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The following report was issued by the Latin America Working Group on August 3, 2005:

House Votes Down Military Aid Cut to Colombia

On June 28, the House of Representatives voted down an amendment that would have cut $100 million in military aid to Colombia. Instead, Plan Colombia will now be extended into 2006, providing the Colombian military with another $742 million of U.S. assistance. The McGovern-McCollum-Moore amendment went to the House floor as part of the Foreign Operations Appropriations bill, the legislation that determines the foreign aid budget each year. After a heated, hour-long debate, it was defeated 189-234.

Despite losing the vote, the amendment and the debate are significant in the struggle against Plan Colombia. Colombia was by far the most hotly debated issue on the foreign operations bill. This shows Plan Colombia has become controversial in Congress, and that there is considerable resistance to the current policy. Members spoke passionately about Plan Colombia's failure as drug policy, lack of improvements in human rights, and the need to have a balanced policy focused on development aid. Representative Jim McGovern (D-MA) spoke powerfully about the need to reduce the amount of military aid to Colombia. "This policy has failed as an anti-drug policy. It has failed as a human rights policy, and it has failed to have any impact whatsoever in reducing the availability, price or purity of drugs in the streets of America. ? It is time that this House stood up and decided to stop sending a blank check to Colombia, year after year. It is time that we demand real progress on human rights as a condition to our aid. It is time that we stop being a cheap date."

Congressman Sam Farr (D-CA) also expressed his disdain for Plan Colombia on the House floor. "Eighty percent of funds have gone for military assistance [to Colombia] and been eaten up by coca eradication. Only 20 percent of funds have gone to social and economic programs. These programs are what build local economies and communities and provide alternatives to coca production. [The current] distribution of assistance is not a recipe for permanent coca eradication. It's not a recipe for peace. It's a recipe for disaster."

In spite of these disappointing results in the House, the Senate version of the bill was considerably improved. An additional $25 million in aid to Colombia was shifted from the Andean Counternarcotics Initiative to development and human rights assistance. The bill included conditions on the aerial spraying program and added tough conditions prior to any U.S. assistance for Colombian paramilitary demobilization. Plan Colombia will indeed be continued 2006 ? despite the fact that it was scheduled to end this year ? but the exact provisions of the policy depend on negotiations between the House and Senate. A compromise between the House and Senate versions of the Foreign Operations Appropriations bill will be reached in conference committee in the fall, and the final bill will then be sent to the President's desk for his approval. - Jennifer Trowbridge

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