Pubdate: Thu, 22 Jun 2000 Source: Orange County Register (CA) Copyright: 2000 The Orange County Register Contact: P.O. Box 11626, Santa Ana, CA 92711 Fax: (714) 565-3657 Website: http://www.ocregister.com/ SENATORS BACK ANTI-DRUG EFFORT FOR COLOMBIA The Senate fended off efforts Wednesday to scale back President Clinton's package of anti-narcotics assistance to Colombia. Senators demonstrated strong support for the plan, which contains $934 million for Colombia, as they worked toward passage of a foreign aid bill for the fiscal year that begins Oct.1. The bulk of the money would go toward training special counter-narcotics battalions in the Colombian military and for dozens of American-made helicopters used for transporting troops and drug surveillance. It would help the Colombian military combat left-wing guerrillas and right-wing paramilitary groups that are protecting drug traffickers. On an 89-11 vote, the law-makers rejected a move by Sen. Paul Wellstone, D-Minn., to chop $225 million and spend it instead on domestic drug treatment programs. Wellstone argued that the measure could drag the United States into a Vietnam-style military quagmire. Then, the Senate rejected 79-19 a proposal by Sen. Slade Gorton, R-Wash., that would have cut all but $200 million of the money. - --- MAP posted-by: Doc-Hawk