Cass Ballenger: “I would like to just speak to the gentleman from New Jersey and remind him that we have authorized money in our budget…”

“I would like to just speak to the gentleman from New Jersey and remind him that we have authorized money in our budget the last two years to do this very thing, and the Administration has yet to spend them. We should all be aware that our Nation's drug problem is a poison eating away at our country. It is invading our streets and our schools. Statistics show an ever increasing number of drug users within our Nation. Here is a startling fact. Heroin use alone has reached historic levels among 12 to 17-year-olds. Unfortunately these drugs are coming from our neighbors to the south. Now more than ever we need to focus more effort on source country eradication and interdiction to prevent drugs from entering the United States. To my dissatisfaction, the Clinton administration has resisted congressional attempts, as I said, to assist these source countries as they wage their war on drugs. In general, President Clinton has made our Nation's drug problem a very low priority. As I said, the money was in the budget but they refused to spend it. The good news is that we have drafted an effective drug elimination plan. H.R. 4300 would provide the necessary assistance to countries like Colombia, Peru and Bolivia to strengthen eradication and interdiction strategies and enhance alternative crop developments.”