Jim Baird: “I thank my dear friend from Oregon for yielding me this time, and commend her for her leadership on this, along with the…”

“I thank my dear friend from Oregon for yielding me this time, and commend her for her leadership on this, along with the gentleman from Indiana (Mr. Souder) and the gentleman from Minnesota (Mr. Kennedy). My colleagues have defined for us what this amendment is about. Essentially, we are desperately trying to stem the tide of precursors from Mexico that are leading to the increase in methamphetamine on the streets. But let me put a human face on this, if I might, in the brief time I have. Mr. Chairman, I try to visit every high school in my district every 2 years. Last fall, I spoke to a small rural high school about the dangers of meth. Having treated meth addicts as a psychologist before, I know a little about what I am speaking about. After talking to them for about 15 minutes, a young girl said to her classmates, you really need to listen to what he is saying. And I turned to her and kind of gently said, you must have some experience with this. And she said, I do. My mother died of methamphetamine 3 months ago. A 16-year-old had lost her mother to this terrible drug. We must do everything in our power to stop this. The Hooley amendment we have all joined together with will help do that, and the other amendments offered earlier by the gentleman from Minnesota (Mr. Kennedy) and others. I applaud their leadership on this and join wholeheartedly and urge passage of this important amendment.”