[Congressional Record Volume 144, Number 50 (Wednesday, April 29, 1998)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E695]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]

[[Page E695]]



                         DEA'S EXCESSIVE FINES

                                 ______
                                 

                             HON. TOM DeLAY

                                of texas

                    in the house of representatives

                       Wednesday, April 29, 1998

  Mr. DeLAY. Mr. Speaker, just before adjournment last year, Congress 
passed the Commerce, Justice, State Appropriations Conference Report 
directing the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) to ``exercise 
appropriate discretion'' and ``not impose unreasonable monetary 
penalties for minor, unintentional violations'' of record keeping 
requirements.
  Unfortunately, in January of this year, the DEA either failed to take 
that directive seriously, or they have a serious problem interpreting 
the definition of the words ``appropriate discretion'', ``unreasonable 
penalties'', and ``minor, unintentional violations.'' In Wichita Falls, 
Texas, twenty-five pharmacies received letters from the DEA asking them 
to pay fines up to $400,000 for record keeping mistakes that were not 
even their fault.
  Mr. Speaker, it appears we may have another federal agency out of 
control. I only hope we don't have another IRS-type fiasco on our 
hands. At the very least, we have a flawed statute if it allows any 
federal agency to fine a business $25,000 per paperwork mistake. If the 
shoe was on the other foot, and taxpayers were able to deduct a sum of 
that size from their taxes for unintentional errors generated by 
bureaucrats in federal agencies, the government would be dead broke.
  Mr. Speaker, we should not take lightly or tolerate a federal 
agency's disregard or neglect of a very clear directive by the 
Congress. I plan to pursue this matter further and will solicit the 
support of my colleagues to come up with an appropriate solution.

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