Phil Gingrey: “you have heard some serious, serious concerns with this amendment. But whatever the outcome today, we must remember what…”

“you have heard some serious, serious concerns with this amendment. But whatever the outcome today, we must remember what is at stake when it comes to WHINSEC. If we were not to engage with the participating nations, Madam Chairman, we would be abandoning our most effective means of developing relationships with the security forces of these countries. The void created would be filled by countries with poor records on democracy and human rights, such as Venezuela and China. Madam Chairman, the friendships fostered at WHINSEC have enabled El Salvador, the Dominican Republic, and Honduras to provide well-trained forces to our endeavors in Iraq. Further, thanks to the counterdrugs civil military and medical assistance courses at WHINSEC, hemispheric military police and civilian organizations have also been capably providing counterdrugs and disaster-relief capabilities. Madam Chairman, the success of current and foreseeable future conflicts will be highly influenced by the degree of international cooperation of allied and friendly countries. This requires engagement and building partnerships and relationships. And I certainly look forward to working with Chairman Skelton, Admiral Sestak, Mr. Bishop, my colleague from Georgia, Mr. Westmoreland, to ensure that we continue utilizing WHINSEC for this purpose.”