[House Hearing, 111 Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Printing Office]
WESTERN HEMISPHERE DRUG POLICY COMMISSION ACT OF 2009
=======================================================================
MARKUP
BEFORE THE
SUBCOMMITTEE ON
THE WESTERN HEMISPHERE
OF THE
COMMITTEE ON FOREIGN AFFAIRS
HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
ONE HUNDRED ELEVENTH CONGRESS
FIRST SESSION
ON
H.R. 2134
__________
OCTOBER 15, 2009
__________
Serial No. 111-47
__________
Printed for the use of the Committee on Foreign Affairs
Available via the World Wide Web: http://www.foreignaffairs.house.gov/
______
U.S. GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE
52-854 WASHINGTON : 2009
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
For sale by the Superintendent of Documents, U.S. Government Printing
Office, http://bookstore.gpo.gov. For more information, contact the
GPO Customer Contact Center, U.S. Government Printing Office.
Phone 202-512-1800, or 866-512-1800 (toll-free). E-mail, gpo@custhelp.com.
COMMITTEE ON FOREIGN AFFAIRS
HOWARD L. BERMAN, California, Chairman
GARY L. ACKERMAN, New York ILEANA ROS-LEHTINEN, Florida
ENI F.H. FALEOMAVAEGA, American CHRISTOPHER H. SMITH, New Jersey
Samoa DAN BURTON, Indiana
DONALD M. PAYNE, New Jersey ELTON GALLEGLY, California
BRAD SHERMAN, California DANA ROHRABACHER, California
ROBERT WEXLER, Florida DONALD A. MANZULLO, Illinois
ELIOT L. ENGEL, New York EDWARD R. ROYCE, California
BILL DELAHUNT, Massachusetts RON PAUL, Texas
GREGORY W. MEEKS, New York JEFF FLAKE, Arizona
DIANE E. WATSON, California MIKE PENCE, Indiana
RUSS CARNAHAN, Missouri JOE WILSON, South Carolina
ALBIO SIRES, New Jersey JOHN BOOZMAN, Arkansas
GERALD E. CONNOLLY, Virginia J. GRESHAM BARRETT, South Carolina
MICHAEL E. McMAHON, New York CONNIE MACK, Florida
JOHN S. TANNER, Tennessee JEFF FORTENBERRY, Nebraska
GENE GREEN, Texas MICHAEL T. McCAUL, Texas
LYNN WOOLSEY, California TED POE, Texas
SHEILA JACKSON LEE, Texas BOB INGLIS, South Carolina
BARBARA LEE, California GUS BILIRAKIS, Florida
SHELLEY BERKLEY, Nevada
JOSEPH CROWLEY, New York
MIKE ROSS, Arkansas
BRAD MILLER, North Carolina
DAVID SCOTT, Georgia
JIM COSTA, California
KEITH ELLISON, Minnesota
GABRIELLE GIFFORDS, Arizona
RON KLEIN, Florida
Richard J. Kessler, Staff Director
Yleem Poblete, Republican Staff Director
------
Subcommittee on the Western Hemisphere
ELIOT L. ENGEL, New York, Chairman
GREGORY W. MEEKS, New York CONNIE MACK, Florida
ALBIO SIRES, New Jersey MICHAEL T. McCAUL, Texas
GENE GREEN, Texas CHRISTOPHER H. SMITH, New Jersey
GABRIELLE GIFFORDS, Arizona DAN BURTON, Indiana
ENI F. H. FALEOMAVAEGA, American ELTON GALLEGLY, California
Samoa RON PAUL, Texas
DONALD M. PAYNE, New Jersey JEFF FORTENBERRY, Nebraska
JOHN S. TANNER, Tennessee GUS BILIRAKIS, Florida
BARBARA LEE, California
JOSEPH CROWLEY, New York
RON KLEIN, Florida
Jason Steinbaum, Subcommittee Staff Director
Eric Jacobstein, Subcommittee Professional Staff Member
Fred Ratliff, Republican Professional Staff Member
Julie Schoenthaler, Staff Associate
C O N T E N T S
----------
Page
MARKUP OF
H.R. 2134, To establish the Western Hemisphere Drug Policy
Commission..................................................... 2
Amendment in the Nature of a Substitute to H.R. 2134 offered by
the Honorable Eliot L. Engel, a Representative in Congress
from the State of New York, and Chairman, Subcommittee on the
Western Hemisphere........................................... 13
LETTERS, STATEMENTS, ETC., SUBMITTED FOR THE RECORD
APPENDIX
Markup notice.................................................... 28
Markup minutes................................................... 29
The Honorable Christopher H. Smith, a Representative in Congress
from the State of New Jersey: Prepared statement............... 30
WESTERN HEMISPHERE DRUG POLICY COMMISSION ACT OF 2009
----------
THURSDAY, OCTOBER 15, 2009
House of Representatives,
Subcommittee on the Western Hemisphere,
Committee on Foreign Affairs,
Washington, DC.
The subcommittee met, pursuant to notice, at 2:17 p.m., in
room 2172, Rayburn House Office Building, Hon. Eliot L. Engel
(chairman of the subcommittee) presiding.
Mr. Engel. The subcommittee will come to order.
Pursuant to notice, I now call up H.R. 2134, the Western
Hemisphere Drug Policy Commission Act of 2009. Without
objection, the amendment in the nature of a substitute before
the members will be considered as base text for purposes of
amendment. It will be considered as read, and it will be open
for amendment at any point.
[The information referred to follows:]H.R.
2134 deg.
[GRAPHIC(S)] [NOT AVAILABLE IN TIFF FORMAT]
[GRAPHIC(S)] [NOT AVAILABLE IN TIFF FORMAT]
[GRAPHIC(S)] [NOT AVAILABLE IN TIFF FORMAT]
[GRAPHIC(S)] [NOT AVAILABLE IN TIFF FORMAT]
[GRAPHIC(S)] [NOT AVAILABLE IN TIFF FORMAT]
[GRAPHIC(S)] [NOT AVAILABLE IN TIFF FORMAT]
[GRAPHIC(S)] [NOT AVAILABLE IN TIFF FORMAT]
[GRAPHIC(S)] [NOT AVAILABLE IN TIFF FORMAT]
[GRAPHIC(S)] [NOT AVAILABLE IN TIFF FORMAT]
[GRAPHIC(S)] [NOT AVAILABLE IN TIFF FORMAT]
[GRAPHIC(S)] [NOT AVAILABLE IN TIFF FORMAT]
NOS to H.R. 2134 deg.
[GRAPHIC(S)] [NOT AVAILABLE IN TIFF FORMAT]
[GRAPHIC(S)] [NOT AVAILABLE IN TIFF FORMAT]
[GRAPHIC(S)] [NOT AVAILABLE IN TIFF FORMAT]
[GRAPHIC(S)] [NOT AVAILABLE IN TIFF FORMAT]
[GRAPHIC(S)] [NOT AVAILABLE IN TIFF FORMAT]
[GRAPHIC(S)] [NOT AVAILABLE IN TIFF FORMAT]
[GRAPHIC(S)] [NOT AVAILABLE IN TIFF FORMAT]
[GRAPHIC(S)] [NOT AVAILABLE IN TIFF FORMAT]
[GRAPHIC(S)] [NOT AVAILABLE IN TIFF FORMAT]
[GRAPHIC(S)] [NOT AVAILABLE IN TIFF FORMAT]
[GRAPHIC(S)] [NOT AVAILABLE IN TIFF FORMAT]
Mr. Engel. I recognize myself for 5 minutes to explain the
amendment in the nature of a substitute.
Billions of U.S. taxpayer dollars have been spent over the
years to fight the drug trade in Latin America and the
Caribbean. In spite of our efforts, drug use in the United
States has increased. According to the Brookings Institution,
since the peak of the heroin and cocaine epidemics of the mid-
1980s, consumption rates for these narcotics have remained more
or less stable at approximately 1 million heroin users and 3.3
million cocaine users. At the same time, methamphetamine use
has spread, resulting in a combined prevalence rate of more
than 6 million users.
Clearly, the time has come to reexamine our
counternarcotics efforts here at home and throughout the
Americas. H.R. 2134 does just that by creating an independent
commission to evaluate U.S. policies and programs aimed at
reducing illicit drug supply in the Americas and the demand for
these drugs here at home. This bipartisan bill will assess all
aspects of the illegal drug trade, including prevention and
treatment programs in the United States.
The Western Hemisphere Drug Policy Commission will be
charged with conducting a comprehensive review of U.S. illicit
drug supply and demand reduction policies. The commission will
be required to submit recommendations on future U.S. drug
policy to Congress, the Secretary of State, the Director of the
White House Office of National Drug Control Policy, and the
Secretary of Health and Human Services.
To tackle our Nation's horrific drug problem once and for
all, we must have a better sense of what works and what does
not work. Our partners in the Americas who have worked closely
with us in fighting the drug war for years and the citizens of
our great country who deal every day with illegal drugs on
their streets deserve no less.
I urge all of my colleagues to support this legislation;
and I now turn to the ranking member, Mr. Mack, to express his
views on this legislation.
Mr. Mack. Thank you, Mr. Chairman; and I want to thank you
for your leadership for introducing H.R. 2134. The Western
Hemisphere Drug Policy Commission Act of 2009 is a positive
step toward evaluating U.S. policy.
I also want to thank Chairman Engel and his staff for
working in a bipartisan manner with my office and Republican
members of the subcommittee. Chairman Engel worked closely to
ensure that the concerns and requests of Republican Members
were adequately addressed.
As we mark up H.R. 2134 and continue on to the hearing on
U.S. Drug Policy in the Americas, I want to emphasize my belief
that the best way to attack the problem of illicit drugs is to
take an all-encompassing approach to the problem. Some will
focus on treatment or better education. Others will focus on
supply and the law enforcement aspect of the problem. We must
attack the problem from all angles and all perspectives.
Thank you, Mr. Chairman, for your leadership and for your
hard work; and I want to urge my colleagues to support the
Western Hemisphere Drug Policy Commission Act of 2009 and to
vote yes on the chairman's amendment.
Mr. Engel. Well, thank you very much, Mr. Mack, and thank
you for your cooperation and for your input into this bill. It
is very much appreciated by me and by all of us. I thank you.
Are there any amendments?
Any members want to make a statement?
Mr. Smith. Mr. Chairman?
Mr. Engel. Yes, Mr. Smith.
Mr. Smith. I would ask that my full statement be made part
of the record, and I want to take a moment to highlight the
connection between organized crime that is flourishing on drug
money and human trafficking, particularly sex trafficking of
women and girls.
I do want to thank you and Mr. Mack for including language
that shows the nexus between drug trafficking and sex
trafficking. We know that one of the ways that women are
exploited in trafficking includes getting them hooked on
narcotics and other dangerous drugs, so that even when they are
liberated many of these women go back to traffickers because of
their addiction. It is also a way of two commodities being
sold, reducing the woman to a commodity as well as obviously
the commodity of drugs.
So I appreciate you including that language in the bill. It
is a great bill, and I hope all members support it.
I yield back.
Mr. Engel. Thank you, Mr. Smith.
Ms. Lee.
Ms. Lee. Thank you very much, Chairman Engel, and also
Ranking Member Mack. Thank you for convening this hearing and
also for this bill.
Of course, I am very pleased that, for once, we are
beginning to look at both the supply and demand for illicit
drugs. Many of our communities have felt the brunt,
unfortunately, of drug addiction and many of the difficulties
that ensue as a result of drug addiction and the damage that
has been caused to communities and to individuals and society.
Also, the commission, I am very pleased to note, is
required to carry out, investigate, and comprehensively look at
best practices around the world that target specifically and
directly the societal devastation caused by illicit drug
markets and drug use, from the spread of infectious diseases
like HIV and AIDS to the surge of crime and violence. So this
is one of the first times that I have seen the establishment of
any drug policy commission that really is going to look at this
in a comprehensive way to accomplish what we all want to
accomplish, and that is really wiping illicit drugs, from
cocaine to heroin, from the face of the earth.
So thank you again, Mr. Chairman, and thank you for the
bill.
Mr. Engel. Thank you, Ms. Lee.
If no other member wishes----
Mr. Paul. Mr. Chairman?
Mr. Engel. Yes, Mr. Paul.
Mr. Paul. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I have just a brief
comment.
I think it is about time we looked at this subject. I am
very glad you are doing this. I think it is a start.
We are dealing with the Western Hemisphere, but I think the
overall drug policy in this country, the drug war should be
looked at. But, as a physician, I wanted to particularly
emphasize the importance of looking at people who are addicted
to drugs as being involved with a disease rather than
criminals. Every time we criminalize all this activity we
compound our problem. So I am delighted that you are looking at
this problem and studying it, and I hope the commission will
pay attention to the fact that there are different ways of
treating people who are addicted.
And I yield back.
Mr. Engel. Thank you, Mr. Paul.
If there are no further comments, the question occurs on
the amendment in the nature of a substitute. All in favor will
vote aye. Aye. All opposed will vote no.
The ayes have it, and the amendment is agreed to.
The chairman is prepared to receive a motion.
Mr. Sires?
Mr. Sires. I move the favorable recommendation of H.R.
2134, as amended, to the full committee.
Mr. Engel. The question occurs on the motion of the
gentleman to report H.R. 2134, as amended, favorably to the
full committee. All in favor will say aye. Aye. All opposed say
no.
The ayes have it, and the motion is adopted.
Without objection, the bill will be reported as a single
amendment in the nature of a substitute incorporating the
amendments adopted by the committee, and the staff is directed
to make any technical and conforming amendments.
[Whereupon, at 2:26 p.m., the subcommittee was adjourned.]
A P P E N D I X
----------
Material Submitted for the Hearing RecordNotice deg.
[GRAPHIC(S)] [NOT AVAILABLE IN TIFF FORMAT]
Minutes deg.
[GRAPHIC(S)] [NOT AVAILABLE IN TIFF FORMAT]
Smith statement deg.
__________
Prepared Statement of the Honorable Christopher H. Smith, a
Representative in Congress from the State of New Jersey
[GRAPHIC(S)] [NOT AVAILABLE IN TIFF FORMAT]
|
NEWSLETTER
|
|
Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list
|
|
|
