[Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents Volume 36, Number 31 (Monday, August 7, 2000)]
[Page 1784]
[Online from the Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]

<R04>
Statement Announcing an Upcoming Visit and Further Assistance to 
Colombia

August 4, 2000

    I am pleased to announce I will travel on August 30 to Colombia to 
meet with President Andres Pastrana and to personally underscore 
America's support for Colombia's efforts to seek peace, fight illicit 
drugs, build its economy, and deepen democracy. I am delighted that 
Speaker Dennis Hastert and Senator Joe Biden, two longtime champions of 
peace and democracy in Colombia, will join me on the trip.
    Colombia's success is profoundly in the interest of the United 
States. A peaceful, democratic, and economically prosperous Colombia 
will help to promote democracy and stability throughout the hemisphere.
    I have also signed a Presidential decision directive ordering, as a 
matter of national priority, an intensified effort to aid the Colombian 
Government in implementing Plan Colombia--President Pastrana's bold plan 
to build a better future for his country.
    The Presidential decision directive complements and supports the 
$1.3 billion assistance package that I requested from Congress, and that 
Democrats and Republicans passed in a bipartisan spirit last month. The 
cornerstone of our Colombia initiative, this supplemental includes a 
tenfold increase in U.S. funds to promote good government, judicial 
reform, human rights protection, and economic development in Colombia. 
It will help Colombia strengthen its democracy while helping the 
Government staunch the flow of drugs to our shores.
    This directive, along with the sharp increase in funding from 
Congress, will intensify our efforts to help the Colombian Government 
implement its comprehensive national strategy. It is the right way to 
advance America's interests in the region, and I am proud of the 
bipartisan effort that has made it possible.