[Congressional Record Volume 142, Number 133 (Tuesday, September 24, 1996)]
[House]
[Pages H10980-H10981]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
{time} 2245
AMERICA SHOULD TAKE A STAND AGAINST THE GROWING PROBLEM OF DRUG ABUSE
IN AMERICA
The SPEAKER pro tempore (Mr. Roth). Under a previous order of the
House, the gentleman from Arizona [Mr. Shadegg] is recognized for 5
minutes.
misrepresenting speaker gingrich to the american people
Mr. SHADEGG. Mr. Speaker, I, too, came to the floor to discuss the
issue of drugs. Before I do, I have to turn my remarks to a comment
made by one Member from the other side.
I have watched time and time and time again in this Congress, on this
floor, and in television ads across America, a clear fraud and
deception perpetrated on the American people. A quote from the Speaker
of the U.S. House of Representatives that he wanted to see HCFA, a
huge, massive Federal bureaucracy that has failed for decades to do its
job well, wither on the vine. He wanted to see HCFA wither on the vine.
I have watched my colleagues, one after the other on this floor, come
to the floor, as happened earlier tonight, and tell the American people
that that statement, wither on the vine, was said by the Speaker in
reference to Medicare.
No honest, self-respecting Member of this institution can come to the
floor and continue to perpetrate that misrepresentation to the American
people. The Speaker did not then nor has he ever urged that Medicare
wither on the vine. He urged that HCFA, a failed Federal bureaucracy,
should be replaced. I am tired of hearing it misrepresented.
Mr. Speaker, last night at my home I turned on the television after
having returned from a weekend trip where I attended two hearings on
the problem of drugs in America. As I turned on the television, the
camera went live from the TV studio to a location at an apartment
complex in my congressional district, where the Arizona Department of
Public Safety had just busted a metamphetamine lab in a large complex
of apartments. They detailed the danger to the other residents and the
fact that the operator of that metamphetamine lab had himself been
arrested on the exact same charge just 2 weeks earlier.
My colleague, the gentleman from Indiana [Mr. Souder], has pointed
out that the issue of illegal drugs is one that is not new, nor is it
being brought forth just for its political points. Rather, it is an
issue that our committee, the Subcommittee on National Security,
International Affairs, and Criminal Justice, under the leadership of
the gentleman from New Hampshire [Mr. Zeliff], has been aggressively
pursuing since the beginning of this Congress.
But I must tell the Members, we have so much more to do, and I am so
distressed by what has happened. I hope America is listening. I hope
they are paying attention. I hope they will cut through the fog of
those who say this is just politics.
Mr. Speaker, let me bring you some facts. Drug use among American
teenagers since 1992 has doubled in America. Overall drug use surged in
1 year, from 1994 to 1995, by a full 33 percent. That is a one-third
increase in a single year. Since 1992, 3 years ago, it has increased by
105 percent.
Yet, in the face of these staggering statistics, what has the White
House said? The White House said that this issue should not be
politicized. I agree. The issue of drug use, its terrorization of our
children, the testimony that I heard this weekend in Los Angeles
County, CA, about the music industry and the entertainment industry and
their casual attitude toward drug use in America, indeed, their
promotion in movies and records of the drug lifestyle, should not be
politicized.
The evidence I heard in San Luis Obispo at a hearing sponsored by my
colleague, the gentlewoman from California, Andrea Seastrand, where
witness after witness from the DEA in Los Angeles, from the DEA in San
Francisco, from the Border Patrol in San Diego, from the FBI, from the
San Luis Obispo County sheriff's office about the fight they are in for
the survival of this Nation and for the lives of our children against
the war of drugs being waged on America should not be politicized.
Yet, we ought to look at this issue. The President, who says we
should not make drugs a political issue, who says they should not be
politicized, in February, 1993, eliminated on his own, 83 percent of
the staff of the Office of National Drug Control Policy. The President
says we should not now politicize the issue of drugs. In his fiscal
year 1995 budget he called for eliminating 621 drug enforcement agents
at the DEA, the FBI, the INS, the Customs Service, and the Coast Guard.
The same administration which now says, in the face of the staggering
increase of drug usage by our children at every age level and among
every drug, it should not be politicized, issued an executive order
early in his administration which eliminated nearly 1,000 antidrug
positions in our U.S. military. The same President who now says we
should not politicize the drug issue in his fiscal year 1997 budget
proposal reduced drug ring interdiction spending, proposed that it be
reduced by an additional 25 percent.
Mr. Speaker, I listened to the testimony in San Luis Obispo,
testimony by the special agent in charge of the Drug Enforcement
Administration in San Francisco, Mr. William Mitchell, that marijuana
is today the No. 1 cash crop in the State of California.
When questioned by myself and others on the panel if that was a
factual statement, he said, absolutely, it is the No. 1 drug problem,
drug cash crop in the State of California. This is a serious problem. I
commend those who testified, and I urge our Nation to take a stand
against the continued plague of illegal drugs in our Nation.
Mr. Speaker, I include for the Record the testimony before the
Subcommittee on National Security, International Affairs and Criminal
Justice.
The material referred to is as follows:
Testimony Before the Subcommittee on National Security, International
Affairs and Criminal Justice
(By Edward C. Williams, Sheriff-Coroner, San Luis Obispo, CA)
Congressman Zeliff, members of the subcommittee,
Congresswoman Seastrand, I am Ed Williams, Sheriff-Corner and
Marshal of San Luis Obispo County. I have been a sworn police
officer in California for over 38 years, during portions of
five decades. I wish to thank you for the opportunity to
testify before you on a subject about which I have very
strong feelings and unfortunately extensive exposure.
The time allotted for me to appear before you does not
allow me the opportunity to bring large boxes containing the
thousands of research documents I have reviewed nor copies of
lesson plans and speeches I have developed, to train police
officers and inform
[[Page H10981]]
citizens about the impact of narcotics use in our state. I
won't be able to describe in detail to you the total
devastation to the lives of people, young and old, from the
streets of South Central Los Angeles where I grew up and
subsequently worked as a Homicide detective Supervisor, to
the luxurious homes of the Pacific Palisades in west Los
Angeles or from the very poor section of North Palm Springs
to the homes of some of the most wealthy people in this
country. I also won't have time to elaborate on the
helplessness that I feel as I watch the hard working members
of my office attempt to deal with the effects of the flood of
drugs coming into this country, knowing they will do the same
work over again when the defendants are released on bail and
eventually given probation, on the condition that they
participate in a treatment program that admits to a 97%
recidivism rate.
I do, however, have time to make a few candid statement to
you and hope that you receive them in the spirit intended.
First let me tell you that the term ``war on drugs'' when
applied to the government's response to the narcotics problem
in this country, were it not so serious a problem would
almost be humorous. This is not simply the view of law
enforcement, it is the opinion of criminals we deal with
routinely. Most are themselves baffled by the legal
gymnastics and lenient sentences they are given for the
very serious crimes they commit. I have personally known
criminals who are themselves shocked and confused by a
sentence so lenient they thought it may have been received
by mistake.
What can Congress do about it? I would suggest that
Congress decide that the destruction caused by drugs can no
longer be tolerated. Congress could withhold federal funds
from states that do not deal directly and seriously with the
drug problem. Congress could stop funding failed programs.
Congress should stop funding social programs, just because
they are packaged as drug prevention programs. If a program
is funded for a year, require proof of success, before it is
funded for a second year.
I don't believe this country can continue to act as if
there is a never ending supply of money available to fund
every whimsical program suggested, in hopes that there may be
some slight reduction in drug use. The fact is that long term
incarceration is cheaper than any alternative and it allows a
defendant time to benefit from treatment, without constant
exposure to the drug culture on the streets.
Congress should secure our nation's borders, not with more
border patrols using the present catch and release policy as
if fishing for an endangered species, but with a catch and
keep policy to stop the repetitious violations of our
borders. I believe a person who violates our border should be
incarcerated for a minimum of six months. We must stop the
cycle of people from all over the world walking back and
forth across our borders at will.
The military should be used in an all out effort against
drugs. It is clear that the problem is now so great that such
a response is clearly justified. There should be no
limitation of military support to federal and local law
enforcement, in the ``war on drugs''.
Finally, bring the considerable influence of Congress to
bear against those promoting the use of illegal drugs in any
form. Members of Congress should take a stand against the
legalization of marijuana in California, the promotion of
drug use on television, and the casual statements regarding
drugs made by political leaders which imply that narcotic use
is not a real problem in our country and everybody does it.
The fact of the matter is everybody does not do it, everybody
has not done it and when everybody does it the experiment
known as a democratic society will lay in ruins.
I am sure you are very much aware of the magnitude of the
drug problem in this country and many experts will provide
you with statistics on the subject. I would ask to introduce
two short publications into your record, if that is possible.
The first was published this month by Dan Lundgren, the
Attorney General of California. The booklet deals with the
methamphetamine problem in our state. The second was
published this year by the California Narcotics Officers
Association and is titled Marijuana Is Not A Medicine. This
pamphlet combats the argument that marijuana is somehow good
for people suffering life threatening disease.
I want to thank members of the subcommittee for the
opportunity to address you this morning and I would be
pleased to respond to any questions you may have.
____________________