Chris Dodd: “very briefly, I know we are about to maybe have a more important matter come to the floor. I am going to keep my eye on…”

“very briefly, I know we are about to maybe have a more important matter come to the floor. I am going to keep my eye on the chairman of the committee so he can let me know when I should wrap up these comments. The amendment that at some point I would like to offer, either on this bill or another piece of legislation, deals with what I believe is an extremely important issue about enhancing U.S. diplomatic and strategic influence in the Western Hemisphere. As many of my colleagues know, I have been a member of the Foreign Relations Committee on the subcommittee dealing with Latin America for the 24 years I have been in the Senate, either as the ranking member or as the chairman of the subcommittee. I am deeply concerned, as I know many of my colleagues are, that while our attention is focused on other parts of the world, for obvious reasons, there is a serious condition developing in Latin America that deserves our attention. The amendment I would be offering is quite simple. It would permit nations in this hemisphere to receive international military and educational training, so-called IMET training, assistance from the United States. My colleagues might say: Well, don't we do that? Haven't we been doing that for years? The answer is yes. But it has been stopped in 11 countries in Latin America, along with economic support funds. The reason is because these nations have not signed on to the so-called article 98 agreement with the United States.…”