[Congressional Record Volume 156, Number 160 (Tuesday, December 7, 2010)]
[House]
[Pages H8060-H8062]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
SUPPORTING THE REMOVAL OF ILLICIT MARIJUANA ON FEDERAL LANDS
Mr. SCOTT of Virginia. Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and
agree to the resolution (H. Res. 1540) supporting the goal of
eradicating illicit marijuana cultivation on Federal lands and calling
on the Director of the Office of National Drug Control Policy to
develop a coordinated strategy to permanently dismantle Mexican drug
trafficking organizations operating on Federal lands, as amended.
The Clerk read the title of the resolution.
The text of the resolution is as follows:
H. Res. 1540
Whereas Mexican drug trafficking organizations and other
criminal groups have established robust and dangerous
marijuana plantations on Federal lands managed by the United
States Forest Service and the Bureau of Land Management;
Whereas the Office of National Drug Control Policy reported
that 1,800,000 marijuana plants were eradicated from Federal
lands in 2006, 2,890,000 marijuana plants were eradicated in
2007, and 4,000,000 marijuana plants were eradicated in 2008;
Whereas former Director of National Drug Control Policy
John P. Walters declared in 2007: ``America's public lands
are under attack. Instead of being appreciated as national
treasures, they are being exploited and destroyed by foreign
drug trafficking organizations and heavily armed Mexican
marijuana cartels who have turned them into ground zero for
drug cultivation. These violent drug traffickers are
endangering America's outdoor enthusiasts and sportsmen, and
the sensitive ecosystems of our wilderness.'';
Whereas the illicit drug trade undermines the rule of law
and has a detrimental impact in communities across our
Nation;
Whereas Mexican drug traffickers use the revenue generated
from marijuana production on Federal lands to support
criminal activities, including human trafficking and illicit
weapons smuggling, and to foster political unrest in Mexico;
Whereas drug traffickers have committed acts of violence
against United States citizens and have fired upon law
enforcement officers to protect their marijuana crops;
Whereas on October 8, 2000, an 8-year-old boy and his
father were shot by drug traffickers while hunting in El
Dorado National Forest;
Whereas on June 16, 2009, law enforcement officers with the
Lassen County Sheriff's Department were wounded by gunfire
from drug traffickers during the investigation of a marijuana
plantation on Bureau of Land Management property;
Whereas drug traffickers place booby traps that contain
live shotgun shells on marijuana plantations;
Whereas the American people should not be subjected to
violence while enjoying our Nation's recreation areas;
Whereas marijuana plantations pose a significant threat to
the environmental health of Federal lands;
Whereas drug traffickers spray considerable quantities of
unregulated chemicals, pesticides, and fertilizers;
Whereas drug traffickers divert streams and other waterways
to construct complex irrigation systems;
Whereas it costs the Federal Government $11,000 to restore
one acre of forest on which marijuana is being cultivated;
Whereas the Federal Government is fundamentally responsible
for protecting our Nation's Federal lands and the citizens
who recreate on them;
Whereas local law enforcement agencies currently play a
vital role in eradicating marijuana cultivation and enforcing
Federal drug laws on Federal lands;
Whereas coordination among Federal agencies and among
Federal, State, and local law enforcement agencies is
essential to curtailing marijuana growth on Federal lands;
Whereas targeted joint law enforcement interdiction raids
have brought forth significant but short-lived successes in
combating marijuana production on Federal lands;
Whereas Federal law enforcement should develop and pursue a
strategy that seeks to eradicate the illicit production of
marijuana on Federal lands, and to investigate, detain, and
bring drug traffickers to justice; and
Whereas the creation of a long-term, Federal-led strategy
is essential to eliminating illicit marijuana cultivation on
Federal lands: Now, therefore, be it
Resolved, That the House of Representatives--
(1) declares that drug trafficking organizations
cultivating illicit marijuana on Federal lands in the United
States pose an unacceptable threat to the safety of law
enforcement and the public;
(2) affirms that it is the responsibility of the Federal
Government to confront the threat of illicit marijuana
cultivation on Federal lands; and
(3) calls upon the Director of the Office of National Drug
Control Policy to work in conjunction with Federal and State
agencies to develop a comprehensive and coordinated strategy
to permanently dismantle Mexican drug trafficking
organizations and other criminal groups operating on Federal
lands.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to the rule, the gentleman from
Virginia (Mr. Scott) and the gentleman from California (Mr. Daniel E.
Lungren) each will control 20 minutes.
The Chair recognizes the gentleman from Virginia.
General Leave
Mr. SCOTT of Virginia. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all
Members may have 5 legislative days to revise and extend their remarks
and to include extraneous material on the resolution under
consideration.
[[Page H8061]]
The SPEAKER pro tempore. Is there objection to the request of the
gentleman from Virginia?
There was no objection.
Mr. SCOTT of Virginia. I yield myself such time as I may consume.
Mr. Speaker, House Resolution 1540 supports the goal of eliminating
illegal marijuana cultivation on Federal lands, and calls on the
Director of the Office of National Drug Control Policy to develop a
coordinated strategy to defeat Mexican drug trafficking organizations
and other criminal groups.
Marijuana growers have begun to use public lands because of their
remoteness and difficulty in seizing or tracing the drugs to any
specific owner. These large-scale plantations are being operated by
well-armed and well-financed Mexican drug trafficking organizations and
other criminal groups. Law enforcement officials report that the
criminal groups that grow marijuana on Federal forest lands will shoot
at police or at any other unwelcome visitors in order to protect their
crops.
The National Drug Intelligence Center in the Department of Justice
issued a national drug threat assessment in February in which it
reported that the number of marijuana plants removed from public lands
had increased by more than 300 percent from just 2004 to 2008. This
increase was spurred primarily by marijuana crops overseen by Mexican
drug cartels.
In 2008, a separate National Drug Intelligence Center report on
cartel-related drug trafficking organizations found that the federation
and other undetermined cartels were active in Oregon. In addition, a
recent Drug Enforcement Agency investigation uncovered evidence of
growers cultivating marijuana on public lands in Oregon and California.
The goal of this resolution is to bring attention to this illicit
cartel activity and to encourage officials to develop an interagency
strategy to stop drug cartels from using Federal lands for large-scale
illegal drug crop operations.
I urge my colleagues to support the resolution.
Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
Mr. DANIEL E. LUNGREN of California. I yield myself such time as I
may consume.
Mr. Speaker, as one of its cosponsors, I rise in support of House
Resolution 1540. This draws much needed attention to a problem as
suggested by my friend, the gentleman from Virginia, which is the
cultivation of marijuana on our Federal lands.
There is no doubt that, oh, 15 years ago, when I was Attorney General
of California, we saw that Mexican cartels had basically taken over
this trade in our State and that they were largely operating on Federal
lands, on non-private lands. Of course, in the State of California, I
believe the Federal Government owns about 49 percent of our State--a
lot of that forest lands and wilderness areas. These are the areas that
these cartels are converting into farms for illegal marijuana crops.
They are damaging our protected ecosystems there, and they are
threatening the safety of visitors and employees. In fact, the DEA
calls marijuana the ``cash crop'' that finances drug cartels' drug
trafficking operations.
Marijuana is grown in remote areas of public lands, where there is a
limited law enforcement presence. The two primary regions for these
marijuana sites are the Western Region, comprised of California,
Hawaii, Oregon, and Washington; and the Appalachian Region, including
Kentucky, Tennessee and West Virginia.
This year, when I was visiting one of my counties, the smallest
population county in the State of California, Alpine County, which has
parts of several U.S. forests and a couple of wilderness areas, the
under sheriff told me of some of the largest finds that they had made
in those areas. They were finds that were unexpected and finds that
were difficult to discover precisely because there are so few people
who live in these areas. Of course, we designate them as wilderness
areas and as forest lands. In many cases, they are not that often
visited by citizens of the United States. The people who recreate these
areas do so, enjoying the environment. These pristine lands of our
National Forest system are therefore particularly enticing to these
drug trafficking organizations as the dense, expansive forests that we
find in these areas provide optimum marijuana-growing conditions with
very little risk of detection.
America's National Forest system, managed by the U.S. Forest Service,
is comprised of 193 million acres of land with 153,000 miles of trails
and nearly 18,000 recreation sites, but we only have a little under 200
sworn officers and detectives who patrol this vast, expansive land,
including 36 million acres of wilderness area.
The members of these cartels hike deep into the forests, fell trees,
and clear away brush to plant their marijuana crops. They construct
rudimentary irrigation systems, and divert water from local creeks or
streams. They use these to water the plants. They use Miracle-Gro or
other fertilizers, and they even lace the area with animal-killing
chemicals. It's obvious they don't file for EPA permits or anything
like that.
They are destroying much of the beautiful natural resources that we
have in these areas. We have discovered that the cartel members set up
camp nearby and patrol the areas for intruders; and sometimes, when
innocent American citizens are traveling through these areas, they are
encountered by these individuals. More and more, we see that these
members of the cartels have lethal weapons with them, even automatic
weapons.
The Justice Department reports that these cartels, particularly in
the States of Washington and California, are becoming increasingly
aggressive in protecting the marijuana fields. We have found assault
rifles, and we have found them engaging in standoffs with law
enforcement officers. I would say, in my most rural counties, we do not
have the largest law enforcement departments. That, combined with the
very few people we have from the Federal Government's law enforcement,
make it a prime area for these drug cartels to take over and make it
dangerous, as I say, for law-abiding citizens, who want nothing but to
recreate in these areas, to utilize these facilities.
I will say, late this summer/early this fall, we got tremendous
support from the Forest Service and from other elements of the Federal
Government in support of our effort to try and clean out these areas
and also to protect our local law enforcement officers as they were
working on it. In 2010, more than 3 million marijuana plants were
seized from Forest Service lands in practically every region of the
country. Now, this is a dramatic increase from 2004 when fewer than
750,000 plants were seized.
Once their illegal crops are harvested, the growers then abandon the
sites, and they leave their garbage and their destruction behind. These
fields are easy to plant, easy to harvest, but difficult to eradicate.
Law enforcement officers must patrol the thick forest canopy from the
sky, hoping to glimpse a marijuana grow site.
{time} 1640
They must then fly or hike into the site, hoping that they won't be
confronted by armed guards or boobytraps. These marijuana sites not
only pose a danger to law enforcement officials, park employees, and
visitors, but as I say, to the very natural resources the forest
designation is intended to protect.
Marijuana fields utilized by these illegal cartels cause extensive
long-term damage to the forest ecosystems and deplete the drinking
water supplies for neighboring communities. Just last month, the Forest
Service removed more than 10 cubic yards of garbage from six abandoned
marijuana grow sites in northern California. The Forest Service reports
that it cost approximately $30,000 to remove the marijuana and restore
the ecosystem of each of the 622 marijuana sites discovered in the
national forest system for fiscal year 2010. That is a cost of over $18
million in taxpayer dollars to rid our forests of these illegal
marijuana grows.
It is imperative that Congress and the administration make a
commitment to put an end to the marijuana sites on Federal land and
protect our precious natural resources from any further destruction.
I commend my colleague from California (Mr. Herger) for his tireless
efforts to address this growing problem and as I say, I was proud to
join him in
[[Page H8062]]
this case as an original cosponsor of H. Res. 1540. I urge my
colleagues to support this resolution.
Mr. Speaker, I yield 5 minutes to the author of the bill, the
gentleman from California (Mr. Herger).
Mr. HERGER. I thank my good friend from California for yielding me
the time.
Mr. Speaker, I rise to urge my colleagues to support House Resolution
1540, which I introduced to expose a growing crisis on public lands in
my northern California congressional district and across the Nation.
Mexican drug cartels are operating large-scale marijuana plantations on
these lands, and the problem is getting worse by the day.
I recently joined law enforcement in a marijuana eradication raid in
the forests of Shasta County, California, and saw firsthand the
flourishing productivity of these foreign drug traffickers.
Unfortunately, the Federal Government has not taken sufficient action
to dismantle them, and a comprehensive strategy is long overdue.
These foreign drug cartels pose a severe threat to public safety.
They are heavily armed and have repeatedly fired at law enforcement
officers to protect their illegal crops. They endanger the lives of
outdoorsmen who too frequently have been confronted by violent
criminals while simply trying to enjoy their public lands. They use the
drug profits to fund a multitude of violent crimes and provoke the
political unrest in Mexico that could threaten our national security.
They cause grave and costly damage to our environment, leaving behind
tons of trash and dangerous chemicals and costing taxpayers an
estimated $11,000 to restore each acre of forest damaged by marijuana
cultivation.
Mr. Speaker, our national forests should be a safe haven for families
and recreation enthusiasts, not Mexican drug cartels. The American
people should not have to fear for their safety while on a family
camping trip. Taxpayers in our Nation should not have to bear the
financial burden of the damage caused by drug traffickers. And the
United States should never allow foreign cartels to reign free on the
sovereign territory of our Nation. Let me say emphatically that these
drug trafficking organizations must be pursued relentlessly, shut down
permanently, and brought to justice unconditionally.
House Resolution 1540 spells out the crisis occurring on our public
lands and affirms that the Federal Government must do more to confront
this threat. It calls upon the Director of the Office of National Drug
Control Policy to work in conjunction with Federal and State agencies
to develop a comprehensive and coordinated strategy to permanently
dismantle the foreign drug trafficking organizations that have found a
sanctuary on these lands. It is an important first step designed to
both shine the light on this unacceptable menace and to demand that
Federal law enforcement agencies take more aggressive, more persistent,
and more effective action to shut them down for good.
I want to thank Chairman Conyers and Ranking Member Smith for their
commitment to addressing this serious threat to public safety and to
our national sovereignty. I urge my colleagues to vote for this
resolution.
Mr. SCOTT of Virginia. Mr. Speaker, I yield 3 minutes to the
gentleman from Colorado (Mr. Polis).
Mr. POLIS. Mr. Speaker, this resolution is seemingly innocuous, for
who in this body would be against illicit agriculture on our Federal
lands, and yet it gives you reason to wonder why we're not facing a
crisis of illicit corn production, illicit potato production, illicit
tobacco production on our Federal lands of the magnitude of the crisis
of marijuana production involved with criminal enterprises on our
Federal lands. This resolution only serves to perpetuate this failed
policy of prohibition, which has led to the rise of the criminal
production of marijuana on Federal lands.
The gentleman from California said that the Federal Government must
do more to confront this threat. I would submit that the Federal
Government can do more by doing less. My home State of Colorado, the
gentleman's home State of California, many other States have legalized
and allowed for the medical use of marijuana, the production of
marijuana, in a regulated capacity. The American public is split and a
number of States continue to consider legalization for other uses as
well. But as long as it remains illegal and as long as there is a
market demand, the production will be driven underground. No matter how
much we throw at enforcement, it will continue to be a threat not only
to our Federal lands, but to our border security and to our safety
within our country.
The resolution states that, Whereas, Mexican drug traffickers use the
revenue generated from marijuana production on Federal lands to support
criminal activities, including human trafficking and illicit weapons
smuggling, and to foster political unrest in Mexico. It is estimated
that about half of the money that the Mexico cartels obtain is through
the marijuana trade. Yes, by eliminating the failed policy of
prohibition with regard to marijuana and replacing it with regulation
we can cut the money to the criminal gangs by half--half the human
trafficking, half the illicit weapons trafficking, half the casualties
of the drug war--by focusing on the hard narcotic substances that are
addictive and have enslaved a generation of youth.
I have no doubt that marijuana plantations, as the resolution states,
pose a threat to the environmental health of Federal lands, that drug
traffickers spray unregulated chemicals, pesticides, and fertilizers,
but I submit that the best way to address that is to incorporate this
into a meaningful and enforceable agricultural policy for the country
with regard to the regulatory structure for the production of
marijuana.
Mr. DANIEL E. LUNGREN of California. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such
time as I may consume just to say that I support this resolution.
The concern is a considerable one. These cartels are in fact violent
and vicious, and their violence has gone up over the last number of
years, and it is affecting our districts very directly.
I might say to the gentleman who just spoke that we happen to be one
of the States that allows for medicinal marijuana, and it is not very
difficult to get a medicinal purpose for marijuana. But we also had
before the voters in the State of California an opportunity to decide
whether or not they wanted to make it legal, and it was voted down by a
substantial margin. That being the case, I think this resolution needs
to go forward, and I would urge my colleagues to support it.
Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.
Mr. SCOTT of Virginia. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may
consume.
{time} 1650
I would like to thank my colleagues from California, Mr. Herger and
Mr. Lungren, for their advocacy on this issue. I urge my colleagues to
support the resolution.
Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. The question is on the motion offered by the
gentleman from Virginia (Mr. Scott) that the House suspend the rules
and agree to the resolution, H. Res. 1540, as amended.
The question was taken.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. In the opinion of the Chair, two-thirds
being in the affirmative, the ayes have it.
Mr. HERGER. Mr. Speaker, on that I demand the yeas and nays.
The yeas and nays were ordered.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to clause 8 of rule XX and the
Chair's prior announcement, further proceedings on this motion will be
postponed.
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