Senate Supports Anti-Narcotics Aid for Colombian Military

The Senate fended off efforts Wednesday to scale back President Clinton’s package of anti-narcotics assistance to Colombia, giving new life to a measure that has languished for months.

Senators demonstrated strong support for the plan, which contains $934 million for Colombia, as they worked toward passage of a foreign aid bill for the fiscal year that begins Oct. 1.

Final approval of the overall $13.4-billion foreign aid bill was expected today.

The bulk of the Colombia money would go toward training special counter-narcotics battalions in the Colombian military and for dozens of U.S.-made helicopters for transporting troops and looking for drug activity.

It would help the Colombian military combat left-wing guerrilla and right-wing paramilitary groups that are protecting cocaine and heroin traffickers.

The House has passed the Colombia anti-narcotics money but as part of another piece of legislation. It has not yet taken up its version of the foreign aid bill.

The overall foreign aid bill is $1.7 billion less than Clinton had requested, drawing strong complaints--but no veto threats--from the administration.

The administration has been pressing Congress to complete work on the Colombia funds for months.

The Senate turned back two attempts to reduce the package.

On a 89-to-11 vote, it rejected a move by Sen. Paul Wellstone (D-Minn.) to chop $225 million and spend it instead on domestic drug treatment programs.

Wellstone argued that the measure could drag the United States into a lengthy, Vietnam-style military quagmire. “It would be a tragic mistake for us to get involved in this civil war,” he said.

Then the Senate rejected, 79 to 19, a proposal by Sen. Slade Gorton (R-Wash.) to cut all but $200 million of the money. “Let’s not get into another new armed conflict,” Gorton said.

But Majority Leader Trent Lott (R-Miss.) said the spending was in the national interest. Colombia “is in our neighborhood. The drugs that are coming out of Colombia are going right into the United States,” Lott said.

Skepticism on Capitol Hill was fueled by the human rights record of the Colombian army and a suspicion of links between the army and paramilitary units.

By voice vote, the Senate adopted an amendment by Sen. Jeff Sessions (R-Ala.) that would release the money only after the administration certified in writing that it supports the military and political efforts of the Colombia government to resolve conflicts with the guerrillas and paramilitaries.