Colombia: U.S. Assistance and Current Legislation (FY2000-FY2001) (CRS Report for Congress)
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| Release Date |
Revised July 5, 2001 |
| Report Number |
RL30541 |
| Report Type |
Report |
| Authors |
Nina M. Serafino, Foreign Affairs, Defense, and Trade Division |
| Source Agency |
Congressional Research Service |
| Older Revisions |
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Summary:
On February 7, 2000, the Clinton Administration, as part of its annual budget request, asked
Congress for FY2000 supplemental appropriations of $954 million for assistance to Colombia and
other Andean counternarcotics efforts. FY2000 allocated funding for Colombia, from appropriations
made in 1999, already totals some $164.0 million. At the same time, the Administration requested
$318 million for FY2001 assistance to Colombia and other regional efforts, in addition to the $150
million that it previously indicated it had planned to allocate to Colombia in FY2001.
The Clinton Administration's "Plan Colombia" program, as it became known, was intended to
substantially increase the assistance provided to Colombia. The proposal's centerpiece was funding
for the "Push into Southern Colombia" program, which would include training and equipping two
new army CN battalions, and providing funding to purchase new and sustain existing Blackhawk and
Huey helicopters to transport them. Other assistance was included for interdiction, resettlement of
displaced persons, economic development, and programs to improve Colombian National Police
(CNP) eradication capabilities and to support human rights monitors, improve the justice system and
strengthen the rule of law.
The 106th Congress commenced action on the request on March 9, 2000, when the House
Appropriations Committee approved an emergency supplemental appropriations bill
( H.R. 3908 , H.Rept. 106-521 ) that included some $1.4 billion in funding for FY2000
and FY2001 counternarcotics efforts in Colombia, its neighbors, and other parts of Latin America
and the Caribbean. On March 30, the House approved that amount, placing conditions on the
military assistance. On May 9, the Senate Appropriations Committee included $1.1 billion in
FY2000 emergency supplemental Plan Colombia funding in its FY2001 Military Construction
( S. 2521 ) and Foreign Operations ( S. 2522 ) bills, placing extensive
conditions on the assistance in both bills. These three measures were dealt with in the conference
on the military construction appropriations bill ( H.R. 4425 , H.Rept. 106-710 ) with some
$1.3 billion in emergency supplemental appropriations for Plan Colombia. As approved and signed
into law ( P.L. 106-246 ) on July 13, the bill included five human rights and two other conditions on
aid to Colombia. Certification that these conditions had been met was required before the obligation
of FY2000 and FY2001 funds, but the President could waive them on national security grounds.
President Clinton waived six of the seven certification criteria on August 22, 2000, and he
determined a second certification was not required on January 19, 2001, but submitted a report on
progress regarding certification criteria.
On April 9, 2001, the Bush Administration requested $731 million in FY2002 funding for a
broader regional strategy called the Andean Counterdrug Initiative that would include funding from
the International Narcotics Control account (INC) for not only Colombia, but also Bolivia, Brazil,
Ecuador, Panama, Peru, and Venezuela. In later references, the Bush Administration included other
funding for those countries in a Andean Regional Initiative. As a result, total funding for the
regional initiative, including the ACI, now stands at some $882.29 million.
