WAR ON DRUGS

Kwame Holman begins our drug report.

KWAME HOLMAN: As part of the Senate's $13.5 billion foreign operations
bill, members earmarked nearly a billion dollars to assist the Colombian
government in its ongoing war against the country's well-financed cocaine
producers. Most of that cocaine is shipped to and consumed in the United
States. Majority Leader Trent Lott says that requires the U.S. to respond.

SEN. TRENT LOTT: President Pastrana of Colombia has asked for our help not
to solve the problem for him. We're not advocating U.S. troops go in or
that we have direct involvement in their efforts there, but to help him to
solve it without American troops -- give them the aid they need, give them
the equipment they need to fight these massive narcotic drug cartels in
Colombia and that part of the world.

KWAME HOLMAN: In recent months, president Clinton's drug czar, General
Barry McCaffrey, made several trips to Capitol Hill to press lawmakers to
approve the anti-drug money. He argued that as Colombia's cocaine
production increased, so did the threat against its democratic institutions.

GEN. BARRY McCAFFREY (Ret.): Cocaine production in Colombia has gone up
140% in a little less than four years. It is astonishing. We're talking 70%
or more of the world total. And that cocaine, we would argue is the heart
an of the incredible impact that 26,000 armed people are having on
Colombian democratic institutions. They're wearing shiny, new uniforms.
They have more machine guns than the Colombian infantry battalions have.
They have planes, helicopters and wiretap equipment and they are
assassinating mayors and intimidating journalists and corrupting public
officials.

KWAME HOLMAN: During this hearing before a House committee on drug policy,
McCaffrey said some of the money would be used to send helicopters to
Colombia and to train pilots to fly them.

GEN. BARRY McCAFFREY (Ret.): And that mobility package, in our view, in the
Colombian plan, allows Colombian democratic institutions to regain
sovereignty over their own terrain, particularly in the South.

KWAME HOLMAN: Members of the House were convinced, and in March approved
money to fight the cocaine war in Colombia as well as in neighboring
countries. But during yesterday's debate in the Senate, Minnesota Democrat
Paul Wellstone proposed taking about a quarter of the nearly one billion
dollars ticketed for Colombia and redirecting it.

SEN. PAUL WELLSTONE, (D) Minnesota: This money instead would say... And
this follows up on what general McCaffrey and others have said, which is
that we also need to deal not just with interdiction, but also the demand
side in this country. And we have to figure out a way to cut down on the
demand side in our country, so we will provide money for prevention and
treatment programs in this country.

KWAME HOLMAN: In turn, Washington State Republican Slade Gorton called for
spending no more than $200 million on Colombian assistance, warning against
the direction he said U.S. policy was taking.

SEN. SLADE GORTON, (R) Washington: This is a shift from supporting a police
force in a friendly country to supporting an army engaged in a civil war; a
civil war that it has not been winning, a civil war in which other side is
very financed-- indirectly, at least, in large part by Americans who
purchase cocaine-

KWAME HOLMAN: However, both attempts to slice money away from the nearly
one billion dollars to assist in the Colombian drug war failed. An
overwhelming number of Senators sided with the argument made by Democrat
Christopher Dodd of Connecticut.

SEN. CHRISTOPHER DODD, (D) Connecticut: Whether we like it or not, we are
engaged in the conflict in Colombia. Because of events in that country and
because of our own habits in this nation, people are dying in the streets
of America. This is not some distant conflict without any ramifications
here at home.

KWAME HOLMAN: This afternoon, Senators overwhelmingly endorsed spending the
nearly one billion dollars to assist in Colombia's drug war. But next week
they and their colleagues in the House will be asked to do more by
approving $1.3 billion for the Colombian effort -- a compromise worked out
by today.

JIM LEHRER: And now to two Senators who see this issue differently:
Republican Paul Coverdell of Georgia, and Democrat Paul Wellstone of
Minnesota. Both are members of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.
Senator Coverdell, President Clinton said today this is a huge, huge issue.
Do you agree with that?

SEN. PAUL COVERDELL, (R) Georgia: Yes, I do. I think we've witnessed a very
significant occurrence in American foreign policy and hemispheric foreign
policy, of demand focus in the United States. I was somewhat surprised by
the overwhelming margins for which this plan was endorsed. I personally
believe that what we're talking about here is the stability of the future
of all these new democracies in our hemisphere -- a very significant event
in American history.

JIM LEHRER: Senator Wellstone, do you see it in the same terms, that
democracy in the hemisphere is at stake here?

SEN. PAUL WELLSTONE: No. I mean, I think first you have to look at this in
terms of what's happening with addiction and drug use in our country. I
would argue we ought to be helping the Colombian government. I want to. I
think we should help them build democratic institutions, economic
development, interdiction, you name it. But some of the money, if we're
going to talk about war on drugs, some of the money ought to be for
treatment here in our country. I do a lot of work in this area. 80% receive
no treatment whatsoever, I don't know why we're not dealing with demand
side in our country. That's one issue. The second issue which is it's one
thing to be supporting the police. Now we shift to a 7 to 1 ratio in
supporting the military to a push in the South. We're becoming involved in
a civil war with the military there, with Americans on the ground, a
military that every human rights organization, every human rights
organization, much less our own State Department, says has a deplorable
record when it comes to human rights and all too often is involved with
paramilitary organizations that have murdered and assassinated people.
That's the question. Do we want to become involved in this kind of a conflict?

JIM LEHRER: Is that what the question is, Senator Coverdell?

SEN. PAUL COVERDELL: No, of course I admire Senator Wellstone's attempts at
treatment, but I would point out in the last eight years treatment
budgeting has increased dramatically while interdiction has fallen through
the floor, and the result is more drugs are in the United States and
they're cheaper. Therefore, in the last eight years, utilization among our
children 9 to 12 is virtually doubled. I would argue that the greatest
treatment program in the world is to prevent the individual child from
getting caught up in it in the first place.

JIM LEHRER: What about his second issue of....

SEN. PAUL COVERDELL: I just don't accept... I think the weakest issue the
Senator portrays is a military co-opted by radical right. I just don't
believe it. I've been there. Many of his colleagues on his side of the
aisle have been there; all of these arguments have been aired and have been
rejected 80-20, 90-10 in the United States Senate. That is on an issue of
this magnitude an overwhelming majority.

JIM LEHRER: Senator Wellstone, what about the point, Senator Coverdell made
it, but also Senator Dodd, your Democratic colleague, made it on the floor
of the Senate that whether we like it or not is the way Senator Dodd put
it, we're involved in that conflict, that civil war?

SEN. PAUL WELLSTONE: Well, you know, it's interesting. When I heard Senator
Dodd say that, I thought to myself in one way, yes, but here's the
question. Of course we should be helping President Estrada. I want to. Of
course, interdiction to me is you figure out a way of stopping it on the
boats, you figure out a way of stopping it on the planes. You're involved
in interdiction. You're involved in helping the government there and
building democratic institutions. How are you going to end this civil war?
Do you think you're going to end it by a military push to the south or do
you think you'll help it by a way of figuring out a way of building
democracy in that country? My second point is we are involved because we
have the whole problem of addiction in our own country - our states tell us
on the ground -- maybe 23 million Americans have a problem with substance
abuse. Why aren't we getting treatment to people? Paul says the budget has
gone up. Paul, my gosh, look at the all reports this year. 80% of
adolescents not receiving any treatment whatsoever -- 60% of adults not
receiving treatment whatsoever. When Paul says, "I've been there and I just
don't believe it" I can just say Human Rights Watch, Amnesty International.
70, 80 different non-government organizations, religious community in
Colombia saying don't support the military in the drive to the south.
That's the issue. Do we want to get involved in a civil war? Do we want
Americans on the ground with the Colombia military, a military that has
been identified with blatant violation of human rights.

JIM LEHRER: All right. Let's be specific here, Senator Coverdell. What do
you add or subtract from what Senator Wellstone says about the nature of
the people who we are supporting?

SEN. PAUL COVERDELL: You have both used the word civil war. This is no
longer a civil war. It may have been in the beginning an ideological, but
this is a narco financed insurgency from top to bottom. It's a money
machine. They have 3 percent of the Colombian population that would maybe
follow it. This is one of the oldest democracies in the hemisphere. It's a
very committed people. President Pastrana has been endorsed by all. I just
might point out that all these assertions have been rejected by 80 to 90%
of the United States Senate after years and months of discussion. It
just... I don't think it holds water.

JIM LEHRER: Wait a minute. Hold on, Senator Wellstone. Let me ask Senator
Coverdell this question: The issue that Senator Gordon raised and Senator
Wellstone, which is, is there a concern at all that... do you share the
concern at all that we, the United States, could get over committed here,
that there could be... we will eventually have to put troops on the ground
because you take one step at least to another, et cetera?

SEN. PAUL COVERDELL: I think a legitimate part of the debate in worrying,
yes, I have concerns about it but my greater concern is that we sit here
and cover our eyes and do nothing. I know what the result of that is: A
total explosion and destabilization of our democratic hemisphere. Panama,
Peru, Ecuador, Bolivia, the heart of this drug struggle in the hemisphere
is in Colombia, and it is spilling over the border - we are moving armies.
Panama has no army to defend itself and has thousands of these insurgents
wandering around.

SEN. PAUL WELLSTONE: But, Jim, Paul and I are good friends. But what you
just heard, this is now a different argument. If we're going to say this is
a war on drugs that's one thing, then we ought to deal with the demand side
in our country. What Paul is now saying is Colombia, insurgents, it's all
over Latin America. My gosh, this is the "domino theory" all over again.
And if we're going to be involved in a military conflict, if we're going to
be involved in this push to the South and what this is really about is the
military counterinsurgency effort with United States soldiers and others on
the ground, people in our country ought to know that; in all due respect to
Paul Coverdell who has been honest about it, that's a very different
question, and I'm very concerned about it. Again no one has refuted any of
these human rights reports. No one can.

JIM LEHRER: Let's stay on the subject of what the dominos. Senator
Coverdell, you think if this does not stop now, you're talking about a
huge, huge-- to use President Clinton's terms-- a huge, huge happening down
there.

SEN. PAUL COVERDELL: It already is a huge happening. It's already affecting
the policy of Panama, of Ecuador, of Peru and of Bolivia. It's the entire
Andean region. This is not a civil war. This is a battle against a group of
thugs that are extremely evil, that do not have a population that endorses
them. And they have overwhelming wealth and weapons, as the President just
said, because of narcotic money.

JIM LEHRER: Senator Wellstone, do you dispute what Senator Coverdell just
said in depicting who these people are on the other side, the narco types?

SEN. PAUL WELLSTONE: I don't dispute that. The paramilitary is identified
with the same narco traffic. I'm all for, I said it yesterday, I'm all for
a good part of the package especially when it can lead to some resolution
of this conflict -- especially when it can lead to police and interdiction
and all the rest. I'm not for putting our people on the ground in an effort
in this military push into Southern Colombia. I'm certainly not for Paul's
argue all the that as goes southern Colombia, align ourselves with the
military and paramilitary groups which have been involved in the same narco
traffic, if we don't do that, so goes all of south America and all of
central America, I think that's a dubious proposition. Again it is naive to
believe that we are going to be able to do something about the tragic
consequences of substance abuse and addiction in our country unless we
invest the resources in the demand side and in treatment programs at the
community level. We don't have that. I just wonder why my colleagues are so
generous with this money for a military push to the South in Colombia all
in the name of fighting drugs and not willing to put the money into
community-based drug programs, anti-drug programs in our own country?

JIM LEHRER: Senator Coverdell?

SEN. PAUL COVERDELL: We've put the money into....

SEN. PAUL WELLSTONE: Very little.

SEN. PAUL COVERDELL: Billions. I might point out that when we quit the
process of interdiction-- I just want to make this point very clear-- in
the last eight years, we have seen drug use among nine-year-olds-- nine,
ten, eleven and twelve-- double and it's because we allowed more drugs on
the street, the price fell, the use went up, and we have a tragedy here. We
drove drug use in this country down in the '80s by stopping it and by
setting examples. It all went to... in a hat basket in the last eight
years. We cannot ignore interdiction, and the only force in the United
States that can deal with it is the federal government, period. No state,
Minnesota, Georgia, can deal with the international proportions of this
struggle.

SEN. PAUL WELLSTONE: One quick point, Paul. RAND Corporation has done a
study. They said it's 23 times more effective to do the community-based
treatment program on the demand side than a military action in another
country like Colombia. And, second of all, Paul, when you say we're
spending money, you cannot dispute and you won't-- because I know you-- our
own government reports that right now 80% of kids, of adolescents in this
country, that need drug treatment get no treatment whatsoever. Those are
the facts. You can't dispute that.

JIM LEHRER: As a practical matter, we have to end this but as a practical
matter, Senators Coverdell and Wellstone, you do agree that this is going
to become the law of the land probably next week, right -- as the result of
the Senate action and the compromise that was worked out this afternoon?

SEN. PAUL COVERDELL: I think the decision has been made.

SEN. PAUL WELLSTONE: We agree on that and he's a very good Senator. We
agree on that too.

JIM LEHRER: Thank you both very much.

SEN. PAUL COVERDELL: Thank you.