Congressman Baird
is a national leader in the anti-meth fight. He founded
the bipartisan Congressional Caucus to Fight and Control Methamphetamine
in 2000, and he helped write the comprehensive Combat Meth Epidemic
Act of 2005.
Congressman Baird believes that if we are going to defeat
the scourge of methamphetamine, we have to fight local clandestine
labs and the influx of foreign meth coming across our borders
and into our local communities.
The Congressman understands the changing nature of the meth epidemic
and is taking the anti-meth fight international. He recently
passed legislation to convene an international meth summit where
law enforcement and health leaders from around the world will
come together and craft a coordinated strategy to solve the international
meth trafficking problem. Read more on the international
meth summit.
While meth production and abuse continues to expand, federal
funding to help state and local governments has steadily decreased
since 2002. In 2006, the President’s budget proposed
an 80% cut to federal support to local law enforcement and drug
prevention programs. Local law enforcement relies on this
funding to help train and put new officers on the street, target
clan labs, improve the prosecution of meth-related crimes, and
crack down on meth trafficking.
Fortunately, Congressman Baird successfully fought to restore
federal meth funding that was cut in the FY06 budget and he is
leading the effort to restore needed funding again this year.
See
Congressman Baird discuss the meth epidemic on PBS’ FRONTLINE. |