Doug Bereuter: “The amendment would strike section 908 which changes the School of the Americas to the Defense Institute for Hemispheric…”

“The amendment would strike section 908 which changes the School of the Americas to the Defense Institute for Hemispheric Security. It is certainly correct to point out that several of the School of the America's graduates have been implicated in crimes, corruption, and human rights violations. Press reports have accurately noted that former Panamanian dictator Manuel Noriega was a former student, as was one of the Salvadoran officers responsible for the 1989 assassination of six Jesuit priests. However, more than 60,000 young Latin American Officers have graduated from the SOA since its creation in 1946, the vast majority of whom have served their nations honorably and responsibly. Graduates of the SOA are personally responsible for the return of democracy in Latin American nations such as Bolivia and Argentina. Many of the school's graduates have lost their lives while combating the narco-guerillas and drug lords in Colombia and Peru. These counterdrug operations are of vital interest to the safety and security of our Nation as the efforts of these brave Latin American soldiers are aimed at reducing the flow of drugs into the United States of America. It would be a disservice to brand all the school's graduates as criminals because of the misdeeds of a very few. There have been many false allegations in the past regarding the School of the Americas, such as the alleged existence of SOA torture manuals. There are no such manuals.”