Privatizing the Drug War
With Rep. Jan Schakowsky (D-Ill)
Thursday, May 31, 2001; 1:30 p.m. EDT

Join Rep. Jan Schakowsky (D-Ill.) to discuss the State Department's practice of subcontracting anti-drug operations in Colombia to private contractors -- chief of among them DynCorp, of Reston, Va.

News stories ranging from the shootdown of a Peruvian plane carrying American missionaries to the misconduct of U.S. police officers in Bosnia have focused attention on the role DynCorp now plays in carrying out U.S. foreign policy.

Schakowsky's bill, the Andean Region Contractor Accountability Act (H.R. 1591), is "legislation that would prohibit U.S. funds from being used to contract with private military companies in the Andean region."

"U.S. taxpayers are unwittingly funding a private war with private soldiers," Schakowsky recently testified in Congress. "American taxpayers already pay $300 billion per year to fund the world's most powerful military. Why should they have to pay a second time in order to privatize our operations? How is the public to know what their tax dollars are being used for? If there is a potential for a privatized Gulf of Tonkin incident, then the American people deserve to have a full and open debate before this policy goes any farther."

Jan Schakowsky was elected to represent Illinois’ 9th Congressional District in 1998, after serving for eight years in the Illinois State Assembly. Her district encompasses the north side of Chicago and nearby suburbs. She serves on the Committee on Financial Services and the Committee on Government Reform.

Below is the transcript.

washingtonpost.com: Welcome Rep. Schakowsky. Tell us about the practice of contracting U.S. government functions to private firms. Is this new? How much money is the government now spending on private contracting in South America? What's wrong with this practice?

Jan Schakowsky : First I thank you for giving me this opportunity. The practice of private contracting is not new and right now we don't know how much the government is spending on contracting in South America. I haven't been able to get any information about who is the private contractor. In fact, the CIA refused to confirm or deny that there was a private contractor flying the plane in Peru. In other words, they completely stone walled all of my questions.

What's wrong with this practice is quite simple... there is no accountability. We don't know what these individuals are doing, how much it costs, what happens if they get shot down, what are the policies that govern their hiring, who vets the companies and individuals, do they subcontract to other companies? This practice shrouds in secrecy very sensitive activities in the Andean region that may be pulling the U.S. into violence and the perception that we are involved in a secret war.

Gullsgate, Minn.: Jan Schakowsky: Is it correct that the CIA failed to show up for the "House Committee for Government Reform", concerning the Peruvian incident---and like the three ("See no, Hear no, Speak-no" monkey) representatives from the State department, the DEA, and US Customs appeared to know nothing or take any responsibility for what they should have but 'didn't know' about the incident?

Jan Schakowsky : It is true that the CIA refused to show up for the hearing in the government reform committee. And we were able to get absolutely no information from the State Department, DEA and the U.S. Customs. What was interesting was that the U.S. Customs made it very clear that they do not use any private contractors because they don't want the operations outside the scrutiny of the U.S. Customs Bureau.

Sunnyside, Wash.: I have read that the USA is spending enormous tax dollars on the legal prosecution of 500 million durg addicts in the USA. Does the illegal trafficing of cocain and heroin not amount to chemical warfare attack against our citizens? FARC and ELN being the primary trafficers, and being sponsored by Russia and Cuba! What about the Russian Sub for trafficing found in Bogata? Do we not have the obligation to defend our youth by what ever means are available?

Jan Schakowsky : Major studies including one by the Rand Corp. document that treatment is 23 times more cost effective in addressing drug addiction than interdiction efforts. If we were to reduce the demand for cocaine and heroin, we could dramatically decrease the supply. Furthermore, our efforts in the Andean region have barely dented the amount of cocaine arriving on the streets of the U.S. According to former ambassador to El Salvador, Robert White, there are two million square acres of land cultivatable for coca in the Andean region. It only takes one thousand sq. miles of coca to meet world demand. In other words, the coca fields simply move elsewhere. And in the meantime, we're getting ourselves involved in essentially a civil war in Colombia and further escalating the violence there.

Farmington Hills, Mich.: Can these contractors be held accountable if they accidentally get the US into a shooting war? Can they be prosecuted under the Uniformed Code of Military Justice? Or can we merely dock their pay? This is privatization run amok! Thank you for restoring some sanity to our foreign policy.

Jan Schakowsky : It's very unclear to me exactly what policy governs these independent contractors. But since they are not members of the armed forces, they can't be prosecuted under the uniformed code of military justice. I am meeting with the State Department next week and want to know exactly the rules that govern these kinds of operations and outside contractors. It appears that there is very little in the way of sanctions, consequences or even scrutiny of their activities. In fact, we know that earlier this year, that one of those planes was involved in a ground skirmish where M-16s were fired and again, there was very little follow up and no report to Congress on exactly what happened and what would have happened if one of those contractors/individuals would have been killed.

Lincoln, Nebraska: In regard to corruption of Dyncorp Officials, how far are you willing to investigate? And if I had information indicating the corruption existed into the diplomatic arena and state departments and American Embassy´s how would you handle the investigation and protection of individuals willing to come forward from all countries. Most of whom would be police officers working in the UN missions?

Jan Schakowsky : Well I am prepared to offer complete confidentiality with any information shared with me and would be very interested in such information. I simply don't know what kind of protections are offered to individuals who might give information to other agents of our government. I understand the potential danger involved in divulging such information and would like to explore with any and all individuals a safe way of allowing for communication of that information.

Rockville, MD: Canada is now considering decriminalization of marijuana. Consider that our current President, our former Vice President, have experimented with soft drugs, isn't it rather counterproductive to incarcerate our citizens over such trivial violations?

Jan Schakowsky : I was surprised and disappointed that the Supreme Court of the U.S. ruled against even the medical use of marijuana --indicating how far we are from even a serious policy discussion about other uses of marijuana.

Jan Schakowsky : Our U.S. prisons are overloaded with non violent drug offenders who in my view would better be addressed by treatment.

Austin, Texas: Do you belive this US backed Plan Colombia is about reducing the amount of illegal drugs that enter the US and promoting democracy and human rights in Colombia or do you believe it is about furthering US corporate money interests' after the loss of the Panama Canal,by trying to reduce the only significant "threat" of a poor peoples movement currently in Latin America (generally Socialist in nature) by attacking the only crop(Coca)that can financialy sustain these people at the moment?
Or do you think is about something else all together?

Jan Schakowsky : What I do know for sure about Plan Colombia is that it fails miserably to achieve its stated goals of reducing the flow of drugs to the U.S. and promoting democracy and human rights in Colombia. I think that the chief beneficiaries have been the manufacturers of helicopters and the victims have been poor and innocent people in Colombia. I visited Colombia in February and talked to peasants whose legal crops have been destroyed by aerial fumigation and people who had been forced off their land. I talked to a small group of displaced people in Colombia who are part of the one million internally displaced people. U.S. presence, which is essentially a military presence, in my view has decreased opportunities for peace, has contributed increased human rights violations and has failed in its counter-narcotics mission.

Hyattsville, MD: I think it's unconsionable to allow private companies, like DynaCorp to conduct US quasimilitary policy. I noted in Monday's Post, that DynaCorp is also responsible for conducting Police actions in the Balkans. In light of this failure, and similar failures of companies like Wackenhut, to assume traditional government functions, do you see any change in policy, with the shift in the Senate?

Jan Schakowsky : Even without the shift in the Senate, there is bipartisan support across the political spectrum for more information about these covert actions of private contractors around the globe. Dan Burton, chairman of the Government Reform committee (which I sit), was outraged that the CIA would not respond to questions about who the private contractors were in Peru, how much tax payer dollars we were spending on missions such as the one that downed the plane of the missionary. I think we can least expect sunshine on the issue of private contractors. I have introduced legislation that would prohibit private contractors in engaging in any of these military-like activities. I hope now that I can get a favorable response in the Senate.

Austin, Texas: Good afternoon, Rep Schakowsky. Thank you for taking my question.

How do you answer the critics who say that your proposed law uses fiscal concerns as a masquerade for its hidden agenda of lightening up on drug use in America?

How do you respond to those who claim that you have become known as the new "best-friend" of drug dealers all over America?

Thanks for taking your time today.

Jan Schakowsky : I want to see a drug fighting policy that really works that decreases the number of addicts and the crime that accompanies addiction and that most efficiently and effectively uses tax payer dollars to accomplish that goal. That's why I am a strong supporter of decreasing demand by emphasizing treatment and I am very much in favor of prosecution of drug dealers.

Fairfax, Va.: Why is the issue over who fights the drug war? Why isn't the issue the drug war itself? We have been increasing our role in South America forever and yet drugs are cheaper and more plentiful than ever before. Isn't it time to talk about scaling back?

Jan Schakowsky : Again the issue is to refocus the drug war on strategies that really work --which means greater emphasis on prevention and treatment. I think you are quite correct in saying that the war on drugs thus far has been a failure.

Takoma, MD: With lingering questions during the Iran/Contra investigation, such as why the CIA was allowing a known drug importer access to secret airfields in the southeast US, I am highly skeptical about the drug war in general. These dirty little wars seem more about American imperialism than drugs, really.

Jan Schakowsky : While I don't know the details of that particular circumstance, I do know that there are reports that the contractors that we hire employ individuals who have been engaged in Central and South America have been involved in the past in covert and questionable activities. This again raises the issue of what rules govern, who can be hired and who holds these people accountable. And that's why I want to simply ban the use of outside contractors.

The American tax payers already pay $300 billion dollars per year to fund the world's most powerful military. Why should they have to pay a second time in order to privatize our operations. Are we outsourcing in order to avoid public scrutiny, controversy or embarrassment?

washingtonpost.com:

That was our last question today. Thanks to everyone who joined the discussion.

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