[Congressional Record Volume 141, Number 109 (Friday, June 30, 1995)]
[Senate]
[Page S9514]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]


             HEARINGS REVEAL CLINTON DRUG STRATEGY FAILING

  Mr. DOLE. Mr. President, Congressman Bill Zeliff has just held 2 days 
of outstanding hearings on the President's national drug control 
strategy. I think those hearings were very important, and the American 
people ought to know what Congressman Zeliff and his National Security 
Subcommittee discovered.
  You may remember that it was Bill Zeliff who invited Nancy Reagan and 
a number of other drug experts from around the country to testify in 
March of this year, and who held an all-day hearing in April with Dr. 
Lee Brown, the White House drug czar.
  Mrs. Reagan testified that we have to get back on track, and she was 
right. The fact is that drug use fell each year of the Reagan 
administration, and up until 1992, it continued to fall. For example, 
monthly cocaine use dropped from 2.9 million users in 1988 to 1.3 
million in 1992. Overall drug use dropped from 22.3 million users in 
1985 to 11.4 million users in 1992.
  Drug use has gone up with 17 and 18 year olds, 15 and 16 year olds, 
13 and 14 year olds. Now we are spending less on drug interdiction 
programs in this administration.
  But, as Congressman Zeliff's hearings highlighted, drug use since 
1993 has been steadily rising. A 1994 survey of 51,000 kids showed use 
of LSD, non-LSD hallucinogens, stimulants, and marijuana all up. 
Cocaine street prices continue to fall, while cocaine emergency room 
admissions are at historically high levels. In 1994, twice the number 
of 8th graders were experimenting with marijuana than in 1991, and 
daily use by seniors was up 50 percent between December 1993 and 
December 1994.
  During his hearings, Congressman Zeliff also turned up these 
disturbing facts:
  First, the head of DEA, Administrator Constantine, admitted that 
exploding drug use in this country and international drug
 cartels should be seen as our No. 1 national security threat. 
Administrator Constantine also admitted that rising casual drug use 
among U.S. kids is a timebomb waiting to explode.

  Second, the President's interdiction coordinator, Admiral Kramek, 
admitted that his office, which is supposed to coordinate the whole 
Nation's drug interdiction effort, has just six full-time employees--
and that the administration's interdiction effort has been cut for 3 
straight years.
  Third, officials at the DEA, the President's interdiction 
coordinator, and the head of U.S. Customs all suggest that President 
Clinton's drug strategy is not fulfilling stated expectations.
  Fourth, the General Accounting Office has
   released a report confirming that the administration's anti-drug 
strategy in the source countries is badly managed, poorly coordinated 
among agencies, and holds low priority in key embassies, including the 
U.S. Embassy in Mexico--despite the fact that 70 percent of the cocaine 
coming into the United States comes over the border with Mexico.

  Mr. President, I want to commend Chairman Zeliff for convening these 
important hearings. The hearings are a wake-up call to all of us in 
Congress that we must regain the offensive and renew our commitment to 
the war on drugs.


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