Combat Methamphetamine Enhancement Act of 2010

I thank the committees of jurisdiction, and I thank the leadership from the majority side and from the minority side.

Mr. Speaker, this is a bill that effectively gives our drug enforcement leadership the tools that they need to continues this fight.

Twelve years ago, much like Mr. Doyle was just talking about his tenure here in the House being defined by his extraordinary work in the area of autism, in many ways mine has been defined over the last 12 years by fighting methamphetamine production in the Southeast, particularly in east Tennessee, where it surfaced in the late 1990s after coming to this country, really, in terms of production, in about 1993. It surfaced first in California. Then it came to the mountains of east Tennessee.

Much like moonshine did two generations earlier, it was a clandestine process where citizens would put together the chemicals to make it. It stunk really bad, so they would do it out in the middle of the mountains and the hills, and they would get as far away from urban centers as they could; but because the drug is so deadly and addictive, it encroached on other areas.

We saw, frankly, the States that took the leadership take ephedrine and pseudoephedrine from behind the counter. They made it harder to get. They enforced a lot of rules at the State level, and it really knocked back the domestic production of methamphetamine. We still have a huge problem of methamphetamine coming in across the border, particularly through the transit country of Mexico, but this has helped us greatly combat the production.

In east Tennessee, we formed the Southeast Tennessee Meth Task Force, which is a premiere local, State, and Federal partnership because methamphetamine production can't be combated exclusively at the State and local levels. It just simply can't. They didn't have the resources to surveil it. It became a toxic site where it was made, and they didn't have the resources to clean it up, so we formed this partnership. It grew to become the East Tennessee Meth Task Force, and now it is a premiere statewide task force.

We have had tremendous success in combating methamphetamine production in Tennessee, but we have to continue to modernize the laws, including adding a Federal component, in order for drug professionals to be able to keep ephedrine and pseudoephedrine out of the hands of people who are addicted to methamphetamine, because they produce this most of the time for use. As a result, this is just a deadly, deadly disease out in the hinterland of America, and we have got to fight it. This bill is another step in the right direction.

Congressman Gordon from Tennessee and I have been working together. Congressman Cooper from Tennessee and I passed a bill a few years ago to actually create Federal grant support for the children who are taken out of meth homes because when a meth home is infected by this plague, many times the children become wards of the State, and there was little help there at the State level as well.

So if this plague of methamphetamine has not come to your hometown, unfortunately, it will soon, and it's something that requires a Federal component.

This is a good bill. I urge the entire House to stand together and pass this piece of legislation, thanking the committees of jurisdiction and the original sponsor, Mr. Bart Gordon of Tennessee.

Mr. Speaker, in 2006, Congress took significant steps to reduce methamphetamine production and distribution by passing the Combat Methamphetamine Epidemic Act. Today, the House will consider H.R. 2923, the Combat Methamphetamine Enhancement Act, which will address problems that the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) has identified in the implementation of the Combat Methamphetamine Epidemic Act. H.R. 2923 aims to strengthen enforcement measures and ensure that retailers are in full compliance with the law.

Prior to passage of the Combat Methamphetamine Epidemic Act, it was common practice for methamphetamine dealers to go into stores, load up shopping carts with cold medicines, break open the blister packs, and use the pseudoephedrine and ephedrine to make methamphetamine. The Combat Methamphetamine Epidemic Act stopped this practice, by requiring that cold medicines containing pseudoephedrine and ephedrine be placed behind a pharmacy counter, requiring signature and proof of identification before purchase, and limiting how much of these medicines a person can buy in a day or month. However, the law contains a loophole that allows retailers to continue to sell products containing pseudoephedrine and ephedrine without showing that their employees are complying with the law's requirement.

H.R. 2923 will require retailers of pseudoephedrine and ephedrine products to verify with the DEA that they have trained their staff in the requirements of the Combat Methamphetamine Epidemic Act. If they don't, they simply won't be able to purchase pseudoe phedrine products from distributors. The DEA needs every resource available to enforce the tough drug laws already on the books. This measure will curb drug manufacturers' access to ephedrine or pseudoe phedrine, while keeping these products available to responsible consumers.

Over the past decade, methamphetamines have emerged as one of the most dangerous homegrown drugs. Ranking as one of the most widely used illicit drugs in the world, it has become the most prevalent drug problem in many Western and Midwestern states, and is emerging on the East Coast. Congress made great efforts in the fight against methamphetamines with the enactment of the Combat Methamphetamine Epidemic Act. However, while many of the provisions in the comprehensive legislation have had positive results, including a sharp decline in national methamphetamine lab seizures; manufacturers, traffickers and abusers continue to search for loopholes in the law.

H.R. 2923 is a common sense bill, designed to strengthen the implementation of the Combat Methamphetamine Epidemic Act. This bill would create incentives to ensure that the verification process of the law is made both effective and enforceable. I urge my colleagues to support this legislation.

Mr. Speaker, I rise in full support of H.R. 2923, the Combat Methamphetamine Enhancement Act.

I'd like to thank Chairman Pallone, Ranking Member Shimkus, Chairman Waxman, Ranking Member Barton, and the staff of the Energy and Commerce Health Subcommittee for their hard work on this bill. I'd also like to thank Senator Feinstein for her determination and diligence in the effort to combat the spread of meth.

While visiting a Middle Tennessee high school a number of years ago, I asked a group of students to tell me about the most troubling issue facing them. Their top concern shocked me: they were worried about friends who were trying meth.

Four years ago, Congress began to tackle this issue head on. In 2006, Congress approved the most comprehensive bill to date targeting the spread of meth by bringing all pseudoephedrine products behind the counter.

For a time, this approach worked, and meth abuse rates went down.

But the criminals who cook and distribute this dangerous drug have exploited loopholes in the laws that regulate the sale of precursor materials. As a result, we have once again seen an increase in the distribution, use, and manufacturing of meth across the country.

In Tennessee, meth seizures have increased 50 percent in the past year.

Too many retailers and distributors of pseudoephedrine and ephedrine products are not in compliance with the 2006 law. Even more alarming, recent trends are showing that more and more of those arrested are young people, who are first brought into the business as runners sent to purchase these products from retailers.

Building on the 2006 law, H.R. 2923 would: require all retailers of pseudoephedrine and ephedrine products to register with the U.S. Attorney General; require distributors of these products to sell only to retailers who are registered to sell controlled substances; require the Attorney General to provide a downloadable database on its website to all retailers who have filed self-certification; and, clarify that a retailer who neglects to file required self-certifications can face civil fines.

This bill has been endorsed by the National Association of Chain Drug Stores, the Health Care Distribution Management Association, the Consumer Healthcare Products Association, the Community Anti-Drug Coalitions of America, the National Narcotics Officers' Association and the Fraternal Order of Police.

Meth is a highly addictive and dangerous drug, with widespread consequences for users, their families, and their communities. With this legislation, we move one step closer to securing the safety of our communities across the nation by ensuring these products are used for their intended purpose, and not for illegal drugs.

Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the bill (H.R. 2923) to enhance the ability to combat methamphetamine, as amended.

Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members may have 5 legislative days in which to revise and extend their remarks and to include extraneous material in the Record.

I yield myself such time as I may consume.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today in strong support of H.R. 2923, the Combat Methamphetamine Enhancement Act of 2010.

H.R. 2923 is designed to respond to problems that the Drug Enforcement Agency has identified in the implementation of the Combat Methamphetamine Epidemic Act of 2006. That 2006 law required retail sellers of ephedrine and pseudoephedrine products to file a self- certification attesting that they have trained their personnel about the law and its requirements. According to the DEA, thousands of sellers have not yet self-certified. This legislation is designed to improve compliance with the 2006 law, and it will provide the DEA with enforcement tools, like civil fines.

I want to commend Representative Gordon as well as Senator Feinstein for their leadership on this legislation. I also want to thank Ranking Members Shimkus and Barton for working with us in moving this bill forward so quickly.

Mr. Speaker, I urge my colleagues to support the bill.

I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, I continue to reserve.

Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time and ask that the bill pass.

I want to thank Congressmen Pallone and Shimkus for bringing this important legislation to the floor. We all recognize the devastating effect of methamphetamines.

Mr. Speaker, at this time I yield 5 minutes to the gentleman from Tennessee (Mr. Wamp), who has been a true leader in combating methamphetamines.

When you talk to law enforcement officers anywhere in America today, they will tell you that about 80 percent of the crimes committed in America are the direct result of some type of drug. Methamphetamine is certainly one of those.

In Kentucky, we have the Pennyrile Drug Task Force. And when I think about the passage of this legislation, I think of a gentleman named Cheyenne Albro who started that task force and who was a true leader in combatting methamphetamine and who, unfortunately, died a couple of weeks ago, but I know he would be very proud of this act.

I would urge that this legislation be adopted.

Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.