SENATE CLEARS AID PACKAGE FOR COLOMBIA

U.S. To Give $1.3 Billion For Battalion Training, Helicopters As Part
Of $13.4 Billion Foreign Bill

WASHINGTON -- Nearly a year after President Andres Pastrana of
Colombia asked the United States for emergency aid to battle narcotics
traffickers and their rebel allies, the Senate cleared the way
Thursday for a package of $1.3 billion.

The U.S. assistance, which is to include money for training special
Colombian army battalions and for sophisticated attack or transport
helicopters, advanced as senators approved a $13.4 billion foreign aid
bill that included the money for the besieged South American nation.

The legislation also included about $1.5 billion to keep U.S. troops
in Kosovo and an undisclosed amount -- officials estimated about $500
million -- to fund reconstruction in Los Alamos, N.M., after a
devastating wildfire.

Congressional officials said Thursday that they expect to reconcile
the Senate aid package for Colombia with a more generous version
approved by the House in March and then attach it to a popular bill
funding military construction as early as next week.

While the legislation approved Thursday would provide slightly less
than $1 billion to Colombia, senators said the figure would rise to
$1.3 billion in the final compromise bill with the House.

The aid package will result in a vastly increased U.S. commitment in
Colombia, a country in the midst of a civil war that is the source of
90 percent of the cocaine reaching the United States.

Included is a request for 30 highly sophisticated long-range Black
Hawk helicopters and at least 35 Huey II helicopters for ferrying
troops, Colombian officials said. The specific mix of the aircraft
remains in dispute as House lawmakers approved the more expensive
Black Hawks, while senators favored sending Hueys.

``The quicker we can reach agreement and show that the United States
is committed to a democracy and to fighting the drug wars in Colombia,
and to strengthening the oldest democracy in America, the better off
we're going to be,'' President Clinton said.

But some lawmakers said that the United States risks being drawn into
an unwinnable war -- reminiscent of Vietnam -- with Colombian military
allies that have a poor human rights record.

``We have made a profound and dramatic shift in focus from supporting
a police force in a friendly country to supporting an army engaged in
a civil war,'' said Sen. Slade Gorton, R-Wash.

Sen. Paul Coverdell, R-Ga., said Thursday's move signaled ``a turning
point in this whole struggle'' against Colombian drug cartels, by
demonstrating a strong bipartisan resolve to step up U.S. support and
provide training to special anti-narcotics battalions.

Colombian officials applauded the Senate action, which came in a 95-4
vote for the overall foreign aid bill.

But even some Colombians voiced misgivings about the widening of the
military campaign to suppress drugs.

Columbia's Gen. Rosso Jose Serrano, the national police chief whose
anti-narcotics leadership has won him raves from U.S. lawmakers, said
the battle would best be waged by curbing demand in the United States
and other countries.

``We'd rather see drug consumption drop than get any of this aid,''
said Serrano, who is stepping down this week after more than five years.

Under pressure from the Pentagon, senators approved money to keep
nearly 6,000 U.S. troops in Kosovo.

The Senate also increased spending by $30 million to $255 million for
international efforts to fight AIDS, and added $10 million for a total
of $66 million to battle the global spread of tuberculosis. But it
provided only $75 million in assistance to the world's poorest
countries, a reduction from the administration's $262 million request.