[Congressional Record Volume 146, Number 30 (Thursday, March 16, 2000)]
[House]
[Page H1080]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]


[[Page H1080]]
                          COLOMBIA AID PACKAGE

  (Mr. BALLENGER asked and was given permission to address the House 
for 1 minute.)
  Mr. BALLENGER. Mr. Speaker, let us face it, illegal drugs are killing 
our kids at an alarming rate. Every year we lose 52,000 young lives to 
drugs, nearly equal to the number of Americans killed in Vietnam over 
10 years.
  According to the U.S. drug czar, one of every two American kids will 
try illegal drugs by the time they reach the 12th grade; many will 
become habitual users, leading to a life of crime, or worse, death.
  This is staggering. The cost of drug abuse to our society is 
estimated to be $110 billion per year. Not to mention the cost of 
countless lives lost and dreams broken.
  Each day that we put off consideration of the Colombia aid package, 
more of our kids will fall victim to the estimated 14 metric tons of 
heroin and 357 metric tons of cocaine which enters our country each 
year.
  With our strong support, Colombia could be successful at slowing the 
flow of drugs from their country to ours. Failing to provide this 
important aid now may result in the loss of Colombia to the drug 
cartels and future generations of Americans to the drug addiction.
  I urge support for the Colombia aid package.

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