[Congressional Record Volume 153, Number 102 (Friday, June 22, 2007)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E1390]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




   THE DEPARTMENT OF STATE, FOREIGN OPERATIONS AND RELATED PROGRAMS 
                        APPROPRIATIONS ACT, 2008

                                 ______
                                 

                               speech of

                       HON. JANICE D. SCHAKOWSKY

                              of illinois

                    in the house of representatives

                        Thursday, June 21, 2007

       The House in Committee of the Whole House on the State of 
     the Union had under consideration the bill (H.R. 2764) making 
     appropriations for the Department of State, foreign 
     operations, and related programs for the fiscal year ending 
     September 30, 2008, and for other purposes:

  Ms. SCHAKOWSKY. Mr. Chairman, I rise in support of the McGovern-Lewis 
amendment. It is time to close the School of the Americas, or WHINSEC. 
After so many decades of human rights abuses and threats to democracy, 
the U.S. should not be giving a privileged position to Latin American 
militaries by maintaining a special school in the United States just 
for them. Nearly every month in Latin America, a perpetrator of human 
rights crimes, corruption, or drug-trafficking is found to have 
attended the School of the Americas. There's a reason that the SOA has 
been called the ``School of the Atrocities.''
  WHINSEC, as well as current U.S. foreign policies, are making the 
United States lose ground with the people of Latin America. Our 
relations with Latin America are at their lowest ebb in several 
decades. The Abu Ghraib scandal, the doctrine of preemptive war, secret 
prisons and the debate over detentions in Guantanamo Bay are reported 
widely and critically in Latin American media. I have traveled to Latin 
America and seen for myself that the WHINSEC, as the direct heir of the 
School of the Americas, is viewed throughout Latin America as a symbol 
of the U.S. priority of strengthening brutal military regimes instead 
of encouraging development.
  Suspending part of the aid to the WHINSEC would show that the United 
States wants to avoid repeating the mistakes of the past. Such a move 
would be a significant and positive step forward in repairing our 
damaged image and credibility. It would also be a blow to those who 
have strengthened themselves politically by accusing the United States 
of hypocrisy on human rights and democracy. A more cooperative, less 
unilateral foreign policy, including the suspension of funding for 
WHINSEC, will clearly demonstrate our respect for international human 
rights standards and would help the United States regain influence and 
build connections in Latin America.
  The United States should work with Latin American nations on common 
solutions to common problems, and our programs should invest in helping 
Latin American communities help themselves. Instead of providing funds 
to train human rights abusers, we should provide assistance for clean 
water, vaccinations for children, micro-credit, technical assistance 
for small farmers and small business, shelter for refugees and generous 
disaster relief to build goodwill with our neighbors.
  Just last month Nobel Peace Prize Recipient Oscar Arias, President of 
Costa Rica, announced that Costa Rica would no longer send its police 
to the WHINSEC for training. We should join Costa Rica (and other Latin 
American countries who have withdrawn their police from training at 
WHINSEC) in changing course by withdrawing funding from this criminal 
training ground.

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