Maxwell Frost: “There is a serious matter here that is being discussed, of course. And we are saying that this rule is unfair. We are…”

“There is a serious matter here that is being discussed, of course. And we are saying that this rule is unfair. We are not suggesting that there is not a serious drug problem, that we have serious reasons to question the degree to which we have gotten cooperation, none of that is under question here. The question is what is the most reasonable policy to make sure that Mexico will in fact continue to cooperate with the United States and continue to do the things necessary to decrease the flow of drugs into our country. This is not a fair rule that the majority reported out of the committee. They rejected the amendment offered by one of their own Members, a sense of Congress amendment offered by the gentleman from New Mexico [Mr. Schiff]. I include the Schiff amendment for the Record at this point: Amendment Offered as a Substitute to the Committee Amendment to H.J. Res. 58 Offered by Mr. Schiff of New Mexico In lieu of the matter proposed to be inserted insert the following: SECTION 1. CONGRESSIONAL FINDINGS. The Congress finds the following: (1) The international drug trade poses a direct threat to the United States and to international efforts to promote democracy, economic stability, human rights, and the rule of law. (2) 12,800,000 Americans use illegal drugs representing all ethnic and socioeconomic groups, including 1,500,000 cocaine users, 600,000 addicted to heroin, and 9,800,000 smokers of marijuana.”