Benjamin Gilman: “while I support H.R. 2506, the Foreign Operations Conference Report, regrettably, the conference report before us does…”

“while I support H.R. 2506, the Foreign Operations Conference Report, regrettably, the conference report before us does significantly damage the Annual Drug Certification Process. The certification process is an important Reagan era tool to garner the cooperation of major drug producer and major drug transit nations that want the benefit of US aid. It is simply, the Drug Certification Procedure mandate that before a major illicit drug producer or major transit nation is entitled to our foreign aid, the President must certify to Congress that such nation is 'fully cooperating' with us in our fight against these illicit drugs. As we full know today illicit drugs helped finance global terrorism whether Bin Laden in Afghanistan, or the FARC and ELN in Colombia, or other terrorist networks around the world. We need the full cooperation of these major producer and/or major transit nations to stop the flow of drugs here, and the profits to the global terrorists. Now is not the time to weaken American law in the fight against illicit drugs and global terrorism.”