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)
NEB/DAG/PT
16-May-2000 15:58 PM EDT (16-May-2000 1958 UTC)
NNNN
Source: Voice of America
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