[Congressional Record Volume 153, Number 172 (Wednesday, November 7, 2007)]
[Senate]
[Page S14057]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]


                NATIONAL METHAMPHETAMINE AWARENESS MONTH

  Mr. GRASSLEY. Madam President, I am pleased to join my colleague, 
Senator Baucus, in sponsoring the National Methamphetamine Awareness 
Month resolution of 2007. As a senior Member of the Senate representing 
a State confronting an epidemic of methamphetamine abuse and as 
cochairman of the Senate Caucus on International Narcotics Control, I 
have often been confronted with heartbreaking stories of the 
destructive nature meth abuse has on families and children. All too 
often, meth abuse not only ruins the life of the user, it disrupts the 
lives of the users family, friends, and the community at large. That is 
why Members of Congress must do everything we can to ensure that 
communities across the country have the tools and support they need to 
stop meth in its tracks.
  Since the passage of the Combat Meth Act in 2005, an act that 
restricted the sale of a main ingredient of meth known as 
pseudoephedrine, or PSE, the number of home-grown meth labs has 
dramatically decreased throughout the Nation. In spite of this 
encouraging development, the National Association of Counties reports, 
in its recent survey of county sheriffs, that meth remains the No. 1 
drug problem in almost half the counties across the country. In some 
cases, sheriffs reported, in this survey, that not only has the rate of 
meth abuse stayed the same, it has actually increased. The Drug 
Enforcement Administration, DEA, estimates that over 80 percent of the 
meth in this country is smuggled in from Mexico by drug cartels who 
produce this poison in superlabs.
  Senator Baucus and I have held hearings to examine ways in which the 
Government could break the meth supply chain while helping to reduce 
the number of people suffering from meth. One of the areas discussed, 
to help achieve these goals, was to boost our efforts to educate and 
raise awareness among the public. We have to do a better job to reach 
those who don't view meth as a deadly drug, and we have to ensure that 
our children never try meth. Studies show that the longer you keep a 
child drug-free, before the age of 20, chances are very good that they 
will never try or become addicted to drugs.
  In my State of Iowa, we have 22 community based organizations that 
are designed just for this purpose. One of these organizations, that I 
founded, called Face It Together, or FIT, encourages parents, 
educators, businesses, religious leaders, law enforcement officials, 
health care providers, youth groups, and news organizations to work 
together to come up with new and creative ways to confront drug abuse 
within their communities. While some of these community coalitions 
receive some financial support from the Federal Government, the real 
difference is made by all of those who volunteer within their 
communities to ensure they remain drug-free.
  Although much remains to be done to eradicate meth from our 
communities, this resolution is part of a vast, ongoing effort to 
ensure meth abuse does not expand further into our society. I am please 
that this resolution is supported by the Community Anti-Drug Coalitions 
of America, CADCA, and I urge my colleagues to join us in support of 
our efforts against meth abuse.

                          ____________________