U.S. MUST HELP COLOMBIA RESTORE ORDER

That great Washington reporter James Reston once said that international
crises "have their advantages. They frighten the weak but stir and inspire
the strong." Today there is a crisis in Colombia that should inspire
Congress to show its strength.

After years of inattention from the administration, the drug-fueled civil
war in Colombia is going badly for the government. The specter of a
narco-state so close to us has made it quite clear that our nation's vital
national interests are at stake.

What happens in Colombia on the narcotics front affects every school,
hospital, courtroom, neighborhood and police station across America. Eighty
percent of the cocaine and 75 percent of the heroin consumed here comes
from Colombia.

Colombia, the second-oldest democracy in our hemisphere, may not get any
older. Profits from the staggering 120,000 hectares of coca and more than
6,000 hectares of opium poppy subsidize radical guerrillas who would
overthrow the government. Yet until recently, the Clinton administration
has ignored Colombia's pain.

In 1996 we in Congress warned of an emerging Colombian heroin crisis. In
1997, when Colombia surpassed Peru as the world's leading producer of coca
leaf, our pleas for better helicopters and other resources to eradicate the
Colombian illicit crop fell on deaf ears at the White House.

President Clinton finally has turned to face the reality of the Colombian
crisis. We welcome his emergency supplemental request for Colombia. As
former Supreme Court Justice Felix Frankfurter eloquently noted, "Wisdom
too often never comes, and so one ought not to reject it merely because it
comes late."

One hopes that American aid for Colombia is not too late to make a
difference. That being said, the importance of the Republican-led Congress
and the White House joining in support of this funding request must be
recognized.

Heroes such as Colombia's police leader, Gen. Jose Serrano, want the United
States to stand with them in their fight against the drug lords. The
Colombian police have lost more than 4,000 people in the war on drugs.

Colombia is not asking for, and nor should we offer, American troops. We
are, however, the only country in the world that has the courage and the
vision to provide the equipment and tools that the Colombians need to do
the job for themselves.

False analogies are being drawn between Colombia and Vietnam. But Ralph
Peters, an Office of National Drug Control Policy official and a former
U.S. Army officer, says: "The greatest difference between Colombia and
Vietnam is, paradoxically, that Colombia matters strategically and
immediately to the United States."

I support the emergency supplemental package for Colombia because it
increases aid to the Colombian police's anti-drug unit, which has a proven
track record as an effective ally. The package also provides sorely needed
aid for the Colombian military, which will be administered in accordance
with the Leahy human-rights provisions.

I urge support for this package when it comes to the House floor tomorrow
or later this week. Colombia's survival as a democracy and our own
national-security interests are at stake. Now is the time to be strong.