[Congressional Record Volume 148, Number 24 (Thursday, March 7, 2002)]
[Senate]
[Pages S1680-S1681]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




SENATE RESOLUTION 220--EXPRESSING THE SENSE OF THE SENATE REGARDING THE 
    CONTINUED ATTACKS ON DEMOCRACY AND THE RULE OF LAW IN COLOMBIA, 
INCLUDING THE KIDNAPPINGS OF THE ELECTED REPRESENTATIVES OF THE PEOPLE 
                              OF COLOMBIA

  Mr. GRASSLEY submitted the following resolution; which was referred 
to the Committee on Foreign Relations:

                              S. Res. 220

       Whereas Colombia is home to the oldest democracy in Latin 
     America and has consistently been a friend of the United 
     States;
       Whereas Colombia has been affected by the violence 
     generated by the terrorist acts of illegal armed groups;
       Whereas the largest of these groups, the Revolutionary 
     Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC), has used kidnapping, 
     extortion, terrorism, and narcotics trafficking to raise 
     money for its activities;
       Whereas those most affected by the targets of these 
     activities have been the people of Colombia;
       Whereas in October 1997, almost 10,000,000 Colombians voted 
     for a mandate for peace that asked all presidential 
     candidates to find peace in Colombia through political 
     negotiation;
       Whereas in June 1998, 6,500,000 Colombians voted for 
     President Andres Pastrana and his project for peace in 
     Colombia;
       Whereas, since his election, President Pastrana has worked 
     consistently and persistently to find a peaceful solution to 
     the ongoing conflict between the Government of Colombia and 
     the insurgency groups operating within the borders of 
     Colombia;
       Whereas the Government of Colombia put forth several 
     proposals for peace and made sacrifices in sovereign 
     territory and commitments in funding in hopes of achieving 
     peace in Colombia only to have these overtures repeatedly 
     rejected;
       Whereas, on January 20, 2002, the Government of Colombia 
     and the FARC were able to agree on a schedule to be followed 
     in order to define the future of the peace process;
       Whereas, since this accord was signed by the FARC, the FARC 
     has consistently and repeatedly taken violent actions against 
     the people and the Government of Colombia in the form of 
     terrorist attacks, including--
       (1) car bombs;
       (2) attacking government installations;
       (3) mining new fields;
       (4) homicides, including women and children;
       (5) destroying electric pylons;
       (6) bombing oil pipelines;
       (7) destroying bridges; and
       (8) attacks on the dam that provides water to Bogota;
       Whereas five democratically elected representatives of the 
     Colombian Congress are currently being held against their 
     will after being kidnapped by the FARC, including--
       (1) Representative Oscar Tulio Lizcano, a member of the 
     Conservative Party and elected by the people of Colombia to 
     represent the Province of Caldas, who was kidnapped in the 
     municipality of Riosucio, Province of Caldas, on August 5, 
     2000, by members of the ``Aurelio Rodriguez Front'' of the 
     ``Jose Maria Cordoba Block'' of the FARC;
       (2) Senator Luis Eladio Perez, a member of the Liberal 
     Party and elected by the people of Colombia, while visiting 
     several municipalities on a political tour who was kidnapped 
     in the town of Ipiales, Province of Nariflo, on June 10, 
     2001, by elements of the

[[Page S1681]]

     FARC, as a second attempt to kidnap Senator Eladio, the first 
     occurring at the end of May 2001, and frustrated by his 
     security detail;
       (3) Representative Orlando Beltran Cuellar, a member of the 
     Liberal party from the Province of Huila and elected by the 
     people of Colombia, who was kidnapped by the FARC in the 
     municipality of Gigante, Province of Huila, on August 28, 
     2001;
       (4) Representative Consuelo Gonzalez de Perdomo, a member 
     of the Liberal Party from the Province of Huila and elected 
     by the people of Colombia, who was kidnapped by the FARC in 
     the municipality of Hobo, Province of Huila, on September 11, 
     2001; and
       (5) Senator Jorge Eduardo Gechem Turbay, a member of the 
     Liberal Party from the Province of Huila, elected by the 
     people of Colombia, and President of the Colombian Senate's 
     Peace Commission, who was kidnapped on February 20, 2002, 
     when four members of the FARC hijacked a commercial AIRES 
     aircraft traveling from Neiva to Bogota with 30 passengers on 
     board and who was removed from the aircraft after it was 
     forced to land on a rural road in the municipality of Hobo, 
     Province of Huila; and
       Whereas Saturday, February 23, Presidential Candidate 
     Ingrid Betancourt and her campaign manager Clara Rojas were 
     kidnapped by the FARC as she traveled to San Vicente del 
     Caguan: Now, therefore, be it
       Resolved, That the Senate--
       (1) expresses its strong support for the democratically 
     elected Government of Colombia and the Colombian people in 
     their struggle to protect their democracy from terrorism and 
     the scourge of illicit narcotics;
       (2) deplores the continuing criminal terrorist acts of 
     murder, abduction, and extortion carried out by all illegal 
     armed groups in Colombia against the civilian population of 
     Colombia and Colombian authorities;
       (3) condemns the kidnapping of elected representatives of 
     the people of Colombia by the FARC and extends its sympathy 
     to the families and friends of the kidnapped members of the 
     Colombian Congress; and
       (4) urges the President to develop a comprehensive 
     strategic policy proposal, consistent with United States law 
     regarding human rights and the environment, to assist the 
     Government of Colombia in defending its democracy and rule of 
     law from illegal armed groups and the scourge of illicit 
     narcotics.

  Mr. GRASSLEY. Mr. President, I am sending to the desk a sense-of-the-
Senate resolution on the current situation in Colombia.
  The resolution expresses outrage over the current attacks on 
democracy and democratic institutions in Colombia by a gang of vicious 
thugs. The most recent outrage, in a long history of outrages, was the 
hijacking of a commercial airliner filled with innocent people that was 
forced to land, and then the kidnapping at gun point of a distinguished 
Colombian Senator. That Senator remains a prisoner, his fate unknown 
and uncertain. Four other members of the Colombian Congress are also 
prisoners, and now so is one of the candidates for president in 
Colombia's upcoming elections. Other members have been murdered, their 
families threatened, their children terrorized. These are only the most 
publicly visible victims of Colombia's guerrilla thugs.
  There can be no clearer testimony, if further evidence was called 
for, of the vicious nature of the actions of Colombia's insurgent 
movement, the FARC. They have branded themselves, if it was not clear 
before, as outright terrorists. Their actions are an assault on the 
rule of law and on democracy.
  My resolution expresses the concern over the fate of those in a 
companion institution. Our sympathies must go to their families, our 
concern to their countryman in their time of threat an menace. I hope 
that other members will join me in expressing our unanimous concern for 
the fate of democracy and the rule of law in Colombia. The other body 
has passed a resolution expressing its concern. I hope we will as well.

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