[Congressional Record Volume 152, Number 89 (Tuesday, July 11, 2006)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E1367]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




SCIENCE, STATE, JUSTICE, COMMERCE, AND RELATED AGENCIES APPROPRIATIONS 
                               ACT, 2007

                                 ______
                                 

                               speech of

                            HON. BART GORDON

                              of tennessee

                    in the house of representatives

                        Wednesday, June 28, 2006

       The House in Committee of the Whole House on the State of 
     the Union had under consideration the bill (H.R. 5672) making 
     appropriations for Science, the Departments of State, 
     Justice, and Commerce, and related agencies for the fiscal 
     year ending September 30, 2007, and for other purposes:

  Mr. GORDON. Mr. Chairman, I am very pleased that the report 
accompanying H.R. 5672, the Science, State, Justice, Commerce, and 
Related Agencies Appropriations Act of FY 2007, has directed funding 
under the COPS Methamphetamine Enforcement and Clean-up account for the 
Tennessee Meth Educational Program.
  Tennessee Tech University will use this funding to design and 
implement the meth educational program in keeping with President Bush's 
National Drug Control Strategy, which aims to reduce all drugs in the 
United States by 25 percent within 5 years.
  Some schools in Tennessee have begun implementing educational 
programs in public schools designed to stop meth abuse. However, in 
many cases, there have not been effective follow-up programs for 
classroom teachers, school counselors, school nurses, school 
psychologists, and administrators. And, school counselors report that 
methamphetamine abuse is an inhibiting factor in the personal and 
educational development of their students--whether or not their school 
has had a methamphetamine program. To address these issues, Tennessee 
Tech University will develop an in-service program for public middle 
and high school personnel in 15 counties (17 school districts) to: 
review the symptoms and identification of meth use; explain the hazards 
of meth abuse for children; and examine how to utilize reporting 
procedures (such as those involving the school field officers) and 
legal consultation.
  Since 1999, the number of meth labs in Tennessee has increased by 
more than 500 percent. Last year, Tennessee accounted for 75 percent of 
all meth lab seizures in the Southeast. Only three states nationwide 
had more meth lab seizures in 2005. Many of the worst effects of meth 
are felt by the children involved. Children taken from active meth labs 
are separated from adult family members and sometimes from siblings, 
and cannot even keep their toys or clothing for comfort. In addition, 
children often must be taken to the hospital to test for exposure to a 
variety of toxic substances. In 2004, Tennessee was forced to place 
more than 700 children of meth users in state custody.
  I am pleased that Tennessee Tech University will be collaborating 
with schools in Tennessee to address this critical problem, and I am 
very grateful to the Appropriations Committee for directing this 
important funding to Tennessee Tech University.

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