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“STATUS OF THE DRUG WAR” mentioning the U.S. Dept. of Justice was published in the House of Representatives section on pages H2879 on March 27, 1996.
The publication is reproduced in full below:
STATUS OF THE DRUG WAR
The SPEAKER pro tempore (Mrs. Vucanovich). Under a previous order of the House, the gentleman from Florida [Mr. Mica] is recognized for 5 minutes.
Mr. MICA. Madam Speaker, I come before the House this afternoon really concerned about a report that has now been released to the Congress. It is the National Drug Policy: A Review of the Status of the Drug War.
Madam Speaker, I serve on the Committee on Government Reform and Oversight, and this product is from our subcommittee, which I also serve on, which is the Subcommittee on National Security, International Affairs, and Criminal Justice. This report should be required reading for every Member of Congress, should be required reading for every citizen of the United States, and it should be required reading for everyone who is involved in the media of the United States.
This report details a history of total failure of our Nation's drug policy, and we see that decline almost immediately the moment that President Clinton took office. This is one of the most startling reports to ever be produced by the Congress, and I hope it gets the attention of every Member of Congress and every parent and everyone in the media.
What it does is, it in fact outlines a policy of national disaster. President Clinton started this when he dismantled the drug office, and did not make drug prevention and attacking the drug problem a priority of this administration.
Madam Speaker, when he talked about cutting the White House staff, he in fact cut 85 percent of the White House drug policy staff, and that is where the cuts came in. That is where the attention was not focused. Then he appointed Joycelyn Elders, who made drugs and drug abuse a joke and sent a mixed message. It was not the message of ``just say no,'' it was the message of ``just say maybe,'' and this report details the disaster that that policy has imposed on this Congress and on the Nation and our children.
Under President Clinton's watch, listen to this, drug prosecution has dropped 12.5 percent in the last 2 years. You have heard the comments about the judiciary he has been appointing and their decisions as far as enforcement, which have made enforcement and prosecution a joke in this country.
Madam Speaker, let me tell you the details of what this report is about and how it is affecting our children. Heroin use by teenagers is up, and emergency room visits for heroin rose 31 percent between 1992 and 1993 alone. In less than 3 years, the President has destroyed our drug interdiction program, and we know that cocaine is coming in from Bolivia, Peru, and Colombia, and transshipped through Mexico, which he recently granted certification in the drug certification program to.
What did we do with the drug interdiction program? We basically dismantled it. What are the results, again, with our children? Juvenile crime, in September 1995 the Justice Department's Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention reported that, now listen to this, and this is from the report: after years of relative stability, juvenile involvement in violent crime known to law enforcement has been increasing, and juveniles were responsible for about one in five violent crimes.
We see what this failed policy of this Clinton administration has brought us. Juvenile use and casual drug use in every area, marijuana, cocaine, designer drugs, heroin. Every one of these areas is dramatically off the charts, and it is the result of a failed national drug policy, and the responsibility and the trail to responsibility leads right to the White House.
Let me say finally that even the media coverage of this situation is terrible. It is a national disgrace that the media is not paying more attention, that they in fact put on one antidrug ad per day in markets and the Federal Government controls the airwaves, so the media should have as much responsibility for getting the message out, the message of this disaster created by this administration, and should begin a policy of education.
Finally, the President's policy, every standard, including drug treatment, is a disaster, and I will detail this further in another special order.
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