[Congressional Record Volume 147, Number 112 (Friday, August 3, 2001)]
[Senate]
[Pages S8900-S8901]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                        JOHN WALTERS NOMINATION

  Mr. SESSIONS. Mr. President, I rise today to encourage my colleagues 
to expedite the nomination of John Walters to be Director of the Office 
of National Drug Control Policy, ONDCP.
  We continue to be faced with a major drug problem in America. Drugs 
are easily available and kids are using them.
  While I believe that we must address the supply of drugs coming into 
this country, I believe that true achievement can only come from within 
our Nation.
  We must decrease the demand for drugs in America before our efforts 
to stop the flow of drugs can gain any measure of success.
  The real challenge is developing a multifaceted approach to move us 
down the road to substantial reduction in drug use.
  According to the University of Michigan, ``Monitoring the Future'' 
survey, that has tested students for 20 years, for 12 years under the 
Reagan and Bush administrations, drug use went down every single year. 
(University of Michigan, ``Monitoring the Future Study,'' 1999.)
  This was done through a commitment to energizing our Nation as a 
whole against this threat. Parents, educators, law enforcement 
officials, business and community leaders, and the media were all 
enlisted to create a climate of intolerance.
  As a Federal prosecutor in Mobile, AL, during these years, I am proud 
to say that I participated in this effort.
  Unfortunately, when the Clinton-Gore administration took office, 
things began to change. When President Clinton appeared on MTV and 
joked about whether or not he inhaled marijuana by saying ``Maybe I 
wish I had,'' he began to erode the leadership by example that is the 
crucial first step in the war against drugs.
  When President Clinton nominated people who did not carry out a tough 
drug policy this further weakened the message to our children and to 
drug criminals regarding the importance of the war on drugs.
  After taking office, the Clinton-Gore Administration all but 
eliminated the Drug Czar's office, slashing the number of employees 
from 146 to 25.
  It is not a surprise that the same University of Michigan study that 
showed the gains we made during the Reagan-Bush years, showed that drug 
use had steadily risen among our youth during the Clinton-Gore years.
  According to the Monitoring the Future Study, since 1992: overall 
drug use among 10th graders increased 55 percent. Marijuana and hashish 
use among 10th graders increased 91 percent; heroin use among 10th 
graders increased 92 percent; cocaine use among 10th graders increased 
133 percent.
  Except for a slight decline in 2000, drug use generally increased 
during the Clinton-Gore administration.
  If we are going to make real progress in combating drug use in 
America, we must return to the key concepts of leadership by example, 
tough law enforcement initiatives, and community

[[Page S8901]]

involvement. We must also ensure that Federal Government programs that 
are meant to combat drug use really do work.
  There are those in this body who have advocated spending hundreds of 
millions of dollars on increased drug treatment. Treatment is very 
valuable, but don't we get more for our money if we prevent individuals 
from using and becoming addicted to drugs in the first place.
  President Bush has made a commitment to reducing drug abuse in 
America. In order to achieve this goal he has nominated a strong 
candidate in Mr. Walters. I believe that Mr. Walters will provide the 
strong leadership we so desperately need.
  President Bush's approach will focus on reducing the demand for drugs 
through effective education, prevention, treatment, and law 
enforcement.
  President Bush has nominated Mr. Walters for this position because he 
is an experienced leader in reducing the demand for and supply of 
drugs. John Walters was indeed a major catalyst for the successes 
achieved during the Reagan-Bush years. Indeed during his tenure as 
Assistant to our Drug Czar, Bill Bennett, America saw a marked and 
dramatic reduction in drug use. The war on drugs was not a failure, it 
was one success after another.
  Some members of the press have focused on Mr. Walters experience in 
interdiction and law enforcement, but he actually started in public 
service at the Department of Education, specializing in drug abuse 
prevention, including writing and taking a lead on the ``Schools 
Without Drugs'' prevention and education program.
  Mr. Walters went on to serve as the ONDCP chief of staff in the first 
Bush administration and later was confirmed by the Senate as deputy 
director. We achieved some of our greatest victories under his watch. 
It is obvious he has the qualifications and experience for the job.
  William Bennett, the former director of ONDCP and Mr. Walters former 
boss while he was at the agency, has said ``John is the best person for 
the job. He is one of the three or four most knowledgeable people about 
the issue and he has a deep passion about the job of stopping illegal 
drugs.''
  Now more than ever we need strong leadership. The Director of ONDCP 
coordinates all Federal anti-drug efforts, but it is also important 
that the Director work more effectively to support State and local 
efforts. President Bush's plan stresses this aspect.
  Let me give you an example of the crisis we face. Last year a study 
was released by the National Center for Addiction and Substance Abuse 
at Columbia University. According to the study, adolescents in small-
town and rural America are much more likely than their peers in urban 
areas to have used drugs.
  The study reports that 8th-graders in rural areas are 104 percent 
likelier than those in big cities to use amphetamines, including 
methamphetamines, and 50 percent likelier to use cocaine.
  Law enforcement officials in Alabama have come to me with major 
concerns about increased drug use and trafficking in the rural parts of 
the South, particularly an alarming rise in Methamphetamine use and 
production.
  We must take steps to reverse this alarming trend. We need solid 
leadership at the Office of National Drug Control Policy to address 
this issue. One area were Mr. Walters can have a major impact on this 
problem is in regards to the High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area or 
HIDTA program.
  The Anti-Drug Abuse Act of 1988 authorized the Director of ONDCP to 
designate areas within the United States which exhibit serious drug 
trafficking problems and harmfully impact other areas of the country as 
High Intensity Drug Trafficking Areas.
  The HIDTA program provides additional Federal funds to those areas to 
help eliminate or reduce drug trafficking and its harmful consequences. 
The program enhances and coordinates drug control efforts among local, 
State, and Federal law enforcement agencies.
  The House and Senate Appropriations Committees have passed increases 
for the HIDTA program in both versions of the Treasury Postal 
Appropriations bills. Much of these funds will be left to the 
discretion of the director of ONDCP.
  We need immediate, strong, and competent leadership at ONDCP to 
ensure that issues like this are properly addressed. The funding must 
flow to the areas with the most need, where law enforcement can make a 
real difference. Mr. Walters has the knowledge and expertise to make 
these types of important decisions.
  Mr. Walters can also provide strong leadership in our overall Federal 
efforts. Our Federal campaign against drugs is spread over a number of 
agencies, including the Justice, Treasury, and Defense Departments. We 
need strong leadership to ensure that these efforts are coordinated. I 
have become concerned in recent months that perhaps some of these 
agencies efforts have become repetitive.
  I have requested that the GAO study these efforts to ensure that is 
not happening. Mr. Walters has the expertise to take a close look at 
all our efforts to ensure that our dollars are being sent wisely.
  I believe we can make a real difference in the problems with drugs in 
America. Under President Bush and Mr. Walters leadership, I know we can 
send a clear message to our youth that drugs use is dangerous and just 
plain wrong. We can also send a clear message to drug dealers, that 
there activities will not be tolerated.
  I urge my colleagues to move toward confirmation of John Walters 
nomination. This is not an area where we can afford to delay.

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