DATE=3/23/2000
TYPE=CORRESPONDENT REPORT
TITLE=CONGRESS-COLOMBIA (L-ONLY)
NUMBER=2-260522
BYLINE=PAULA WOLFSON
DATELINE=CAPITOL HILL
CONTENT=
VOICED AT: 


INTRO:  President Clinton's request for one-point-
three-billion dollars to combat drug trafficking in 
Colombia is making its way through the U-S congress.  
Most lawmakers agree on the need to help the Colombian 
government.  But as V-O-A's Paula Wolfson reports, 
many have concerns about the president's plan.


TEXT:  The chairman of the House Armed Services 
Committee summed up the feeling on Capitol Hill:

            /// Spence Act ///

      The question is not if the United States should 
      help Colombia, but how.

            /// End Act ///

At a hearing on President Clinton's Colombia proposal, 
South Carolina Republican Floyd Spence challenged a 
group of top officials from the Pentagon and the State 
Department.

            /// Spence Act ///

      Is the administration's proposal to 
      significantly expand the legal authority of the 
      Department of Defense to cooperate in Colombia 
      necessary and justified?

            /// End Act ///

Other committee members raised the specter of another 
Vietnam conflict: a situation where a small group of 
U-S advisors expands rapidly and becomes immersed in a 
civil war.  Missouri Democrat Ike Skelton was blunt.

            /// Skelton Act ///

      Are we on the verge of committing our men and 
      women to a major long-term military effort?  Are 
      we becoming involved in a counter-insurgency 
      effort in the name of counter-narcotics?

            /// End Act ///

The top U-S military commander for the Americas 
offered an impassioned response.  General Charles 
Wilhelm recalled his own years in combat in Southeast 
Asia.

            /// Wilhelm Act ///

      The lieutenants and captains who struggled and 
      suffered through Vietnam are today's generals.  
      If another Vietnam comes, we will recognize it.  
      And we have absolutely no desire to repeat that 
      experience.

            /// End Act ///

The State Department's top official for international 
narcotics and law enforcement reinforced the general's 
message.  Rand Beers said the Colombian government is 
strongly supportive, and the Colombian armed services 
will handle all field military operations.  Mr. Beers 
then warned lawmakers of the risks of doing nothing.

            /// Beers Act ///

      If we do not do anything now, what we can 
      contemplate is that the 25 percent increase in 
      coca cultivation is going to continue.  The 
      amount of drugs available to the United States 
      and the rest of the world is going to increase.

            /// End Act ////

New statistics from the White House office of drug 
control policy show cocaine use in the United States 
has stabilized in the last year.  But the report also 
says prices for both cocaine and heroin have fallen to 
record lows and, despite the best efforts of law 
enforcement officials, remain widely available.  
(Signed)

NEB/PW/JP




23-Mar-2000 12:58 PM EDT (23-Mar-2000 1758 UTC)
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Source: Voice of America
.