Political Quotes

“Mr. President, the trafficking and use of illegal drugs is an ongoing challenge in our Nation. It is incumbent upon the Government to seek to prevent the flow of drugs into the country, and limit the availability of drugs on our streets and in our communities. It is for that purpose that I introduce the Drug Trafficking Safe Harbor Elimination Act of 2010 with Senator Sessions. This bill will close a loophole that could allow drug traffickers, under certain circumstances, to operate with impunity in the United States. In United States v. Lopez-Vanegas, the Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals held that where the object of a conspiracy is to possess controlled substances outside the United States with the intent to distribute outside the United States, there is no violation of U.S. law, even if the conspiracy, including meetings, negotiations, and arrangements to execute the drug transaction, occurs on U.S. soil. Although a particular conspiracy may not be intended to bring illegal drugs into the U.S., the same traffickers could very well act to bring drugs across our own borders as their next crime. If we have a chance to prosecute such criminals, we should do so. In the Lopez-Vanegas case, the court stated that the statute relied upon by Federal prosecutors could not be extended to conspiracies to act outside of the U.S. because Congress had not expressed its intention for the statute to be applied in such a manner.…”