Mr. MICA. Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to come to the floor again tonight to talk about the issue of illegal narcotics and its impact upon the United States of America.

As I begin my remarks tonight, I want to take a moment and pay special tribute to a gentleman who I have had the honor and privilege of knowing from my district in Central Florida. That individual is E. William Crotty, and he is affectionately known to all of us who are friends of Bill Crotty as Bill Crotty.

He had the distinction of being appointed the ambassador to seven Caribbean nations by President Clinton last November and has been in that position until his death just a few days ago.

To his family, we want to extend our deepest condolences, extend our sympathy to his wife Valerie and his children and his relatives.

I have known Bill Crotty for many years. I happen to be a Republican. I am actually in a family dominated by some pretty prominent Democrats. Bill Crotty was a Democrat's Democrat. But although he and I sometimes differed on political parties, we agreed more often on the need to serve our community, to serve our State, and to serve our Nation.

The untimely death of Bill Crotty this week has left our community with a great void. It has left the Democrat party with a tremendous loss. He was one of the largest sources of support, financial assistance, and dedication for the Democrat party of any individual I know in the United States.

He took on every challenge with a great energy particularly in support of his party and his candidates and also, as I said, in the best interest of his community, State, and Nation.

He was appointed United States ambassador to the Caribbean nations of Barbados, Antigua, Barbuda, Dominica, St. Lucia, Grenada, Saint Kitts, Nevis, and St. Vincent, and the Grenadines.

Since he assumed that post, I had the honor and privilege of talking with Bill Crotty and working with him. We both had a common interest in that region; and that was to bring stability, to bring economic development and trade to that area of the Caribbean.

One of our mutual concerns was the problem of illegal narcotics. Just some weeks ago, Bill had written me and sent me these letters and clips and he said, "Dear John, enclosed please find an article that appeared in the July 23rd edition of the Grenada Today. The article discusses deportees, but the thrust is drug trafficking.''

He goes on to discuss the possibility of our visiting with a delegation and meeting with leaders in the Caribbean to help them in their efforts to combat illegal narcotics. He closed by saying, "It will be a real honor for my wife and I to host you and your delegation. I will send you additional materials I think may interest you concerning drug trafficking and Caribbean matters.''

Again, just recently discussing with Bill Crotty, our ambassador, this particular situation we face in the Caribbeans on illegal narcotics, I have an article that was published just before his death that spoke of Bill Crotty's determination to make a difference in the post in which he was appointed to serve. The article from the Daytona Beach News Journal in Central Florida said, for example, "He delivered a state-of-the-art Fairchild C-26 aircraft from the United States Government to Barbados. Prime Minister Owen Arthur was the recipient and received this as part of an $11 million support package to the regional security system in the Caribbean to help fight drug trafficking.''

We have lost with the death of Bill Crotty, again, an individual who was dedicated to his community, to his party, and also an ally with me in the war against illegal narcotics. His untimely death again leaves us all at a loss. But we do want to extend our very deepest sympathy to his family who now have grief as Bill has left us. Again, Mr. Speaker, we pay tribute tonight to E. William Crotty, United States Ambassador.

When I speak on the floor of the House every Tuesday night and get an opportunity, I like to talk about some of the items in the news and I led tonight with the obituary of a good friend and dedicated American. But it appears to me that almost every time anyone picks up a newspaper or turns on the television or hears some media report, that individual in the United States or in any of our communities hears more and more about the effects of illegal narcotics.

Leading the news this week was the death in Laramie, Wyoming, of a young, gay man who was beaten to death by several individuals. Some have referred to it as a hate crime.

No matter how it is referred to, it was a horrible incident. And I know the State of Wyoming and many people in the community of Laramie, Wyoming, are saddened by that occurrence in their community and that tragic death.

What captured my imagination and attention, again dealing with the question of illegal narcotics as chairman of the Subcommittee on Criminal Justice and Drug Policy, is the headline that said "Shepard-Death Defendant to Claim Impairment.'' This is the headline in Tuesday, October 12 Washington Times. The first paragraph says, "Laramie, Wyoming. The attorney for a man charged with beating college student Matthew Shepard to death said yesterday his client's judgment was clouded by drugs and alcohol.''

Again even as we face the most tragic events of our time that are publicized in the media, we look at some of the root problems beyond hate, beyond theft and robbery, beyond other charges that have been alleged, and we see drugs and alcohol and substance abuse as possibly the root cause of these crimes. Again, this entire area of illegal narcotics and substance abuse has taken its toll across our Nation.

Last week, I reported the most recent statistics indicate that over 5,200 Americans died last year from drug-induced deaths. I do not think Matthew Shepard's death will be counted in those statistics as I have cited many others who have died as the result of someone being involved with illegal narcotics. But the toll continues to rise and rise. In addition to the deaths, we have the incarceration of 1.8 million, close to 2 million total Americans in our jails, our prisons. Our judiciary system is clogged at tremendous expense to the taxpayer with people who have committed serious felonies, crimes, robberies, murders and other illegal acts either under the influence of illegal narcotics or in dealing with illegal narcotics. The toll from illegal drugs in our country continues to rise.

Also in the news, relating to illegal narcotics, is a debate that has really tied up the other body, the United States Senate, and the House of Representatives with several pieces of legislation. As my colleagues may know, the President has vetoed the D.C. appropriations measure. One of the provisions in that particular bill does restrict needle exchange programs. It is now one of the problem areas that the House of Representatives and Congress, the other body, find ourselves in conflict with the administration. They want to promote these needle exchanges. It has caused the veto in part of this particular bill relating to funding D.C. government. The Congress is also embroiled in a battle to fund several major departments. One of the largest bills that we will face in Congress is the education, labor and human services bill, HHS bill as we refer to it. Recently, the other body struck a provision that would have allowed the Department of Health and Human Services Secretary to create a clean needle exchange program for drug users. In some of the debates on that, one of the quotes that struck me was "giving an addict a clean needle is like giving an alcoholic a clean glass,'' said one of the sponsors of that legislation in the other body.

What was also interesting is a study that was referred to. I have not read all the details of this study and I have used the example of Baltimore which has had a very liberal policy and needle exchange program and which has, I believe, since 1989 increased its addiction level some five or six times. As it was reported and I cited and quoted a member of the Baltimore city council who said one out of eight citizens in the city of Baltimore is now a heroin addict. Part of this, we can trace back to the needle exchange program. But this quote in the Washington Times from last Friday says that "we have proved beyond a reasonable doubt that needle exchange programs increase the rate of HIV infection and the use of drugs.''

Cited in this article is a Vancouver, British Columbia case where the number of drug-related overdoses has increased fivefold since 1988, the year the city began its own free needle exchange program. In Canada, we have an example of when you have a liberalized policy and needle exchange program, the statistics also prove that needle exchange programs actually increase the rate of HIV infection according to this report. Again in Canada and a city like Baltimore, we have seen a dramatic increase in the rise of addicts as we see a more liberalized policy.

Also in the news is a report from the Boston Globe that I thought I would mention tonight. This is a story that we all heard a great deal about some years ago and that was the death of the top Boston Celtics draft pick, Len Bias. His death occurred some 13 years ago. It was a cocaine-related overdose death. Federal prosecutors for the first time in Massachusetts said yesterday that the law bearing Len Bias' name will be used to charge an alleged drug dealer with the overdose of a customer. Again, this report is from just last Friday.

Alarmed by high levels of heroin purity and an acute statewide overdose problem, United States Attorney Donald K. Stern said Federal and State prosecutors are preparing to bring more cases under the statute. Called the Len Bias Law, it was passed by Congress amid the uproar surrounding the University of Maryland basketball star's death in 1986. It levies stiff Federal penalties on drug dealers whose sales can be directly tied to fatal overdoses. A drug dealer is looking at a maximum of a 20-year prison term on State manslaughter charges.

This is the quote by Mr. Stern who is the U.S. Attorney there. He said that those individuals would face a minimum 20-year sentence in Federal court and the possibility of life without parole under the Len Bias Law.

"One such dealer,'' Stern said, "was 61-year-old Anibal Soler of Holyoke. Solo was charged with selling Edward Thompson of Chicopee a fatal dose of heroin that officials say was 72 percent pure. High purity heroin can be deadly if users are expecting a less potent dose and take too much.''

One of the things that I have tried to point out here and that we have pointed out in our subcommittee hearings and testimony we have had from medical experts is that the heroin and cocaine and some of the other narcotics that we see today are not the same purity level as the cocaine and heroin we saw in the 1970s and 1980s. This particular case had a 72 percent purity. Back in the 1970s and 1980s, they were looking at 5, 6, 7 percent pure heroin. This ends up by saying that high purity heroin can be deadly if users are expecting a less potent dose and take too much.

That is exactly what is happening. We have a flood of high purity heroin, high purity cocaine and other designer drugs that are potentially fatal in very small doses. That is why we are seeing in my community, in central Florida, for example, we have had over 60 heroin overdoses. In fact, in central Florida, a headline is blurted out that overdoses from drugs now exceed homicides in central Florida.

What is particularly disturbing is our young people in particular are falling victim to these overdoses and fatalities and they do not realize that this high purity illegal narcotic that is available in our streets and in our communities is so deadly and so potent.

To deal with some of the problems we have had, I have got a news story from the Washington Times but it is actually a story on what has happened in Florida. I had the opportunity earlier this fall to meet with the governor and also his new drug czar, Jim McDonough, in Orlando on one of the occasions in which a daylong kickoff was celebrated to start a statewide antinarcotics program. It is a multifaceted program which encompasses prevention, education, enforcement, treatment, a whole array and a whole attack on the illegal narcotics problem that we face not only in central Florida but across Florida.

Our governor, Jeb Bush, has done an incredible job in bringing together the State, first in a statewide coordinated meeting in the capital, Tallahassee, earlier this year, with the President of the Florida Senate, Toni Jennings, and the Speaker of the Florida House, John Thrasher, in a joint conference and effort to bring together all of the most knowledgeable people on the illegal narcotics problem, a summit that has produced results. Part of the results was this kickoff. The governor said he would adopt a plan of action, institute a drug czar's office, which he has done, and Jim McDonough, who is a former deputy national drug czar, is now heading up that post. They have discussed a plan, they have developed a plan, they have announced a plan and I am pleased that Jeb Bush and other leaders in our State are now executing a plan.

The headline here on Friday reads, "Florida Raids on Raves Result in 1,219 Arrests.'' If you do illegal drugs in Florida, we are going to go after you. The governor has made this commitment. I have made the commitment. We have established through central Florida, from Tampa now through Orlando and up almost to Jacksonville, and we will be including Jacksonville, a HIDTA, that is a high intensity drug traffic area. We also have one in Florida. These are designations by Federal law that take every possible law enforcement resource and other resources, local and State, combined with Federal agencies in an effort to combat illegal narcotics. We are going after individuals who deal in death caused by illegal narcotics.

This particular article says that statewide raids on all-night dance parties, known as raves, resulted in 1,219 arrests and the seizure of nearly $9.4 million in drugs, cash, weapons and vehicles. The raids, which were dubbed "Operation Heat Rave,'' were in response to six rave-related drug deaths around the State, including two this summer, according to State drug czar Jim McDonough.

Jim McDonough is quoted as follows: "Had this been a roller coaster ride and we had had six dead, there would have been a major outcry to close down the theme park until we could do something about that roller coaster ride.''

I think Jim McDonough states here that people would be outraged if, in any other instance, there were that many young people killed.

In this raid across the State, State and local law enforcement officers moved against 57 businesses in 21 counties from September 29 through October 4. Officers seized more than 15 kilograms of cocaine, more than 500 pounds of marijuana, and smaller quantities of heroin and methamphetamines. They also seized designer drugs, Ecstacy, GHP, and other drugs such as the rape drugs. So it is nice to see people in public office who set out a plan and then execute a plan and follow through with their commitments, and I am pleased that Governor Jeb Bush and others in our State are following through. Again, part of the news.

Also, I wanted to call to the attention of my colleagues and the entire Congress a little game that is being played on the question of certification, drug certification. Having been involved in the passing and actually authorship of the United States drug decertification law, I know a little bit about how it was set up to work and how it should work.

This article talks about what I consider sort of a little attempt to undermine the United States drug decertification law. Let me read a little bit about it. It is from the Oppenheimer Report and it was published in the Miami Herald. It said, "At a September 2nd meeting in Ottawa, the 34 Nation Organization of American States approved a plan supported by the Clinton administration,'' now that concerns me, "to create a multinational evaluation system which the OAS,'' Organization of American States, "hopes will eventually replace the controversial U.S. score board.''

I am very disturbed that the Clinton administration would want to do away with our drug decertification law. I am concerned that, first of all, they have misapplied the law.

The drug decertification law is a simple law. It says that any Nation who wishes to receive benefits of the United States, foreign aid, foreign assistance, trade assistance, trade benefits, international financial assistance from the United States, any Nation who receives the largesse of the United States is asked to cooperate with the United States in an effort to eliminate either the production or trafficking of illegal narcotics. It is a simple law. Every year, the President must send to the Congress a list of those countries whether or not they are assisting the United States, an evaluation is made whether they are assisting the United States through stopping illegal narcotics, either in their country or the production in their country or trafficking in their country. It is a simple law. We give them our benefits.

Now, why in the world would we want to transfer to other nations an evaluation process that allows people to have benefits such as foreign aid, financial assistance, trade assistance? Why would we want to give that evaluation ability to some international body or to others? The Clinton administration has misapplied the decertification. They decertified Colombia, and they should have allowed for a national interest waiver, even though they felt Colombia was not properly cooperating, but they had problems with this administration; had problems with Colombia's human rights operations and attitudes and actions, and instead, they decertified Colombia without what we provided in the law, which was a national interest waiver, a United States national interest waiver to allow us to continue to assist in one specific area, and that would be the fight against illegal narcotics. And because of that misapplication of a very good law, we, in fact, have an incredible production of illegal narcotics from Colombia, and I will try to talk a little bit more about that tonight.

But this is sad that this administration still does not understand why that law was instituted or how that law should be applied. By the same token, they took the decertification law and certified Mexico as cooperating in the war on illegal narcotics. Mexico should have been decertified, but also granted a national interest waiver. So what they have done is made a joke of the law and made the law ineffective.