[Congressional Record Volume 142, Number 105 (Wednesday, July 17, 1996)]
[House]
[Pages H7764-H7765]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




          DRUG ABUSE AND LACK OF LEADERSHIP IN THE WHITE HOUSE

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under a previous order of the House, the 
gentleman from Florida [Mr. Mica] is recognized for 5 minutes.
  Mr. MICA. Mr. Speaker, and my colleagues, I serve on the committee 
that has been dealing with the FBI files

[[Page H7765]]

misuse question and also serve on the subcommittee that deals with our 
national drug policy, and until today I never thought that the two 
issues would meet until I sat and heard the testimony of those who work 
for our Secret Service and viewed the proceedings in the White House.
  What I learned was most disturbing and concerns me as a citizen, as a 
Congressman, and someone who has always held the White House in the 
highest respect. It is the Chief Executive Office of our land.
  First, we heard the tales of an admitted drug user who ended up as 
the chief personnel security officer for the White House, an 
unbelievable tale in the White House Legal Office of ignoring the 
details of this individual's past in placing him in such an important 
position.
  I have come to the House and talked with my colleagues and tried to 
call to the attention of the Congress and the country the situation 
with drug abuse and use and the lack of leadership from the White 
House, and today it really struck home what has been happening.
  First, we saw the President take office, and then in a startling 
move, he cut the White House drug czar's office. He cut the staffing in 
the White House of the drug czar's office by 85 percent. That did not 
make sense. Then he cut drug interdiction programs, decimated them, 
that stopped drugs at their source countries, and that did not make 
sense and I wondered why. And then the President appointed as the chief 
health officer for the Nation, the Surgeon General, an individual who 
said to our children and the American public, ``Just say maybe. Maybe 
drugs are OK.'' And that did not make sense and I wondered why.
  Now I see this pattern of people who are in the White House, and most 
disturbing we learn today that the situation got so bad with people 
coming in that even the Secret Service, and these are people coming in 
with drug use and abuse histories, and some, it appears, current 
activities, that, in fact, the Secret Service demanded that some action 
be taken. And only after, through what has been called some remedial 
action, instituting a program within the White House, was something 
done.

  This administration has talked about regulating cigarettes and the 
harmful effects of nicotine, and this, I am afraid, has been a 
diversion. The real question is what has been happening with drugs, and 
we can look at the results. The results are that marijuana use among 
our children, our children, 50 percent a year each year since this 
administration took office. These are not idle statistics. These are 
facts.
  If we look at what is happening, this chart shows here that in 1980 
is when President Reagan just said no to drug use, and President Bush, 
and drug use with our children dropped. Here in 1992, it starts going 
up, and we see why.
  Cocaine, heroin, designer drugs are at epidemic proportions with our 
young people, 8th, 10th, 12th grades, and we see that the lack of 
leadership is the lack of a policy in the Chief Executive Office of 
this land.
  If you are a parent, you should be concerned. Our children's drug use 
is dramatically up. If you are a minority, you should be concerned. Our 
jails are packed with minorities. In Washington, DC, we have a record 
number of killings. And throughout our land, every time you turn on the 
news you see the mayhem created by drugs, and 70 percent of those in 
prisons today are there because of a drug-related incident, and the 
President has failed to mention this or make this a priority.
  Let me cite this statistic here. He gave 1,628 statements in 1993 and 
only mentioned drugs 13 times. In 1994 he gave 1,742 Presidential 
statements and only referred to drug use or drug abuse 11 times.
  We see this pattern that has not been a priority of this President. 
It has not been a priority of this White House. What we must have is a 
President that will lead this Nation and people in the Chief Executive 
Office of this land to lead by example.

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