[Congressional Record Volume 149, Number 50 (Thursday, March 27, 2003)]
[House]
[Pages H2447-H2448]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                 REMOVE COLOMBIA FROM THE SUPPLEMENTAL

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under a previous order of the House, the 
gentleman from Massachusetts (Mr. McGovern) is recognized for 5 
minutes.
  Mr. McGOVERN. Mr. Speaker, we are facing the first supplemental 
spending request to fund the war in Iraq and its aftermath and to 
partially support critical needs for our own homeland security. I 
expect we will be taking up that debate as early as next week.
  I believe it is important that this Congress is finally beginning to 
debate the costs and the consequences of this war and how it will 
affect our homeland security, something we have failed to do for the 
last 5 months.
  However, as I read the fine print of the administration's request, I 
see additional military assistance for Colombia. What is Colombia doing 
in a supplemental for the war in Iraq? There is a request for $34 
million in military aid for Colombia in the section for the Department 
of Defense/operations and maintenance to ``increase the operational 
tempo for the unified campaign against narcotics trafficking and 
terrorist activities.''
  There is another $34 million in military aid for Colombia in the 
State Department section, and there is an unspecified amount for 
Colombia under the international assistance programs/international 
security assistance for

[[Page H2448]]

foreign military financing, and it is my understanding that the State 
Department officials have informed some committee staff that Colombia's 
share of those funds will be around 36 to $37 million.
  All told, that is another $100 million in additional military aid for 
Colombia. Mr. Speaker, that is more money than the State of 
Massachusetts will receive under the supplemental for critical homeland 
security priorities. It is more than most States will receive.
  In Massachusetts, communities are laying off police, firefighters, 
and other emergency first responders. Dozens of our cities and towns 
have critical vacancies because many of our local police, our State 
police, our sheriffs, firefighters, and medical staff have been called 
to active duty and are right now serving in Iraq.
  I have been told that there is just not enough money to help places 
like Seekonk or Worcester or Southborough fill these critical vacancies 
to keep our families safe; but apparently there is plenty of cash for 
Colombia.
  Mr. Speaker, there is nothing that Colombia needs that cannot be 
handled through the regular authorization and appropriations process. 
Indeed, just last month on February 12, this Congress approved over 
$500 million for Colombia for fiscal year 2003, $400 million for the 
Andean Counterdrug Initiative, and another $99 million in foreign 
military financing.
  For fiscal year 2004, the President has asked for more than $700 
million for Colombia in the foreign operations and defense 
appropriations bills. Those bills will begin moving through 
subcommittee shortly after Congress returns from our April recess.
  U.S. military and other aid for Colombia has been approved and is in 
the spending pipeline ready to go. On Monday, when he sent up the 
supplemental request, President Bush asked the Congress ``to refrain 
from attaching items not directly related to the emergency at hand.''
  Mr. Speaker, Colombia falls into that category. These requests for 
Colombia are unrelated to the needs of our troops and our missions in 
Iraq and South Asia and unrelated to meeting the needs of our own 
homeland security; and I call upon the administration to withdraw the 
request for Colombia from this supplemental, and if that fails to 
happen, I ask the Committee on Appropriations to eliminate those 
requests and shift those resources to help our States and our 
communities meet critical hometown security priorities.
  Mr. Speaker, I was in Colombia in February. I traveled to several 
sites throughout the country. I met with local military commanders, 
religious leaders, governors, mayors, labor leaders, school teachers, 
displaced families, indigenous peoples, Afro-Colombians, lawyers, the 
magistrates of the constitutional court, members of the Colombia 
Government and U.S. embassy staff. I was also in Colombia 2 years ago, 
and the difference is striking.
  Sadly, Mr. Speaker, today the human rights situation is worse. The 
violence has increased. There is less political space for people to 
organize, speak out or voice alternatives to official policy. The 
country is increasingly militarized; and there is little support for 
basic economic development, unless it comes from other countries or the 
U.N.
  The 40-year-old civil war in Colombia is dirtier and uglier than ever 
and shows no signs of ending anytime soon. The nature of the U.S. role 
in that war has changed. We are now more deeply involved in a 
counterinsurgency than ever before. Americans have died and are being 
held hostage by guerrilla forces. The Colombian military continues to 
work with awful right-wing paramilitary forces.
  Mr. Speaker, I do not want to see American men and women dying in a 
war in Colombia where the Colombian military is still reluctant to 
engage directly insurgent and paramilitary forces. I think it is a 
mistake for the United States to escalate its military involvement in 
Colombia.
  Some of my colleagues may disagree, but at the very least, this 
escalation deserves a full debate. We must not allow such a dramatic 
increase in our military involvement to pass without comment and votes. 
Congress must assert its proper role.
  Withdraw the requests for Colombia in this supplemental. Put that 
money to better use by supporting our police and firefighters here at 
home.

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