[Congressional Record Volume 144, Number 60 (Wednesday, May 13, 1998)]
[House]
[Page H3119]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                        RIDDING AMERICA OF DRUGS

  (Ms. GRANGER asked and was given permission to address the House for 
1 minute and to revise and extend her remarks.)
  Ms. GRANGER. Mr. Speaker, as a member of the Speaker's Task Force For 
a Drug-Free America, I am proud to support the Drug-Free Borders Week.
  Our Nation's drug crisis is real and it is also rising, but I have 
always believed that what is wrong with America can be cured by what is 
right with America. That is why I am so pleased to be a member of this 
task force.
  We believe the war on drugs is one that can be won, must be won, and 
will be won if only we have the courage to dream of a drug-free 
America.
  Where can we begin? We can begin by bringing some order to our 
borders. Seventy percent of all illegal drugs found in the U.S. 
originally cross the U.S.-Mexican border. Eradicating drugs meanings 
interdicting them. Interdicting them means stopping them in 
Brownsville, El Paso and San Diego.
  The Drug-Free Borders Act stiffens the penalties for those convicted 
of smuggling drugs over the border. The bill says to drug smugglers all 
over the world: If you bring drugs into this country, we will bring you 
to justice. This bill acknowledges that only when we close our borders 
to drugs can we open the doors of opportunity for our children. In 
short, by working together, we can save America from the scourge of 
drugs.

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