Huffington Post – by Arthur Delaney
WASHINGTON — In September, Rep. Trey Radel voted for Republican legislation that would allow states to make food stamp recipients pee in cups to prove they’re not on drugs. In October, police busted the Florida Republican on a charge of cocaine possession.
“It’s really interesting it came on the heels of Republicans voting on everyone who had access to food stamps get drug tested,” House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) told BuzzFeed Tuesday. “It’s like, what?”
The House over the summer approved an amendment by Rep. Richard Hudson (R-N.C.) that would let states drug test people on food stamps. The amendment passed by voice vote, meaning members’ individual yeas and nays were not recorded. Radel later voted in favor of a broader food stamps bill that included Hudson’s measure.
In support of his drug testing legislation, Hudson cited the many state legislatures around the country that had considered similar requirements for other means-tested programs in recent years.
“This is a clear and obvious problem in our communities as nearly 30 states have introduced legislation to drug test for welfare programs,” Hudson said. “We have a moral obligation to equip the states with the tools they need to discourage the use of illegal drugs.”
Most of the state legislation was authored by Republicans. Oftentimes, state Democrats responded by suggesting lawmakers should be subject to tests as well. If the government’s going to make sure recipients of taxpayer-funded benefits are clean, the argument went, then why not also make sure the recipients of taxpayer salaries are clean, too?
In June, Rep. Jim McGovern (D-Mass.) made that very suggestion when he questioned why recipients of crop insurance and other government benefits weren’t also targeted for drug tests like people on food stamps.
“Why don’t we drug test all the members of Congress here,” McGovern said shortly before the drug-testing measure passed. “Force everybody to go urinate in a cup or see whether or not anybody is on drugs? Maybe that will explain why some of these amendments are coming up or why some of the votes are turning out the way they are.”
The fate of the food stamp drug testing provision is in the hands of a House-Senate conference committee hashing out differences between food stamp and farm legislation that passed the two chambers. It’s got a chance. Last year, Congress passed a law to let states drug-test some unemployment insurance recipients.
Radel apologized Tuesday for his cocaine bust and said he’d seek treatment.
“I struggle with the disease of alcoholism, and this led to an extremely irresponsible choice,” he said.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/11/19/trey-radel-drug-testing_n_4305348.html
I think that the reason that these pos politicions are useing coke is because it is out of your system so quick. Smoke crack or snort a line today and you will test clean 24 hr.s later. Just like meth, it is out of you system in three days, but if you smoke a damned joint and you will test dirty for thirty days….. Yea, why don`t they test all govt. employese at least once or twice a week and fire them on the spot it they test dirty. If the law is not equally and fairly applied to all, then their is no law. This bastard broke the law and he got caught and now he should not be allowed to hold any kind of public office……. Before they go after those that get welfare and stamps, they realy should go after those like this pos.
He’s helping to gut the system for the poorest people in the US while filling his pockets full of lobby money to vote yes to harsher sentences for drug offences so they can keep the prisons full. Then the corporations get to use the prisoners for slave labor which screws all Americans that want to work and can’t get decent living wage jobs because of the slave labor.
The people in prison don’t get to “apoligize and get help”. They have their families torn apart and face the consequences for their “extremely irresponsible choices.” I’ve come to the conclusion that a rope is the only cure for this kind of heartless, hypocritical lawlessness.
The House looked at drug testing its members four different times, and each time, it never made it out of committee.