Methamphetamine Kingpin Elimination Act Of 2007

Floor Speech

METHAMPHETAMINE KINGPIN ELIMINATION ACT OF 2007 -- (House of Representatives - July 26, 2007)

(Mr. SMITH of Nebraska asked and was given permission to address the House for 1 minute and to revise and extend his remarks.)

Mr. SMITH of Nebraska. Mr. Speaker, I rise today as we consider the Commerce, Justice, Science, and Related Agencies Appropriations Act. According to the DEA, 33.3 kilograms of methamphetamine were seized in my home State of Nebraska in 2006. For this reason, I would like to commend the leadership and Appropriations Committee for including $85 million in funding for grant projects to address the manufacture, sale and use of methamphetamine. However, we must send a stronger message to those who are smuggling and distributing the drug, which is why I have introduced the Methamphetamine Kingpin Elimination Act of 2007.

The number of methamphetamine labs in the U.S. has declined since Congress enacted the Combat Methamphetamine Epidemic Act last year to restrict the sale of pseudoephedrine, the key ingredient in methamphetamine. Unfortunately, a reverse trend has occurred south of our border.

Mexico is the largest foreign supplier of methamphetamine destined for the U.S. It is estimated that as much as 80 percent of the methamphetamine on U.S. streets comes from Mexico. Unlike the small U.S. kitchen labs, Mexican drug cartels are creating superlabs, which produce huge quantities of cheap methamphetamine and then smuggle it north to U.S. users.

Mr. Speaker, it is time we stop this flood of methamphetamine coming across our border.

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The ``Meth Kingpin Elimination Act of Ð2007,'' increases penalties for meth kingpins. The bill also authorizes $20 million for multi-jurisdictional methamphetamine task forces.

Meth devastates not only those who abuse the drug, but their families and their communities as well. The drug has a phenomenal rate of addiction, with some experts saying users often get hooked after just one use. Recent studies have demonstrated that methamphetamine causes more damage to the brain than heroin, alcohol, or cocaine.

Mr. Speaker, I ask you to join me in keeping this destructive drug off America's streets and ensuring that meth kingpins and traffickers receive harsher penalties.

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Mr. Speaker, we must work together to address this severe problem.

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