DRUG CRIMES. WE KNOW BETTER. WE KNOW THAT THERE ARE ALTERNATIVE
           DRUGS CURRENTLY BEING DEVELOPED IN AMERICA, AMERICAN-GROWN
           PRODUCTS, IF YOU WILL, THAT ARE COMPETING WITH THE TRADITIONAL
           ADDICTIONS. METHAMPHETAMINES. THIS WAS SOMETHING THAT STARTED
           PERHAPS IN MEXICO, WENT TO CALIFORNIA AND NOW HAS SWEPT THE
           COUNTRY. IN THE RURAL AREAS OF ILLINOIS, IN THE SMALL-TOWN
           FARMING AREAS OF ILLINOIS, THEY ARE DISCOVERING THESE
           METHAMPHETAMINES LABS THAT CAN BE BUILT WITH ITEMS THAT ARE

           PURCHASED AT A LOCAL HARDWARE STORE AND CAN DEVELOP A DRUG
           WHICH IS VERY ADDICTIVE 57BD DESTRUCTIVE. SO IT IS IMPORTANT
           FOR-- --ADDICTIVE AND DESTRUCTIVE. SO IT IS IMPORTANT FOR US AS
           WE LOOK AT THE DRUG PROBLEM IN AMERICA IT IS NOT ONLY ADDICTION
           AND ELIMINATION OF SUPPLY, WE HAVE TO ADDRESS DEMAND. THAT
           TAKES A LOT OF EFFORT AND A MYRIAD OF APPROACHES WHICH HAVE
           BEEN PROMULGATED BY THIS SENATE AND THE HOUSE AND SO MANY
           DIFFERENT AGENCIES. BUT ONE OF THE THINGS WHICH WE SHOULD TAKE
           INTO CONSIDERATION IS THE LIMITED OPPORTUNITY FOR THOSE WHO ARE

           DRUG ADDICTS IN THIS COUNTRY TO HAVE ACCESS TO REHABILITATION.
           IN OTHER WORDS, IF YOU WERE A DRUG ADDICT IN THIS COUNTRY AND
           DECIDED THAT YOU WERE SICK AND TIRED OF THIS LIFE AND WANTED TO
           CHANGE AND WANTED TO ELIMINATE YOUR ADDICTION, WOULD YOU BE
           ABLE TO TURN SOME PLACE FOR HELP?
           TOO MANY TIMES THE ANSWER IS "NO." THERE'S NO DRUG REHAB
           AVAILABLE. THE ADDICT STAYS ON THE STREET. HE MIGHT HAVE HAD A
           CONVERSION AT ONE POINT AND WANTED TO CHANGE HIS LIFE AND FOUND
           THERE WAS NO WURN TO -- NOWHERE TO TURN. LET ME GIVE YOU AN

           ILLUSTRATION. IN MY HOME STATE OF ILLINOIS IN 1987 ABOUT 500
           PEOPLE WERE IMPRISS SONDZ IN OUR STATE PRISONS FOR POSSESSION
           OF A THIMBLEFUL OF COCAINE. 500 PRISONERS IN 196 -- 1987. TODAY
           IN ILLINOIS FOR THE SAME AMOUNT OF COCAINE, ABOUT A THIMBLEFUL
           WE HAVE 9,000 PRISONERS. IT COSTS US ROUGHLY $30,000 A YEAR TO
           INCARCERATE SOMEONE IN ILLINOIS PRISONS. SO WE'RE SPENDING IN
           ILLINOIS ON AN ANNUAL BASIS JUST FOR THOSE 9,000 PRISONERS OUT

           OF A TOTAL PRISON POPULATION OF 45,000, BUT FOR THE 9,000
           COCAINE POSSESSORS, WE'RE SPENDING ABOUT $270 MILLION A YEAR IN
           THE STATE OF ILLINOIS. THAT STORY'S REPEATED IN EVERY STATE IN
           THE NATION. WHEN WE TALK ABOUT $1 BILLION TO COLOMBIA FOR THE
           INTER INTERDICTION OF DRUGS, PUT IT INTO THE CONTEXT OF WHAT
           THE DRUGS ARE DOING IN AMERICA. REMEMBER TOO, AS I SAID
           EARLIER, IT ISN'T JUST THE SUPPLY SIDE. IT'S THE DEMAND SIDE.
           YOU SEE, IN MY STATE OF ILLINOIS A PERSON INCARCERATED FOR A

           DRUG CRIME SERVES ABOUT NINE MONTHS FROM PRISON AND THEN
           THEY'RE OUT AGAIN. HALF THE PEOPLE IN OUR PRISON POPULATION ARE
           RELEASED DURING THE COURSE OF A YEAR. THOSE WHO THINK WE'RE
           GOING TO PUT THEM AWAY AND THROW AWAY THE KEY OUGHT TO TAKE A
           CLOSER LOOK AT THE STATISTICS. HALF OF THE PEOPLE IN PRISONS
           ARE COMING OUT EACH YEAR. AND WHO ARE THEY WHEN THEY COME OUT?
           WE KNOW WHEN THEY WENT IN THEY WERE CRIMINALS. IN THE CASE OF
           ADDICTS, WE KNOW THAT THEY CAME INTO PRISON WITH A DRUG
           ADDICTION WHICH LED TO A CRIME WHICH MIGHT HAVE LED TO A THEFT
           OR SOMETHING WORSE -- A VIOLENT CRIME -- AND THEY WENT INTO

           PRISON FOR THE AVERAGE NINE-MONTH INCARCERATION. WE ALSO KNOW
           IN THE -- MY STATE OF ILLINOIS IT IS VERY RARE, IF EVER, THAT
           THAT PERSON IN THE ILLINOIS PRISON SYSTEM HAS ANY OPPORTUNITY
           FOR DRUG REHAB WHILE HE'S THERE. AND SO HE COMES IN AN ADDICT
           AND HE LEAVES AN ADDICT. IN THE MEANTIME, THOUGH, HE'S JOINED
           SOME FRATERNITIES OF GANG MEMBERS AND VETERAN CRIMINALS WHO
           TOLD HIM HOW TO BE A BETTER CRIMINAL WHEN HE GOES BACK ON THE
           STREET. NOW THAT'S VERY SHORTSIGHTED EVIDENCE. WHAT HAVE WE
           ACHIEVED?

           WE HAVE BROUGHT AN ADDICT IN AND RELEASED AN ADDICT NINE MONTHS
           LATER TO GO OUT AND COMMIT ANOTHER CRIME. WE HAVE TO LOOK NOT
           ONLY TO THE SUPPLY SIDE OF THIS EQUATION ON NARCOTICS IN
           COLOMBIA AND OTHER COUNTRIES AND INTERDICTION, BUT ALSO THE
           DEMAND SIDE. HOW DO WE START REDUCING DEMAND IN THIS COUNTRY
           FOR THESE DRUGS SO THAT WE CAN REALLY HAVE A MORE PEACEFUL AND
           JUST SOCIETY?
           I AM HAPPY THAT I TOOK THE WEEKEND TO BE IN COLOMBIA AND TO
           LEARN FIRSTHAND SOME OF THE THINGS THAT WE ARE FACING. AND I

           CERTAINLY HOPE THAT MY COLLEAGUES WILL AVAIL THEMSELVES OF THE
           OPPORTUNITIES TO LEARN OF THINGS THAT WE SHOULD BE CONSIDERING
           AS PART OF "PLAN COLOMBIA" AND AS PART OF OUR EFFORTS TO REDUCE
           THIS NARCOTIC DEPENDENCE IN THE UNITED STATES. MR. PRESIDENT,
           I'M ALSO CONCERNED ABOUT ANOTHER ISSUE WHICH HAS BECOME VERY
           TIMELY. IT'S RELATED TO RECENT STATEMENTS BY OFFICIALS IN
           RUSSIA CONCERNING RUSSIA'S VIEW OF THE BALTIC COUNTRIES. I HAVE
           A PERSONAL INTEREST IN THIS. MY MOTHER WAS BORN IN LITHUANIA

           AND EMIGRATED TO THE UNITED STATES. AND OVER THE COURSE OF MY
           PUBLIC CAREER, I HAVE JOURNEYED TO THE BALTIC COUNTRIES ON
           SEVERAL OCCASIONS AND HAVE WITNESSED THE MIRACLE OF
           INDEPENDENCE AND DEMOCRACY COMING TO LITHUANIA, LATVIA AND
           ESTONIA. THIS WAS SOMETHING THAT MANY OF US HAD PRAYED FOR BUT
           NEVER BELIEVED WOULD HAPPEN IN OUR LIFETIME, THAT THE SOVIET
           EMPIRE WOULD COME DOWN AND THAT THESE THREE COUNTRIES WHICH HAD
           BEEN SUBJUGATED TO THE RUSSIANS AND SOVIETS IN THE EARLY 1940'S
           WOULD HAVE A CHANCE FOR THEIR OWN INDEPENDENCE AND DEMOCRACY.

           IN FACT, I WAS ABLE TO BE THERE ON THE DAY OF THE FIRST
           DEMOCRATIC ELECTION IN LITHUANIA. MY MOTHER WAS ALIVE AT THE
           TIME, AND SHE AND I BOTH TOOK GREAT PRIDE IN THE FACT THAT THE
           LITHUANIAN PEOPLE HAD MAINTAINED THEIR COURAGE AND DIGNITY
           THROUGHOUT THE YEARS OF SOVIET OCCUPATION AND NOW WOULD BE
           GIVEN A CHANCE TO HAVE THEIR OWN COUNTRY AGAIN. AND I'VE MET
           WITH THE LEADERS OF THESE COUNTRIES, PARTICULARLY CLOSE TO THE
           PRESIDENT OF LITHUANIA, VALUE DAMKAS. HE IS AN AMAZING STORY.

           HE FOUGHT THE NAZIS IN WORLD WAR II AND FOUGHT THE SOVIETS. AND
           FINALLY DECIDED HE HAD TO ESCAPE AIND CAME TO THE UNITED STATES
           WHERE HE WENT TO SCHOOL AND SETTLED IN CHICAGO. HE WORKED FOR
           THE ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY, SPENT A LIFETIME OF CIVIL
           SERVICE RECEIVING AWARDS FROM PRESIDENTS FOR HIS SERVICE TO OUR
           COUNTRY. AND THEN AT THE TIME OF HIS RETIREMENT ANNOUNCED THAT
           HE WAS GOING TO MOVE BACK TO LIGT WAYNE IN A AT THE AGE OF 70
           AND -- LITHUANIA AT THE AGE OF 70 AND RUN FOR PRESIDENT. WHEN
           HE CAME TO ME AND SUGGESTED THAT, I THOUGHT WELL, IT'S A

           WONDERFUL DREAM BUT SURELY IT'S NOT GOING TO HAPPEN. AND HE
           WON, SHALL TO THE -- MUCH TO THE SURPRISE OF EVERYONE. HE
           BELIEVES AS I DO THAT THE FREEDOM IN LITHUANIA AND LATVIA AND
           ESTONIA IS SOMETHING WE IN THE WEST MUST CAREFULLY GUARD. FOR
           THOSE OF US WHO PROTESTED THE SOVIET TAKEOVER OF THESE
           COUNTRIES WE CANNOT IGNORE THE FACT THAT THEY ARE STILL IN A
           VERY VULNERABLE POSITION. NOT ONE OF THESE COUNTRIES HAS A
           LARGE STANDING ARMY OR ANYTHING LIKE MISSILE ARSENAL OR ANY
           KIND OF MAJOR NATIONAL DEFENSE. AND YET, THEY LOOK BARELY

           ACROSS THE BORDER TO THEIR NEIGHBORS IN RUSSIA AND LEL RUSE AND
           SEE VERY HIGHLY -- AND BYELARUS AND SEE VERY HIGHLY ARMED
           SITUATIONS AND IN MANY CASES VERY THREATENING. THAT'S WHY THE
           RECENT STATEMENTS BY THE NEW PRIME MINISTER -- PARDON ME -- THE
           NEW PRESIDENT VLADIMIR PUTIN IN RUSSIA ARE SO TROUBLING.
           ACCORDING TO "THE WASHINGTON POST" ON JUNE 15 RUSSIAN PRESIDENT
           VLADIMIR PUTIN SAID FULFILLING THE MEMBERSHIP FOR NATO
           MEMBERSHIP WOULD BE A RECKLESS ACT THAT REMOVED A KEY BUFFER

           ZONE AND POSED A MAJOR TRA TEE JIBBING CHALLENGE TO MOSCOW THAT
           COULD, IN HIS WORDS DESTABLIZE EUROPE. THE RUSSIAN FOREIGN
           MINISTRY ISSUED A STATEMENT ON JUNE 9 OF THIS YEAR THAT CLAIMED
           THAT LITHUANIA'S FORCIBLE ANNEXATION IN 1940 WAS IN FACT
           VOLUNTARY. THESE STATEMENTS ARE MORE THAN JUST AN OUTRAGEOUS
           REWRITING OF HISTORY. THE SOVIETS WERE LEGENDARY FOR THEIR
           REVISIONISM. THEY WOULD REWRITE HISTORY AND DECIDE THEY IN FACT
           HAD DEVELOPED AN AIRPLANE FIRST AND AN AUTOMOBILE FIRST AND ALL

           OF THESE DIFFERENT CLAIMS AND STALIN WAS IN FACT A BENEVOLENT
           LEADER AND WASN'T A RUTHLESS DICTATOR. ALL OF THIS REVISIONISM
           WE USED TO SCOFF AT IN THE WEST. WE THOUGHT WITH THE END OF THE
           SOVIET EMPIRE IT WOULD BE THE END OF SOVIET REVISIONIST
           HISTORY. UNFORTUNATELY MR. PUTIN AND HIS LEADERSHIP IN MOSCOW
           ARE STARTING TO TURN BACK TO THE SAME OLD WAYS. THEY BELIEVE,
           THE STATEMENTS THAT THEY HAVE MADE HAVE SAID THAT IF WE WOULD
           FORWARD -- WENT FORWARD WITH ALLOWING THE BALTIC STATES INTO

           NATO, IT WOULD BE AN EXPLICIT THREAT TO THE SOVEREIGNTY OF
           RUSSIA. AND THEY ALSO GO ON TO SAY THAT IT COULD DESTABLIZE
           EUROPE. SUCH A THREAT BY THE RUSSIAN FEDERATION WOULD GIVE
           SECURITY IN EUROPE CANNOT GO UNCHALLENGED. THAT'S WHY I COME TO
           THE SENATE FLOOR TODAY. IT IS INCREDIBLE THAT THE RUSSIAN
           PRESIDENT WOULD CONTINUE TO CALL ARE THE BALTIC COUNTRIES
           BUFFER STATES THAT WOULD PRESUMABLY HAVE NO SAY IN THEIR OWN
           SECURITY OR FUTURE. AND COULD ONCE AGAIN BE SUBJUGATED WITH
           IMPUNITY. TO SUGGEST THAT THE BALTIC NATIONS ARE SOMEHOW PAWNS

           TO BE MOVED BACK AND FORTH ACROSS THE BOORDB BY LEADERS IN
           RUSSIA IS TOTALLY UNACCEPTABLE. IT IS UNBELIEVABLE THAT THE
           RUSSIAN FOREIGN MINISTER INDUSTRY COULD FORGET THE SECRET
           MOLOTOV PACT THAT CARVED UP EASTERN EUROPE BETWEEN HITLER AND
           STALIN. THAT MOMENT IN TIME WHEN THE NAZIS AND THE COMMUNISTS
           IN RUSSIA WERE IN ALLIANCE, IN LINK WITH ONE ANOTHER, AND THEY
           SAT DOWN THROUGH THEIR RESPECTIVE FOREIGN MINISTERS, MOLOTOV
           AND  RUBINTROV AND BASICALLY GAVE AWAY COUNTRIES. AT THAT
           MOMENT IN TIME THE BALTIC STATES WERE ANNEXED INTO THE SOVIET

           UNION AGAINST THEIR WILL. AND FOR MORE THAN 50 YEARS WE IN THE
           UNITED STATES PROTESTED THAT. IT WAS THE SO-CALLED CAPTIVE
           NATIONS DAY, WHICH WE CELEBRATED ON CAPITOL HILL AND ACROSS
           AMERICA TO REMEMBER THAT THOSE BALTIC STATES AND SO MANY OTHER
           COUNTRIES WERE BROUGHT INTO THE SOVIET EMPIRE AGAINST THEIR
           WILL. SOMEHOW NOW MR. PUTIN HERE IN THE -- IN THIS NEW CENTURY
           IS SUGGESTING THAT WE JUST DIDN'T UNDERSTAND HISTORY. THE
           BALTIC NATIONS REALLY WANTED TO BE PART OF THE SOVIET UNION.
           THAT IS A RIDICULOUS STATEMENT, AND IT DEFIES HISTORY AND

           DEFIES THE FACTS THAT EVERYONE KNOWS. IT IS BEYOND BELIEF THAT
           THE RUSSIAN FOREIGN MINISTER INDUSTRY WOULD CLAIM RED ARMY
           TROOPS OCCUPYING THE BALTIC COUNTRIES IN JUNE OF 1940 WERE NOT
           THE REASON THAT THESE COUNTRIES SO-CALLED JOINED THE SOVIET
           UNION. LISTEN TO THE STATEMENT BY THE RUSSIAN FOREIGN MINISTER.
           THE AUGUST 3, 1940, DECISION OF U.S.S.R. SUPREME SOVIET TO
           ADMIT LITHUANIA TO THE SOVIET UNION WAS PRECEDED BY APPEALS
           FROM THE HIGHEST REPRESENTATIVES OF BODIES FROM THE BALTIC

           STATES. THEREFORE, HE SAYS, IT WOULD BE WRONG TO REFRAIN THE
           ADMISSION TO THE USSR AS A RESULT OF THE LATTER'S UNILATERAL
           ACTIONS. ALL ASSERTIONS THAT LITHUANIA WAS -- QUOTE --
           "OCCUPIED" AND -- QUOTE -- "ANNEXED" BY THE SOVIET UNION AND
           RELATED CLAIMS OF ANY KIND OF NEGLECT, POLITICAL, HISTORICAL
           AND LEGAL REALITIES AND, THEREFORE, ARE GROUNDLESS. THAT IS THE
           STATEMENT BY THE RUSSIAN FOREIGN MINISTER. LET ME TELL YOU HE
           NOT ONLY IGNORES THE HISTORY OF 1940, WHICH IS VERY CLEAR, HE

           IGNORES THE FACT THAT IN 1991 THE RUSSIAN FOREIGN MINISTER
           INDUSTRY ENTERED INTO A TREATY WITH LITHUANIA IN WHICH RUSSIA
           EXPLICITLY ADMITTED THAT THE 1940 SOVIET ANNEXATION VIOLATED
           LITHUANIAN SOVEREIGNTY AND THAT LITHUANIA, THEY SAID AT THE
           TIME, WAS FREE TO PURSUE ITS OWN SECURITY AGREEMENTS AND
           ARRANGEMENTS. SO IN 1991 -- IN THOSE ENLIGHTENED MOMENTS AS THE
           SOVIET EMPIRE CAME DOWN AND RUSSIA BECAME A NEW STATE WITH
           DEMOCRATIC ELECTIONS -- THEY ENTERED INTO A TREATY WITH

           LITHUANIA AND ACKNOWLEDGED THE REALITY THAT LITHUANIA WAS
           FORCIBLY ANNEXED INTO THE SOVIET UNION. AND NOW THEY SAID IN
           1991 LITHUANIA HAD ITS RIGHTS, AS OTHER BALTIC STATES DID, TO
           PURSUE THEIR OWN SECURITY AGREEMENTS. NOW WHEN LITHUANIA AND
           LATVIA AND ESTONIA TALK ABOUT MEMBERSHIP IN NATO, THE RUSSIAN
           FOREIGN MINISTER AND THE RUSSIAN PRESIDENT PUTIN COME FORWARD
           AND SAY UNACCEPTABLE. IT WOULD DESTABLIZE EUROPE. IT WOULD
           ELIMINATE THE SO-CALLED BUFFER STATES. THEY STILL VIEW THESE

           COUNTRIES AS PAWNS, AS VASSALS TO BE USED, THEY WILL NOT
           ACKNOWLEDGE THE SUFERTE WHICH SHOULD BE ACKNOWLEDGED OF THESE
           COUNTRIES. THESE DISTURBING STATEMENTS SHOW CLEARLY WHY THE
           BALTIC COUNTRIES MUST BE ADMITTED TO NATO. TO SHOW RUSSIA AND
           ANY NEIGHBORING COUNTRY THAT IT MUST GIVE UP ITS TERRITORIAL
           AMBITIONS AGAINST IT. NATO MEMBERSHIP FOR THE BALTIC COUNTRIES
           WOULD MAKE IT CRYSTAL CLEAR THAT THE WEST WILL NEVER AGAIN
           ACCEPT BUFFER STATE SUBJUGATION OF THEM. THE IDEA THAT THE
           THREE TINY BALTIC STATES COULD THREATEN THE ENORMOUS AND

           POWERFUL RUSSIAN FEDERATION IS LAUGHABLE. IF RUSSIA HAS NO
           DESIGNS ON THE BALTIC STATES, IT HAS NOTHING TO FEAR FROM THEIR
           MEMBERSHIP IN NATO. MR. PRESIDENT, I'VE SPOKEN ABOUT THE DRUG
           PROBLEMS IN AMERICA AND THIS ISSUE OF FOREIGN POLICY. BUT THERE
           IS ANOTHER ISSUE WHICH IS OF CONTINUING CONCERN ACROSS AMERICA,
           AND IT IS THE FACT THAT THIS SENATE AND CONGRESS HAVE FAILED TO
           ACT ON THE PROBLEM IN AMERICA OF GUN VIOLENCE. IT'S BEEN LITTLE
           OVER A YEAR SINCE THE COLUMBINE TRAGEDY. BUT STILL THE

           LEADERSHIP IN THIS CONGRESS REFUSES 20 ENACT SENSIBLE
           GUN-SAFETY LEGISLATION. MOST WILL RECALL THAT LITTLE OVER A
           YEAR AGO WE PASSED ON THE FLOOR OF THE SENATE, WITH THE
           TIE-BREAKING VOTE OF VICE PRESIDENT GORE, LEGISLATION WHICH
           WOULD ALLOW US TO DO BACKGROUND CHECKS ON PEOPLE WHO BUY GUNS
           AT GUN SHOWS. IF YOU GO TO A GUN DEARLY IN AMERICA THEY ARE
           GOING TO ASK
           
           SOME QUESTIONS: DO YOU HAVE A HISTORY OF COMMITTING CRIME, A
           HISTORY OF VIOLENT MENTAL ILLNESS?
           ARE YOU OLD ENOUGH TO OWN A GUN?
           THAT'S PART OF THE BRADY LAW. WITH THAT LAW WE STOPPED SOME

           500,000 PEOPLE FROM BUYING GUNS IN AMERICA WHO WERE IN FACT
           PEOPLE WITH A CRIMINAL RECORD OR A HISTORY OF VIOLENT MENTAL
           ILLNESS OR CHILDREN. WE STOPPED THEM, A HALF A MILLION OF THEM.
           BUT THERE'S A BIG LOOPHOLE THERE. IF YOU GO TO THE SO-CALLED
           GUN SHOWS WHICH WE HAVE IN ILLINOIS AND STATES LIKE TEXAS AND
           ALL OVER THE COUNTRY, THESE BAZAARS OR FLEE MARKETS FOR GUNS
           DON'T HAVE BACKGROUND CHECKS. YOU DON'T HAVE TO BE JOHN DILL
           JER AND THE GREATEST CRIMINAL MIND TO UNDERSTAND IF YOU NEED A
           GUN THEN DON'T GO TO A GUN
{END: 2000/06/19 TIME: 13-30 , Mon.  106TH SENATE, SECOND SESSION}