But, Rep. Callahan thinks there is enough to vote for 1.3 Billion for Colombian counter-insurgency, 60 Billion for "National Missile Defense", however much the School of the America's gets (the vote was very close the last time to close it down, no?). But he is a moral man since he voted for a non-binding resolution to support the Alabama Supreme Court Judge that wanted the 10 Commandments posted in schoolrooms. (And progressive Democrat, Sam Farr from Ca. did too, aarrggh!) http://www.aclu.org/vote-guide/229.html
http://voter.excite.com/voter/today/newsdetail/0,2282,4~68-5106-,00.html
...Democratic Rep. Joe Moakley of Massachusetts, the primary sponsor of the measure rejected Thursday by the House, said the reforms "amount to little more than a new coat of paint.''
Moakley contends some of the school's graduates, which include former Panamanian dictator Manuel Noriega and El Salvador assassin Roberto D'Abuisson, developed terrorist techniques during training at Fort Benning.
Supporters of the school said it shouldn't be judged by its bad apples.
"The Unabomber went to Harvard, and we're not talking about closing down Harvard because he committed those atrocities,'' said Rep. Sonny Callahan, R-Ala.
(Aw why not! Remember a book called, "Harvard Hates America by New Right Congressman John LeBoutillier?)
Michael Pugliese
P.S. Nathan is right about Congressional voting blocs and coalitions. The leading voices against the Colombia "Aid" Bill were Right-wing Senators like the usually awful Slade Gorton and left Demos like Wellstone. http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A38239-2000Jun21.html
...Unlike previous U.S. overseas involvement, particularly in Latin America, supporters and opponents of the Colombia initiative have been spread across the political spectrum. Yesterday, senators weighed the seemingly conflicting priorities of fighting drugs and helping a democratic ally under siege from the left while defending human rights and the budget and avoiding wider U.S. involvement in a foreign guerrilla war.
Opponents in yesterday's debate, led by Sens. Paul D. Wellstone (D-Minn.) and Slade Gorton (R-Wash.), criticized the Colombian military's human rights record and argued that the United States, in the course of fighting illegal drugs, would be inexorably drawn into the Colombian government's decades-long war against leftist guerrillas.
"The capacity of this body for self-delusion seems to this senator to be unlimited," Gorton said in asking for deep cuts in the package. "Mark my words, we are on the verge . . . of involvement in a civil war in Latin America, without the slightest promise that our intervention will be a success. . . . This is a down payment, and a down payment only. Next year we are likely to hear we need more money and more men."
Gorton's amendment to cut all but $200 million from the package was defeated 79 to 19, with 13 Republicans and six Democrats--including Maryland's Barbara A. Mikulski and Paul S. Sarbanes--in favor. A Wellstone amendment to transfer $225 million to domestic drug treatment lost 89 to 11. Two Republicans and nine Democrats, including only Mikulski among local senators, voted for the Wellstone measure.
No senator rose in strong defense of the Colombian military, and none denied the risk of deeper U.S. involvement. Instead, supporters defended the package as flawed but vital to keeping a quickly deteriorating national drug crisis from worsening and to bolstering a pro-U.S. government in Latin America's longest-lasting democracy.
"This is a close national security interest for our own country," said Lott. "To those worried about slipping toward being involved" in Colombia, he asked, "Where better to be involved?"