•HRES 398 EH
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 quan-
tities 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 prevent-
ing Colombian heroin from entering the United States is
to destroy the opium poppies in the high Andes moun-
tains where Colombian heroin is produced;
Whereas the elite anti-narcotics unit of the Colombian Na-
tional 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outdated equipment at their disposal;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 oper-
ations 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 Viet-
nam-era UH–1H Huey helicopters used by the Colom-
bian 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 rec-
ommended by the original manufacturer;
•HRES 398 EH
Whereas in the Foreign Operations, Export Financing, and
Related Programs Appropriations Act, 1998 (Public Law
105–118), amounts were appropriated for the procure-
ment 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 util-
ity helicopter that can perform at the high altitudes of
the Andes mountains, as well as survive crashes and sus-
tain ground fire, much better than any other utility heli-
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 Po-
lice 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 lim-
ited fuel capacity to reach many of the expanding loca-
tions of the coca fields or cocaine labs in southern Colom-
bia, 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 Na-
tional 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 oper-
ations to reduce and eradicate illicit drugs in Colombia;
•HRES 398 EH
Whereas the Congress also would support assistance to the
Colombian military if the military demonstrates the will
to fight effectively while respecting civilian non-combat-
ants in the same way the anti-narcotics unit of the Co-
lombian National Police has;
Whereas the narco-terrorists of Colombia have announced
that they will now target United States citizens, particu-
larly those United States citizens working with their Co-
lombian 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 sup-
port and assistance to wage an effective war on illicit
drugs in Colombia and provide the equipment and assist-
ance 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 Po-
lice 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
•HRES 398 EH
(ONDCP) concerning the issue of anti-narcotics assist-
ance 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 commit-
ment 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 Presi-
dent to expeditiously procure and provide to the Colom-
bian National Police three UH–60L Blackhawk utility
helicopters solely for the purpose of assisting the Colom-
bian National Police to perform their responsibilities to
reduce and eliminate the production of illicit drugs in
Colombia and the trafficking of such illicit drugs, includ-
ing the trafficking of drugs such as heroin and cocaine
to the United States;
(2) if the President determines that the procure-
ment and transfer to the Colombian National Police of
•HRES 398 EH
three UH–60L Blackhawk utility helicopters is not an
adequate number of such helicopters to maintain oper-
ational feasibility and effectiveness of the Colombian Na-
tional Police, then the President should promptly inform
the Congress as to the appropriate number of additional
UH–60L Blackhawk utility helicopters for the Colom-
bian National Police so that amounts can be authorized
for the procurement and transfer of such additional heli-
copters; and
(3) the House of Representatives supports main-
taining assistance for Bolivia at least at the level as-
sumed in the fiscal year 1998 budget submission of the
President and directs the Administration to act accord-
ingly.
Attest:
Clerk.