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105TH CONGRESS

1ST SESSION H. R. 611

To close the United States Army School of the Americas.

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

FEBRUARY 5, 1997

Mr. KENNEDY of Massachusetts (for himself, Mr. MEEHAN, Mrs. LOWEY, Mr.

BONIOR, Mr. OBERSTAR, Mr. STARK, Ms. RIVERS, Mr. VENTO, Mr. CONYERS, Mr. BARRETT of Wisconsin, Mr. MORAN of Virginia, Mrs. MINK

of Hawaii, Mr. MARKEY, Mr. MCDERMOTT, Mrs. MALONEY of New York,

Mr. KLUG, Mr. SERRANO, Mr. GEJDENSON, Ms. VELA ́ZQUEZ, Mr.

OLVER, Ms. MCKINNEY, Mr. SHAYS, Mr. GUTIERREZ, Mr. KLECZKA, Mr.

HINCHEY, Mr. BORSKI, Mr. EVANS, Mr. MINGE, Mr. BARCIA, Mr.

BALDACCI, Mr. SANDERS, Ms. SLAUGHTER, Mr. NEAL of Massachusetts,

Mr. TOWNS, Mr. ENGEL, Mr. BROWN of California, and Mr. HALL of

Ohio) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee

on National Security

A BILL

To close the United States Army School of the Americas.

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,

3 SECTION 1. FINDINGS.

4 Congress finds the following:

5 (1) The School is the only large United States

6 training facility in which foreign military personnel
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1 are not integrated into regular United States mili2 tary training courses.

3 (2) Closing the School would not bar United

4 States training of Latin American armed forces—

5 but simply require that it take place in the normal

6 fashion, alongside United States military personnel

7 in their regular classes, as is the case with other for8 eign military trainees in the United States.

9 (3) Continued operation of the School of the

10 Americas, with its history and tradition of abusive

11 graduates, stands as a barrier to establishing a new

12 and constructive relationship with Latin American

13 militaries after the cold war.

14 (4) The United States Army School of the

15 Americas graduates include some of the worst

16 human rights abusers in our hemisphere, including:

17 (A) El Salvador death squad leader Ro18 berto D’Abuisson.

19 (B) Panamanian dictator and drug dealer

20 Manuel Noriega.

21 (C) Haitian coup leader Raoul Cedras.

22 (D) Nineteen Salvadoran soldiers linked to

23 the 1989 murder of six Jesuit priests, their

24 housekeeper and her daughter.
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1 (E) Col. Julio Roberto Alpirez, Guate2 malan officer linked in the deaths of an Amer3 ican innkeeper.

4 (F) Hector Gramajo, former Guatemalan

5 defense minister found liable in United States

6 court for abduction, rape, and torture of Sister

7 Dianna Ortiz, a United States citizen.

8 (G) Argentinian dictator Leopoldo Galtieri,

9 leader of the ‘‘dirty little war’’ responsible for

10 the deaths of 30 civilians.

11 (H) Two of the three killers of Archbishop

12 Oscar Romero of El Salvador.

13 (I) Ten of the twelve officers responsible

14 for the murder of 900 civilians in the El Salva15 doran village El Mozote.

16 (J) Three of the five officers involved in

17 the 1980 rape and murder of four United

18 States churchwomen in El Salvador.

19 (5) Continued operation of the School continues

20 to associate the United States with the abuses of its

21 graduates.

22 (6) In October, 1996, then Secretary of Defense

23 Perry announced that the United States plans to

24 create an Inter-American Center for Defense Studies
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1 to provide professional training and education rel2 evant to defense management in a democratic con3 stitutional context to individuals from throughout

4 the Americas.

5 SEC. 2. CLOSURE OF UNITED STATES ARMY SCHOOL OF

6 THE AMERICAS.

7 (a) CLOSURE REQUIRED.—Not later than 30 days

8 after the date of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary

9 of the Army shall close the military education and training

10 facility known as the United States Army School of the

11 Americas at Fort Benning, Georgia.

12 (b) REPEAL OF STATUTORY AUTHORITY.—Section

13 4415 of chapter 407 of title 10, United States Code, is

14 repealed. The table of sections at the beginning of chapter

15 407 of such title is amended by striking out the item relat16 ing to such section.

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