[Congressional Record Volume 147, Number 62 (Tuesday, May 8, 2001)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E750-E751]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




   EXPRESSING SYMPATHY TO FAMILY, FRIENDS, AND COWORKERS OF VERONICA 
                   ``RONI'' BOWERS AND CHARITY BOWERS

                                 ______
                                 

                               speech of

                        HON. TODD RUSSELL PLATTS

                            of pennsylvania

                    in the house of representatives

                          Tuesday, May 1, 2001

  Mr. PLATTS. Mr. Speaker, as we all are well aware, on the morning of 
April 20th a Peruvian Air Force fighter jet erroneously shot down a 
single engine Cessna owned and operated by the Association of Baptists 
for World Evangelism based in York County, Pennsylvania and located in 
my District. In so doing, one American missionary was severely injured 
and two were tragically killed.
  I want to express my profound sympathy to James Bowers and his son 
Cory upon the tragic and untimely loss of their wife and mother, 
Veronica ``Roni'' Bowers and seven-month-old daughter Charity. I also 
want to express my sincere gratitude to the pilot of the plane Kevin 
Donaldson, who despite severely injuring both legs was able to land 
safely in the Amazon River.
  In addition, I want to urge the Association of Baptists for World 
Evangelism (ABWE) to continue to pursue their critical outreach efforts 
in the Amazon region and around the world. As a matter of background, 
the ABWE supports 1,300 missionaries in 65 countries worldwide. The 
missionary group has worked in Peru since 1939 establishing Baptist 
churches, schools, camps, and centers for pregnant women, as well as 
providing medical care throughout the Peruvian Amazon. More than 8,000 
churches in the U.S. and Canada contribute money to support the mission 
of the ABWE. But what makes ABWE's mission so successful are the 
countless American men, women, and families from all walks of life who 
willingly sacrifice their precious time and effort, and unfortunately 
sometimes their lives, to do God's work.
  The untimely death of Roni and Charity Bowers has brought to the 
forefront a significant, but little known operation that takes place as 
part of our overall anti-drug policy. Since the mid 1980's, the 
Department of Defense has led an inter-agency air interdiction effort 
to close the ``air bridge'' between coca fields in the Andean region of 
Peru and Bolivia and the production facilities in Colombia. The idea 
was that the United States would provide intelligence and other assets 
to the host nations for the detection and elimination of drug smuggling 
operations, while staying out of the host nation's respective internal 
affairs and chain of command. Although an innovative approach to drug 
policy, this helping-hand policy is in obvious need of review, 
especially with respect to Peru.
  Mr. Speaker, as you know, Section 1012 of the 1995 Defense 
Authorization Act requires that U.S. intelligence and related assets 
can only be used if the President determines whether drug smuggling 
comprise an ``extraordinary threat to the national security of'' the 
foreign country and that ``that country has the appropriate procedures 
in place to protect against the innocent loss of life . . . which shall 
at a minimum include effective means to identify and warn an aircraft 
before the use of force'' is authorized. After temporarily suspending 
air interdiction flights in early 1994, former President Clinton made 
the determination that Peru fulfilled Section 1012
  These straight-forward procedures include checking the flight plan of 
the observed aircraft, establishing radio communications, making visual 
contact to check the aircraft's registry and to give it visual 
instructions to land, getting permission to fire warning shots, then 
disabling shots and finally, when all else fails and the aircraft 
refuses to comply, then and only then can permission be granted to 
shoot down a civilian aircraft.
  All reports indicate that on that fateful Friday morning, over the 
strenuous objection of U.S. personnel, Peruvian officials either moved 
too quickly through these procedures, or did not implement them fully. 
The result was that a bullet fired from a Peruvian Sukhoi--25 jet 
fighter passed through the fuselage of the tiny missionary plane, 
through the heart of Roni Bowers and into the head of baby Charity, 
killing both instantly. The air interdiction effort in Peru and the 
overall policy itself is mired in questions.
  President Bush has requested $882 million for his Andean Regional 
Initiative in next year's budget. This program will substantially 
increase the investment in drug interdiction and eradication efforts in 
Peru and surrounding countries. Before Congress appropriates another 
dollar toward counter drug efforts in Peru, I believe it is imperative 
for us to review and rethink our interdiction policy. I urge Congress 
to look into tightening intercept procedures in drug trafficking areas, 
as well as strengthening the important role they have in the oversight 
of our drug policy.
  The United States should not expend taxpayer dollars to provide 
intelligence to a country that apparently violates straight-forward, 
internationally recognized interception procedures. Every effort must 
be made in our interdiction policies and procedures to ensure against 
the innocent loss of life. We cannot undo the horrific personal tragedy 
that James and Cory Bowers have endured with the loss of their wife and 
daughter, mother and sister. We can, however, do our utmost as a nation 
to ensure that through procedural reforms of the interdiction program, 
this private tragedy is transformed into a public good, so that no 
other family will suffer a similar heartache and loss in the future.

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