Dan Burton: “I have discussed at length with the chairman of the subcommittee from Arizona and the chairman of the full committee the…”

“I have discussed at length with the chairman of the subcommittee from Arizona and the chairman of the full committee the problems that we faced with Plan Colombia. In the last 5 or 6 years, there have been 23 aircraft lost that are vitally important to the drug interdiction problem that we are facing. This chart shows you where the drugs are coming from and where they are going according to our intelligence agencies. And once drugs, heroin and cocaine, get beyond Colombia, 65 percent of them, almost two-thirds of them, work their way into the United States onto the streets, into the schools, into the playgrounds of this country. President Uribe just came out up here recently and told us without the additional assets that are asked for in this amendment, he will not be able to do the job in dealing with the drug problem that we face here in America. So we have to decide as a Congress are we going to continue to fight the war against drugs or are we going to start acquiescing? Are we going to start caving in? According to President Uribe, they need 23 aircraft. We have talked to the appropriators, and I really appreciate Mr. Kolbe for working on this, and Mr. Lewis, the chairman. We have decided on a compromise right now. I hope that will help President Uribe. It is not going to solve the problem, but at least it is a step in the right direction.…”