SENATORS BACK ANTI-DRUG EFFORT FOR COLOMBIA

The Senate fended off efforts Wednesday to scale back President Clinton's
package of anti-narcotics assistance to Colombia. Senators demonstrated
strong support for the plan, which contains $934 million for Colombia, as
they worked toward passage of a foreign aid bill for the fiscal year that
begins Oct.1.

The bulk of the money would go toward training special counter-narcotics
battalions in the Colombian military and for dozens of American-made
helicopters used for transporting troops and drug surveillance. It would
help the Colombian military combat left-wing guerrillas and right-wing
paramilitary groups that are protecting drug traffickers.

On an 89-11 vote, the law-makers rejected a move by Sen. Paul Wellstone,
D-Minn., to chop $225 million and spend it instead on domestic drug
treatment programs. Wellstone argued that the measure could drag the United
States into a Vietnam-style military quagmire. Then, the Senate rejected
79-19 a proposal by Sen. Slade Gorton, R-Wash., that would have cut all but
$200 million of the money.