9/11 Recommendations Implementation Act

9/11 RECOMMENDATIONS IMPLEMENTATION ACT -- (House of Representatives - October 08, 2004)

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Mr. REYES. Mr. Chairman, I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from Washington (Mr. Larsen).

Mr. LARSEN of Washington. Mr. Chairman, I rise in support of this amendment along with my colleague, the gentleman from Illinois (Mr. Kirk).

We need to consider making the DEA part of our intelligence network. Before our own eyes, Afghanistan is re-emerging as the international leader in the heroin trade. As this problem grows, the less control our Nation will have over the funding sources of international terrorism. A direct relationship exists between terrorism and the drug trade. Therefore, a direct relationship is needed between the DEA and our intelligence agencies. The DEA not only combats the drug trade around the world but can gather valuable information that can transcend drug trafficking and reach into the shadowy corners of international terrorism.

According to the State Department, 12 of the 28 terrorist organizations listed in the Department of State October, 2001, Report on Foreign Terrorist Organizations have links to foreign drug trafficking. One fitting example of this relationship happened in 2003 when a seizure of hashish from a trafficking group included suspected al Qaeda members and involved drugs worth nearly $30 million at wholesale.

The drug trade not only has a role in funding terrorists but also plays a significant destabilizing role in Afghanistan. Just yesterday, drug smugglers were implicated in a terrorist attack on Hamid Karzai's vice presidential candidate. Free elections in Afghanistan are a threat to the drug trade, just as free elections in Afghanistan are a threat to global terrorism.

According to our Office of National Drug Control Policy, the challenging security situation in Afghanistan has complicated the task of fighting the war against drugs and vice versa. As the terrorists lose ground, the opium poppy growers win, and much of the money from Afghanistan's opium sales goes right back to the terrorists.

Drug traffickers and terror networks work out of the same rule book. They both strive to undermine democratic institutions and engage in widespread violence and corruption. Both groups also depend on money laundering, forgery and arms deals to implement their deadly goals.

We cannot separate international terrorism from the drug trade. They are intertwined. This amendment will examine the ways DEA can maintain its current role while sharing information to help further protect our Nation. I believe this amendment is in the spirit of the 9/11 Commission recommendations and will help create and consolidate the whole intelligence picture that a president needs to defend our Nation. I urge its support.