[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 152 (2006), Part 2]
[Senate]
[Pages 2413-2414]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                            COMBAT METH ACT

  Mr. FRIST. Mr. President, I wish to make a brief comment on an 
important provision on methamphetamine that is in the PATRIOT Act but 
not a lot of attention has been focused on it over the last several 
days, a very important provision.
  At 3 o'clock today the Senate will vote on passage of the PATRIOT Act 
conference report, and after a lot of months of debate we will finally 
deliver a PATRIOT Act that is stronger and tougher and more effective 
against terrorists on American soil, while at the same time protecting 
our civil liberties.
  It has not been easy. It has taken a long time. But now we are on the 
verge of a tremendous success with the passage of a very important bill 
that will benefit the American people.
  The Combat Meth Act is legislation Senator Talent introduced last 
year, and I and many of our colleagues are a cosponsor of that 
legislation. Senator Talent's leadership has been instrumental in 
pushing this bill forward, and it is something of which we can all be 
very proud.
  I have worked with the House leadership to encourage Members to get 
this done because meth is a crisis that has been building in all of our 
States. It is highly addictive, cheap, and easily available.
  In the last 10 years meth has become America's worst drug problem. I 
say that, even putting it before marijuana, cocaine, and heroin, in 
that the use of it has increased so significantly and it is so terribly 
addictive.
  Last year Tennessee ranked No. 2, tied with Iowa and just behind 
Missouri, in the number of meth lab seizures. Through tougher laws and 
tougher enforcement over the last year and a half Tennessee is starting 
to see a turnaround, and that is one of the reasons I am so convinced 
this legislation will have a dramatic impact in a short period of time.
  It was in March of last year that Tennessee signed its Meth Free 
Tennessee Act, a much needed law that required retailers to take cold 
medicines and sinus medicines containing pseudoephedrine off the 
shelves and put them behind the counter where they can be closely 
monitored. As a result of this powerful new approach, lab seizures have 
declined dramatically, down 40 percent in May and another 60 percent in 
June.
  In addition, district attorneys across the State have told me of the 
tremendous impact it has made and they joined Governor Bresden in 
launching the Meth Destroys campaign. Through videos and brochures and 
bulletin boards and other means of public relations, the Meth Destroys 
campaign is reaching out to schools, to church groups, to parents, to 
civic organizations, to educate the public on the grave dangers of this 
highly addictive drug, methamphetamine.
  Now with the imminent passage of the Combat Meth Act here in the 
Senate today at 3 o'clock, everyone's job is going to get a whole lot 
easier.
  We learned that when one State restricted access to the precursors, 
meth cooks simply crossed over to the adjoining State, bought their 
ingredients and brought them back. Law enforcement told us again and 
again that they

[[Page 2414]]

needed uniform law to be able to cut off this access to and purchase of 
these ingredients.
  Senator Talent and Senator Feinstein introduced the Combat Meth Act 
to restrict access to cold medicines containing pseudoephedrine and 
ephedrine across all 50 States. Under the Combat Meth Act, meth users 
will no longer be able to jump from State to State, cruise from State 
to State in order to buy these ingredients.
  Once again I thank Senator Talent and Senator Feinstein for pushing 
hard to get this done. It will have a direct impact in a short period 
of time. Lives will be saved, communities will be better protected 
because of their commitment. I urge all of our colleagues to vote for 
the PATRIOT Act, which includes the Combat Meth Act, this afternoon. It 
applies directly to the well-being and safety of our neighbors and 
fellow citizens.

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