[Congressional Record Volume 140, Number 84 (Tuesday, June 28, 1994)]
[House]
[Page H]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Printing Office [www.gpo.gov]


[Congressional Record: June 28, 1994]
From the Congressional Record Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]

 
                         A FAILED DRUG STRATEGY

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under the Speaker's announced policy of 
February 11, 1994, and June 10, 1994, the gentleman from New York [Mr. 
Gilman] is recognized during morning business for 5 minutes.
  Mr. GILMAN. Madam Speaker, across the country, students have been 
taking their exams and receiving their grades for the school year. Here 
in Washington, mid-term exams for the Clinton administration will be 
held in November.
  As a cofounder and vice chairman of the former Select Committee on 
Narcotics, I regrettably would have to give the Clinton administration 
a failing grade on narcotics if it were in my classroom. Let's look at 
the administration's record.


                             on leadership

  The President and his Cabinet have been virtually absent from the war 
on drugs. An on-again off-again approach has permitted Congress to cut 
many of the vital anti-drug budgets without any significant executive 
protest.
  Moreover, Madam Speaker, the administration abruptly ended 
intelligence sharing with Peru and Colombia--undercutting our 
interdiction of cocaine and leaving our allies in those countries 
furious--only to reverse course after an uproar in the Congress.
  In Burma, heroin production is soaring but the administration has no 
comprehensive strategy to deal with it. Leadership gets a grade of 
``F.''


                      with regard to interdiction

  There are five major components in our war against drugs--
eradication; interdiction; enforcement; education; and treatment and 
rehabilitation. All must be pursued simultaneously; none can be cut in 
favor of any other.
  In addition to cutting off narcotics intelligence to Peru and 
Colombia--where the administration has belatedly admitted that drug 
flights have increased--they have sought to cut millions from overseas 
interdiction programs.
  Reducing our interdiction efforts overseas inevitably leads to more 
and cheaper drugs on the streets of our cities. The administration gets 
an ``F'' for interdiction.


                      with regard to communication

  The President has communicated the wrong message on drugs. No 
opposition was voiced when the Department of Education's budget for 
safe and drug-free schools was suddenly cut.
  The President has been silent while Dr. Joycelyn Elders--Surgeon 
General of the United States and the Nation's top public health 
official--has spoken openly and repeatedly in favor of studying the 
legalization of drugs.
  In a recent interview in USA Weekend Magazine, she said the President 
told her, quote: ``I keep up with you by everywhere you go and what 
you've been doing. I love it.'' Close quote. An ``F'' for 
communication.


                            impact on crime

  The Administrator of the Drug Enforcement Agency estimates that 
illegal drugs account for one-third of the Nation's violent crime and 
half of the murders.
  Putting more police on the streets of our cities under the proposed 
crime bill will have little effect as long as interdiction efforts 
overseas are neglected. More and cheaper drugs available means more 
abuse. The connection between abuse and crime and violence is well 
established.
  The administration's impact on crime gets an incomplete grade because 
drug policy failures in other areas cannot yet be fully evaluated.
  Illicit drugs add billions to our health care costs, such as caring 
for crack babies, drug treatment programs, the spread of HIV by 
needles, and the loss of productivity.
  By neglecting the battle against illegal drugs, the President is 
undercutting the very cost savings he seeks through health care reform. 
Another incomplete grade on health care costs because they cannot yet 
be fully evaluated.
  Madam Speaker, so far the Clinton administration has failed in its 
narcotics efforts. In so doing, it has left the American people more 
exposed than ever to the ravages of illicit drugs.
  The administration has a lot to do to earn a passing grade in the 
November midterms.

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