U.S. Senator Ken Salazar

Member of the Agriculture, Energy and Veterans Affairs Committees

 

2300 15th Street, Suite 450 Denver, CO 80202 | 702 Hart Senate Building, Washington, D.C. 20510

 

 

For Immediate Release

July 20, 2005

CONTACT:    Cody Wertz – Press Secretary

                        202-228-3630

Jen Clanahan – Deputy Press Secretary

                        303-455-7600

 

SEN. SALAZAR BRINGS ACCOUNTABILITY TO INTERNATIONAL POLICE TRAINING PROGRAM

WASHINGTON, D.C. – United States Senator Ken Salazar today built on his experiences in Colorado to make the State Department more accountable for its arming and training of security forces abroad with an amendment to the Foreign Operations, Export Financial and Related Programs Appropriations Act, HR 3057. Senator Salazar’s amendment was passed with the bipartisan unanimous support of the Senate. HR 3057 was passed today by the Senate by a vote of 98 to 1.

“Every year the United States government spends millions of dollars on police training programs overseas. Given the threat of international crime, this is an important investment. At the same time, the taxpayers deserve accountability for that investment.” Senator Salazar said.

Thanks to Senator Salazar’s amendment (SA1263), under the Senate-passed version of HR 3057 all international police training programs funded by the State Department through the Bureau of International Narcotics and Law Enforcement Affairs (INL) will be required to put in place a background check for trainees (to ensure no ties to criminal or terrorist activities) and ensure that potential police officers are trained by experienced law enforcement professionals after the Department consults with seasoned law enforcement professionals on best practices.

Senator Salazar’s proposal mirrors his successful April 2005 effort to put in place similar accountability requirements on Afghan police trained by the U.S. government via the Iraq/Afghanistan supplemental appropriations bill (HR 1268).

“With this reform, the State Department will begin keeping better records of who we train and how well our training methods work. By providing the best training for these security officers, we will make sure it is not only American personnel fighting international crime,” Senator Salazar said.

The INL (http://www.state.gov/g/inl/) has trained mid- and senior-level prosecutors, judicial and law enforcement officials from 50 countries including Afghanistan, Colombia, Thailand and Nigeria. Programs with INL have helped target narcotics production and transfer, civilian police training, anti-corruption efforts, human smuggling and trafficking and financial scams as well as funding international law enforcement training programs at academies located in Hungary, Thailand, Botswana, and Roswell, NM.

As Colorado’s Attorney General, Senator Salazar worked hard to ensure quality training and accountability for Colorado’s 14,000 law enforcement professionals through the Peace Officer Standards and Training (POST) Board.

HR 3057 will now proceed to conference committee to iron out differences between House and Senate versions before being voted upon a second time by both the House and Senate. If the House and Senate both approve the conference report, it will go on to the President’s desk for signature or veto.

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