Paul Coverdell: “I rise in support of the Hatch- Coverdell amendment. It has been an honor to work with Senator Hatch, with his…”

“I rise in support of the Hatch- Coverdell amendment. It has been an honor to work with Senator Hatch, with his longstanding efforts to engage the drug war. I point out to my colleagues in the Senate that just last week we discovered the first death from Rohypnol, a young teenager who apparently was given Rohypnol in a drink of soda, who has now lost her life as a result of this awful drug, and some predator yet to be discovered. The Hatch amendment embraces the legislation that I introduced shortly after our hearing where we heard from two young American females who were stricken and the victims of predators with this drug called Rohypnol. It is important to note that Rohypnol cannot be detected: You cannot smell it; you cannot see it; and you cannot taste it. The effect of our amendment is to say that anybody who uses Rohypnol or any other drug as a weapon, becomes a predator against someone, who creates a victim, will be subject to increased penalties of up to 20 years. So this legislation, just as the Senator from Utah said, puts would-be abusers of this drug and would-be predators of this drug on notice. And, hopefully, as in the case of several other drugs in our history, we will be able to corral them through, in a sense, the warning system that this legislation creates. It creates a new Federal crime if you use a drug as a predator, as a weapon, against a victim. So I rise in support of this amendment and urge our colleagues to pass it.…”