[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 145 (1999), Part 16]
[House]
[Page 23105]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]



  DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA APPROPRIATIONS BILL VETOED BECAUSE IT DOES NOT 
                           LEGALIZE MARIJUANA

  (Mr. PITTS asked and was given permission to address the House for 1 
minute and to revise and extend his remarks.)
  Mr. PITTS. Mr. Speaker, with the stroke of a pen yesterday President 
Clinton has thrown away a good Washington, D.C. appropriations bill. 
What has he thrown away? Good and needed things like helping D.C. kids 
go to college, placing foster kids into permanent homes, cleaning up 
the foul Anacostia River, cracking down on drug offenders, and reducing 
the size of D.C.'s bloated government. And for what? For legalizing 
marijuana. The President drew a line in the sand that said he would not 
sign a bill that did not legalize marijuana.
  Nobody should be fooled by the pretense that this is a medical issue. 
That is a smoke screen. A war on drugs will never happen when the 
President's priority is to veto a bill over legalizing drugs in our 
Nation's capital.
  The President is sending the worst possible message to our children. 
Every police officer, every teacher, every parent who has ever fought 
against drugs should be outraged by this veto.

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