WASHINGTON – Senator Chuck Grassley today said that legislation he co-sponsored with Senator Dianne Feinstein, the Drug Endangered Children Act of 2007, passed the Senate Judiciary Committee.
The Drug Endangered Children Act of 2007 will re-authorize a $20 million grant program for an additional two years. The national grant program will assist states in coordinating law enforcement, medical services and child welfare efforts, to ensure that children found in environments where drugs have been manufactured or distributed receive appropriate attention and care.
“In Iowa over the past few years, more than 1,000 children were victims of abuse due to meth labs and precursors,” Grassley said. “Drug Endangered Children Programs ensure that victimized children receive proper attention after living in these terrible environments.”
According to the Drug Enforcement Administration El Paso Intelligence Center’s National Clandestine Laboratory Seizure System, more than 12,000 children throughout the country have been affected, injured or killed at meth lab sites.
Senators Grassley and Feinstein were co-sponsors of the Combat Methamphetamine Enforcement Act, which becaome law as part of the USA PATRIOT Reauthorization Act of 2005. This law has contributed to a dramatic drop in domestic methamphetamine production. Meth lab incidents have seen an 88 percent drop in Iowa since 2004. In addition, Senators Grassley and Feinstein have introduced legislation, the Saving Kids from Dangerous Drugs Act to increase the federal criminal penalties on drug dealers who entice children with candy-flavored drugs. This bill would help combat the growing trend of drug dealers manufacturing candy flavored meth and other drugs, which has been highlighted by the Drug Enforcement Administration and the White House's Office of National Drug Control Policy.