Combating the Drug Epidemic in Jefferson County, West Virginia

Floor Speech

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Mr. MOONEY of West Virginia. Mr. Speaker, last month, I received notice from Michael Botticelli, the Director of the Office of National Drug Control Policy, that, after a year of hard work from Federal, State, and local officials, Jefferson County, West Virginia, was designated as a High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area. This designation will bring critical resources to Jefferson County to combat the drug epidemic that is ravaging our communities and way of life.

I would like to thank a few people for helping secure this designation:

Tom Carr, the executive director of the Washington-Baltimore HIDTA Bureau. Tom was kind enough to even go down to Romney, West Virginia, to participate in a roundtable discussion I led with local officials.

Jefferson County Sheriff Pete Dougherty, who leads Jefferson County law enforcement in combating drug trafficking every day and who worked hard on this HIDTA application.

U.S. Attorney Bill Ihlenfeld, who prosecutes dangerous drug dealers and who also gave his invaluable input to the HIDTA application.

I thank the entire West Virginia delegation for helping to lock in this designation: Senators Capito and Manchin and my colleagues Congressmen McKinley and Jenkins.

Every American needs to do his part to fight back against the drug addictions that are plaguing our country.

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