[Congressional Record Volume 142, Number 119 (Wednesday, September 4, 1996)]
[House]
[Page H9930]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                       TIME TO JUST SAY NO AGAIN

  (Mr. CHRISTENSEN asked and was given permission to address the House 
for 1 minute and to revise and extend his remarks.)
  Mr. CHRISTENSEN. Mr. Speaker, we have a problem, a very serious 
problem that has cast a long, dark shadow over our great land. The 
problem, Mr. Speaker, is drugs. The United States has seen an 80-
percent increase in the use of illegal drugs in the last 4 years.
  This is an unconscionable statistic, a statistic that we can no 
longer afford to ignore. Cocaine use up by 166 percent and marijuana 
use up by 141 percent.
  Last year 1 in 10 kids used drugs regularly. That is too many. Our 
children are the real bridge to the 21st century, and they are being 
torn down by these drugs. It must end if we intend to give them a 
bright future.
  I knocked on 3,500 doors while I was back in Omaha during the August 
recess. I can't tell you how many people in Nebraska said to me one 
thing: find a way to fight the drug war.
  This in not an east coast or a west coast problem, an urban or a 
rural problem; it is a national problem.
  We live in the greatest Nation in the world and can ill afford to let 
this problem continue. It's time we said just said no again.

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