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The subcommittee met at 3:30 p.m., pursuant to notice in room 2322, Rayburn House Office Building, Hon. Paul G. Rogers, (chairman) presiding. Mr. ROGERS. The subcommittee will come to order, please. Today the subcommittee will hear Hon. Peter Bensinger, Administrator of the Drug Enforcement Administration of the Department of Justice on its drug abuse law enforcement and regulatory program under the Controlled Substances Act and on legislation to extend the authorization of appropriations for the Drug Enforcement Administration. The appropriations authorization for this program is due to expire at the end of the current fiscal year, 1977. Therefore it is necessary under the Congressional Budget and Impoundment Act for the full committee to report out legislation to extend this authority prior to May 15 of this year. On March 29, 1977, most of the members of the subcommittee joined. me in introducing H.R. 5742, legislation to amend the Controlled Substances Act to extend for 3 fiscal years the authorization of appropriations for the DEA to carry out its program under that law. It would provide for an authorization of appropriations of $190 million for 1978, $215 million for 1979 and $240 million for 1980. I am hopeful that the subcommittee will be able to report out legislation to extend the authorizations for DEA's drug abuse law enforcement program in executive session tomorrow. Relevant background information, an analysis of the proposed legislation, copies of the bills, as well as budget history information have been passed out to the members. This information has been updated since, I sent the members similar information on the bil sponsored by most of us in early March. Before we hear testimony from Mr. Bensinger I would like to state that I am generally pleased with recent progress of the Drug Enforcement Administration in drug abuse law enforcement. In particular I am pleased to hear that in 1976 arrests of major heroin traffickers, the so-called class I violators, have increased 26 percent over the previous year. I am also pleased to learn that the total amphetamine production in the United States has drastically decreased from the level of 66,000 (1) pounds produced annually approximately 7 years ago to 7,770 pounds in 1977. I am hopeful that this level and the level of barbiturate production will continue to decrease without depriving genuine medical needs for these drugs, since they are substantially abused when diverted from legitimate sources. These are but a few examples which I believe help focus on the importance of the law enforcement and regulatory programs of the Drug Enforcement Administration. There have been, of course, many problems associated with our Nation's drug abuse enforcement program, which I don't mean to minimize. I understand that the problem of diversion of drugs from licit sources is still a significant problem at the retail and health care delivery levels. I also understand that even if we substantially curtail the flow of heroin into the United States from Mexico, there is a strong likelihood that new sources in other countries will develop, just as Mexico became a major source after the "Turkish-French connection" was broken. I am hopeful that the subcommittee will be able to explore these and other problems in today's hearings and to provide a sufficient hearing record for reporting out legislation to extend the authorization of appropriations for the continued activities of the Drug Enforcement Administration. [Without objection, the text of H.R. 5742 will be printed at this point in the record.] 95TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION H. R. 5742 IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES MARCH 29, 1977 Mr. ROGERS (for himself, Mr. Satterfield, Mr. PREYER, Mr. Scheuer, Mr. FLORIO, Mr. MAGUIRE, Mr. OTTINGER, Mr. WALGREN, Mr. CARTER, Mr. BROYHILL, and Mr. SKUBIтZ) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Interstate and Foreign Commerce A BILL To amend the Controlled Substances Act to extend for three fiscal years the authorization of appropriations under that Act for the expenses of the Department of Justice in carrying out that Act. 1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 3 That (a) section 709 (a) of the Controlled Substances Act 4 (21 U.S.C. 904 (a)) is amended 5 6 7 8 9 (1) by striking out "and" after "1976,", (2) by striking out "June 30, 1977" and inserting in lieu thereof "September 30, 1977, $190,000,000 for the fiscal year ending September 30, 1978, $215,000,000 for the fiscal year ending September 30, 1979, |