[Congressional Record Volume 143, Number 28 (Thursday, March 6, 1997)]
[House]
[Page H787]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                              {time}  1300
  AMERICA MUST REENERGIZE ITSELF IN FIGHTING THE WAR AGAINST ILLEGAL 
                                 DRUGS

  The SPEAKER pro tempore (Mr. LaHood). Under a previous order of the 
House, the gentleman from Arkansas [Mr. Hutchinson] is recognized for 5 
minutes.
  Mr. HUTCHINSON. Mr. Speaker, today I rise to address a matter of the 
greatest public concern. Illegal drug abuse is soaring in our country, 
and it is the most serious social problem that faces our communities, 
our families, and our children. We hear this from every side. It is our 
children themselves who are telling us this. Thirty-five percent of 
teenagers ages 13 through 17 identified drugs as their most serious 
concern.
  Our law enforcement agents are telling us this as well. Thirty-one 
percent of the Nation's police chiefs believe that the best way to 
reduce violent crime is to reduce drug abuse. Drug-related activities 
have been identified as being at the core of the violent crimes, the 
property crimes, and, yes, domestic abuse which afflict our 
communities.
  During the 1980's our Nation declared a war against drugs. I was in 
that battle as a Federal prosecutor. It was during that time that our 
families, our communities, and our law enforcement officials mobilized 
in a united effort to fight this war. Because of this national crusade, 
teenage drug abuse declined from 1985 to 1992.
  Then what happened? It was then that our national commitment against 
this war of drugs waned. It was then that teenage drug use again 
started to increase, and we saw that teenage experimentation with drugs 
was on the incline.
  Today it is my belief that we need to renew our national commitment 
to saving our children, to restoring the vibrancy of our inner cities, 
and strengthening our families. How do we do this? By reenergizing 
ourselves in this war on drugs. We must not retreat. It is not the 
time. We must not be satisfied to hide in the foxhole. It is imperative 
that we fight on.
  It is particularly timely today that we reenergize our country 
because last week the administration released its report on our 
Nation's drug control strategy. In that report, the administration 
criticized the war against drugs, and said the term war against drugs 
was misleading. The administration preferred to adopt the language of 
pessimism, and say that we should more appropriately use the term 
cancer. To me the implication of using the word cancer in relation to 
our drug problems is that it implies that it is going to be with us a 
long time, and we simply must learn to live with it.
  I believe it is a war that we must fight, and not a problem that we 
must learn to accept and deal with. It is the wrong message when we 
change the terminology. It is the wrong message to our teens, who deal 
in symbols and listen to the nuances of language as to whether it is a 
serious national problem or it is something that is acceptable in our 
society. It is the wrong message to send with our families, who are 
struggling day in and day out, and as the parent of teenagers, I 
understand this. They face daily the corrosive effects of drug abuse. 
And it is the wrong message to our law enforcement officers who daily 
place their lives on the line in this struggle.
  In signaling a retreat from the war on drugs, we also undermine the 
efforts of other nations, which are looking to the United States of 
America for leadership. The other nations are putting the lifeblood of 
their leaders, in many cases, and soldiers out on the front line in an 
effort to stop drug production and trafficking within their own 
borders.
  While the administration says we should not call this a war, it 
refused to certify certain countries for not fighting hard enough, not 
fighting hard enough to stop the flow of illegal drugs into America. I 
applaud the administration for not certifying certain countries, but 
our country must lead in this battle. We must not change the 
terminology. We must call it a war, because it is a war for our 
families, it is a war for our children, it is a war for our streets and 
our inner cities, and it is a war that we must win.
  In Mexico alone, 40 drug agents were killed fighting the importation 
of drugs into the United States of America to satisfy the demand we see 
in our country. We must provide leadership to Mexico. We must provide 
leadership to South America. We must call it a war, because it is a war 
in which people's lives are being lost, not just in America, but also 
in other countries.
  So it is my hope that this administration will reengage itself in the 
war against drugs, that this Congress will reenergize itself, that we 
will provide leadership to our American families, to our teenagers, and 
to set the appropriate example. I pledge that support as a Member of 
this body.

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