Bills Introduced in the 105th Congress

The following bills are newly introduced or not listed in our first issue. They all reflect escalated Drug War activity.

H.R.805 - Authorizes the Secretary of Defense to assign up to 10,000 Department of Defense personnel at any one time to assist: (1) the Immigration and Naturalization Service in preventing the entry into the United States of terrorists, drug traffickers, and illegal aliens; and (2) the U.S. Customs Service in the inspection of cargo, vehicles, and aircraft at points of entry into the United States. Sponsored by, Rep Traficant, the bill has 15 cosponsors. It was referred to the House Committee on National Security.

H.R.1043 - Help Equip Local Police Act - Directs the Secretary of Defense to expand current Department of Defense procedures for the procurement by State and local law enforcement agencies of law enforcement equipment suitable for counter-drug activities to include equipment that is not suitable or intended for counter-drug activities, but excluding any equipment that the Department does not procure for its own purposes. Terminates such expanded authority two years after the enactment of this Act, but allows the Secretary to continue to process requests received before such date. This bill was introduced by Rep. Luther and has 22 cosponsors. It has been referred to the House Committee on National Security

H.R.1310 - Medical Marijuana Prevention Act of 1997. This bill would allow the Attorney General to revoke the registration to manufactuire, distribute, or dispense a controlled substance or list I chemical of any registrant who, as a practitioner, recommends to a patient a use which is illegal, under Federal law, of a controlled substance. The bill was sponsored by Rep. Gerald Soloman and reffered to the Committe on Commerce, the Judiciary and Subcommittees of Health and Enviornment and the Subcommitee on Crime.

S.43 - A bill to throttle criminal use of guns. You read that right folks, that is the official title as introduced by Senator Helms on January 21, 1997. There are five cosponsors (DeWine, Hatch, Nickles, Abraham and Faircloth) and after reading it twice, it was placed on the Senate Legislative Calnder No. 3. This bill would create a five-year mandatory minimum sentence for possessing (currently, for using or carrying) a firearm during the commission of a crime of violence or a drug trafficking crime, to set a ten-year mandatory sentence if the firearm is discharged, to impose a sentence of life imprisonment or death if the death of any person results, and to require a minimum mandatory sentence of 25 (currently, 20) years for second or subsequent convictions of such an offense.

S.168 - The bill's official title is: A bill to reform criminal procedure, and for other purposes.The reformation of the criminal procedure would be to establish an armed violent criminal apprehension task force. The other "purposes" would amend the Federal criminal code to define "crime of violence" to include possession of explosives or firearms by convicted felons and add new mandatory minimum sentencing. This bill was introduced by Senator DeWine but has not cosponsors. It has been referred to the Senate Judiciary Committee.

S.602 - Crime Control Act of 1997 - Introduced by Senator Snowe in April, this bill would impose mandatory minimum terms of imprisonment for persons prosecuted in State courts for violent and drug trafficking crimes involving a firearm. It would prohibits probation, suspension of sentence, concurrent sentencing, or early release for such persons. This bill also would implement and enforce regulations which mandate prison work for all able-bodied inmates in Federal penal and correctional institutions and which prohibit the provision by the Government of television, radio, telephone, stereo, or similar amenities in the cell of any inmate. It has no cosponsors and was referred to the Sentate Judiciary Committee.