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DATE=6/30/2000 TYPE=CORRESPONDENT REPORT TITLE=SENATE / COLOMBIA (L) NUMBER=2-263946 BYLINE=DAVID SWAN DATELINE=CAPITOL HILL CONTENT= VOICED AT: INTRO: A package of more than one-billion dollars in anti-drug aid for Colombia has cleared its final hurdles in the U-S Congress. The House and Senate approved the measure (Thursday and Friday), sending it on to the president, who has been waiting to sign it into law. V-O-A's David Swan has details. TEXT: The plan was held up for much of the year by various procedural issues and questions about its cost. Opponents also fear it will drag the United States into Colombia's long war against leftist guerrillas -- which, the critics charge, could become a Vietnam-style defeat. However, most lawmakers feel they have no alternative but to help Colombia battle the cocaine and heroin trade. Senate Minority Leader Tom Daschle argues the situation is too grave to ignore, even though he shares the concern about a military quagmire. /// DASCHLE ACT /// I think that is a possibility and we have to be concerned about it. But I also don't think we have any choice here. We will lose Colombia. It will be gone if we don't do something soon. We've got to act. We've got to commit resources. We've got to show leadership. /// END ACT /// Much of the one-point-three-billion dollars will be used to train and equip special anti-drug battalions, which will operate in guerrilla-controlled regions. The package contains 60 helicopters, including some of the advanced "Blackhawk" models the Colombian armed forces and the Clinton administration sought. The measure also provides for human-rights programs, in Colombia, Bolivia and other nearby states. The funds are attached to a larger spending bill, which will also help pay for the U-S peacekeeping troops in (Yugoslavia's) Kosovo (province). Congress may still try to impose limits or timetables on that operation. But for now the money is on the way, for both the troops in the Balkans and the Colombian drug war. (Signed) NEB/DS/WTW 30-Jun-2000 14:04 PM EDT (30-Jun-2000 1804 UTC) NNNN Source: Voice of America .