TO HELP WIN WAR ON DRUGS, JUST SAY YES TO ATPA

It's rare when an easy-to-understand, bipartisan foreign policy initiative
that is embraced by all the countries involved and lauded by the federal
government for its effectiveness is enacted into law. It is rarer still
when such an initiative is allowed to simply slip away due to legislative
indifference or neglect.

Yet, that could be the fate of one of our most effective South American
policy initiatives.

Last December, the Andean Trade Preferences Act (ATPA) expired. Although
the House has voted to extend ATPA, the Senate has not yet acted. There is
a temporary duty deferral in place, but if it is allowed to expire without
being reauthorized, thousands of people in the Andean region will suffer --
and we will have needlessly lost a valuable tool in our ongoing anti-drug
efforts.

The ATPA simultaneously furthers two important policy goals: stimulating
legitimate economic growth, while destabilizing the drug trade. To make
progress in the fight against illegal drug production we must provide
alternative and expanded job opportunities to support economic growth and
democratic institutions in the Andean region.

For the past 10 years, the ATPA has been a powerful trade tool in the fight
against illicit drug production and trafficking by successfully helping our
Andean allies (Colombia, Bolivia, Ecuador and Peru) develop legitimate
commercial exports as alternatives to the illegal drug industry -- an
industry that supplies Colombia's leading terrorist group, the FARC, with
an estimated $300 million a year.

The ATPA's benefits to the region's development are indisputable. In 1991,
the last full year before the ATPA was implemented, the United States
imported $12.7 billion in total commodities from the Andean nations. In
2000, the United States imported $28.5 billion in total commodities from
these nations, a 125 percent increase.

One of the great successes tied to the ATPA is the Andean region's
development of a robust flower industry -- an industry that is especially
important because of the large number of economically distressed people it
employs. There are often as many as 10 employees per hectare of
flower-producing land involved in cultivating the flowers for export. The
ATPA has also generated significant job opportunities in other industries,
such as fruits and vegetables, jewelry and electronics. These new jobs draw
workers who otherwise might have been drawn to drug-producing
narco-terrorist groups for employment.

Our economy has realized direct benefits from this program as well. Under
the ATPA, U.S. exports to the Andean region have soared, growing by nearly
65 percent to a total of $6.3 billion in 1999.

Now that the House has voted, the Senate should act quickly. The passage of
the ATPA reiterates our commitment to helping the Andean region develop
economic alternatives to drug crop production. We know that drug production
in this region is tied to our country's demand for these poisonous
substances. But as we work to cut the demand for drugs in the United
States, we must support our southern neighbors in their efforts to build
their economies and promote democracy.

Earlier this month, the House also passed H. Res. 358, which expressed the
support of Congress for the democratically elected government of Colombia
and its efforts to counter terrorism. I applaud their actions and
wholeheartedly agree that we must actively support our neighbors in
Colombia and the Andean region. The ATPA is a direct and tangible way for
the United States to demonstrate this support.

Letting the ATPA lapse would not just be a missed economic opportunity; it
would be a threat to regional stability. Our goal is to help these
countries create an economic and social environment in which legitimate
industry, rather than narcotics cultivation and trafficking, is the norm.
We have the opportunity to help our neighbors build and expand their
economies and democratic institutions. Renewing the ATPA is a top regional
priority and a top anti-drug priority. I urge the Senate to act quickly.