[Congressional Record Volume 153, Number 184 (Tuesday, December 4, 2007)]
[House]
[Page H14135]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




             THE 75TH ANNIVERSARY OF THE END OF PROHIBITION

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under a previous order of the House, the 
gentleman from California (Mr. Rohrabacher) is recognized for 5 
minutes.
  Mr. ROHRABACHER. Madam Speaker, December 5, 1933, December 5, 2007. 
So, tomorrow we mark the 75th anniversary of something, and most people 
will just pass it by and not be aware that tomorrow marks the end of 
America's great and noble experiment. It is the 75th anniversary of the 
end of the national prohibition of alcoholic beverages.
  With the repeal of prohibition in 1933, that was 75 years ago 
tomorrow, the United States ended a social planning policy that created 
organized crime in America, crowded our jails with nonviolent 
prisoners, corrupted our police, increased urban violence, and 
destroyed the lives of thousands of victims of unadulterated and 
poisoned substances, substances which if they were permitted would have 
been subject to normal market protections of fraud and quality 
standards. However, during prohibition, these substances which were 
consumed by the American people often poisoned them and caused them to 
lose their lives.
  Philosopher Santayana told us that those who cannot learn from 
history are doomed to repeat it. Have we in Washington learned the 
lesson of prohibition that ended 75 years ago?
  Why did America reject the prohibition of alcoholic beverages? Well, 
when government attempts to control the peaceful behavior of its 
citizens, it often sets in motion forces that are more dangerous than 
the social evil that they are trying to control. Today's war on drugs 
is perhaps an example.
  The war on drugs has resulted in a multimillion dollar network of 
violent organized crime. The war on drugs has created the deaths by 
drive-by shootings and turf wars among gangs in our cities. The war on 
drugs has overcrowded our prisons. More than half of Federal prison 
space is occupied by nonviolent drug users. The war on drugs has 
corrupted our police and crowded our courts. We apparently did not 
learn the lesson of the prohibition of alcoholic beverages.
  Today, on the campaign trail we hear new calls for prohibitions on 
cigarettes, on fatty foods, and even more money should be spent, yes, 
on the war on drugs.
  But, as we mark the 75th anniversary of the repeal of prohibition, 
let us have the courage to learn from the mistakes of the past. Perhaps 
it would be better for us to focus our energies not on the supply side 
of drugs just as they were doing with the supply side of alcohol, but 
instead to focus our efforts on trying to help those people who are 
addicted to drugs; perhaps to try to help our young people, deter our 
young people from getting involved in drugs; perhaps to take a whole 
new approach on this, rather than this monstrous war on drugs that has 
done nothing but create havoc in our inner cities, making so many young 
people who have been arrested and their lives destroyed because they 
will never be able to get a decent job after one arrest being a 
teenager.
  So many people have been hurt by the war on drugs; yet we keep it 
because we want to supposedly help people. Well, I would suggest that 
this 75th anniversary of the repeal of prohibition, which was the 
greatest failure of American social planning in the history of our 
country, let us try to commit ourselves to help ensure that our young 
people are dissuaded and deterred from the use of narcotics.
  Let us work with those who are, indeed, addicted to narcotics and 
help them free themselves from this habit. But let's end this notion 
that we can try to control the use of narcotics in our country by 
simply controlling the supply. Simply controlling the supply will not 
work. We've got to look at the demand side, try to treat people 
humanely, and use the limited resources that we have in a much more 
constructive way, rather than just creating more police who are 
committed to drugs and interdiction and all the rest of the major 
expenses, court expenses and others that go into a war on drugs rather 
than an attempt to help people who are susceptible to the use of drugs.
  I call the attention of my fellow colleagues to this the 75th 
anniversary of the repeal of the prohibition of alcoholic beverages.

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