WASHINGTON,
D.C. – In a letter to President Clinton, U.S. Representative Jan Schakowsky
(D-IL) today urged the President to “withdraw the Colombia aid request
as part of your emergency supplemental appropriations request and to do
everything possible to ensure a separate and complete debate and vote on
the Colombian aid package.”
“This
aid package is too large and too important an issue to be considered on
an emergency basis that prevents us from having this debate or prevents
us from considering this proposal on its own merits,” Schakowsky added
in her letter. Schakowsky also wrote that the $1.6 billion aid package
does not represent the right policy for the United States to deal with
the nation’s drug problem, and it is evident that the implementation of
this plan will not benefit the people of Colombia. Furthermore, she
also expressed her concerns that the goal of this aid is unclear.
Schakowsky
and her colleagues will soon deliver a letter to the Chairman of the House
Appropriations Committee citing Colombia’s poor record on human rights
and urging that no military aid be delivered to Colombia.
Last
month during a Government Reform Subcommittee on Criminal Justice, Drug
Policy and Human Resources, Schakowsky questioned the wisdom of the aid
package to Colombia. She asked, “Is it the first in a series of blank
checks for a war with no foreseeable end game?” From 1990 to 1998, even
as the United States spent $625 million in Columbia, coca production increased
by 50 percent.
March 8, 2000
The
Honorable William Jefferson Clinton
President
of the United States
1600
Pennsylvania Avenue, NW
Washington,
D.C. 20500
Dear
President Clinton:
I
am writing to you today because I am deeply concerned over the $1.6 billion
aid package you have proposed for Colombia. I do not believe that
this package represents the right policy for the United States to deal
with the nation’s drug problem, nor do I believe that implementation of
this plan will benefit the people of Colombia. I urge you to reconsider
this policy. At the very least, I hope that you will work to make
sure that there is an adequate opportunity for full and fair debate and
a separate vote on this significant and controversial proposal.
As
you know there is no real way to fight the “drug war” in Colombia without
also getting involved in that country’s decades-old civil war. My
constituents and, I believe the American public generally, are concerned
about a policy that risks drawing U.S. troops into a counterinsurgency
war with no foreseeable end and no exit strategy. I share that concern.
There appears to be little justification for making such a major investment
that could lead to such enormous risks.
In
recent weeks, the United Nations and Human Rights Watch have released studies
that are extremely critical of Colombia’s lack of progress on human rights
issues. I agree with their conclusions that right wing paramilitary
groups have been responsible for the vast majority of human rights abuse,
extra-judicial killing, and displacement of indigenous people that takes
place in Colombia. As the reports also suggest, collusion between
Colombia’s military and right-wing paramilitary units is a serious problem.
While President Pastrana has taken steps to remove some of the worst human
rights violators from the military, I do not believe that there has been
sufficient progress made to warrant such a massive increase in the aid
we already provide to Columbia. I was disappointed to see that there
are no measures included in your proposal to address the problem of the
military’s relationship to paramilitary groups, to curb paramilitary violence
against civilians, and to ensure that U.S. aid does not end up supporting
human rights abusers.
Mr.
President, the goals of this aid seem to be unclear. Are we trying
to defeat the guerrillas in Colombia? Are we trying to eradicate
coca crops? Are we trying to stop the drug problem here in the United
States? Are we trying to help the Pastrana government win its battle
with the FARC and others? What new safeguards will exist to ensure
protection for innocent civilians in Colombia? What kind of human
rights monitoring infrastructure will be employed? What is our exit
strategy? How will we define victory or success in Colombia?
What if consumption of cocaine and other drugs in the U.S. does not decline?
What if the center of cocaine production in Latin America shifts from Colombia
to another location as it did from Bolivia and Peru to Colombia?
If our helicopters are shot down, will we send more or respond in some
other way? Will there be an equal investment in education, prevention
and treatment efforts to curb domestic drug use?
Mr.
President, I believe that these are serious questions that require a thoughtful
and careful discussion. This aid package is too large and too important
an issue to be considered on an emergency basis that prevents us from having
this debate or prevents us from considering this proposal on its own merits.
For that reason, I urge you to withdraw the Colombia aid request as part
of your emergency supplemental appropriations request and to do everything
possible to ensure a separate and complete debate and vote on the Colombian
aid package.
Thank
you for your attention to this matter. I look forward to your response.
Sincerely,
Jan
Schakowsky
Member
of Congress |