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DATE=6/22/2000 TYPE=CORRESPONDENT REPORT TITLE=CLINTON-COLOMBIA (L) NUMBER=2-263654 BYLINE=DAVID GOLLUST DATELINE=WHITE HOUSE CONTENT= VOICED AT: INTRO: President Clinton is welcoming progress in the Senate on his Colombia aid package and pressing Congress to quickly finish work one the one-point-six- billion dollar package aimed at helping the government of President Andres Pastrana deal with drug traffickers. V-O-A's David Gollust reports from the White House. TEXT: The Senate, which had earlier resisted White House appeals to deal with aid to Colombia on an expedited basis, Wednesday approved most of the funds Mr. Clinton had proposed. But the Senate version and its numerous amendments must still be reconciled with a somewhat more generous House of Representatives measure. As he left the White House on a political fund-raising trip to two western states, Mr. Clinton said the sooner the Congress can demonstrate support for Colombia's embattled democracy, the better: /// Clinton Act /// They're in the fight of their lives for their very way of life, with the combined pressure of a guerrilla war that's been going on for decades and the rise of the narco-traffickers over the last two decades. I don't think the average American can imagine what it would be like to live in a country where a third of the country on any given day may be in the hands of someone that is an enemy, an adversary, of the nation- state. /// End Act /// Mr. Clinton said final approval would encourage European and other would-be donors to join the United States in supporting Colombian President Pastrana's national reconstruction program. The aid plan would provide training and material support, including helicopters, for anti-drug units of the Colombian military and national police. Critics of the plan in both parties in Congress contend it will inevitably draw the United States into the Colombian government's long-running conflict with leftwing rebels, while at the same time helping a Colombian army accused of human rights abuses. Proponents, however, say the package includes adequate guarantees on human rights and on keeping U-S aid and military trainers out of the guerrilla war. The Colombia aid plan is part of an overall 13-and-a- half-billion dollar foreign aid and military assistance bill nearing approval in the Senate. In his talk with reporters, Mr. Clinton also welcomed progress in the Senate on the bill -- already approved by the House -- giving China permanent, normal U-S trade status. The White House had feared that a lengthy amendment process in the Senate might delay decisions on the controversial China trade bill until September and possibly cause it to fall victim to campaign politics. But the president said Senate Majority leader Trent Lott has promised timely action after Congress returns from its Fourth-of-July, Independence Day, recess and that he and the key Republicans are, as he put it, "on the same page and working together" to complete work by the end of next month. (Signed) NEB/DAG/JP 22-Jun-2000 11:57 AM EDT (22-Jun-2000 1557 UTC) NNNN Source: Voice of America .