[Congressional Record Volume 142, Number 44 (Wednesday, March 27, 1996)]
[House]
[Page H2879]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                         STATUS OF THE DRUG WAR

  The SPEAKER pro tempore (Mrs. Vucanovich). Under a previous order of 
the House, the gentleman from Florida [Mr. Mica] is recognized for 5 
minutes.
  Mr. MICA. Madam Speaker, I come before the House this afternoon 
really concerned about a report that has now been released to the 
Congress. It is the National Drug Policy: A Review of the Status of the 
Drug War.
  Madam Speaker, I serve on the Committee on Government Reform and 
Oversight, and this product is from our subcommittee, which I also 
serve on, which is the Subcommittee on National Security, International 
Affairs, and Criminal Justice. This report should be required reading 
for every Member of Congress, should be required reading for every 
citizen of the United States, and it should be required reading for 
everyone who is involved in the media of the United States.
  This report details a history of total failure of our Nation's drug 
policy, and we see that decline almost immediately the moment that 
President Clinton took office. This is one of the most startling 
reports to ever be produced by the Congress, and I hope it gets the 
attention of every Member of Congress and every parent and everyone in 
the media.
  What it does is, it in fact outlines a policy of national disaster. 
President Clinton started this when he dismantled the drug office, and 
did not make drug prevention and attacking the drug problem a priority 
of this administration.
  Madam Speaker, when he talked about cutting the White House staff, he 
in fact cut 85 percent of the White House drug policy staff, and that 
is where the cuts came in. That is where the attention was not focused. 
Then he appointed Joycelyn Elders, who made drugs and drug abuse a joke 
and sent a mixed message. It was not the message of ``just say no,'' it 
was the message of ``just say maybe,'' and this report details the 
disaster that that policy has imposed on this Congress and on the 
Nation and our children.
  Under President Clinton's watch, listen to this, drug prosecution has 
dropped 12.5 percent in the last 2 years. You have heard the comments 
about the judiciary he has been appointing and their decisions as far 
as enforcement, which have made enforcement and prosecution a joke in 
this country.
  Madam Speaker, let me tell you the details of what this report is 
about and how it is affecting our children. Heroin use by teenagers is 
up, and emergency room visits for heroin rose 31 percent between 1992 
and 1993 alone. In less than 3 years, the President has destroyed our 
drug interdiction program, and we know that cocaine is coming in from 
Bolivia, Peru, and Colombia, and transshipped through Mexico, which he 
recently granted certification in the drug certification program to.
  What did we do with the drug interdiction program? We basically 
dismantled it. What are the results, again, with our children? Juvenile 
crime, in September 1995 the Justice Department's Office of Juvenile 
Justice and Delinquency Prevention reported that, now listen to this, 
and this is from the report: after years of relative stability, 
juvenile involvement in violent crime known to law enforcement has been 
increasing, and juveniles were responsible for about one in five 
violent crimes.
  We see what this failed policy of this Clinton administration has 
brought us. Juvenile use and casual drug use in every area, marijuana, 
cocaine, designer drugs, heroin. Every one of these areas is 
dramatically off the charts, and it is the result of a failed national 
drug policy, and the responsibility and the trail to responsibility 
leads right to the White House.
  Let me say finally that even the media coverage of this situation is 
terrible. It is a national disgrace that the media is not paying more 
attention, that they in fact put on one antidrug ad per day in markets 
and the Federal Government controls the airwaves, so the media should 
have as much responsibility for getting the message out, the message of 
this disaster created by this administration, and should begin a policy 
of education.
  Finally, the President's policy, every standard, including drug 
treatment, is a disaster, and I will detail this further in another 
special order.

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