will organize an 
appropriate visit as well this year.
  I think in the year 2001, under the leadership of our new President, 
George Bush, Latin America is the key area of focus; that we must renew 
old friendships. We must show these people in Central and South America 
that we are not the ugly gringos of the north, that we want to be their 
friends. We want to be their trading partners. We want to help them 
solve their environmental problems. We want to help them in their 
effort to weed out corruption, to deal with human rights abuses, and to 
help them provide a solid well-trained military and police force to 
maintain the basic elements of democracy.
  In doing all of that, Mr. Speaker, I am convinced America will be 
better, our homeland defense will be more secure, and we will have a 
better relationship with those people who inhabit both Central and 
South America.
  Mr. Speaker, I yield back the remaining time and thank the Speaker 
and the staff for sticking through this Special Order.

                          ____________________