Newt Gingrich: “I want to commend both the Democratic and Republican leaders of this bill who worked together in a bipartisan manner to…”

“I want to commend both the Democratic and Republican leaders of this bill who worked together in a bipartisan manner to help develop a Drug-free Community Act that I think is a significant step in the right direction. First of all, I believe that this bill moves us in the right direction because it moves efforts to the community level. It involves the entire community and it creates an environment in which we recognize that volunteers, churches, synagogues, mosques, local governments, private businesses, and individual citizens all have a role to play in the drug prevention effort. The goal is also correct, drug-free communities. I believe all of us should commit ourselves to the goal of beginning the 21st century on January 1, 2001, the first morning of the next millennium, a Monday morning in which our goal should be to have a virtually drug-free America, to get back, say, to the level of drug use that was prevalent in 1960, when I was a very tiny child and very few people were using drugs. It is doable but it is only doable by having a comprehensive effort, one key component of which is drug-free communities, a strong effort at prevention, and making sure the young people know not to do drugs and a strong effort at education so people understand the consequences of doing drugs.”