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| House Committee Approves $15.2 Billion Bill |
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Posted by FoM on July 10, 2001 at 22:20:05 PT By Carolyn Skorneck, Associated Press Source: Associated Press 
Republicans beat back two Democratic attempts to slash funds from the war on drugs in South America before the House Appropriations Committee voted Tuesday night to approve spending $15.2 billion in foreign aid next year. The bill, which matches President Bush's overall request for foreign aid, is up 2 percent over this year and includes $474 million to fight HIV/AIDS overseas. In some areas, it undercut Bush's requests. For example, the South American anti-drug plan would get $676 million $55 million less than Bush sought. Assistance for independent states of the former Soviet Union would total $768 million $42 million less than this year and $40 million less than Bush wanted. The drug effort, which began as Plan Colombia under President Clinton and is now called the Andean Counterdrug Initiative, was targeted twice by Democrats, and both efforts were trounced by Republicans. Rep. David Obey, D-Wis., the panel's top Democrat, backed a plan to strip all $676 million from the drug effort and used it to treat substance abuse in America. ''I don't understand why people think it's such a hot idea to fight the drug war a thousand miles away, but they don't want to fight it at home,'' Obey said, predicting that, like the Vietnam War, the South American drug war ''is going to be a 10- or 15-year quagmire.'' Rep. Jim Kolbe, R-Ariz., chairman of the foreign operations subcommittee, denounced the attempt to wipe out ''the whole shebang,'' saying, ''This is a worldwide problem. I just don't think we can solve the problem'' by focusing all the money on drug treatment in America. Obey's amendment died with a 43-18 vote. Separately, the committee approved a $38.5 billion measure financing the Commerce, Justice and State departments. The Immigration and Naturalization Service, prison construction and grants to local law enforcement agencies were among the beneficiaries of a bill that would provide $1 billion more than this year and $600 million more than President Bush requested. A Clinton-era program for hiring local police officers would get a minimal cut, while the Legal Services Corp. and payments for international peacekeeping would get the same they are receiving this year. Complete Title: House Committee Approves $15.2 Billion Foreign Aid Bill Source: Associated Press Related Articles & Web Site: Colombia Drug War News U.S. Presence Grows in Andes Plan Colombia is Well Worth US Support CannabisNews Articles - Plan Colombia Home Comment Email Register Recent Comments Help |
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| Comment #1 posted by Rambler on July 11, 2001 at 02:32:12 PT |
| Ya know,when you take a look at this kind of stuff,there are two basic types of reactions. It either leaves one speechlessly pissed,and awestruck that this is actually going on,or,some sort of detatched, self protective mode kicks in,and one deploys a sort of catatonic denial,choosing to ignore the reality by saying things like,"oh well,I guess it will all work out",or the classic,"they must need to be spending all this money to fight the drugs.I'm sure they know what they are doing.",and turn the page to read the latest story about the missing intern from Modesto,or the kid who got bitten by a shark. This 15 BILLION,should be a nationwide OUTRAGE!People should be asking about it,and wondering what,and where about 15 BILLION DOLLARS! And it gets even more absurd,when they start bickering about 5 or 6 hundred million! It makes me wanna freak out! [ Post Comment ] |
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