[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 153 (2007), Part 14]
[House]
[Pages 19088-19089]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




     MEXICAN DRUG CARTELS OPERATE MARIJUANA PLANTATIONS IN AMERICA

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under a previous order of the House, the 
gentleman from Texas (Mr. Poe) is recognized for 5 minutes.
  Mr. POE. Mr. Speaker, earlier today I addressed this House and 
discussed how the Zetas drug cartel in Mexico has made it known it will 
hunt down journalists that report on the violent drug cartels in 
Mexico. This group of former Mexican military officers reportedly will 
track these reporters down even when they flee to the United States for 
safety. All of this because these journalists publish reports on the 
violent cross-border drug trade.
  Tonight, I wish to discuss how these same outlaw Mexican drug cartels 
are operating marijuana plantations on public lands, not public lands 
in Mexico, but on public lands in the United States.
  According to news reports, these plant plantations are in California, 
Arizona, Hawaii, West Virginia, Oregon,

[[Page 19089]]

Tennessee and Kentucky, and account for 80 to 90 percent of all 
marijuana plantation production in the United States.
  Law enforcement officials say that the drug cartels employ heavily 
armed bandits to guard these fields and they have superior fire power 
and surveillance equipment over American law enforcement agents.
  The drug thugs destroy native vegetation and kill off all of the 
wildlife on the land so they can plant their marijuana crops. The 
cartels also use dangerous pesticides and fertilizers on the land that 
destroy the environment. Insultingly, all of this is occurring on 
American Federal lands.
  There is more. The Washington Times reports today that ``campers, 
fishermen, hikers and forest and park officials are being intimidated, 
threatened or assaulted when they come near Mexican-run marijuana'' 
plantations on American soil, and that ``all this plant growing 
produces a street value of $6.7 billion.''
  The Union newspaper from Nevada states, ``These American marijuana 
gardens are guarded by Mexican nationals, and the traffickers use the 
profits from pot sales to finance large methamphetamine labs in Mexico 
and the United States.''
  Mr. Speaker, it seems that no public land is safe. Even California's 
Sequoia National Forest has been attacked by these drug cartels. The 
Director of the Office of National Drug Control Policy, John Walters, 
said, ``Mexican drug cartels are turning our national parks into 
centers of international drug production and trafficking. Public lands 
are being held hostage by illegal drug traffickers.''
  Mr. Speaker, numerous law enforcement personnel, State, local and 
Federal, are attempting to retake our Federal and public lands from 
these drug cartel invaders. Some progress is reported, but the battle 
for our land goes forward.
  We cannot allow these land grabbing, environmentally hazardous drug 
terrorists to seize America's national forests and national parks. 
These outlaws cannot be allowed to camp in our parks and swim in the 
profits from marijuana plantations. They should be tracked down, 
arrested, prosecuted, and put in jail.
  We need to seize all their money from whatever financial institutions 
they try to hide it in and use the money to restore our national parks, 
the way they were before the drug invaders arrived.
  We need to make it more difficult for them to operate here by 
actually securing the southern border, something that Homeland Security 
has yet to accomplish. Right now, security along our southern border is 
a glittering illusion.
  Our national parks and forests are worth fighting for, and rather 
than journalists, campers, fishermen, hunters, and park rangers being 
afraid of these drug cartels like the Zetas, these outlaw drug gangs 
should be afraid of our relentless determination to take our land back.
  And that's just the way it is.

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