DATE=6/29/2000
TYPE=CORRESPONDENT REPORT
TITLE=CONGRESS/COLOMBIA-KOSOVO (S/L)
NUMBER=2-263916
BYLINE=PAULA WOLFSON
DATELINE=CAPITOL HILL
CONTENT=

VOICED AT: 

INTRO:   After months of political wrangling, the U-S 
House of Representatives has approved legislation that 
provides billions of dollars to fight drugs in 
Colombia and support peacekeeping in Kosovo.   V-O-A's 
Paula Wolfson reports the Senate is expected to follow 
suit later today (by close of business Friday) and 
send the bill to the President, who has pushed hard 
for the funds.


TEXT:   The money is part of an eleven-point-two 
billion-dollar emergency spending bill that began its 
path through Congress early in the year.

The House approved its initial version in March, but 
the legislation bogged down in the Senate.  It took 
steady pressure from Colombian leaders and the 
Pentagon to get Senators to move on the measure.  Even 
then, there were differences in language between the 
House and Senate that took weeks to resolve.

The compromise bill includes one-point-three billion 
dollars to help Colombia battle drug producers.  It 
also allocates two billion dollars to pay for 
peacekeeping operations in Kosovo.

          /// REST OPT FOR USE IN LONG CR ///

The Colombia aid has been a priority for House Speaker 
Dennis Hastert and the White House.  But there has 
been substantial opposition from lawmakers who fear 
the United States could get dragged into another 
country's civil war.  Much of the money will be used 
to purchase military equipment and train special anti-
drug troops that will operate in the guerilla 
controlled regions of the country.

By putting the money for Colombia into a bill that 
also provides emergency funds for many congressional 
districts, House Republican leaders assured its 
passage.  The vote in support of the compromise 
legislation was substantial.   Three-hundred-six 
members voted for the bill, 110 voted no. (Signed)

NEB/PW/KBK



29-Jun-2000 22:06 PM EDT (30-Jun-2000 0206 UTC)
NNNN

Source: Voice of America
.