National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2005

NATIONAL DEFENSE AUTHORIZATION ACT FOR FISCAL YEAR 2005-CONTINUED

AMENDMENT NO. 3279

Mr. NELSON of Florida. Mr. President, I rise to address amendment No. 3279 to the pending bill. This amendment asks the administration to report on any relationships between foreign governments or groups operating within their territories and foreign terrorist organizations in Colombia. It also asks the administration to describe United States policies that are designed to address such relationships.

This amendment, tragically, is extremely timely in light of today's news. This morning's Miami Herald reported that in Little River, Colombia, in the province of Norte de Santander, over 30 peasants were murdered in cold blood. Terrorists entered their residencies and shot them to death with automatic weapons. The FARC is suspected to have committed this crime. While Colombia, with tremendous support of the U.S., has made great strides in fighting narcoterrorism under President Uribe, there is still much work to be done, as is underscored by yesterday's events.

The FARC and the ELN, Colombia's two main rebel groups, both of which have been designated by the United States as foreign terrorist organizations, continue to conduct terrorist attacks against civilians in their campaign against the Colombian government. These groups are also heavily involved in the drug trade that does so much harm to Colombia and to our own country. At a time when Colombia is making slow but steady gains in its long struggle against the FARC, the last thing it needs is to have neighboring countries providing assistance to these brutal adversaries.

To be perfectly blunt, my primary concern is with Venezuela. On my visit to Colombia and Venezuela in April, I heard some disturbing accounts from various U.S. officials of instances in which the FARC had been able to cross the line into Venezuela and conduct operations from that side of the border from virtual safe havens. Colombian authorities are also suspicious that the Chavez government has been willing to, at a minimum, look the other way while FARC elements operate in Venezuela, if not actually permitting some level of coordination.

Threatening to compound the "safe haven" problem for the United States and Colombia is the fact that Venezuela also harbors a potent market in false documentation, such as passports and other identity cards. I am increasingly concerned at the ease with which, simply by buying off officials for $800 or $900, one can acquire fully legitimate, yet false, documents in Venezuela-everything from a passport to a driver's license. I am certainly concerned that international terrorist groups will discover their ability to acquire and make use of forged Venezuela documents to conduct terrorist attacks, and I raised these important issues with Venezuelan officials during my visit.

Naturallly, the Venezuelan government disputes these serious allegations. What this amendment would do is help us establish the facts. If groups in Colombia that our government has designated as foreign terrorist organizations are receiving support or assistance from Venezuela, or any of Colombia's other neighbors, or any other state for that matter, we need to know about it and adjust our policies accordingly.

Right now, Colombia needs all the help it can get from its neighbors. In asking the administration to report on whether terrorist groups may have relationships with or be operating in neighboring countries such as Venezuela, perhaps we can address this problem in a more regional context and better understand what Colombia is up against.

I thank the chairman and ranking member and their staffs for their support.