> [NOTE: The Washington Times is a conservative
> daily newspaper from Washington, D.C. Rep.
> Dan Burton is one of the dimmest bulbs in
> Congress (according to The Progressive. -DG [Dennis Grammenos]
>
> ===============================================
> The bottom line is, the State Department has
> no plan, and has spent countless hours
> attempting to evade the will and direction
> of Congress instead of actually implementing
> policies, producing nothing but hollow
promises.
>_______________________
================================================
>WASHINGTON TIMES
>
>Tuesday, 25 August 1998
> ***********************
> * C O M M E N T A R Y *
> ***********************
>
> Unfulfilled drugwar promises
> ----------------------------
>
> By Dan Burton and J. Dennis Hastert
>
>
>Deception has become an art form for the Clinton administration, and it
>appears its State Department has been taking copious notes. It is clear
to
>Congress that Secretary of State Madeleine Albright' s agency cannot
keep
>its word. Time and time again, both written and oral agreements with
>Congress have been tossed aside with reckless abandon. Just as the
>credibility of President Clinton has come into question numerous times
>over his tenure in office, the credibility of Foggy Bottom has been
>completely lost. This has become Mrs. Albright' s scarlet letter,
>threatening to taint her legacy as secretary of state.
>
>Currently, the State Department is charged with addressing the source-
>country eradication and counter- narcotics efforts. Colombia is the key
>source nation for both the cocaine and heroin we see flooding American
>streets and schoolyards. Heroin use has become an epidemic in almost
every
>town, big or small, in our country. It is cheaper, purer, and easier to
>get than ever before. There have been 35 teen- age heroin overdose
deaths
>in the Orlando, Fla., area alone in the last two years.
>
>The State Department is failing in this area. Worse than the failure is
>the lack of will to even consider the problem and possible solutions.
It
>is time for Congress to restructure the War on Drugs and shift some
>responsibility from the incompetent State Department to other agencies,
as
>proposed in H.R. 4300, The Western Hemisphere Drug Elimination Act. The
>Republican Congress has outlined an initial strategy to stop heroin at
the
>source, before it reaches American shores. The bottom line is, the
State
>Department has no plan, and has spent countless hours attempting to
evade
>the will and direction of Congress instead of actually implementing
>policies, producing nothing but hollow promises.
>
>The results of the continual empty rhetoric are staggering. Twenty-
>thousand Americans die from drugs and drug-related violence each year.
>More than 4,000 of our allies in the Colombian National Police (CNP)
have
>died fighting our War on Drugs. Many died waiting on the delivery of
>equipment promised by the Clinton State Department, the lack of which
has
>also resulted in a 50 percent reduction in opium eradication missions
by
>the CNP. The only reason any equipment has been delivered is due to
>congressional pressure. It apparently has not been enough. Consider the
>following:
>
>In September 1996, the State Department, in a letter to Congress,
promised
>delivery of 12 upgraded Vietnam-era Huey helicopters. It is now August
>1998, and not one of these helicopters has been delivered. Earlier this
>year, State again promised the delivery of the same helicopters,
starting
>in October. Congress has since learned delivery will now be delayed
again,
>until 1999 at the earliest.
>
>Congress was able to direct an aircraft seized from drug smugglers to
the
>State Department for use in counter-narcotics operations in Colombia.
It
>took more than three years to complete the deal, and State knew the
reason
>Congress intervened was to bolster the CNP air wing, yet State sent the
>aircraft to Guatemala for its maiden deployment. Congress, attempting
to
>increase CNP counter-narcotics operations, appropriated $36 million for
>three Black Hawk utility helicopters. State disagreed with Congress,
and
>produced a reprogramming request to use the money elsewhere. Congress
>placed a hold on that request. State then negotiated a compromise,
which
>included sending six lesser helicopters to Colombia. However, State did
>not have access to the helicopters it promised to deliver, creating the
>impression that State may have intentionally misled Members of
Congress.
>Eerily similar to 1996, State has told Congress it will deliver similar
>helicopters from the commercial market by October. We'll believe it
when
>the helicopters are on the tarmac in Bogota.
>
>A recent remark by a high-ranking political appointee underscores the
lack
>of respect that the unchecked rampant bureaucracy at the State
Department
>has shown Congress, "It was only a Sense of Congress Resolution, it
>doesn't mean anything," referring to a unanimous resolution supporting
the
>delivery of three Black Hawk utility helicopters to the CNP for
counter-
>narcotics missions. Despite a congressional inquiry, Mrs. Albright did
>nothing to reel in this renegade appointee.
>
>It is easy to see why Congress, and the American people take anything
that
>comes from the Clinton administration with a grain of salt. It is
>impossible to determine if what is said is actually the truth. Recent
>history has shown the Clinton State Department has a severe credibility
>problem. Secretary Albright should reign- in those responsible, because
-
>even in Washington - you are only as good as your word.
>
> Rep. Dan Burton, Indiana Republican, is chairman of the
Government
> Reform and Oversight Committee, and is a senior member of the
> International Relations Committee.
>
> Rep. J. Dennis Hastert, Illinois Republican, is chairman of the
> Government Reform's National Security Subcommittee, chairman of
> the Speaker's Task Force for a Drug Free America, and is chief
> deputy whip.
>
> Copyright 1998 News World Communications, Inc.
>__________________________________________________________________________
>***********************************************************************
>* COLOMBIA SUPPORT NETWORK: To subscribe to CSN-L send request to *
>* listserv at postoffice.cso.uiuc.edu SUB CSN-L Firstname Lastname *
>* (Direct questions or comments about CSN-L to csncu at prairienet.org) *
>* Visit CSN's website http://www.igc.org/csn Read COLOMBIA BULLETIN *
>* For free copy and info contact CSN, P.O. Box 1505, Madison WI 53701 *
>* or call (608) 257-8753 fax: (608) 255-6621 Email: csn at igc.apc.org *
>* Visit the COLOMBIAN LABOR MONITOR at http://www.prairienet.org/clm *
>***********************************************************************
>
______________________________________________________ Get Your Private, Free Email at http://www.hotmail.com