Mr. HATCH. Mr. President, I rise to day to introduce the Methamphetamine Anti-Proliferation Act of 1999, a very important piece of legislation in America's on-going war on drugs. Three years ago I introduced the Comprehensive Methamphetamine Act of 1999, which this body passed, to address the frightening and very real problem of methamphetamine abuse in this country. That legislation has provided law enforcement with necessary tools to combat methamphetamine and has helped us track and slow the proliferation of methamphetamine manufacturing and abuse. However, there remain too many people in this country who are determined to undermine our drug laws and turn America into one colossal metamphetamine laboratory. For this reason, I, along with Senators Feinstein, DeWine, Bond, Thurmond, Biden, Bryan, and Reid, are introducing this bipartisan bill that seeks to shield America against the proliferation of methamphetamine Manufacturing.

The methamphetamine threat differs in kind from the threat of other illegal drugs because methamphetamine can be made from readily available and legal chemicals and substances, and because it poses serious dangers to both human life and to the environment. America's history of fighting illegal drugs has been long and tiring but with so many young Americans still being exposed to so many destructive drugs, now is not the time to give up--it is a time to fight smarter and harder. The provisions of this bill will provide law enforcement with several effective tools that will help us turn the tide of proliferation of methamphetamine manufacturing in America.

Traditionally, the overwhelming majority of illegal drugs consumed in America has been manufactured outside of our borders and then illegally smuggled into America. The rapid spread and growing use of methamphetamine threatens to change the future of where drugs are manufactured. Drug pushers are threatening to turn America into a producing country of a drug that affects the lives of every American because it not only destroys the lives of those who use the drug, but also can have devastating effects on people situated around lab sites, on law enforcement officials that have to clean the labs, and on the environment.

According to a report prepared by the Community Epidemiology Work Group, which is part of the National Institute on Drug Abuse, methamphetamine `abuse levels remain high . . . and there is strong evidence to suggest this drug will continue to be a problem in West Coast areas and to spread to other areas of the United States.' the reasons given for the ominous prediction are that methamphetamine can be produced easily in small, clandestine labs and the chemicals used to make methamphetamine are readily available.

This threat is real and immediate, and the numbers are telling. According to the Drug Enforcement Administration, the DEA, the number of labs cleaned up by the Administration has almost doubled each year since 1995. Last year 5,786 amphetamine and methamphetamine labs were seized by DEA and State and local law enforcement officials, and millions of dollars were spent on cleaning up the pollutants and toxins created and left behind by operators of these labs. In Utah alone, there were 266 lab seizures last year, a number which elevated Utah to the unenviable position of being ranked third among all states for higher per capita clan lab seizures. The problem with the high number of manufacturing labs is compounded by the fact that the chemicals and substances utilized in the manufacturing process are unstable, volatile, and highly combustible. The smallest amounts of these chemicals, when mixed improperly, can cause explosions and fires. And of course, those operating these labs are not scientists, but rather unskilled, ignorant, criminals and fly-by-nights who are completely apathetic to the destructive powers that are inherent in the manufacturing process. This fact is even more frightening when you consider that most of these labs are situated in residences, motels, trailers, and vans.