Chris Dodd: “my point on this amendment is that with the significant deterioration in the connections between our country and these…”

“my point on this amendment is that with the significant deterioration in the connections between our country and these nations that have received in the past the international military and educational training funds and the economic support funds, that we find ourselves in a very precarious position with these countries and the junior officers and senior officers who have come here for their training. So the amendment, in effect, would delink these issues. It does not overturn the American Service Members Protection Act; it just delinks it. Who is advocating this? SOUTHCOM, which is the military structure and organization that has the responsibility for dealing with Latin America, is a strong advocate of delinking these issues. In fact, in today's Washington Times, the headline is ``U.S. 'hands tied' in South America.'' I will quote from the article: As the Bush administration tries to craft a new foreign policy toward an increasingly belligerent Venezuela, Pentagon and military officials say they cannot blunt that nation's regional influence unless a law meant to protect U.S. personnel from prosecution in the International Criminal Court is changed. The article goes on: That law, the American Service Members Protection Act, prohibits U.S. security assistance funds and most military cooperation unless a country rejects the U.N.-backed ICC or signs a bilateral immunity agreement with the United States. . . .…”