Today's Judiciary Committee Hearing to Review General Mccaffrey's 1998 Drug Strategy Provides an Important Opportunity to Review Not Only this Years $17.1 Billion Anti-drug Spending Plan; but Also to Review Two Other Important Issues.
First, the 1998 Drug Strategy Is Accompanied by the Release of the "Performance Measurement System" --the First-ever, Highly Detailed System Capable of Specifically Reviewing the Performance of the National Drug Strategy and the Efforts of Every One of the More than 50 Federal Agencies Charged with Carrying out the Strategy. In Other Words, General Mccaffrey's "Performance Measurement System" Puts in Place the Most Comprehensive System of Accountability to Ever Accompany a Drug Strategy.
Second, Today's Hearing Also Gives the Committee a Chance to Review the Progress --more Accurately, the Lack of Progress --of Legislation to Re-authorize the General's Office.
The Administration's 1998 National Drug Strategy Provides a Solid, Practical Blueprint of the next Steps We must Take Against the Scourge of Drugs. Under the Leadership of General Mccaffrey, the Administration's Drug Strategy Calls for a 10-year Anti-drug Plan and a $17.1 Billion Budget Request That Includes Significant Funding for Drug Control Efforts That Have Proven to Work.
Besides Funding Existing Programs for Interdiction, Enforcement, Prevention, and Treatment --including Broad, Across the Board Increases for Law Enforcement Agencies like the Fbi, Dea, Ins and Us Attorneys --the Budget Request Continues the New National Media Campaign of Prime-time Anti-drug Tv Advertisements. These Ads --aimed at Stopping Kids from Trying Drugs in the First Place --are Funded in Equal Shares by the Federal Government and Private Industry.
These Are All Positive Steps Which I Urge My Colleagues to Pass into Law.
To Outline the Performance Measurement System Accompanying the 1998 Drug Strategy --the Drug Director Has Called for Specific Long-and Short-term Measurable Objectives. First, the General Sets 5 Overall Goals --ones I Believe We All Share --
the General Establishes 12 Concrete Targets to Assess Progress on These 5 Overall Goals --for Example, a Target under Goal #2, Is Reducing by 25% Drug Availability in the U.s. by the Year 2002.
The General Also Establishes 32 Objectives --to Be Judged Against 82 Specific Targets --to Provide Yet More Specific Ways in Which We Can Assess Where We Are Succeeding and Where We must Do More. For Example, under Goal #2, There Are 6 Separate Objectives --such As, Arresting More Drug Traffickers, with a Target of Arresting 10% More Traffickers by 2002..
All Told, the General Offers a Total of 94 Measures by Which to Judge Our Progress Against Drugs --the Most Comprehensive Effort to Add Accountability to the Drug Strategy Ever Attempted.
The 1998 Drug Strategy and the Performance Measurement System Illustrate Well Just How Vital the Office of the Drug Director Truly Is.
Because, If We Did Not Have an Office --a Single, Responsible Office Charged with Overseeing the Federal Anti-drug Policy --we Could Not Even Debate Whether General Mccaffrey's Drug Strategy Makes Sense. I Believe it Does. But, There May Be Others Who Do Not. My Key Point Is That Without a Drug Director, We Would Have Lost Even the Chance to Have an Informed Debate over a Specific Proposal.
I Remind My Colleagues What We Faced on the Drug Policy Front When I First Began Calling for a Drug Office in 1980: Nothing. There Was No Drug Office, There Were More than 50 Federal Departments, Agencies and Offices Putting Together a Hodgepodge of Anti-drug Efforts with No Coherent Plan.
Contrast this with What We Have Today, General Mccaffrey Has Submitted a Strategy and a Budget --and We Can Now All Debate What a Majority of Us Favor and What a Majority of Us Oppose --and this Legislation Seems to Still Be Bogged down Due to this Opposition.
This Is the Fundamental Reason Why I Introduced Legislation to Re-authorize the Office of National Drug Control Policy. Together with Chairman Hatch, We Have Put Together a Bi-partisan Re-authorization Bill Co-sponsored by Senators Thurmond, Dewine, Coverdell, and Feinstein.
General, this Legislation Got "Knocked-off the Track" Last Fall. This Occurred after You Used the Budget Authority Provided to Drug Director in the Original 1988 Bill to Push the Pentagon to Increase Their Budget Request for Drug Interdiction. They Didn't Want a Boost. You Called for $120 Million More. And, in the End, Your Budget Powers Worked as Intended --with the Pentagon Agreeing to Request about $70 Million More than They Originally Proposed.
Ironically, General, Using the Full Powers of Your Office to Increase Funding for Drug Interdiction Seems to Have Cost You Some Support from the Other Side of the Aisle.
It Is My Hope That this Impasse Will Be Resolved Soon and the Full Senate Can Quickly Debate and Pass the Hatch-biden Re-authorization Bill. The Delay You Have Already Endured Has Put the Existence and Function of Your Office in Jeopardy. Everyone on this Committee Says They Want More Attention Paid to the Fight Against Drugs. Speaker Gingrich Says He Wants More Attention Paid to the Fight Against Drugs.
Well, I Remember the Days Before We Had a Drug Director. And If Anyone Wants to Guarantee That less Attention Is Paid to the Anti-drug Effort, We Should Simply Continue to Delay the Re-authorization Legislation. So, I Urge My Colleagues, Let's End the Delay and Keep the General in Business.
General Mccaffrey, I Look Forward to Your Testimony.