[Congressional Record Volume 143, Number 118 (Tuesday, September 9, 1997)]
[House]
[Page H7022]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




       LIMIT USE OF TAX DOLLARS FOR FREE NEEDLE EXCHANGE PROGRAMS

  (Mr. COBURN asked and was given permission to address the House for 1 
minute and to revise and extend his remarks.)
  Mr. COBURN. Mr. Speaker, coming before us today is a bill that has an 
allowable thing for the Secretary of Health and Human Services to 
control, and it is called free needle exchange programs.
  The reason I am up here talking about it is we know a whole lot about 
how to help people succeed. Our Government is getting ready to spend 
our tax dollars to help people fail by enabling drug addicts to have 
needles available to them, to violate the law, to use our tax dollars 
to have clean needles.
  There have been two studies in North America on this subject. Both of 
them show there is an increased transmission of HIV associated with 
free needle exchange programs and that there is an increased usage of 
drugs. We know that that happens. We know that in alcoholism.
  One of the precepts in treating alcoholism today in our country is do 
not enable the patient to fail by enabling their alcoholism. We need to 
apply that same thing when it comes to drug addiction in this country.
  I hope that my colleagues will support this limitation on using 
American tax dollars for free needle exchange.

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