[Congressional Record Volume 156, Number 128 (Wednesday, September 22, 2010)]
[House]
[Pages H6846-H6848]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
COMBAT METHAMPHETAMINE ENHANCEMENT ACT OF 2010
Mr. PALLONE. Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the
bill (H.R. 2923) to enhance the ability to combat methamphetamine, as
amended.
The Clerk read the title of the bill.
The text of the bill is as follows:
H.R. 2923
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of
the United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the ``Combat Methamphetamine
Enhancement Act of 2010''.
[[Page H6847]]
SEC. 2. REQUIREMENT OF SELF-CERTIFICATION BY ALL REGULATED
PERSONS SELLING SCHEDULED LISTED CHEMICALS.
Section 310(e)(2) of the Controlled Substances Act (21
U.S.C. 830(e)(2)) is amended by inserting at the end the
following:
``(C) Each regulated person who makes a sale at retail of a
scheduled listed chemical product and is required under
subsection (b)(3) to submit a report of the sales transaction
to the Attorney General may not sell any scheduled listed
chemical product at retail unless such regulated person has
submitted to the Attorney General a self-certification
including a statement that the seller understands each of the
requirements that apply under this paragraph and under
subsection (d) and agrees to comply with the requirements.
The Attorney General shall by regulation establish criteria
for certifications of mail-order distributors that are
consistent with the criteria established for the
certifications of regulated sellers under paragraph
(1)(B).''.
SEC. 3. PUBLICATION OF SELF-CERTIFIED REGULATED SELLERS AND
REGULATED PERSONS LISTS.
Section 310(e)(1)(B) of the Controlled Substances Act (21
U.S.C. 830(e)(1)(B)) is amended by inserting at the end the
following:
``(v) Publication of list of self-certified persons.--The
Attorney General shall develop and make available a list of
all persons who are currently self-certified in accordance
with this section. This list shall be made publicly available
on the website of the Drug Enforcement Administration in an
electronically downloadable format.''.
SEC. 4. REQUIREMENT THAT DISTRIBUTORS OF LISTED CHEMICALS
SELL ONLY TO SELF-CERTIFIED REGULATED SELLERS
AND REGULATED PERSONS.
Section 402(a) of the Controlled Substances Act (21 U.S.C.
842(a)) is amended--
(1) in paragraph (13), by striking ``or'' after the
semicolon;
(2) in paragraph (14), by striking the period and inserting
``; or'';
(3) by inserting after paragraph (14) the following:
``(15) to distribute a scheduled listed chemical product to
a regulated seller, or to a regulated person referred to in
section 310(b)(3)(B), unless such regulated seller or
regulated person is, at the time of such distribution,
currently registered with the Drug Enforcement
Administration, or on the list of persons referred to under
section 310(e)(1)(B)(v).''; and
(4) by inserting at the end the following: ``For purposes
of paragraph (15), if the distributor is temporarily unable
to access the list of persons referred to under section
310(e)(1)(B)(v), the distributor may rely on a written,
faxed, or electronic copy of a certificate of self-
certification submitted by the regulated seller or regulated
person, provided the distributor confirms within 7 business
days of the distribution that such regulated seller or
regulated person is on the list referred to under section
310(e)(1)(B)(v).''.
SEC. 5. NEGLIGENT FAILURE TO SELF-CERTIFY AS REQUIRED.
Section 402(a)(10) of the Controlled Substances Act (21
U.S.C. 842(a)(10)) is amended by inserting before the
semicolon the following: ``or negligently to fail to self-
certify as required under section 310''.
SEC. 6. EFFECTIVE DATE AND REGULATIONS.
(a) Effective Date.--This Act and the amendments made by
this Act shall take effect 180 days after the date of
enactment of this Act.
(b) Regulations.--In promulgating the regulations
authorized by section 2, the Attorney General may issue
regulations on an interim basis as necessary to ensure the
implementation of this Act by the effective date.
SEC. 7. BUDGETARY EFFECTS.
The budgetary effects of this Act, for the purpose of
complying with the Statutory Pay-As-You-Go Act of 2010, shall
be determined by reference to the latest statement titled
``Budgetary Effects of PAYGO Legislation'' for this Act,
submitted for printing in the Congressional Record by the
Chairman of the House Budget Committee, provided that such
statement has been submitted prior to the vote on passage.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to the rule, the gentleman from New
Jersey (Mr. Pallone) and the gentleman from Kentucky (Mr. Whitfield)
each will control 20 minutes.
The Chair recognizes the gentleman from New Jersey.
General Leave
Mr. PALLONE. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members
may have 5 legislative days in which to revise and extend their remarks
and to include extraneous material in the Record.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. Is there objection to the request of the
gentleman from New Jersey?
There was no objection.
Mr. PALLONE. I yield myself such time as I may consume.
Mr. Speaker, I rise today in strong support of H.R. 2923, the Combat
Methamphetamine Enhancement Act of 2010.
H.R. 2923 is designed to respond to problems that the Drug
Enforcement Agency has identified in the implementation of the Combat
Methamphetamine Epidemic Act of 2006. That 2006 law required retail
sellers of ephedrine and pseudoephedrine products to file a self-
certification attesting that they have trained their personnel about
the law and its requirements. According to the DEA, thousands of
sellers have not yet self-certified. This legislation is designed to
improve compliance with the 2006 law, and it will provide the DEA with
enforcement tools, like civil fines.
I want to commend Representative Gordon as well as Senator Feinstein
for their leadership on this legislation. I also want to thank Ranking
Members Shimkus and Barton for working with us in moving this bill
forward so quickly.
Mr. Speaker, I urge my colleagues to support the bill.
I reserve the balance of my time.
Mr. WHITFIELD. I want to thank Congressmen Pallone and Shimkus for
bringing this important legislation to the floor. We all recognize the
devastating effect of methamphetamines.
Mr. Speaker, at this time I yield 5 minutes to the gentleman from
Tennessee (Mr. Wamp), who has been a true leader in combating
methamphetamines.
Mr. WAMP. I thank the committees of jurisdiction, and I thank the
leadership from the majority side and from the minority side.
Mr. Speaker, this is a bill that effectively gives our drug
enforcement leadership the tools that they need to continues this
fight.
Twelve years ago, much like Mr. Doyle was just talking about his
tenure here in the House being defined by his extraordinary work in the
area of autism, in many ways mine has been defined over the last 12
years by fighting methamphetamine production in the Southeast,
particularly in east Tennessee, where it surfaced in the late 1990s
after coming to this country, really, in terms of production, in about
1993. It surfaced first in California. Then it came to the mountains of
east Tennessee.
Much like moonshine did two generations earlier, it was a clandestine
process where citizens would put together the chemicals to make it. It
stunk really bad, so they would do it out in the middle of the
mountains and the hills, and they would get as far away from urban
centers as they could; but because the drug is so deadly and addictive,
it encroached on other areas.
We saw, frankly, the States that took the leadership take ephedrine
and pseudoephedrine from behind the counter. They made it harder to
get. They enforced a lot of rules at the State level, and it really
knocked back the domestic production of methamphetamine. We still have
a huge problem of methamphetamine coming in across the border,
particularly through the transit country of Mexico, but this has helped
us greatly combat the production.
In east Tennessee, we formed the Southeast Tennessee Meth Task Force,
which is a premiere local, State, and Federal partnership because
methamphetamine production can't be combated exclusively at the State
and local levels. It just simply can't. They didn't have the resources
to surveil it. It became a toxic site where it was made, and they
didn't have the resources to clean it up, so we formed this
partnership. It grew to become the East Tennessee Meth Task Force, and
now it is a premiere statewide task force.
We have had tremendous success in combating methamphetamine
production in Tennessee, but we have to continue to modernize the laws,
including adding a Federal component, in order for drug professionals
to be able to keep ephedrine and pseudoephedrine out of the hands of
people who are addicted to methamphetamine, because they produce this
most of the time for use. As a result, this is just a deadly, deadly
disease out in the hinterland of America, and we have got to fight it.
This bill is another step in the right direction.
Congressman Gordon from Tennessee and I have been working together.
Congressman Cooper from Tennessee and I passed a bill a few years ago
to actually create Federal grant support for the children who are taken
out of meth homes because when a meth home is infected by this plague,
many times the children become wards of the State, and there was little
help there at the State level as well.
[[Page H6848]]
{time} 1710
So if this plague of methamphetamine has not come to your hometown,
unfortunately, it will soon, and it's something that requires a Federal
component.
This is a good bill. I urge the entire House to stand together and
pass this piece of legislation, thanking the committees of jurisdiction
and the original sponsor, Mr. Bart Gordon of Tennessee.
Mr. PALLONE. Mr. Speaker, I continue to reserve.
Mr. WHITFIELD. When you talk to law enforcement officers anywhere in
America today, they will tell you that about 80 percent of the crimes
committed in America are the direct result of some type of drug.
Methamphetamine is certainly one of those.
In Kentucky, we have the Pennyrile Drug Task Force. And when I think
about the passage of this legislation, I think of a gentleman named
Cheyenne Albro who started that task force and who was a true leader in
combatting methamphetamine and who, unfortunately, died a couple of
weeks ago, but I know he would be very proud of this act.
I would urge that this legislation be adopted.
Mr. SENSENBRENNER. Mr. Speaker, in 2006, Congress took significant
steps to reduce methamphetamine production and distribution by passing
the Combat Methamphetamine Epidemic Act. Today, the House will consider
H.R. 2923, the Combat Methamphetamine Enhancement Act, which will
address problems that the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) has
identified in the implementation of the Combat Methamphetamine Epidemic
Act. H.R. 2923 aims to strengthen enforcement measures and ensure that
retailers are in full compliance with the law.
Prior to passage of the Combat Methamphetamine Epidemic Act, it was
common practice for methamphetamine dealers to go into stores, load up
shopping carts with cold medicines, break open the blister packs, and
use the pseudoephedrine and ephedrine to make methamphetamine. The
Combat Methamphetamine Epidemic Act stopped this practice, by requiring
that cold medicines containing pseudoephedrine and ephedrine be placed
behind a pharmacy counter, requiring signature and proof of
identification before purchase, and limiting how much of these
medicines a person can buy in a day or month. However, the law contains
a loophole that allows retailers to continue to sell products
containing pseudoephedrine and ephedrine without showing that their
employees are complying with the law's requirement.
H.R. 2923 will require retailers of pseudoephedrine and ephedrine
products to verify with the DEA that they have trained their staff in
the requirements of the Combat Methamphetamine Epidemic Act. If they
don't, they simply won't be able to purchase pseudoe
phedrine products from distributors. The DEA needs every resource
available to enforce the tough drug laws already on the books. This
measure will curb drug manufacturers' access to ephedrine or pseudoe
phedrine, while keeping these products available to responsible
consumers.
Over the past decade, methamphetamines have emerged as one of the
most dangerous homegrown drugs. Ranking as one of the most widely used
illicit drugs in the world, it has become the most prevalent drug
problem in many Western and Midwestern states, and is emerging on the
East Coast. Congress made great efforts in the fight against
methamphetamines with the enactment of the Combat Methamphetamine
Epidemic Act. However, while many of the provisions in the
comprehensive legislation have had positive results, including a sharp
decline in national methamphetamine lab seizures; manufacturers,
traffickers and abusers continue to search for loopholes in the law.
H.R. 2923 is a common sense bill, designed to strengthen the
implementation of the Combat Methamphetamine Epidemic Act. This bill
would create incentives to ensure that the verification process of the
law is made both effective and enforceable. I urge my colleagues to
support this legislation.
Mr. WHITFIELD. Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.
Mr. PALLONE. Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time and ask
that the bill pass.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. The question is on the motion offered by the
gentleman from New Jersey (Mr. Pallone) that the House suspend the
rules and pass the bill, H.R. 2923, as amended.
The question was taken; and (two-thirds being in the affirmative) the
rules were suspended and the bill, as amended, was passed.
A motion to reconsider was laid on the table.
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