[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 161 (2015), Part 4]
[Senate]
[Page 4751]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                                HONDURAS

  Mr. NELSON. Mr. President, over the course of the Easter recess, I 
went to meet with the President of Honduras, President Hernandez, about 
the limited albeit progress his country is making against crime, as 
well as all the drugs that are coming in. I had gone to Honduras with 
our four-star Marine general, General Kelly, the Commander of United 
States Southern Command.
  Between the U.S. military and the Coast Guard, we have been 
successful--as a matter of fact, I even went on some simulated drug 
interdictions out in the Caribbean off of Key West. They showed me how 
one Coast Guard fast boat can interdict a drug smuggler's fast boat, 
and basically they shoot out the engines. They can do that from another 
fast boat or they can do that from a helicopter.
  That has had an effect. There are less drugs coming out of South 
America going into Honduras, which is one of the three Central American 
countries that had become so prime for the drug trade.
  They arrive in big shipments into Honduras, El Salvador, Guatemala. 
Then they break them down into much smaller packets and go through this 
very efficient distribution system that goes north through the rest of 
Central America, into Mexico, and from there to the United States.
  It is hard to catch them when there are the much smaller packets of 
cocaine going north. Therefore, we have really made an effort to assist 
the three Central American countries: Guatemala, El Salvador, and 
Honduras.
  Needless to say, there is a lot of corruption in the governments and 
the local police of all of those three countries. As a result, the drug 
lords find it fairly easy pickings to buy off people and buy off 
judges, so President Hernandez came into office wanting to really make 
a difference.
  He started doing some shows of force. He has worked with General 
Kelly on this issue, but the fact is it is still a very violent 
country, with not only the drug trade but also human trafficking, but 
the trends are in the right direction.
  One year ago, Honduras was the murder capital of the world. It was 
about 86 murders per 100,000 of population. They have cut that number 
down to about 66 per 100,000 of population--still very high, but the 
trend is in the right direction.
  I commend President Hernandez, and I commend the First Lady of the 
country. They have been trying to help their country with its economy 
so the extreme poverty that is so evident in that part of the world is 
not a caldron bubbling that is ripe for corruption and for paying off 
people to transport the drugs.
  In addition, of course there is the human trafficking. There is part 
of it for the sex slaves, and that is a trade where often parents are 
sending their children north--thinking they will have a better life--
and the young girls are just brutally treated and ultimately forced 
into prostitution. But part of it is also, because of the poverty, the 
hopelessness of the parents that their children have no future. They 
are willing to turn--after paying thousands and thousands of dollars to 
a human trafficker--their children over to a coyote to transport those 
children to the north.
  Some of them don't make it, and it is true some of the reforms that 
the Hernandez government have been putting in place have lessened the 
migration of these young children, but there is a lot more to do. That 
is where I would commend the Senate to take a look at the 
administration's request for Central America. It has a name, something 
such as Alliance for Progress. It is about a $1 billion appropriations 
request that will help with the economic development and the medical 
care in that very poor region of the world. If the Congress will 
approve that request, I think we will continue to see the fruits of our 
labors--a very positive outcome.
  As long as there is such a difference between the economic elites and 
the very poor--a huge majority who are very poor--we are always going 
to have those problems, but at least we are seeing the steps in the 
right direction.
  While I was there, our Ambassador Nealon asked me in the assembled 
press to announce that in another week the Naval Hospital ship the 
Comfort will be anchoring off the coast of Honduras. For 1 week it will 
offer the medical services of Navy doctors, nurses, and a whole host of 
private doctors and nurses from this country who are volunteering their 
time to go to Honduras and help with the medical attention that is so 
desperately needed in that part of the world.
  I commend to the Senate that we seriously consider favorably the 
request of the administration for this $1 billion into Central America. 
At the end of the day, it is going to lessen the drug trade going north 
through those countries and stop the family deprivation--lessen the 
family deprivation--of which they would dare risk their children to be 
sent north with a coyote.
  I yield the floor.
  I suggest the absence of a quorum.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER (Mrs. Ernst). The clerk will call the roll.
  The legislative clerk proceeded to call the roll.
  Mr. BROWN. Madam President, I ask unanimous consent that the order 
for the quorum call be rescinded.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.

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