**Congresswoman Betty McCollum**

**U.S. House Committee on Government Reform**

**Subcommittee on Criminal Justice, Drug Policy and Human Resources**

**June 27, 2005**

**"Fighting Meth in America's Heartland:**

**Assessing Federal, State, and Local Efforts"**

Chairman Souder, welcome to Minnesota and to the Fourth Congressional
District which I very proudly represent. It is a pleasure having you
here in St. Paul and at Hamline University which is celebrating its
150^th^ year as a center for higher learning. We are all very proud of
Hamline tradition and contribution to our state.

Chairman Souder, thank you for holding this important hearing today. I
appreciate your commitment to this issue and your strong support for
local and state law enforcement. These are tough budget times in
Washington and folks here in Minnesota should know that you've been
fighting hard to keep local law enforcement funded -- thank you.

Methamphetamine is a scourge. It is a drug that makes prisoners out of
those who use it and destroys lives, families, communities, the
environment and everything else that comes in its way. Meth is a crisis
for law enforcement, for prosecutors, drug treatment experts, child
protection advocates and particularly the loved ones of those who are
addicted. .

The meth crisis is taken very seriously in Minnesota and I am proud of
the work of local law enforcement officials from Ramsey, Dakota and
Washington counties. They know very well how difficult this problem is
-- both the local production of meth and the explosion in trafficking.

\<ENTER LETTERS FOR THE RECORD\>

Fighting meth requires resources. Unfortunately, the president's budget
eliminated funding for the COPS program and drastically under-funded
Byrne Grants.  The president also eliminated Safe and Drug Free Schools
in his budget. Local law enforcement cannot keep our communities safe
and cannot confront the scourge of meth without federal support.
Homeland security means more than defending ourselves from terrorism, it
also means protecting our communities from a terror that is already here
-- methamphetamine -- and you can't fight this terror on the cheap.

 

I have a different perspective on the meth epidemic than others. While I
support efforts to attack local labs and local meth production, it is
not enough.

The meth epidemic, this poison polluting Minnesota, is being primarily
produced in Mexican super labs and is trafficked by Mexican drug gangs
across our country and into Minnesota. Banning Sudefed and eliminating
every lab in Minnesota will do almost nothing if we don't stop meth at
its source -- Mexico.

These gangs are a national security threat, they are a homeland security
threat and if they can permeate our borders pumping tons of this poison
into our country -- we better wake up. This is a crisis and it is also a
canary in a coal mine. If Mexican narco-terrorists can traffick meth at
will across our southern border -- al-Qaeda can do much, much worse.

As much as 80% of the meth in Minnesota is trafficked by Mexican
narco-terrorist gangs with much of it being produced in super-labs in
Mexico. While we are banning Sudafed in Minnesota, these labs are buying
tons of precursor chemicals on the international market to manufacture
meth.

Earlier this month a newspaper story paints a disturbing picture.

"...huge amounts of pseudoephedrine, mostly in pill form, are finding
their way to Mexican drug cartels.

Last June, not 100 yards from the customs house at the Mexico City
airport gate, gunmen stole three tons of pseudoephedrine powder imported
from India \-- enough to make 18 million doses of meth \-- from a truck
parked in an unlocked parking area." This was likely an inside job.

The same story reports that "U.S. officials say shipping records and
other intelligence show Hong Kong pharmaceutical manufacturers alone
have shipped 450 million pseudoephedrine pills to Mexican front
companies since 2003."

This is the pipeline that starts in Mexico and leads to Minnesota.

The Drug Enforcement Administration states that "In Minnesota, Mexican
traffickers control the transportation, distribution, and bulk sales of
cocaine, marijuana, and methamphetamine...Numerous Mexican groups and
street gangs... are operating in the state."

The meth coming from Mexico tends to be more potent and more addictive
than the meth cooked locally. The Bush Administration and Congress must
continue to work with the Mexican government -- and, if necessary, apply
real pressure on the Mexican Government -- to attack meth production and
trafficking in Mexico. The status quo is completely unacceptable because
Mexico's meth problem is now Minnesota's meth problem.

If we do not take conclusive action to reduce both the meth coming in
from Mexico and locally reducing the demand for meth through treatment,
prevention, and law enforcement, we will see this growing epidemic
transformed into a real disaster.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman, and I look forward to hearing from our
witnesses today.