[Congressional Record Volume 144, Number 138 (Tuesday, October 6, 1998)]
[Senate]
[Pages S11633-S11634]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                  HIGH-INTENSITY DRUG TRAFFICKING AREA

 Mr. SMITH of Oregon. Mr. President, I rise today to speak for 
a High-Intensity Drug Trafficking Area (HIDTA) designation for the 
State of Oregon. On October 1, 1998 Senator Wyden and I sent letters to 
the Director of the Office of the National Drug Control Policy, General 
Barry McCaffrey and Attorney General Janet Reno requesting the 
designation.
  High-Intensity Drug Trafficking Areas (also known as HIDTAs) were 
authorized in 1988 by the Anti-Drug Abuse Act of 1988 and are 
administered by the Office of National Drug Control Policy. HIDTA 
designations are granted to regions that are centers of illegal drug 
production, manufacturing, importation or distribution and have harmful 
impacts on the entire country. Once a HIDTA has been designated, 
increased funding is granted to the State, design strategies to combat 
drug threats are adopted and these designs are then strategically 
implemented. The Office of National Drug Control Policy's HIDTA Program 
has been profoundly successful in those regions where it has been 
implemented.
  Mr. President, the State of Oregon is in desperate need of this 
designation. Western States--California, Washington, Arizona, New 
Mexico, and regions in the Rocky Mountains--have received designations 
to help them combat tremendous drug trafficking challenges. Oregon has 
been too long without assistance, fighting national and international 
traffickers.
  This request is not idly made. It comes following more than a year of 
work with local and federal law enforcement agencies, and the U.S. 
Attorney's Office. There experience, dedication and tireless commitment 
to eliminating drug production, trafficking, and use is to be 
commended. Unfortunately, they have insufficient resources to combat 
this scourge in Oregon or the country. I appreciate their coordinated 
efforts and have learned through meetings with them and extensive work 
in my State that we must act--and act now.
  I am proud to report that in our first meeting of the HIDTA steering 
committee, of which I am a member, the Department of Defense announced 
it was sending Joint Task Force Six to Oregon to engage in a drug 
threat assessment. As we speak, Task Force Six is conducting its study 
in our state and will present its report to us at our next steering 
committee meeting on October 29, 1998. Having requested a copy of the 
threat assessment for Washington State's HIDTA Program in the Seattle-
Tacoma areas and met with Washington State Drug Enforcement 
Administration (DEA) specialists, I am confident our request will be 
accepted. The obstacles we face in fighting drug production and 
trafficking are similar.
  Oregon's central location along the Interstate 5, and its proximity 
to the coast, render it particularly vulnerable to those who move 
heroine, cocaine and marijuana. For many years traffickers have moved 
large quantities of illegal drugs along interstate 5, highway 101, 
highway 97 and interstate 84. Crackdowns along interstate 5 have been 
successful, but the insufficiency of resources has produced an 
unbalanced, under-powered drug defense. Drug shipments from Central 
America moving along these routes continue to increase, while Pacific 
Rim countries feed the problem through Oregon ports. These drug 
shipments are then trafficked throughout the continental United States.
  This flow, from sources outside Oregon, has introduced a criminal 
element into the fabric of Oregon society. They came to produce and 
sell drugs, and stayed to enjoy the climate, the abundance of space and 
breathtaking beauty, as well as the serenity and tranquility of our 
fields and forests. These very qualities that make Oregon unique are 
also the qualities that drug traffickers found beneficial to their 
trade.
  The facts are indisputable. In 1991, only 7 years ago, there were 39 
drug-related deaths in Oregon. There were 221

[[Page S11634]]

such deaths in 1997. Methamphetamine use among incarcerated adults 
increased from 30 percent in 1991-1992 to 49 percent in 1996-1997.
  Children are the most victimized. There were 629 juvenile arrests for 
drug offenses in 1991, and 2,392 in 1997. The number of juveniles 
treated in drug treatment centers increased from 1,742 in 1991 to 4,028 
in 1996. The Oregon Public School Drug Use Survey Key Findings Report 
states that since 1990, marijuana use by eighth graders--eighth 
graders--mind you!, has tripled, while marijuana use by eleventh 
graders has increased 68 percent. General illicit drug use by eighth 
graders has doubled since 1992, and over the same time period increased 
in eleventh graders by 21 percent.
  I have given this problem much thought in the past few months. While 
I am confident that a HIDTA designation is vital to our ability to 
deter drug trafficking and production, this problem has been further 
exacerbated by the current Administration's failure to focus and its 
diminished emphasis on the international component to the war on drugs. 
That is why I am proud to be an original cosponsor of the Western 
Hemisphere Drug Elimination Act of 1998 (S. 2522) which calls for an 
additional $2.6 billion investment in international counter narcotics 
efforts over the next three years. This bi-partisan legislation 
restores funding to international interdiction and eradication efforts 
that were all but abandoned in 1993. Without decreasing domestic 
funding or effort, this legislation recommits the nation to fighting 
drugs with a comprehensive international approach.
  We, Oregonians, are committed to the welfare of our State. We will 
drive the criminal elements from our borders. Finally, Mr. President, 
we have no choice but to fight. We have no alternative but to win. I 
thank the chair.

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