Washington, Dec 14, 2005 -

Congressman Jim Gerlach issued the following statement after the House passed the conference report on H.R. 3199, the USA PATRIOT and Terrorism Prevention Reauthorization Act of 2005:

“Today’s passage of the conference report demonstrates our commitment to winning the war on terror. This bill ensures that our law enforcement personnel will continue to have the tools they need to fight terrorism and protect our nation from future attacks,” Rep. Gerlach explained. “Furthermore, this legislation takes additional steps to ensure the civil liberties and rights of all citizens are protected and respected.”

The USA PATRIOT and Terrorism Prevention Reauthorization Act extends key provisions of the PATRIOT Act, which did the following:

*    Removed major legal barriers which prevented the law enforcement, intelligence, and national defense communities from coordinating their work;

*    Allowed law enforcement to conduct surveillance of more terror-related activities and allowed the authorization of nationwide search warrants;

*    Updated the law to reflect new technologies and new threats; and

*    Increased penalties for those who commit acts of terrorism and those who harbor terrorists.

Added Congressman Gerlach: “The growing availability of methamphetamine represents a clear and present danger to our nation’s children. This bill will help reduce the supply of this deadly drug by making it more difficult to obtain the ingredients necessary for production. It will also stiffen existing penalties for anyone caught producing or trafficking in meth.”

The Methamphetamine Epidemic Elimination Act, included in the conference report on H.R. 3199, the USA PATRIOT and Terrorism Prevention Reauthorization Act of 2005, will do the following to reduce the supply of meth and punish meth producers, traffickers, and smugglers:

*    Restrict the sale of precursor drugs (common, over-the-counter medicines used in the production of meth);

*    Require exporters and importers to report on their traffic of precursor drugs to prevent diversion of these drugs to meth production; and

*    Toughen federal penalties for methamphetamine traffickers and smugglers as well as those who produce or deal meth in the presence of children.

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