LAWMAKERS SEEK MORE FUNDS FOR AMMUNITION IN DRUG WAR

Colombia will have to suspend its use of Black Hawk helicopters in its war
on drugs because the State Department cannot find new .50-caliber ammunition
to replace the unsafe, half-century-old ammo it sent this year to that
country.

Capitol Hill investigators were told of the pending suspension last week, at
a time Colombian National Police (CNP) have seen dramatic increases in the
eradication of opium fields.

Since March, when six Black Hawk helicopters were delivered by U.S.
authorities, the CNP has destroyed more acres than during all of 1998.

The CNP's concerns were outlined in a letter Friday from members of the
House Committee on Government Reform to Sen. Ted Stevens, Alaska Republican
and chairman of the Senate Appropriations Committee, and the committee's
ranking Democrat, Sen. Robert C. Byrd of West Virginia.

Republican Reps. Dan Burton of Indiana, the committee chairman, and Bob Barr
of Georgia, want the matter addressed in a pending appropriations bill.

"The Colombian National Police need this ammunition if they are to continue
to use the equipment the U.S. taxpayers have provided to stop drugs at their
source," they said.

Congress approved $6 million in emergency funding in October 1998 for the
purchase of defensive weapons and ammunition.

"The State Department chose not to use this money as Congress intended,
which is why the CNP is in the position it finds itself today," they said.

Spokeswomen for Mr. Stevens and Mr. Byrd said yesterday they had not seen
the letter and could not comment on its contents.

In their letter, Mr. Burton and Mr. Barr also questioned claims by the State
Department that it was unable to locate new, usable .50-caliber ammunition
for the CNP.

They said it took House investigators "only two phone calls" to find a firm
in West Virginia that could provide 100,000 rounds within two weeks, and
250,000 rounds per month.

They identified the company as Talon Manufacturing in PawPaw, W.Va., a firm
in Appalachia they said soon would have to close its doors if it does not
obtain new contracts.

"In fact, Talon may soon cease to exist if orders for .50-caliber ammunition
do not come soon," Mr. Burton and Mr. Barr stated. "That would mean its 100
employees would lose their jobs in a community already devastated by the
closure of several local coal mines."

Last month, The Washington Times reported that the State Department had sent
17 million rounds of half-century-old ammunition to Colombia to use in
machine guns aboard the Black Hawk helicopters despite warnings the rounds
were unsafe and could injure those who fired them.

The .50-caliber ammunition was manufactured in 1952 for the Korean War, but
forwarded to the CNP for use in GAU-19/A Gatling guns aboard the Black Hawk
helicopters given to Colombia as part of its drug-eradication program.

The ammunition was approved by the State Department's Bureau of
International Narcotics and Law Enforcement despite a written warning by the
maker of the Gatling guns, General Dynamics Armament Systems, that
.50-caliber ammunition made before 1983 "is suspect and should not be used
in the GAU-19/A machine gun."

General Dynamics' technical manual, under the heading "Warning," said the
deterioration of the outdated ammunition could result in lower muzzle
velocity and increase action time resulting in "hang fires" that could
result in "possible injury to personnel as well as affecting performance and
reliability."

The manual said that only .50-caliber ammunition manufactured after 1983
should be used "in order to maintain gun performance and reliability." The
ammunition was manufactured by Twin Cities Arsenal and sent to Colombia in
boxes dated Aug. 20, 1952.

House investigators, who discovered the outdated ammunition during a trip to
Colombia in April, said the CNP has relied during the past three months on a
rationing program involving 50,000 rounds of usable new ammunition it
received from the U.S. Coast Guard.

But, they said, a decision was pending on whether it would use the
50-year-old ammunition once its supply of the rationed round was exhausted,
or if it would suspend the helicopter operations.

One House investigator said the CNP was concerned about putting its troops
"in harm's way" by using the outdated ammunition.