On Friday, Grassley delivered a letter to the chairman of the Senate subcommittee chargedwith providing funds to programs nationwide that take aim at the drug problem. Grassleyspecifically asked that the Senate Subcommittee on Commerce, Justice, State, and the Judiciaryappropriations bill include:
$173,700 to help complete the Meth-Ed Mobile Learning Center being developed in Iowato teach middle-school students the dangers and consequences of drugs. The mobile centerwill be a computer classroom equipped with software from the Governor's Alliance onSubstance Abuse. It will focus on methamphetamine, alcohol, tobacco, and other drugs. Grassley said the State of Iowa will provide $83,000 in matching funds for the project andthe Iowa National Guard has pledged in-kind logistical support, and
$217,000 to provide funding for the overtime hours, training, travel and moving expensesthat will be needed to support special agents that have been put on the job by the State ofIowa through the Division of Narcotics Enforcement. Five of these agents will be assignedto a Clandestine Laboratory Emergency Response Team, known as CLERT. The team ischarged with ferreting out clandestine methamphetamine labs in Iowa.
"The methamphetamine problem in Iowa is as serious as any other that we face. Theseparticular initiatives will help the communities who don't have as many resources or flexibility intheir budgets to address the threat of drugs," Grassley said.
Grassley is chairman of the Senate Caucus on International Narcotics Control.