DATE=5/16/2000
TYPE=CORRESPONDENT REPORT
TITLE=CLINTON-COLOMBIA (L)
NUMBER=2-262433
BYLINE=DAVID GOLLUST
DATELINE=WHITE HOUSE
CONTENT=

VOICED AT:

INTRO:  President Clinton is warning that U-S 
national-security interests in Latin America will 
suffer if Congress fails to give speedy approval to 
anti-drug aid to Colombia. VOA's David Gollust reports 
from the White House.


TEXT:  The President's remarks reflect growing 
frustration within the administration about 
Congressional handling of his proposed one-point-six 
billion dollar Colombia aid package. 

Though it has bipartisan support and was proposed as 
an emergency supplement to the current-year budget, it 
has become bogged-down in Congress with the Senate 
threatening a deep cut. 

At an impromptu news conference, Mr. Clinton said the 
United States needs to send a strong and speedy 
message of support to those battling the drug trade in 
Colombia and the region:

            ///Clinton actuality///

      We need to send a signal to those people down 
      there who are fighting for democracy, fighting 
      for freedom, fighting for the rule of law, 
      fighting against the narco-traffickers, fighting 
      against terrorism, that we're on their side. And 
      we also need to signal to them that there is an 
      alternative economic way that the people can 
      make a living who've been caught up in the drug 
      trade, kind of at the grass-roots, farmer level, 
      and this bill does that.


            ///end act///

Mr. Clinton said he expected the aid package to 
eventually win approval, but said it would be, quote, 
"a really bad mistake" in terms of U-S national 
security if the debate drags on for another three or 
four months.

Though administration officials insist the U-S aid  -- 
including training and helicopters - would go only to 
Colombian drug-fighting units, Congressional critics 
say it will inevitably drag the United States into 
Colombia's long-running conflict between the 
government and leftwing rebels.

The aid package is moving through the House of 
Representatives essentially intact, but the Senate 
Appropriations Committee has approved little more than 
half the money sougth by the White House and key 
Senators have said it may take several months to 
complete action on it.

The one-point-six billion dollar commitment is 
intended as the U-S contribution to Colombian 
President Andres Pastrana's more than seven billion 
dollar national reconstruction program.

Mr. Clinton says timely action by Congress will make 
it easier for Colombia to get support from other 
prospective donor countries and international lending 
institutions. (Signed)



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16-May-2000 15:58 PM EDT (16-May-2000 1958 UTC)
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Source: Voice of America
.