Washington Office Latin America Issues Mailing List

Attached and pasted below is a sign-on letter signed by the PCUSA Washington Office regarding the conference of the FY02 Emergency Defense Supplemental. The letter was sent today to all the members of the Senate and House Appropriations Committees. It urges members to preserve U.S. laws and congressional oversight, to protect State Department jurisdiction, to reduce non-emergency military aid, and to protect human rights in Colombia.

July 3, 2002

Dear Representative/Senator:

As national representatives of arms control, human rights, religious, and regionally focused nongovernmental organizations we wish to express our concerns with several sections of the FY02 emergency supplemental appropriations bills (HR 4775 and S 2551). These bills are now in conference by the House and Senate. We believe that, using the justification of the war on terror, these bills provide large amounts of military aid to some countries for other and more dubious reasons. When drafting the final version of the bill, we urge you to retain provisions that cut non-emergency military aid and preserve the highest possible level of accountability for military aid and weapons transfers programs.

Preserve U.S. laws and congressional oversight

The House version of the Defense Emergency Response Fund would allow $100,000,000 of the funds to be "available for transfer to any other appropriations accounts of the Department of Defense (DoD), for certain classified activities, and notwithstanding any other provision of law, such funds may be obligated to carry out projects not otherwise authorized by law." We oppose this provision because providing a virtual carte blanche for DoD military spending overseas is a dangerous and unwise precedent, especially since the funds could be used in violation of current U.S. laws and without congressional oversight. Therefore, we ask that you support the Senate version, which does not include this language.

Protect State Department jurisdiction and reduce non-emergency military aid

In the "Operation and Maintenance, Defense Wide" section of the bills, both the House and Senate provide $420,000,000 for "Pakistan, Jordan, and other key cooperating nations." The House version provides this money in the Defense Department budget, whereas the Senate retains control of the fund in the State Department by stating that "such amount shall be transferred to, and merged with, funds... under the heading 'Foreign Military Financing Program' within 30 days of enactment" and by stating that "such payments may be made in such amounts as the Secretary of State determines, after consultation with the Secretary of Defense..." The Senate version also removes the phrase "notwithstanding any other provision of law," which could eliminate current human rights and other conditions. We would prefer to see this funding, which effectively doubles the amount of military aid in this appropriations bill, deleted altogether. Barring that, we urge you to support the Senate version given that it removes the "notwithstanding" clause and retains authority over foreign military financing within the State Department.

While we do not support funding for the Foreign Military Financing program, we encourage you to at least adopt the lower funding level in the Senate bill (the House provides $366.5 million, the Senate $347.5 million). This "emergency" funding is supposed to be used to support states that are assisting the U.S. government in the war on terror, but a number of states slated to receive this aid actually have few or no apparent links to the war on terror. Furthermore, many of the planned recipient states have poor human rights records and some are engaged in or verging on armed conflict.

Protect human rights in Colombia

We oppose the expansion of the U.S. mission in Colombia, which would cause the U.S. government to become embroiled in Colombia's civil war. While the Senate version does not address all of our concerns related to the proposed mission expansion and human rights, it does reduce funding for the problematic oil pipeline protection training and does not allow the mission switch for counter-narcotics funds given through the Department of Defense. For these reasons, the Senate version is preferable.

Thank you for considering our recommendations, and please feel free to contact us with any questions.

Sincerely,

Marcel Kitissou, Ph.D.
Executive Director
Africa Faith & Justice Network

Alex Arriaga
Director of Government Relations
Amnesty International USA

Dr. Ian Davis
Director
British American Security Information Council

Adam Isacson
Senior Associate
Center for International Policy

Greg Davidson Laszakovits
Director
Church of the Brethren Washington Office

Corinne Whitlatch
Director
Churches for Middle East Peace

Rev. John L. McCullough
Executive Director
Church World Service

William Chris Hobgood
Regional Minister
Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) - Capital Area

Stan De Boe, OSST
Director, Office of Justice and Peace
Conference of Major Superiors of Men

Rev. Ken Brooker Langston
Co-convener
Disciples Advocacy Washington Network (Disciples of Christ)

Karen Orenstein
Washington Coordinator
East Timor Action Network

Tamar Gabelnick
Director, Arms Sales Monitoring Project
Federation of American Scientists

Pat Clark
National Coordinator
Fellowship of Reconciliation

Martha Honey
Co-director
Foreign Policy In Focus, Institute for Policy Studies

David A. Moczulski, OFM
Executive Director
Franciscan Washington Office for Latin America

Joe Volk
Executive Secretary
Friends Committee on National Legislation

Marie Dennis
Director
Maryknoll Office for Global Concerns

Rev. Bob Edgar
General Secretary
National Council of the Churches of Christ in the USA

Kathy Thornton, RSM
NETWORK, A National Catholic Social Justice Lobby

Sarah C. Aird
Executive Director
Network in Solidarity with the People of Guatemala

Rev. Elenora Giddings Ivory
Director, Washington Office
Presbyterian Church (USA)

Peter J. Davies
UN Representative
Saferworld

Wes Callender
Director
Voices on the Border

Mike Amitay
Executive Director
Washington Kurdish Institute

Phyllis S. Yingling
President
Women's International League for Peace and Freedom, US Section

William D. Hartung
Director, Arms Trade Resource Center
World Policy Institute at the New School

Catherine Gordon
Associate for International Issues
Washington Office, Presbyterian Church (USA)
110 Maryland Ave. Suite 104
Washington, DC 20002
www.pcusa.org/washington
Phone: 202-543-1126
Fax: 202-543-7755

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