Cummings Calls for Investigation into Drug Czar's Failed "Plan Colombia" Program Coca Production in Colombia has Increased Despite $5 Billion in Spending

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June 5, 2007
Press Release
Washington, D.C. — startwidainctext Congressman Elijah E. Cummings (D-Maryland) today called for the Oversight and Government Reform Committee's Domestic Policy Subcommittee to hold a hearing to investigate reports of failure with the Office of National Drug Control Policy's "Plan Colombia," program, which aims to eradicate coca production in Colombia.  Despite record spending of more than $5 billion, a White House survey found coca production in Colombia rose for the third consecutive year in 2006. 
Congressman Cummings said, "I am deeply troubled by recent reports that the Drug Czar's 'Plan Colombia' program is failing.  We have dumped more than $5 billion taxpayer dollars into this venture, and have yet to come up with convincing results.  As good stewards of taxpayer dollars, we must ensure that all government programs run as effectively and efficiently as possible, and with 'Plan Colombia,' that has not been the case.
"Even more troubling perhaps is the fact that we did not learn of this grim report from our own government, but rather from Colombian President Alvaro Uribe.  The American people demand and deserve transparency and accountability from their government officials, and the Drug Czar is no exception to that rule.
"I see the impact of coca production in my Congressional District in Baltimore City.  Individual lives, families and whole communities are destroyed everyday by the ravages of drugs.  We cannot afford $5 billion in ineffective spending when our neighbors here at home are suffering.  As a Member of the Domestic Policy Subcommittee, I recognize that we have a duty to investigate this critically important matter.  That is why I have called for this hearing."
Below is the text of the letter sent to Subcommittee Chairman Dennis Kucinich.
June 5, 2007
The Honorable Dennis Kucinich
Chairman, Subcommittee on Domestic Policy
Oversight and Government Reform Committee
2157 Rayburn House Office Building
Washington, D.C., 20515
Dear Chairman Kucinich:
I am deeply troubled by the latest news from the Office of National Drug Control Policy (ONDCP) regarding "Plan Colombia," the agency's program to eradicate coca production in Colombia.  Despite record spending of more than $5 billion, a White House survey found coca production in Colombia rose for the third consecutive year in 2006.  What is more troubling is the fact that we did not learn of this grim report from our own government-but rather from Colombian President Alvaro Uribe.
I simply do not understand how the ONDCP can justify spending $5 billion on a program when it cannot prove its effectiveness.  Further, I cannot accept the agency's apparent lack of accountability for this failed program.  I am committed, as you are, to ensuring that government is accountable, and that it runs as effectively and efficiently as possible.  That is why I respectfully request that the Subcommittee conduct an oversight hearing to investigate the ONDCP's "Plan Colombia" program.
A major goal of "Plan Colombia" was to cut coca production in half within five years, but the latest estimate indicates 27 percent more coca is being produced than in 1999, the year before the anti-drug effort went into effect.  A recent dip in the U.S. street price of cocaine, and rise in purity, also points to an abundant supply.  Last year, Colombia's drug police used U.S.-supplied planes to spray glyphosate herbicide on 424,000 acres of coca and opium poppies, and they manually eradicated an additional 42,100 acres of coca.  In 2005, authorities fumigated almost 345,900 acres, but the United States found the amount of coca surged 26 percent, to 355,831 acres.  Now we find that in 2006, coca production has again surged, to 388,400 acres.  This is unacceptable.
White House Drug Czar John Walters has argued that the unexpected rise was a statistical aberration owing to a near doubling of the area surveyed.  I am not satisfied with this explanation.  The American taxpayer deserves solid evidence that a $5 billion project is effective, and I see no evidence of that in the information we have been given.  I would be interested to know from Mr. Walters how confident he is in his own measurements, how he determines whether his efforts are succeeding, and what his goals are moving forward. 
Additionally, I would like to know why, given what we know about "Plan Colombia," Mr. Walters has chosen to pursue eradication efforts more aggressively than interdiction efforts.  Further, I would like to know how he justifies spending $5 billion on a failed international program when there is such a great need for treatment and prevention programs here at home.  And finally, if his intention is to cut off coca production in Colombia, I would like to know why he has not focused more efforts on providing the people of Colombia with alternatives to growing coca.
I appreciate your attention to this request.  If I can be of any assistance, please feel free to contact Ms. Danielle Grote in my office at (202) 225-4741.
Sincerely,

Elijah E. Cummings
Member of Congress
cc: The Honorable Henry A. Waxman, Chairman, Oversight and Government Reform Committee
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