[Congressional Record Volume 143, Number 143 (Wednesday, October 22, 1997)]
[House]
[Pages H8995-H9002]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                            THE WAR ON DRUGS

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under the Speaker's announced policy of 
January 7, 1997, the gentleman from New Jersey (Mr. Pappas) is 
recognized for 60 minutes as the designee of the majority leader.
  Mr. PAPPAS. Mr. Speaker, the war on drugs is just that, a war. What I 
and a number of our colleagues will be talking about over the next 60 
minutes or so is the war on drugs.

                              {time}  1900

  In my opinion, there are few issues that are facing the people of our 
country as important as that. And this dialogue that we are going to be 
having tonight is really a continuation of what has been going on 
around the country for many years now; unfortunately, many decades.
  Mr. Speaker, each of us represents approximately 600,000 people in 
this House and unfortunately what had been a problem in maybe just 
certain urban settings 20, 30 years ago has now spread throughout 
suburbia and even into the rural areas of our country.
  Each of us here took the oath of office to serve the people that 
elected us and the majority of the issues that we deal with seem to be 
about national defense, about our balanced budget plan, about providing 
for tax relief for the people of our country. Yet there is a generation 
that is growing up that is facing, in my opinion, a very uncertain 
future because of the drug culture that is so rampant throughout our 
communities.

[[Page H8996]]

  Mr. Speaker, I want us to focus on a couple of things here tonight, 
something that we have debated here in this Chamber just recently, and 
that is what should our goal be? Is it, in fact, realistic to try to 
see our young people focus on something else other than drugs?
  Mr. Speaker, the gentleman from Illinois [Mr. Hastert] has asked us 
to focus upon a goal: Reducing the usage of drugs by teenagers from 6 
percent to 2 percent by the year 2001.
  Unfortunately, there were some Members in this Chamber just a few 
days ago that spoke about that as being unrealistic, one that was, as I 
understand their statements, meant to set the national drug czar's 
office up for failure. I know that that was not the intent. I think it 
was to set a goal that is important that we focus upon to try to see 
that become a reality.
  In my district in central New Jersey, I have undertaken certain 
initiatives to try to speak out about this, use the small bully pulpit 
that I have been fortunate enough to have to challenge the young people 
of my district, and here challenge the young people throughout our 
country, to enter a poster in an essay contest. I wrote to each of the 
principals of the schools throughout the 67 towns in my district, and I 
asked them if they would give the young people in their schools an 
opportunity to participate. The theme is this: ``What I can say yes to 
instead of drugs?''
  We all know that back in the 1980s when Ronald Reagan was President, 
the First Lady, Nancy Reagan, undertook a ``Just Say No to Drugs'' 
campaign, and some were critical or somewhat cynical of that rather 
simple message, but it was very successful. This I would like to think 
is the next step, trying to focus on a positive aspect of the future 
possibilities that face our young people.
  I believe that we as Members of Congress need to do whatever we can 
to focus our constituencies' attention to challenge not just people in 
education that are very dedicated to try to see young people get a good 
education, but to challenge people from all walks of life that we all 
have a stake in this.
  Mr. Speaker, I want to just mention a few statistics. I see I am 
joined by my colleague from Tennessee [Mr. Wamp], who I would like to 
yield to in a moment, but first I will list some statistics that were 
very sobering. This was from a report from Columbia University. They 
conducted a study that states 41 percent of high school students say 
they can get drugs easier in schools than on the streets. By the time 
the average teenager reaches the age of 17, 68 percent can buy 
marijuana within one day; 62 percent have friends who use marijuana; 58 
percent have personally been solicited to buy marijuana; 43 percent 
personally know someone with a serious drug problem; 42 percent say 
that they can buy marijuana easier than beer and cigarettes.
  That means youngsters throughout our country can purchase a banned, 
illegal and dangerous substance easier than they can purchase something 
freely that is sold in a store or any market. That should cause us all 
to be very concerned.
  The efforts that I have described, this drug and poster contest, some 
people may make light of it, but based on the initial reaction that we 
have gotten just the other day, in fact, Congressman Hastert and I held 
a hearing in Freehold Borough High School, which is the county seat in 
one of the counties that I represent. The gentleman from Illinois has 
been going all around the country holding these hearings to hear from 
the people on the front lines, the educators, people in law 
enforcement, people who are from community-based organization or 
religious institutions who are dealing with people struggling with this 
most important problem and hearing from them; hearing about local 
solutions to a national problem.
  Mr. Speaker, that is something as someone who has served as a town 
council member, as a mayor, as a member of my town governing body, I am 
a great believer in local solutions to national problems. I believe 
that some of the most innovative ideas come from people in our 
communities and not from here in Washington, D.C., and not to be 
critical of our State governments, but maybe not even our State 
capitals, but from our communities, from our places of worship, and 
from our students.
  We even had four schools participate in this hearing. Eight students 
wanted to speak, ask questions, or just express their positions, and I 
will get into that a little bit later.
  Now, Mr. Speaker, I want to yield to the gentleman from Tennessee 
[Mr. Wamp].
  Mr. WAMP. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman from New Jersey for 
yielding, and commend him and the gentleman from Texas and the 
gentleman from Arkansas and the gentleman from Colorado and the 
gentleman from Pennsylvania for spending this time to focus on this 
issue. To the gentleman from New Jersey I will say they are on the way, 
there will be several speaking because this issue does not receive 
enough airtime in America today, this issue of drug and alcohol abuse.
  This is an interesting fall, Mr. Speaker, because on the heels of an 
unprecedented bipartisan agreement to balance the Federal budget 
between the President and the Congress, the sea of public opinion is 
relatively calm. As a matter of fact, we heard two weeks ago national 
bipartisan surveys that indicated that there were no real issues that 
jumped off the page in surveys in the double digits when asked: What is 
the number one problem in America? Three issues were at 9 percent, but 
for the first time in many years the economy is good and people are 
relatively comfortable, so the sea of public opinion is relatively 
calm.
  But let me say this, Mr. Speaker. I believe that what lurks 
underneath that calm sea of public opinion today is extremely dangerous 
and we need to spend some time focusing on it and we need to raise the 
awareness of the American people, because as we face the turn of this 
great American century into what I hope and pray is another great 
American century, the 21st century, we need to recognize that the 
grandchildren of the baby boomers are becoming teenagers.
  I served, Mr. Speaker, on the Bipartisan Task Force, and the 
gentleman from New Jersey spoke of the work of the gentleman from 
Illinois [Mr. Hastert]. The gentleman from New York [Mr. Rangel] and 
the gentleman from Illinois [Mr. Hastert] cochair a bipartisan working 
group here in the Congress on drug and alcohol abuse. We had a briefing 
a few months ago from Louis Freeh, the head of the FBI, who talked 
about numbers of teenagers. Because while violent crime and drug abuse 
is on the decline among grown people, it is on the increase among our 
teenagers and herein lies the problem.
  We are on a collision course through the turn of the century. More 
and more teenagers, as a matter of fact, the bell curve in 2005 is the 
highest concentration of teenagers that we have had in the history of 
our country, we are told, more teenagers as a percent of our population 
than we have ever had. That is wonderful in a sense. It is the 
grandchildren of the baby boomers. But when suicide, violent crime and 
drug abuse is on the incline, and the number of teenagers is on the 
incline, and families are breaking down at unprecedented rates, it is a 
recipe for disaster and we must once again as a Nation come together at 
every level and recognize what this problem really is.
  Mr. Speaker, we are told the common denominator of violent crime 
among teenagers in America, the most common denominator is 
fatherlessness. People without fathers as they are growing up have a 
much higher propensity to commit a violent crime. The number two common 
denominator is alcohol abuse. Drug and alcohol abuse is destroying our 
country.
  Now, I know today things are relatively comfortable and many people 
might not recognize that, but it is true and we must address it. Drug 
and alcohol abuse is the manifestation of a hopelessness that is now an 
epidemic in this country, and what we need as we approach this next 
great American century is a zero tolerance policy at every level of our 
society on drug and alcohol abuse.
  Mr. Speaker, I use the two together because many people talk about 
drug abuse and they overlook the fact that alcohol abuse is even more 
prevalent in our society than drug abuse. It is the number two common 
denominator of violent crime in our country and violent crime is going 
to be an even greater problem as we turn this century than it is today.
  Now, what do we need to do about it? We need a balanced approach on 
substance abuse between prevention,

[[Page H8997]]

treatment, and interdiction. Today, if my memory serves me correctly, 
we spend about $16 billion through the Federal Government fighting the 
drug war. About 20 percent of that money is spent on interdiction and, 
frankly, that is where we can actually document the most success at 
fighting the war on drugs, through interdiction.
  The military is doing an excellent job. There are four supply 
countries. We actually now do a better job of intercepting drugs from 
those supply countries than we have ever done. The transit zone in 
Central America, we have really restricted the transit of illegal drugs 
into this country. But we are only spending 20 percent of our gross 
resources on interdiction, yet that is where the most success actually 
is today. We need to spend more money and help our military fight the 
international war on drugs. I really believe that.
  We are spending a lot of money on prevention, and I think there are 
ways by block granting we can spend it more effectively. A lot of money 
is being spent on prevention. Prevention really starts at home. If we 
leave it up to the government to stop substance abuse, and we overlook 
the importance of the home, as Ronald Reagan used to say, the most 
important decisions in America are not made in Washington, D.C.; they 
are made around the dinner table of American families. Is that not 
true?
  Treatment is an interesting piece of this, because I believe that 
treatment should be available in this country to anyone who wants it 
who has a substance abuse problem. But I can also say that I believe 
treatment works for people who want treatment, and treatment does not 
work for people who do not want treatment. That sounds obvious, but we 
are actually spending a lot of money providing treatment to people who 
do not even want to get better and, therefore, it is not successful.
  Mr. Speaker, we need a balanced approach on all three aspects of 
fighting a real war on substance abuse, I would say to the gentleman 
from New Jersey. Not just a war of words, but a real attack on this.
  Mr. Speaker, we need cooperation from the mayors who actually do not 
need to be lectured by those of us in Congress. They need our help. The 
district attorneys need our help. We need the administration, the 
Presidential administration to cooperate. And the Congress needs to get 
more serious about this issue as we approach the turn of the century 
than we have ever been.
  We need to recognize this is a national crisis. It is ripping apart 
the fiber of our society, drug and alcohol abuse, and it is going to 
take a team effort to fight it. The gentleman from New York [Mr. 
Rangel], who serves as the distinguished cochairman of our task force, 
he actually has said at several meetings that he did not really 
appreciate Nancy Reagan when she was First Lady, but he misses her now 
and he said, at least then, somebody was saying that it was important 
to just say no to drugs. Now, we do not have that focus, and there is 
something about all of us leading by example and hammering away at this 
issue that this is a national crisis, drug and alcohol abuse.
  It is going to take a team effort. We need to get underway. I 
appreciate this night being a start and a step in the right direction. 
I commend the Members of this freshman class for bringing this issue to 
the floor, and I thank you.
  Mr. Speaker, I yield back to my friend the gentleman from New Jersey.
  Mr. PAPPAS. Mr. Speaker, I thank my friend. I hope that Mrs. Reagan 
is watching. And if not, we will have to see that she gets a copy of 
this to pay tribute to her dedication to this effort. It is one that is 
so important.
  Mr. Speaker, just earlier this month I introduced a resolution, House 
Resolution 267. It is a Sense of the Congress Resolution, and it 
basically states and encourages citizens of our country to remain 
committed to do whatever we can to combat the distribution, sale, and 
illegal use of drugs to our Nation's youth and by our Nation's youth.

                              {time}  1915

  For those of my colleagues who are here who have yet to become 
cosponsors of this particular resolution, I certainly would encourage 
them to do so.
  Now, Mr. Speaker, I would like to yield to another member of our 
freshman class, my friend, the gentleman from Texas [Mr. Sessions].
  Mr. SESSIONS. I thank the gentleman, Mr. Speaker, for yielding to me.
  I am glad to be here today because the problem of drugs in our 
country is dire and urgent. There is a moral crisis in America.
  I want to use some of the data published in a report by the House 
Subcommittee on National Security, International Affairs and Criminal 
Justice to illustrate just how bad this moral crisis is.
  The report entitled, National Drug Policy: A Review of the Status of 
the Drug War, details the startling use and rise of drug use among 
Americans, all Americans, but most especially those that are young 
Americans.
  According to the 1994 Michigan University study, 13 percent of eighth 
graders experimented with marijuana in 1993. That is almost twice the 
1991 level. Experimentation among 10th graders increased about two-
thirds the previous 3 years. And daily use among high school seniors 
was up by half over the 1993 levels. Increasing use was also reported 
in 1994, by the Drug Abuse Warning Network Data, which collected data 
from emergency rooms around the country on drug-related emergencies in 
1993. That data showed an 8 percent increase in drug-related emergency 
room cases between 1992 and 1993, 45 percent of which were heroin 
overdoses. Cocaine was also at an alltime high, having almost doubled 
since 1988, and marijuana emergencies increased 22 percent between 1992 
and 1993.
  1995 data is even worse. The National Household Survey, released in 
September 1995, shows that overall drug use among kids, ages 12 to 17, 
jumped 50 percent in 1994, from 6.6 to 9.5 percent. The National Pride 
Survey of 200,000 students shows that one in three American high school 
seniors now smokes marijuana. There has been a 36-percent increase in 
cocaine use among students in grades 9 through 12, from 1991 to 1992, 
and hallucinogen use by high schoolers has risen 75 percent since 1988 
and 1989.
  Finally, October 1995 DAWN data says that in 1994, cocaine-related 
episodes reached their highest level in history and registered a 15 
percent increase from 1993, and a 40 percent increase from 1988.
  On top of this, marijuana or hashish-related emergencies rose 39 
percent from 1993 to 1994. And total drug-related emergency room cases 
rose 10 percent between 1993 and 1994.
  The reason we are here today is to call on all Americans to join in 
this fight against drugs. As we know, this is Red Ribbon Week across 
America. That is what those red ribbons are there for. That is why we 
are calling on Americans now to join with us at this time to fight 
drugs.
  But parents can also start by demanding that their children and the 
schools that they attend, that they learn to be drug free. The fight 
against drugs must be waged in churches, schools and by every family in 
America. Kids should report drug dealers to their teachers, and parents 
and teachers need to do what they know is right by leading by example 
and doing the right thing. And that is by saying, no. I also wish 
adults had the courage to do the same thing.
  Currently, there is also a drug that has taken hold in neighborhoods 
throughout America, and this is wreaking havoc. This drug is called 
methamphetamine or it is called speed, crank or crystal. If there is a 
drug that enslaves the mind and destroys the soul, this is it.
  According to a report by the Drug Enforcement Administration, and I 
quote, the extreme agitation and paranoia associated with the use of 
methamphetamine often leads to situations where violence is more likely 
to occur. Chronic use of methamphetamine can cause delusions and 
auditory hallucinations that precipitate violent behavior or responses. 
End of quote.
  This is a violent drug that devastates the user. DEA Administrator 
Constantine, in a statement, attested to the horror of this drug, when 
he said, and I quote, during the summer in New Mexico a father, while 
high on methamphetamine, beheaded his 14-year-old son. Administrator 
Constantine also described how a mother and 3 young children under 5 
were recently seriously burned when a meth lab exploded

[[Page H8998]]

causing a fire in their home. Two of the children were rushed to the 
hospital in critical condition and one died. The responsible father 
fled the scene, abandoning his critically injured family before rescue 
teams arrived to assist them.
  Methamphetamine, just like other drugs, is a cancer on our society. 
In 1994, there were over 700 methamphetamine-related deaths in the 
United States. In several cities, meth-related deaths are up over 50 
percent in the last three years. And in 1995 alone, the DEA seized 241 
methamphetamine laboratories.
  Methamphetamine is easier to manufacture in the United States because 
its precursor chemicals are more readily available. If the penalties 
for the manufacture of this killer drug do not deter its production 
within our borders, how are we going to stop its rising use? I think we 
should make punishment more severe so that we push it out of America's 
cities and towns.
  It is important to note that the danger from those chemicals used in 
the manufacture of methamphetamine is immense. They are highly 
flammable and explosive and can cause extensive damage to first 
responders, including law enforcement, firefighters and civilians, as 
well as devastation to our environment.
  We must give law enforcement the tools to deal with this epidemic 
efficiently by getting those drug thugs off our streets. I believe that 
those involved in the manufacture and distribution of methamphetamine 
should spend the rest of their lives in prison. I have drafted a bill 
to do just that, the Speed Manufacturing Life in Prison Act of 1997.
  This legislation will help stem the rise in methamphetamine 
production by giving those involved in the manufacture and distribution 
of methamphetamine a mandatory sentence of life in prison.
  This is just one way to address the problem of drugs in our society. 
Unfortunately, in Washington, there are many who cannot even agree how 
to address the problem.
  According to the General Accounting Office, the bipartisan watchdog 
agency of the Federal Government, the current drug policy under the 
leadership of the Office of National Drug Control Policy is not clear. 
It is not coordinated. It is not comprehensive, and it is not 
consistent.
  It is no wonder we are here tonight calling on the families and 
communities of America to help us solve this problem. To save our 
children we will have to all work together and, if we do that, we can 
ensure that the lives of our children are safer, more productive and 
free of the drugs that can cripple the mind and destroy the soul.
  I want to thank the gentleman for being here tonight. I want to thank 
my good friend from New Jersey for allowing me the opportunity to speak 
on this important subject tonight.

  Mr. PAPPAS. Mr. Speaker, I thank my friend from Texas for his 
participation. We have spoken about this, and I commend him for the 
leadership that he has shown and the legislation that I think I am an 
original cosponsor of.
  Mr. SESSIONS. You are.
  Mr. PAPPAS. We have spoken about a number of specific areas of the 
country and a number of drugs in particular that people are abusing. I 
know we have spoken about heroin. I know you have some thoughts. I am 
wondering if you would share that.
  Mr. SESSIONS. Yes. We have a terrible problem in Texas. Just outside 
of Dallas, in a neighboring community, we have had a minimum of eight 
heroin-related deaths by teenagers in the last year. Of course, this is 
causing a lot of inward thought to the community. And I want you to 
know that every single time those parents say, please talk about the 
problem, please tell the story, because many of them did not even 
recognize that their children were even on drugs. So this is why I 
think this is important. I thank you for bringing that up.
  Mr. PAPPAS. I thank you very much.
  We are joined by yet another member of our class, my friend from 
Arkansas. I would like to yield to the gentleman from Arkansas in a 
moment.
  Before I do that, I know that we all have heard an awful lot about 
those in our society that think that the answer is to legalize certain 
drugs and that that will unclog our court system. And I disagree.
  Just last week I met with a group of police chiefs from one of my 
counties in the district, Hunterdon County. When I concluded my remarks 
and I just made my last pitch, so to speak, to indicate that my door is 
always open to them and I hope that they do not feel that they cannot 
offer a suggestion or a viewpoint, if it is unsolicited, one of the 
comments that one of the gentlemen made was that a response that some 
have to our drug epidemic of legalization is not the answer, sending 
the exact wrong signal.
  I know that the gentleman from Arkansas, my friend, who is here 
joining us has had a very distinguished career in many capacities. 
Certainly, I am glad to see him here tonight, certainly glad to serve 
with him in this House.
  Mr. Speaker, I yield to the gentleman from Arkansas [Mr. Hutchinson].
  Mr. HUTCHINSON. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman from New Jersey. I 
am grateful that he has taken the leadership in addressing this very 
important subject. Hopefully, by our discussion, we can center some 
legislative activity but, most importantly, some momentum in our 
country to reinforce and reinvigorate the war against drugs.
  I approach this subject as a former Federal prosecutor, serving in 
the Reagan Administration as United States Attorney, but more 
importantly, I approach this subject as a parent. I have raised three 
teenagers. I have another one coming. I know the struggles that parents 
go through in dealing with this very, very tough issue, because it 
truly affects all families.
  I think back during the 1980s, when I was a United States Attorney 
and my wife Susan was involved in ``Just Say No'' clubs, starting them 
in the schools, encouraging young people to think about their decision 
and their commitment in regard to drugs.
  This last week I had a very interesting experience. I serve on the 
House Committee on the Judiciary on the Subcommittee on Crime. We had a 
hearing in the Subcommittee on Crime in which we had a witness who we 
called Mr. Rodriguez, which is not his real name, but he assumed that 
name to protect his identity. He further protected himself by coming to 
testify before Congress with a hood over his face to protect him 
further. And he was from New York City. He was in prison. He had pled 
guilty to drug trafficking.
  He was the number two person in the New York City branch of the 
Medellin drug cartel out of Colombia. So he is about as high as one can 
get in that drug structure in New York City.
  He testified about the drug federation, the Medellin federation. He 
testified as to his experience, the organization, trying to shed some 
light on what Congress can do, on what our country can do as we fight 
this devastating disease called drugs.
  As he testified, he talked about his organization which outmans and 
outguns law enforcement agencies on both sides of the border, both in 
Colombia and here, an organization that resorts to bribery, to 
kidnapping, to intimidation and murder to protect their trade and 
profits.
  He described the organizational structure in which we could see it, 
just like any organizational chart, the Medellin federation has 
consultants, financial and tax, administrative, legal, political, 
media. They have their operations for payments and deliveries, their 
security, their international operations for their shipments, their New 
York City branch. They have their distribution outlet, their 
deliveries, their warehouses and so on.

                              {time}  1930

  It is an organization that is as sophisticated as any business 
organization in America. But what is of interest, I believe, as I 
talked to him, I asked him four common sense questions that I think a 
lot of people in America would ask someone in that position in the drug 
trade.
  The first question I asked him was, how would he compare the 
resources of the drug organizations to the resources of law enforcement 
here in the United States? And I asked this same question in a previous 
hearing to the head of the FBI, the head of the Drug Enforcement 
Administration, and I got the same answer out of both. And the answer 
was, for Mr. Rodriguez, that he saw the resources tilting a little bit 
more on the

[[Page H8999]]

side of the drug federation, the drug cartel, and the drug 
organization.
  This flabbergasts me, that in a country as large as the United States 
we are outgunned, we are outmanned, and they have more resources on the 
opposite side. The point of that question and answer is that we have to 
have a commitment of resources, yes enormous resources, in this country 
to win this war.
  The next question I asked him was, what is the greatest weapon that 
drug dealers fear that law enforcement has? And the answer surprised 
me. His answer was extradition. And, of course, he is speaking as 
someone who was from Colombia that is in New York City, and from the 
Colombia perspective, the worst thing that could happen is that a drug 
dealer was extradited to the United States.
  I asked him to elaborate on that. He said they cannot fix the system 
in the United States. That is what we have going for us, is the 
integrity of our justice system. We can never let our prosecutors, our 
judges be attacked, our system be attacked, and get in the hands 
through bribery, through intimidation, of these drug dealers, as it has 
in other countries in South America and in Mexico.
  And then I asked him the question, the third question, does he and 
his other drug dealers use cocaine or other illegal drugs? And his 
answer was no, of course not, it is bad for business. And a drug dealer 
has the understanding, the sophistication, to know how dangerous drugs 
are. And if they understand it, our young people certainly must get 
that message very clearly.
  Then the final question I asked him was, what advice would he, as a 
person who is waiting prison time, what advice would he give a young 
person who is confronted by a drug dealer? And his answer was, as he 
stood there in prison garb with a hooded mask over his face, he said, 
look at me, do you want to wind up where I am? I hope our young people 
can think seriously and the parents can think seriously about the end 
result of drug dealing, of using drugs.
  But he did indicate that we are making progress. The encouraging 
word, the sophistication of law enforcement in dealing with money 
laundering, in financial transactions is really making it tough on the 
drug dealers. So we are making some progress.
  I see when I look at the drug problems, not just statistics but life 
stories, and when I was a United States attorney we looked at New York 
City as a far off territory, but I can cite numerous instances in which 
the drugs went straight from Colombia to New York City and straight 
from New York City to my State of Arkansas and then into the hands of 
teenagers. It was 98 percent pure cocaine. And with that level of not 
being diluted, it was straight from Colombia through New York City. 
What happens in New York City, what happens in Chicago, what happens in 
Dallas affects us in the rural areas. So this hooded witness impacts us 
all.
  And then I think about that young teenager who went to a high school 
in Arkansas, who never used drugs, who spoke against drugs in high 
school, and went to a college campus and in a short amount of time was 
free-basing cocaine. Why do I tell that story? It is because this could 
happen to anyone, and we have to clean up our high schools, we have to 
clean up our campuses, and we have to have an ever vigilant society in 
this dangerous situation.
  How do we win the war on drugs? It is commitment, commitment of 
resources, and then I think just as importantly, it is consistency. We 
were starting to make progress and win the war in the late 1980's and 
early 1990's and then we changed direction in 1992. And as soon as we 
did that, the teenage use of drugs went up. Marijuana, experimentation 
with cocaine went up and we started losing. We did not have the 
resources. Now we are starting to get back there, but we cannot change 
our commitment and the consistency we have to fighting this drug war.
  I know I have taken a little bit longer than I intended to. I thank 
the gentleman from New Jersey. I commend him for this. There is not a 
more important subject that we deal with in the United States Congress. 
But we have to put the resources in it, and the answer comes from every 
family, every community, every city in America who must take the bull 
by the horns and deal with this important issue.
  Mr. PAPPAS. Mr. Speaker, I thank my friend, and before he leaves, I 
want to compliment him not just on his statements here tonight, but 
also I can recall the early part of this year, I think the gentleman 
was one of the first members of our class that said we need to talk 
about this, and I am glad he is here and I hope we will continue to do 
this.
  Mr. Speaker, as a Member from central New Jersey, I frequently get 
visits from students in my district. It is about a 4-hour drive by car 
or bus, and I have been amazed at the number of students that have 
visited me here. But while I am home in New Jersey, I spend an awful 
lot of time visiting schools and speaking to students, all age 
categories, and I try to challenge them and ask them the question, 
where do they see themselves in 5 years, in 10 years, in 15 years, and 
try to make them realize that the choices they make now in grammar 
school, in middle school, and high school have a tremendous effect upon 
where they are going to be 5, 10, 15 years from now. We all need to 
challenge them.
  We are joined now by another distinguished member of our class, and I 
would like now to yield to my friend from Illinois [Mr. Shimkus].
  Mr. SHIMKUS. Mr. Speaker, I wish to thank the gentleman from New 
Jersey for running this hour for this message. It is one that I really 
get fired up about. I remember harking back to even the campaign days 
when this issue would come up, it stirs emotions in many of us, and my 
perspective comes from, I guess, the different jobs that I have held 
before coming to this floor, one being that of a military officer.
  We have done ourselves a great disservice by calling this a war on 
drugs, because we have never significantly started a campaign. We have 
not identified the resources. We have not focused the attention. We 
have not really, unfortunately, decided to fight a war on drugs. We 
like to use the verbiage, and I am aghast at it. So I wish we would get 
that out of our lexicon until we are ready to do it, until we are ready 
to fight the war on drugs.
  I think three things have to be done, and I think we are taking some 
steps in the right direction, but I do not want skirmishes, I want a 
war on drugs. I want to drive it from the land.

  A couple of things. We need to, as we did this year in the House, we 
need to say let us put military forces on the border and stop drugs 
coming across the country's border. And on the House floor we said let 
us put 10,000 troops there because this is a serious conflict that we 
are in and we need a serious commitment. So we have to do everything in 
our power to stop the importation of drugs from outside the Continental 
United States.
  Second thing is, and my colleague from Arkansas has had great 
experience, we have to punish the drug pushers. We need to identify 
them, which we can. They are on the streets. We need to arrest them. We 
need to lock them up. They need to be breaking rocks. They need to be 
sweeping streets. They need to be chained up so that they are an 
example. There is an example, when kids see a chain gang sweeping the 
streets of drug pushers. So if they do the crime, they do the time. 
And, of course, we have a judicial system that does not support that.
  The third thing is we just need to look at ourselves. And I am going 
to say shame on my colleagues who used drugs in high school that are 
still abusing drugs as adults. And I am going to say shame on the 
entertainment industry who glorifies the use of drugs. And I am going 
to say shame on the professional athletes who glorify drugs or abuse 
drugs. Because what this is all about is our children, and they are 
looking at the folks in the entertainment industry, they are looking at 
their parents, they are looking at sports leaders and idols, idolizing 
them, wanting to be like them. But we have adult leadership in our 
Nation, adult idols, and I hate to use the word ``adult'' because they 
are still caught in a juvenile world that thinks drug use is cool, and 
so we have to get that message out.
  An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure. We need to work on 
preventing the first use by children of drugs. We can stop it at the 
border if we commit ourselves, we can arrest the

[[Page H9000]]

pushers if we commit ourselves, but if we do not educate the children 
to make good choices, then those others are for naught.
  As a former teacher, as a West Point graduate, we lead by example. 
Children are crying out for leadership. They are crying out for good 
examples. And we as a society continue to fail our most vulnerable, 
which are our children.
  Our message is simple: Nancy Reagan was right. Just say no. The 
current administration is wrong when they laugh about it and they send 
the wrong message. We need to take the moral high ground. We need to 
talk to our kids. We need to plead with them. We need to lead by 
example. We need to just say no. If we truly love our children, we will 
tell them just say no. We will spend time with them and we will work 
with them.
  And to the gentleman from New Jersey, I again thank him for this 
opportunity. It helps air out some major concerns that I have that I do 
not get to address many times in some of the other forums.
  One of these days, and I just hope we get serious and that we will 
move in the right direction. As I see so often in this body, we really 
have no national policy on specific issues. We pick here and we pick 
there and there is no coordination. I would ask the drug czar to be a 
little bit more coordinating in these efforts.
  Mr. PAPPAS. I thank the gentleman from Illinois, and knowing of his 
family and seeing him with his boys here sometimes on the floor of the 
House, I know what he has said is heartfelt.
  Mr. Speaker, Monday, when we had that hearing back in my district in 
Freehold Borough High School, I mentioned that there were some students 
from three or four different schools in my district. One of them was 
the Manalapan Township High School, and there were eight students 
interested in coming forward and speaking their minds, and I would like 
to mention a couple of the things they said, because it really bears 
repeating.
  Several of them said that we need to put more emphasis on stopping 
drugs from coming across the border, north or south. Many of them 
mentioned that in their opinion the education system does not solve 
anything; that there needs to be more younger people closer to their 
age to speak to them about why doing drugs is not going to do anything 
for them in their future.
  Some view that the discipline that they are given is not very good. 
One of the students spoke that there is a smoking area outside of the 
school where some of the students congregate to smoke and a teacher or 
guard gives them some sort of a detention slip as punishment, and that 
they believe, the students believe, that more needs to be done to 
prevent even kids from smoking, which I believe is illegal for minors.
  I will speak about some of their other suggestions a little bit 
later, but now we are joined by my good friend, the gentleman from 
Colorado, Mr. Bob Schaffer, and I would like to yield to him.

                              {time}  1945

  Mr. BOB SCHAFFER of Colorado. I thank the gentleman from New Jersey 
for yielding and commend him for bringing this topic to the floor and 
allowing us to share a little bit tonight with each other and with the 
American people about an issue that is so crucial to the future of our 
country. I am a parent of 4 children. What I bring with me here to 
Washington is my hopes and dreams and aspirations for my children and 
all children just like them throughout the country. Tonight we have 
focused quite a lot on the drug abuse problem and juveniles and what 
our hopes are for children in America and I want to talk about that and 
what we can do as conservatives and as Republicans here in this 
Congress and focus for a moment, if you will, on some of the programs 
that exist. But again with the underlying thought being, what is it 
that we can best do to safeguard the future for our children in a 
positive and constructive way?
  Mr. Speaker, government programs are nice. In fact some even work. 
But when it comes to improving the general virtue of American children, 
few things matter more than fathers, faith and fortune. Sure, there are 
examples of public programs that have turned around the lives of 
youngsters, stood in where families were nonexistent or provided 
support where it was needed most. Virtually every social worker and 
counselor I have ever met genuinely cares about the youth they serve 
and are dedicated to straightening out juvenile lives.
  However, after 10 years in public service as a Colorado State Senator 
and a United States Congressman, I have come to the frank conclusion 
that too many government programs aimed at helping wayward youths fall 
far short of achieving their noble goals. The anecdotal stories of 
adolescents rescued from their troubled settings are regarded by grant 
writers and politicians to be all that is necessary to justify heftier 
appropriations from public coffers. Yet what public officials 
frequently fail to consider are the untold millions of young Americans 
robbed of economic opportunity by the mammoth bureaucracies inevitably 
created by an expanding welfare state.
  Always I ask how much a juvenile program spends per successful case. 
The calculation more often than not is dismaying. More vexing is the 
frequency of the worn retort, ``But, Congressman, if it helps only one 
child, isn't that worth it?'' When will we ever wake up and realize 
that our government spends too much on a welfare state that hurts 
children by making bureaucrats the gatekeepers of prosperity? The 
national debt has soared as a direct result of unbridled spending 
jeopardizing not only present income, but the future incomes of many 
generations. A child born today owes $20,000 as his share of the 
present debt. Over the course of his working life, the interest on that 
debt will amount to $200,000. For every child in America, this means 
less money for their education, less money for their insurance, less 
money for their college education and instead of capital to draw on to 
build their families and fortunes, heavy taxes to pay off the debt. No 
new Federal youth program no matter how ingenious can replace the 
security of these essential items of self-sufficiency. With such tall 
odds is it any wonder that today's youngsters feel disconnected from 
society, lose hope, experience great anxiety, and rebel against the 
rest of us?
  Worse yet, the common family feels powerless to offer answers. In 
1950 the median family of 4 paid just 3 percent of its income to the 
Federal Government in taxes. Today that figure has risen to 24 percent. 
When State and local taxes are thrown in, the typical family of 4 now 
pays 40 percent of its income in taxes to the government. The results 
of this disastrous policy are only too apparent. Even as its punitive 
tax policy discourages child rearing by traditional middle class 
families, the Federal Government continues to subsidize illegitimacy 
and broken homes. By placing crippling financial burdens on two-parent 
families, our government is essentially engineering social collapse. 
One need only consider the current juvenile crime statistics. Teenagers 
account for the largest portion of all violent crime in America. In 
1995, those under the age of 18 were responsible for almost 2 million 
violent crimes, more than one-fifth of all violent crime. It is 
reasonable to ask, where are their parents? While marriage and the 
stable two-parent family remain the most essential and central social 
unit in America, outrageous rates of divorce and out-of-wedlock births 
are destroying this crucial institution and weakening the development 
of the next generation. More and more children must grow up with little 
guidance from a parent who loves them. Youth violence is dominated by 
boys. More murder and robbery is committed by 18-year-old males than 
any other group. Research tells us the likelihood that a young male 
will engage in criminal activity doubles if he is raised without a 
father and triples if he lives in a neighborhood with high 
concentrations of single-parent families. 72 percent of adolescent 
murderers grew up without fathers and 60 percent of America's rapists 
grew up in homes without fathers.
  On the other hand, children living with both biological parents are 
up to 4 times less likely than other children to have been expelled or 
suspended from school. The tax burden on families with children has 
raised the cost of having children and forced many couples to endure a 
tradeoff between time at home and time spent at work earning money to 
support the family. The

[[Page H9001]]

tax system no longer helps families raising young children. Rather than 
defend the family and encourage marriage, the Tax Code does just the 
opposite. That is primarily due to the erosion of the personal 
exemption by inflation and steep increases in payroll taxes.
  Simply put, children need fathers. They need parents at home. They 
need an America offering economic promise, which strengthens the lot of 
parents and a society providing hope for economic participation, 
particularly at a young age. But economics is not the only place pro-
family leaders should look for solutions. America's moral decline is 
more often cited by experts as the fundamental cause of family 
instability. More than 4 out of 5 Americans, that is 83 percent, when 
polled, say they are deeply concerned about our moral and religious 
well-being as a Nation. They know we will never effectively reach out 
to America's youth by avoiding the essential challenge, the lack of 
spiritual life in society.
  As elected representatives, all political leaders ought to be able to 
discuss the need for spiritual renewal. And we should not be ridiculed 
and castigated for discussing the spiritual life of our society. 
Clearly our moral problems are too great to remain silent. Fortunately, 
where matters of faith are concerned, things are frankly not as bad as 
the media would have us believe. The fact that the majority of adults 
in this country believe there is a moral crisis in America is pressing 
policymakers to the conclusion that there are definite rights and 
wrongs when it comes to immorality. On increasing occasions, 
politicians are hearing from constituents their belief in the values of 
faith, family, community, responsibility, accountability, and they 
desperately want others, particularly their elected representatives, to 
believe in them, too.
  For America's youth, inclusion in a pious society is perhaps the 
greatest hope. It is clearly here where we can do the most to stem 
juvenile violence. A recent survey found that 93 percent of the 
American people believe in God. Historian Will Durant once concluded 
that the soul of the Nation is its religion. By that standard the 
American people are returning to the divine in record numbers. It would 
be the height of abuse if children were denied the chance to know the 
God who made them and the glorious truth of His presence among us 
today.
  On this point it becomes apparent that despite the best intentions of 
the Federal Government, this government is unable to fully embrace 
wayward youths in the wholesome custom that American people deep down 
know is needed. The notion of it takes a village is an errant message 
for Americans precisely because in America the village is too big and 
too impersonal to really care.
  Public institutions and bureaucracies cannot love. They possess no 
resources or emotion of their own to constitute true charity, and they 
are incapable of instilling the faith upon which our forefathers built 
a great nation.
  The only thing bureaucracies do well is spend other peoples' money, 
and they do it with reckless abandon on the chance that a program or 
two will actually hit its mark. That chance is far too great when a 
child's future stands in the balance.
  Sure government should legitimately continue to maintain a minimal 
safety net to save children from poverty, and protect their physical 
health, etc. But if America is serious about reserving moral decay and 
social disintegration for the sake of juvenile behavior we need to find 
ways to allow private, and faith-based charities to lead the way; for 
only they are unrestrained in conveying family values and moral 
precepts in godly terms that children need and understand. Moral 
absolutes are good but rarely exist in government settings.
  America's youth deserve a country that believes the Right to pursue 
Happiness is for real, that this right is unalienable, endowed by God 
and secured for every child. They deserve an America where government 
rewards honest hard work and respects the authority of families, where 
they are not unjustly taxed and where jobs are not regulated away.
  For juveniles to behave like Americans, they must be allowed to 
embrace the American Dream. They must be treated like real Americans 
and given the moral backing to thrive in a free society full of 
opportunity.
  Mr. PAPPAS. I thank the gentleman from Colorado for his enthusiastic 
comments and his dedication to his family and to our country.
  I yield to my friend from Pennsylvania [Mr. Peterson].
  Mr. PETERSON of Pennsylvania. I would like to thank and congratulate 
the gentleman from New Jersey for initiating this hour and this issue 
that we are talking about, I believe the most important issue facing 
this country. Our children, our young people, our future and the 
problem they face of drug use, which has just grown immensely. They 
have often talked about a war. I have not seen a war. As I look back on 
war, it is life and death. It is fighting till death takes over, or we 
win the war. I have not seen a war in this country. We may have called 
it a war, but it is a life and death issue, and I have not seen many 
leaders in this country that have made drugs a life and death issue.
  When we look at what goes on with professional sports today, how many 
football players in the National Football League and the National 
Basketball Association and Major League Baseball which is holding a 
World Series game tonight, how many of their players have had multiple 
drug use, have been arrested for drugs, have sold drugs and continue 
after some short penalty to be a leader in this country, a model that 
our young people look up to and they have had multiple drug crimes, 
multiple instances where they have used drugs in this country, a 
terrible example that we have allowed.
  Television and the movie industry have glorified drug use. The 
results of that have been 47 percent of 14-year-olds today say they can 
buy marijuana within a day. That is half of our young people. 76 
percent of high school students and 46 percent of middle school 
students say that drugs are kept or used or sold on school grounds. 29 
percent of high school students and 12 percent of middle school 
students say that a student in their school died in the past year from 
an accident related to alcohol or drugs, an astounding figure. 56 
percent of high school students and 24 percent of middle school 
students have attended a party in the past 6 months where marijuana was 
available. 41 percent of high school students and 18 percent of middle 
school students have reported seeing drugs sold in school or on school 
grounds. High school students say that 50 percent of their peers are 
using drugs at least monthly. 35 percent of teens cite drugs as the 
most important problem they face.
  Every youth group that I speak to, and I never turn one down, and 
some we organize and we bring them into our district from schools all 
over our congressional district. We used to do it in the Senate 
district when I served in State government, and we have panels of 
issues where we are teaching them about government and talking about 
issues, the number one issue they want to talk about is drugs. Why is 
it that young people bring it up again and again? Because they are 
scared, because they know in some instances that they do not do drugs 
and that they do not participate in alcohol. They are looked at as some 
kind of a square, they are not cool, they are not part of the in group. 
There is a little bit of good news. In 1996, there may have been some 
good news. Our overall current has remained about the same as last year 
and currently illicit drug use among teens 12 to 17 years old appears 
to have declined for the first time since 1992. However, current drug 
use among 18 to 25-year-olds is still on the rise. While teenage use of 
marijuana in the past month appears to have declined, in 1996 first-
time use of heroin and cocaine has increased. Heroin and cocaine is in 
our small towns. It is in rural America. It is not just in the cities. 
Many people made fun of or made light of the Just Say No campaign. But 
as we look back, even those who criticized it at the time realized it 
was a crystal clear message. There was no way you could dispute it. 
There was no way you could not understand.
  During that period of time, drug use was really declining. We were 
making major progress. And then we come to the current administration, 
the Clinton-Gore administration. Since they have been in office, 
marijuana use is up 140 percent. LSD use overall is up 183 percent. Use 
of LSD has reached its highest rate since they began keeping statistics 
in 1975. Fully 11.7 percent of the class of 1995 have tried it at least 
once, LSD. And we all know the dangers of that drug. The number of 
cocaine and heroin-related emergency

[[Page H9002]]

room admissions has jumped to historic levels. Perhaps most troubling 
is the rise in teen drug use during the Clinton administration. The 
number of 12 to 17-year-olds using marijuana has doubled. Teenage use 
of cocaine is up 166 percent.
  I think a lot of that has been this ambiguous message, no clear 
message. What are the costs? The costs are unmeasurable. Loss of loved 
ones. How many of us know a friend who has died? How many of us know a 
family who has lost a child? The juvenile suicide rate has skyrocketed. 
I have two granddaughters, Tara and Nicki. Tara is in seventh grade and 
Nicki is in fourth. My number one concern as a grandparent is their 
exposure to drugs in school because they are there. The school 
administration last year thought I was overevaluating the issue. But 
last spring at the close of the year, two 6th graders were arrested 
with drugs. The greatest problem facing this country is out of control 
use of drugs. Our young people are exposed to it on a daily basis. It 
is an issue that we must make the number one issue in this country. We 
must start a war on drugs.

  Mr. PAPPAS. Mr. Speaker, I get the same thing from students in my 
district. It is the number one issue as well. I now want to turn to the 
gentleman from South Dakota [Mr. Thune] and yield to him.
  Mr. THUNE. I thank the gentleman from New Jersey for yielding and 
credit him with the great work he has done in introducing a resolution 
which I think calls attention not only to the problem, helping define 
the problem, but also in terms of the solutions and where we need to 
look for solutions. I am proud to be a part of the effort tonight to 
draw attention to this important issue. If we look at what the future 
of our country depends upon and where America is headed, I do not think 
there is any problem that is more pervasive and more terrifying than is 
drug use in this country. Substance abuse is clearly public health 
enemy number one.
  If we look at the effects, they are seen in our Nation in so many 
different ways, from crime, to violence, to welfare dependency, to 
divorce, family breakup, domestic violence, child abuse, high health 
care costs, the spread of AIDS and other sexually transmitted diseases. 
The cost to our society according to a recent estimate is some $400 
billion a year.

                              {time}  2000

  I have always thought that my State of South Dakota, is somewhat 
immune from these pressures, but we are seeing an increasing evidence 
of drug use there as well. In fact, drug-related arrests have risen 
dramatically. In 1991, there were 1,308 drug related arrests. In 1995, 
there were 3,000. We are seeing a pervasive problem all over the 
country. It is something that I want to credit my friend from New 
Jersey for drawing attention to, and I hope that we can continue to 
have a dialog about what we might do as a country, as communities, as 
families, as churches, to attack this problem and deal with it in a 
very realistic way.
  Mr. PAPPAS. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman, and I hope that this 
is the beginning of how our House can continue to focus on this most 
important issue.

                          ____________________