IV

105TH CONGRESS

2D SESSION H. RES. 398

Urging the President to expeditiously procure and provide three UH–60L

Blackhawk utility helicopters to the Colombian National Police solely

for the purpose of assisting the Colombian National Police to perform

their responsibilities to reduce and eliminate the production of illicit

drugs in Colombia and the trafficking of such illicit drugs, including

the trafficking of drugs such as heroin and cocaine to the United States.

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

MARCH 26, 1998

Mr. GILMAN (for himself, Mr. BURTON of Indiana, Mr. SOUDER, Mr. MANTON, Mr. BALLENGER, and Mr. HASTERT) submitted the following resolution; which was referred to the Committee on International Relations

RESOLUTION

Urging the President to expeditiously procure and provide

three UH–60L Blackhawk utility helicopters to the Colombian National Police solely for the purpose of assisting the Colombian National Police to perform their responsibilities to reduce and eliminate the production of

illicit drugs in Colombia and the trafficking of such

illicit drugs, including the trafficking of drugs such as

heroin and cocaine to the United States.

Whereas Colombia is the leading illicit drug producing country in the Western Hemisphere;

Whereas 80 percent of the world’s cocaine originates in Colombia;
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Whereas based on the most recent data of the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), more than 60 percent of the

heroin seized in the United States originates in Colombia;

Whereas the Colombian National Police is led by the legendary and incorruptible Director General Jose Serrano, who

has dedicated his life to fighting drugs;

Whereas the elite anti-narcotics unit of the Colombian National Police (‘‘DANTI’’), under the direction of Colonel

Leonardo Gallego, is one of the best and most effective

anti-narcotics police forces in the region and the world;

Whereas in the last 10 years more than 4,000 officers of the

Colombian National Police have died fighting the scourge

of drugs;

Whereas in one recent year alone, according to data of the

United States Government, the United States had

141,000 new heroin users and the United States faces

historic levels of heroin use among teenagers between the

ages of 12 and 17;

Whereas once Colombian heroin is in the stream of commerce

it is nearly impossible to interdict because it is concealed

and trafficked in very small quantities;

Whereas heroin does not require the traditional large quantities of precursor chemicals and large laboratories to

produce and therefore there are fewer opportunities to

disrupt its production and distribution;

Whereas the best and most cost efficient method of preventing Colombian heroin from entering the United States is

to destroy the opium poppies in the high Andes mountains where Colombian heroin is produced;

Whereas the elite anti-narcotics unit of the Colombian National Police has the responsibility to eradicate both coca
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and opium in Colombia, including the reduction and

elimination of cocaine and heroin production, and they

have done a remarkably effective job with the limited and

outdated equipment at their disposal;

Whereas more than 40 percent of the anti-narcotics operations of the Colombian National Police involve hostile

ground fire from narco-terrorists and 90 percent of such

operations involve the use of helicopters;

Whereas the need for better high performance helicopters by

the Colombian National Police, especially for use in the

high Andes mountains, is essential for more effective

eradication of opium in Colombia;

Whereas on December 23, 1997, one of the antiquated Vietnam-era UH–1H Huey helicopters used by the Colombian National Police in an opium eradication mission

crashed in the high Andes mountains due to high winds

and because it was flying above the safety level recommended by the original manufacturer;

Whereas in the Foreign Operations, Export Financing, and

Related Programs Appropriations Act, 1998 (Public Law

105–118), amounts were appropriated for the procurement by the United States for the Colombian National

Police of three UH–60L Blackhawk utility helicopters

that can operate safely and more effectively at the high

altitudes of the Andes mountains where Colombian opium

grows at altitudes as high as 12,000 feet;

Whereas the Blackhawk helicopter is a high performance utility helicopter that can perform at the high altitudes of

the Andes mountains, as well as survive crashes and sustain ground fire, much better than any other utility heli-
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copter now available to the Colombian National Police in

the war on drugs;

Whereas because the Vietnam-era Huey helicopters that the

United States has provided the Colombian National Police are outdated and have been developing numerous

stress cracks, a sufficient number should be upgraded to

Huey IIs, and the remainder should be phased-out as

soon as possible;

Whereas these Huey helicopters are much older than most of

the pilots who fly them, do not have the range due to limited fuel capacity to reach many of the expanding locations of the coca fields or cocaine labs in southern Colombia, nor do they have the lift capacity to carry enough

armed officers to reach and secure the opium fields in the

high Andes mountains prior to eradication;

Whereas the elite anti-narcotics unit of the Colombian National Police has a stellar record in promoting respect for

human rights and has received the seal of approval of a

leading international human rights group in their operations to reduce and eradicate illicit drugs in Colombia;

Whereas the Congress also would support assistance to the

Colombian military if the military demonstrates the will

to fight effectively while respecting civilian non-combatants in the same way the anti-narcotics unit of the Colombian National Police has;

Whereas the narco-terrorists of Colombia have announced

that they will now target United States citizens, particularly those United States citizens working with their Colombian counterparts in the fight against illicit drugs in

Colombia;
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Whereas a leading commander of the Revolutionary Armed

Forces of Colombia (‘‘FARC’’) announced recently that

the objective of these narco-terrorists, in light of recent

successes, will be ‘‘to defeat the Americans’’;

Whereas United States Government personnel in Colombia

occasionally fly in these helicopters with the Colombian

National Police on their missions are now at even greater

risk from these narco-terrorists and their drug trafficking

allies;

Whereas in the last six months four anti-narcotics helicopters

of the Colombian National Police have been downed in

operations;

Whereas the Congress intends to provide the necessary support and assistance to wage an effective war on illicit

drugs in Colombia and provide the equipment and assistance needed to protect all of the men and women of the

Colombian National Police as well as those Americans

who work side by side with the Colombian National Police in this common struggle against illicit drugs; and

Whereas the Administration, in a letter to the Miami Herald

from the Office of National Drug Control Policy

(ONDCP) concerning the issue of anti-narcotics assistance to Colombia, stated that the strategy of the ‘‘source

country’’, such as the strategy of Colombia, is the best

and most effective methods to fight the war on illicit

drugs: Now, therefore, be it

1 Resolved, That—

2 (1) the House of Representatives urges the

3 President to expeditiously procure and provide to the

4 Colombian National Police three UH–60L
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1 Blackhawk utility helicopters solely for the purpose

2 of assisting the Colombian National Police to per3 form their responsibilities to reduce and eliminate

4 the production of illicit drugs in Colombia and the

5 trafficking of such illicit drugs, including the traf6 ficking of drugs such as heroin and cocaine to the

7 United States; and

8 (2) if the President determines that the pro9 curement and transfer to the Colombian National

10 Police of three UH–60L Blackhawk utility heli11 copters is not an adequate number of such heli12 copters to maintain operational feasibility and effec13 tiveness of the Colombian National Police, then the

14 President should promptly inform the Congress as to

15 the appropriate number of additional UH–60L

16 Blackhawk utility helicopters for the Colombian Na17 tional Police so that amounts can be authorized for

18 the procurement and transfer of such additional heli19 copters.

Æ