[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.

                          ____________________