madam chairman , i yield myself such time as i may consume . 
i want to thank chairman hyde and ranking member lantos for their exceptional work on this bill . 
i think they have done a great job and i think it is something that every member of the house should support . 
this amendment is the first of two that i am going to offer today and we brought this up because it was a recommendation made by the house international relations committee itself . 
it would authorize the state department 's bureau of international narcotics and law enforcement to acquire and transfer to the colombian navy two tactical unpressurized dc-3 maritime patrol aircraft to carry out drug interdiction operations in or near the coastal waters of colombia . 
we were down in colombia not too long ago and when we were done there our ambassador and the people who were working for the colombian military and the colombian national police indicated to us that they needed additional aircraft to be able to interdict drug trafficking that is starting in colombia and ending in the united states of america . 
these two aircraft i think will help in the fight against drug interdiction . 
we have been successful the last couple of years doing a pretty good of job of interdicting drugs . 
we picked up a couple of hundred tons more of cocaine last year and the year before that than we did before that . 
and with these two additional aircraft i think we will be able to do an even better job . 
so this is something i think that is not that controversial . 
it is an authorization . 
the cost would be between 10 and $ 20 million . 
it is something that is needed if we are going to continue the war against drugs . 
i urge my colleagues to support this amendment . 
madam chairman , i reserve the balance of my time . 
