[Congressional Record Volume 144, Number 34 (Tuesday, March 24, 1998)]
[House]
[Page H1385]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




          DRUGS ARE A GROWING NATIONAL CRISIS FOR OUR CHILDREN

  (Mr. GIBBONS asked and was given permission to address the House for 
1 minute and to revise and extend his remarks.)
  Mr. GIBBONS. Mr. Speaker, few in this body would argue that a more 
worthy cause for Federal funds exists than the fight to keep our 
Nation's children off of drugs. However, a six-year professional study 
released yesterday reveals that we are not winning the war on juvenile 
drug use.
  In fact, a dozen other recent studies have all come to the very same 
conclusion, that, overall, America's efforts just do not deliver on its 
promise to teach kids to resist drugs.
  According to this latest study, last year alone, hundreds of millions 
of dollars were spent on ``feel-good'' programs that have apparently 
had little or no effect on our kids.
  Mr. Speaker, this is a growing national crisis that is too important 
to ignore, too important for our children's future, and too important 
for us to fail.
  Mr. Speaker, this is not about laying blame or pointing fingers, it 
is about correcting mistakes. The young people in this country are our 
future, and it is our duty to see that they grow up in a world free of 
the scourge of drugs.

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