Sanford Bishop: “for many years we have been engaged in a debate over whether or not the School of the Americas has faithfully carried…”

“for many years we have been engaged in a debate over whether or not the School of the Americas has faithfully carried out its mission of teaching human rights and principles of democracy to visiting students from Latin America in addition to their military training. Opponents have accused the school of all kinds of misdeeds, and those of us supporting the school and its mission have presented documented evidence which we believe thoroughly refutes these allegations. Nevertheless, the same old charges and countercharges are revived year after year, time and again. I am not interested in rehashing the same old debate. What I am interested in is focusing on the substantive changes that are proposed today, changes that opponents have called for and which the supporters of the school also believe can be helpful. Opponents wanted to change the name, claiming the existing one has been tainted. The plan before us would do that. Opponents want stronger oversight, and the plan proposed shifts the oversight responsibility to the Cabinet level by placing it in the hands of the Secretary of Defense, rather than the Secretary of the Army, and by establishing the Independent Board of Visitors, which includes prominent human rights activists as part of this law. Opponents wanted more emphasis on human rights, and the plan makes instruction in human rights and democratic principles mandatory by law for every student.”