Pete Sessions: “Colombia is a longtime ally of the United States. It is the second oldest democracy in the Western Hemisphere. Its…”

“Colombia is a longtime ally of the United States. It is the second oldest democracy in the Western Hemisphere. Its former President, President Pastrana--a wonderful person--worked exceedingly hard to try to build a peace process that would work. After everything he tried, he could not make that occur. The new President has been elected. President Pastrana--before he left office--admitted that they had to fight to preserve their democracy. Democracies frequently have to do that. We have a $9.5 billion trading relationship with Colombia. It is an important ally, an important democracy. It is key to South America. We must do what we can to assist them as they now wage a life-and-death struggle to preserve their democracy and their economy. Mr. President, just 10 days ago the people of Colombia overwhelmingly expressed their desire to fight the scourges of terrorism and narcotics trafficking, that have killed tens of thousands of their countrymen over the past forty years, by electing Alvaro Uribe as their new President. President-elect Uribe has stated that he intends to double the size of the Colombian Army and the Colombian National Police and to call up thousands of reservists to fight the terrorists. This is exactly what the United States has been asking the Colombians to do for many years now.”