Rep. Lynn Woolsey
Extension of Remarks
July 24, 2007

Madame Speaker, I rise today to express my concerns overthe continuing human rights violations perpetrated by the International LawEnforcement Academy (ILEA) stationed in SanSalvador, El Salvador. We cannot expect to promote stable democratic institutions in El Salvador byfunneling military aid through ILEA to support local police forces engaging inrepressive tactics.

Since President Clinton called for the establishment ofthe ILEA in 1995, the United Statesand participating nations have founded ILEAs in Hungary,Thailand, Botswana, ElSalvador, and the United States. Through ILEA, the U.S. hascontinued to provide military aid, training, and arms sales to participatingcountries, which threatens to aggravate regional conflicts and sidelineprograms designed to halt human rights abuses.

The use of excessive force by police and security forcesin El Salvador when targeting activists and their failure to protect workersrights to organize and bargain collectively has been at worse exacerbated andat best unchecked by ILEAs presence in the country. Furthermore, thegovernments failure to investigate human rights abuses calls into question theneed for ILEA to provide security forces with more tools that can be used torepress those working toward a truly representative democracy in El Salvador.

Madame Speaker, the Congress must take a hard and seriouslook at whether we should continue funding ILEA.  We should not supportprograms that claim to fight public corruption and provide opportunities for theglobal law enforcement community to share their expertise and training when, infact, they further the oppression of social and labor activists and do nothingto end a countrys human rights violations.