Date: 2006-12-07
Speaker: HENRY WAXMAN (democrat)
Chamber: H

for their strong leadership and cooperation in shaping a bill that we were able to report out of committee and pass on the House floor with strong bipartisan support. [ 1600 This legislation incorporates additions and modifications negotiated with the Senate Republicans and Democrats. most notably Senators GRASSLEY. HATCH. BIDEN. LEAHY. and LEVIN. At its core. the bill before us today is substantially the same as the legislation passed by the House on March 9. The bill reauthorizes the drug czars office for 5 years and also reauthorizes several key antidrug programs managed by ONDCP. including the National Youth AntiDrug Media Caml:aign. the High Intensity Drug Trafficking Areas. or HIDTA program. and the Counterdrug Technology Assessment Center. In addition to authorizing funding for these programs. the bill contains provisions to strengthen them and make them more accountable. ONDCP. as the central coordinating body for drug control strategy in the White House. plays a vital role in shaping the Federal response to a national drug problem that claims more than 20.000 American lives each year. Through its formulation of the National Drug Control Strategy and its authority to certify the drug control budgets of agencies throughout the executive branch. ONDCP provides critical guidance and support to our efforts to address illegal drug abuse through programs in the areas of prevention. treatment. domestic law enforcement. interdiction. and international supply reduction efforts. We are taking an important step by reauthorizing the drug czars office today. I am especially pleased that this bill preserves . bipartisan agreements achieved through good faith negotiations during committee consideration of the bill. including a provision to ensure that funds for the National Youth AntiDrug Media Campaign are not used to advocate for or against any candidate or legislative or regulatory measure. I am also pleased that we will finally pass the Dawson Family Community Protection Act which authorizes $7 million of HIDTA program funds to be devoted to supporting efforts to improve safety and facilitate cooperation with police and communities ravaged by drug violence. This provision memorializes the courageous efforts of Angela Dawson. a Baltimore City resident. who along with her husband and five children lost her life when a drug dealer firebombed the familys home in retaliation for Ms. Dawsons reporting of drug distribution activities in the immediate vicinity of her home. I might add that Ms. Dawsons home is within a mile of my home. HIDTA plays a vital role in combating drug trafficking in many areas of the country. and this provision will help to ensure that funds are available to address urgent threats to community safety due to drug violence. The amendments adopted by the other body augment and mainly improve upon the Housepassed bill. This bill adds reauthorization of the DrugFree Communities Support Program. one of the most popular and effective Federal drug prevention programs that we have. One other addition included in this bill also deserves particular mention. The provision proposed by Senator LEVIN would amend the Controlled Substances Act to increase from 30 to 100 the number of patients to whom a doctor can prescribe buprenorphine. an extremely effective drug for the use of opiate addiction. This important and welcome change will have a tremendous impact in places like my own city of Baltimore where opiate addiction is far too common and access to treatment is far too limited. The bill would immediately triple the capacity of physicians to prescribe this drug for patients with opiate addiction and should have a substantial impact. The substitute amendment implements two further changes negotiated with the Senate in recent days. The first would modify a provision in the Housepassed bill calling for a study of mycoherbicides. requiring that any testing be conducted inside the United States. The second would restore a provision offered by Mr. WAXMAN that would require ONDCP to consult with the National Institutes of Health and the National Academy of Sciences when formulating policy on syringe exchange programs aimed at preventing HIV transmission among injection drug users. The provision calls for ONDCP to base any decisions on the scientific evidence regarding the efficacy of syringe exchange and its impacton drug use. Madam Speaker. the devastating impact of drugs on communities throughout this Nation is difficult to overstate. In some communities. drugs are a quiet. invisible. disruptive force. In others. as in the case of Americas inner cities and rural communities afflicted by meth. it is impossible not to see. and it is impossible not to feel the pain. But no community is completely untouched or .immune from this problem. I am confident that this bill will preserve and strengthen our Nations most essential tools for fighting the good fight against drug abuse and related crime and social problems. I am also very pleased about the provisions with regard to accountability for drug treatment. Mr. SOUDER and I have agreed over and over again and done everything in our power to make sure that if there is going to be drug treatment. that that drug treatment be effective and efficient. We wanted to make sure that those who go into treatment came. out better off than what they went in. One of the things that I have discovered as an elected official and talking to many addicts is they go into drug treatment. and they feel they have not been treated properly or that the treatment has not been effective. That makes them reluctant to.go into treatment again if need be. and at the same time. many of them would not have gotten better. That is not to take away from the many. many great organizations that are doing a great job of treating drugaddicted folks. but we just want to make sure that when Americas taxpayers dollars are spent. that they are spent. again. in an effective and efficient manner. but we also want something else. We want to make sure that those people who find themselves in the clutches of drug addiction are able to depend upon treatment that can best help them. So I applaud my colleagues on both sides of the aisle and in both Houses for their cooperative efforts. and I again want to thank Mr. SOUDER for all the hard work. We have come now to what appears to be an end to a long journey. but I am hopeful that what we have done in this bill will affect generations yet unborn. for there are so many people that will never know what we were able to accomplish in this legislation. but they will be affected and they will be able to raise their families. hopefully get back to work. do the things that productive citizens do. and perhaps. just perhaps. another generation of folk who may have gone into drugs. we may have just prevented some of that. Madam Speaker. I reserve the balance of my time.