U.S. House Panel Seeks to Boost Global Drug-War Funds

The House Appropriations Foreign Operations Subcommittee, which referred the bill to the full committee for consideration, also marked up a separate $437 million proposal for International Narcotics Control programs -- an increase of $111 million over last year. Although this request is $89 million less than the Bush Administration's overall proposal request for the international counterdrug programs, it is proposing to boost the President's $30 million request for Mexico by an additional $10 million. According to a State Dept. summary of the White House request for Mexican counterdrug operations, the funds would be used to:

[E]nhance Mexico’s ability to control its ports of exit to the U.S. by installing 3 additional non-intrusive inspection units and 2 SENTRI lanes at land border crossings to the U.S., completing a three-year program to establish mobile interdiction teams, completing development of a National Criminal Data Base, and purchasing advanced investigative and enforcement equipment for law enforcement agencies charged with border security. The funds requested will also be used to complete a five-year initiative to reform and professionalize the investigative, prosecutorial, and intelligence unit of the Attorney General's office (PGR), including provision of restructured organizations, modern facilities, advanced training, and up-to-date equipment and technology. Parallel to and coordinated with institutional reform, USG training assistance will focus on revitalizing, broadening, and deepening the federal, state, and local training infrastructure to provide a modern curriculum for both basic and advanced law enforcement skills and leadership development. The U.S. will continue supporting Mexican efforts with direct field mission support, training, equipment, technical aid, and trans-border cooperation to interdict drug trafficking and eradicate drug cultivations to disrupt the flow of drugs to the U.S. and attack international criminal organizations. Vital to all aspects of law enforcement, this will complete a four-year project to recapitalize the aging PGR helicopter fleet by refurbishing Huey UH-1H helicopters and procuring small Schweizer reconnaissance helicopters. In addition, FY 2006 programs will promote and expand the "culture of lawfulness" program in Mexican secondary schools, provide continuing support (equipment and training) to GOM offices dealing with anti-money laundering, and continue demand reduction and drug awareness programs and epidemiological research.

An additional $21 million in counterdrug funds would be devoted toward "improving the interdiction capabilities of key drug transit countries." According to the State Dept.:

Funding will be directed toward our continued efforts... in Central America and the Caribbean, as well as South American countries (non-Andes), by modernizing and reforming enforcement and the criminal justice system, a key to stability and economic development. This includes enhancing police programs; strengthening investigative, judicial and prosecutorial capabilities to battle corruption, money laundering and drug trafficking; upgrading intelligence gathering and sharing to improve the flow of tactical and operational intelligence; and modernizing the legal framework by providing training, technical assistance, equipment and operational support. Additional emphasis will be placed on demand reduction public awareness programs by way of seminars, conferences, administrative equipment (computers, software, etc.) and educational material.

The bulk of international counterdrug funding outside of the Americas would go to Afghanistan, which under the subcommittee plan would get $260 million -- a whopping $170 million increase over FY 2005. One major revision that the panel made to the original bill is the addition of a stipulation for the government of Afghanistan: the U.S. Secretary of State must certify to the committee that Afghanistan, at both the national and local levels, is fully cooperating with U.S.-funded narcotics eradication and interdiction efforts -- the failure of which would result in the elimination of more than half of the $430 million in proposed Economic Support Funds for that nation.