[Congressional Record Volume 152, Number 119 (Thursday, September 21, 2006)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E1800]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




  HONORING THE BRAVE WARRIORS WHO HAVE ENLISTED IN THE FIGHT AGAINST 
                            NARCO-TERRORISM

                                 ______
                                 

                        HON. ELIJAH E. CUMMINGS

                              of maryland

                    in the house of representatives

                      Thursday, September 21, 2006

  Mr. CUMMINGS. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to honor the brave warriors 
who have enlisted in the fight against narco-terrorism. Some, like Edna 
McAbier of Baltimore, have narrowly escaped death. Others, like Carnell 
and Angela Dawson and their five beautiful children, were not so lucky.
  The front page of the Tuesday, September 19, 2006 edition of the 
Baltimore Sun tells the story of Ms. McAbier, a tireless community 
activist who made it her personal mission to fight back drug 
trafficking in her neighborhood of Harwood.
  For her efforts, her car was keyed, her tires were slashed, bricks 
were thrown through her windows, and finally--18 months ago--her house 
was firebombed.
  Ms. McAbier survived the attack, but only to be exiled from the 
neighborhood she loved enough to try to save.
  Sadly, stories like hers are not unprecedented in Baltimore. This 
October marks the 4-year anniversary of one of the most terrible 
tragedies I have witnessed in my lifetime.
  Mrs. Dawson, like Ms. McAbier, was a warrior for her community. She 
fought to get drug dealers off her street, and away from her five young 
children. She paid for her efforts with her life.
  Drug dealers one night filled the Dawson family home with gasoline, 
and set it up in flames. All five children and their mother died in the 
attack. Mr. Dawson, who sustained burns over 85 percent of his body, 
died a week later.
  When I sat at the Dawson family funeral 4 years ago, looking at those 
five small caskets and one big casket, I thought to myself: How did we 
get here?
  I have lived my whole life in inner city Baltimore. I have seen the 
innocent little girls who used to play hopscotch on my block grow up to 
sell their bodies for drugs. I have seen brilliant little boys with 
endless potential head off to jail instead of college.
  The disease of drugs plagues every facet of our community, robbing 
children of their childhood, and denying decent people the opportunity 
to thrive.
  It is a pervasive disease that reaches far beyond our inner cities, 
tormenting the lives of people in communities across our Nation.
  Mr. Speaker, I am as committed to the global war on terrorism as any 
member of this body, and I commend our brave warriors who risk their 
lives every day so that we might be safer.
  But don't be fooled: Terrorism lives here at home as well.
  Warriors like Mrs. Dawson and Ms. McAbier have fought for our freedom 
with their livelihoods and their lives.
  Just as we honor our soldiers in Iraq by providing them with the most 
sophisticated defense technology on the market, we must honor our 
domestic warriors by providing law enforcement officials with the best 
tools available to protect them.
  That is why I introduced the ``Dawson Family Community Protection 
Act'' (H.R. 812) and the ``Witness Security and Protection Act'' (H.R. 
908).
  The ``Dawson Family Community Protection Act,'' which would provide 
protections to neighborhood activists, passed the House in March as 
part of the ``Office of National Drug Control Policy Reauthorization 
Act'' (H.R. 2829).
  I want to thank my colleagues in the House for their support of this 
vital initiative and I urge our colleagues in the Senate to follow suit 
by passing the ONDCP reauthorization.
  The ``Witness Security and Protection Act'' would provide much-needed 
federal funds to state-run witness protection programs.
  I implore my colleagues, in honor of Ms. McAbier, the Dawson family, 
and the countless others who have suffered and continue to suffer from 
the violent fallout of the drug trade and the ravages of drug abuse, to 
support the ``Witness Security and Protection Act,'' H.R. 908.

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