H. Res. 398

In the House of Representatives, U.S.,

March 30, 1998.

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

Whereas 80 percent of the world’s cocaine originates in Colombia;

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;
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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

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outdated equipment at their disposal;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;
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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 helicopter 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 II’s 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;
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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;

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;

Whereas the Administration, in a letter to the Miami Herald

from the Office of National Drug Control Policy
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(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;

Whereas the new Government of Bolivia has made a commitment to eradicate coca/cocaine production in that country

within 5 years;

Whereas the United States should support any country that

is interested in removing the scourge of drugs from its

citizens;

Whereas Bolivia has succeeded in reducing acreage used to

produce coca, which is the basis for cocaine production;

and

Whereas United States assistance has been a crucial element

of this success: Now, therefore, be it

Resolved, That—

(1) the House of Representatives urges the President to expeditiously procure and provide to the Colombian National Police three UH–60L Blackhawk utility

helicopters 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;

(2) if the President determines that the procurement and transfer to the Colombian National Police of
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three UH–60L Blackhawk utility helicopters is not an

adequate number of such helicopters to maintain operational feasibility and effectiveness of the Colombian National Police, then the President should promptly inform

the Congress as to the appropriate number of additional

UH–60L Blackhawk utility helicopters for the Colombian National Police so that amounts can be authorized

for the procurement and transfer of such additional helicopters; and

(3) the House of Representatives supports maintaining assistance for Bolivia at least at the level assumed in the fiscal year 1998 budget submission of the

President and directs the Administration to act accordingly.

Attest:

Clerk.