HOUSE CONSIDERS MORE AID FOR COLOMBIA

Just a week after President Clinton delivered $1.3 billion in aid to
Colombian officials for military equipment, counter-drug training and
economic assistance, House leaders are considering whether to approve
millions of dollars more for anti-drug assistance to the Colombian national
police.

House Speaker J. Dennis Hastert (R-Ill.), a strong advocate of anti-drug
aid to Latin American countries, said this week he is reviewing a request
for an additional $99.5 million to purchase more aircraft, ammunition and
other equipment for the Colombian police.

"We're just looking at the feasibility," Hastert said. "I don't know if we
can do it or not and what the need is."

Congress spent the better part of the year thrashing out an economic and
military aid package for Colombia, overcoming strong resistance from
critics who fear that U.S. troops will be drawn into Colombia's protracted
war against leftist guerrillas and disagreement over whether the military
or police should get the bulk of the money.

Although the administration's original proposal heavily favored the
Colombian military, congressional Republicans succeeded in transferring a
significant portion of the package, including 14 new helicopters, to the
police.

Now a group of 17 conservative lawmakers, headed by Reps. Dan Burton
(R-Ind.) and Benjamin A. Gilman (R-N.Y.), are threatening to reopen the
controversy by insisting on new funding for police requests they said were
sacrificed during the negotiations. In a letter to Hastert, they have asked
for the additional funding as part of a foreign assistance spending bill
for the fiscal year that begins Oct. 1.

Burton, chairman of the Government Reform Committee, and Gilman, chairman
of the International Relations Committee, have long championed the work of
the Colombian police against drug producers and traffickers –
including widespread aerial fumigation of drug crops – and argued that
they should be in the forefront of the U.S. effort in Colombia. Two years
ago, they provided funds to purchase six UH-60 Black Hawk helicopters for
the police, over administration objections.

In proposing an expanded effort in Colombia last spring, the administration
insisted on the importance of developing a new, anti-drug role for the
Colombian military. Since much of the drug cultivation territory there is
under the control of guerrillas and right-wing paramilitary groups,
eradication efforts were of little long-term value unless backed by armed
force that could permanently secure the territory.

In a letter to Hastert before the August recess, Burton and Gilman praised
the police for their "clean human rights record" and "proven track record
fighting drugs at the source" and noted they "have been the favored
recipient of Congressional assistance."

The funding they are seeking includes $39 million for three Buffalo
transport and supply aircraft with tail ramps, $15 million for an
additional Black Hawk utility helicopter, $25 million for a year's supply
of .50-caliber ammunition and $5 million for Schweizer SA2-37A/38
intelligence aircraft for counter-narcotics operations. Their request also
asks for $10 million for antimissile kits, floor armoring and other
defensive weapons for new and existing police Black Hawks.

The administration has requested a total of $312 million for worldwide
anti-narcotics activity in the coming year. Clinton is scheduled to meet
with congressional leaders early next week in search of a final compromise
on spending and the request for additional aid to Colombia could come up
then, according to a House Appropriations Committee aide.