HOUSE BACKS ADMINISTRATION ON AID FOR COLOMBIA

The House endorsed the administration's efforts to shore up Colombia's
beleaguered government and combat Latin American drug traffickers as it
considered passing a $12.6 billion emergency spending bill last night.

House Speaker J. Dennis Hastert (R-Ill.), a staunch advocate of the
Colombia aid, said the money is essential to stemming the flow of illegal
drugs to the United States. Government officials say 90 percent of the
cocaine and 65 percent of the heroin used in the United States come from
Colombian.

"We can't ignore this issue," Hastert said. "We can't ignore it in this
Congress, we can't ignore it on our street corners, and we can't ignore it
in the place where this stuff comes from."

The House fended off efforts to eliminate or reduce the Colombia aid, as
Republicans also took steps to more than double President Clinton's
original spending request.

In addition to funds for military involvement in Kosovo and hurricane
disaster relief, the "emergency" bill at issue last night also includes a
host of apparently nonemergency items such as $20 million to help build a
Food and Drug Administration laboratory in Los Angeles and $20 million for
a federal abstinence education program for young people.

Such items underscore the ease with which lawmakers are dipping into the
giant surpluses generated by the booming economy. While there certainly is
money with which to pay for many of these programs, the more Congress
spends now the less money there will be down the road for the tax cuts or
spending initiatives favored by presidential candidates 96 or the debt
reduction urged by many lawmakers.

By loading up the emergency bill with such provisions, lawmakers are able
to add spending without technically busting the budget limits they have set
for themselves.

For instance, the fiscal 2001 budget plan approved only last week by the
House would boost defense spending by only $1 billion above Clinton's
request. Reps. Curt Weldon (R-Pa.), Duncan Hunter (R-Calif.) and other
Armed Services Committee Republicans had refused to support passage of the
new budget until House GOP leaders promised them an extra $4 billion for
defense as part of the emergency package.

The House voted 289 to 130 yesterday to approve the additional funds,
including money for equipment repairs and recruiting.

Lawmakers previously added $1.6 billion to cover the Pentagon's soaring
fuel costs and $854 million for the military's financially troubled health
care program.

"This shows you the Republicans' fealty to their own budget lasted five
days," said Rep. David R. Obey (Wis.), the ranking Democrat on the
Appropriations Committee.

Republicans said little to contradict Obey. "The problem is we're so far
behind in many areas of our national defense structure that we do the best
we can at every opportunity to catch up," said House Appropriations
Committee Chairman C.W. Bill Young (R-Fla.), a defense hawk.

Even as the House prepared to pass the bill today, the bill's fate was in
doubt because of strong opposition from Senate Majority Leader Trent Lott
(R-Miss.) and Sen. Phil Gramm (R-Tex.), a member of the Budget Committee.
Lott and Gramm contend the spending bill has become "bloated" and that
Congress should deal with funds for Kosovo, Colombia and Hurricane Floyd
disaster relief as part of the normal appropriations process for the next
fiscal year.

Congress has made ample use of emergency funding bills in recent years.
Lawmakers approved $8.9 billion of emergency spending in 1997, $2.9 billion
in 1998 and $15 billion last year.

Gramm warned yesterday that emergency spending this year could mushroom to
as much as $20 billion unless Congress shows restraint.

The bill on the House floor bears only a passing resemblance to Clinton's
original request. The president sought $5.1 billion earlier this year,
including $1.2 billion for his two-year plan to support the government in
Colombia and bolster its military efforts to fight the drug trade by
reducing the production of cocaine and heroin.

Under pressure from Hastert, the House Appropriations Committee added $500
million to the program's budget 96 to expand assistance to Bolivia,
Ecuador and Peru 96 and $282.5 million for a high-tech communications
surveillance system for federal drug enforcement officials.

During a day-long floor debate, critics challenged the wisdom of the United
States becoming involved in Colombia's long-running and bloody civil war
and raised concerns about human rights violations and drug trafficking by
Colombia's own military and paramilitary groups.

"This bill gives money to drug traffickers who kill other drug traffickers
and murder innocent civilians," said Rep. Maxine Waters (D-Calif.).