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DEA [Drug Enforcement Administration] Field Office Address, 3/9/89 [1]
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25
6
1
5
THE WHITE HOUSE
Office of the Press Secretary
(New York, New York)
For Immediate Release
March 9, 1989
REMARKS BY THE PRESIDENT
TO DEA NEW YORK FIELD OFFICE
Drug Enforcement Administration Office
New York, New York
4:19 P.M. EST
THE PRESIDENT: Thank you all very much. Thank you, Bob.
Bob Stutman, and to Commissioner, and I guess all are distinguished
guests. Secretary Bennett -- this is my man here on the left -- the
man that I have selected, and that the country, I think,
overwhelmingly approves to be the first drug czar in the history of
this country. I'm glad he came up here with me today. And to all of
the prosecutors, and especially each one of you out there on the
cutting edge, on the front line, thank you for being here. And you
have important work to do, and Bob gave you the time frame: short,
but to me, very important. I have a chance to say hello to Ms.
Hatcher. I wish the circumstances were different -- but also to
listen and learn ---- when we finish here, listen to some of those who
are out there every single day risking their lives.
In the empty streets of an island borough, the life of
Everett Hatcher was ended with some cowardly -- four cowardly shots.
And the echoes of those four shots were heard in Washington, and I'd
say even more important, all across this country where decent men and
women share your sense of loss and share your sense of outrage.
Here in New York, as in other cities across the country,
the war is no metaphor. Before we could -- I say "we" as a country
--- bury Everett Hatcher last week another officer was gunned down,
felled by a single shot fired point blank beneath his bullet-proof
vest. And as we speak, those accused of ambushing Eddie Byrne, one
of New York's Finest, are standing trial in this city. And this week
the DEA group that helped handle security for Everett's funeral is in
yet another New York courtroom, testifying about the attempted murder
of Special Agent Bruce Traverse.
You know that my personal interest and the interest of
the nation goes beyond today's visit. As Vice President, I wrote to
Bruce Traverse while he was in the hosptial, and now, Bruce -- all of
us are glad that he's recovering so well. Last week, Matthew Byrne,
the dad to Eddie Byrne, came down to the White House for dinner with
Barbara and me, joining us for a private dinner there. He couldn't
believe he was in the White House, and I couldn't believe I was,
- 2 -
Like Everett Hatcher, many of you have worked undercover,
in effect, operating, if you want to use the conventional war
analogy, behind enemy lines. And I admire your courage. When I was
a kid in World War II, I was behind enemy lines only briefly, sick
and paddling in a little raft to get away from a Japanese-held
island. But it was enough to know what it feels like -- and I'll
confess it to be scared, and each of you probably has been there.
You know the dry mouth and the moist palms, and the ball of ice that
grips your stomach.
And you know, it used to be unthinkable to shoot a cop.
And no longer --- Bob was telling me this upstairs --- no longer.
Today narcotics agents are sometimes the first ones shot, targeted by
criminals armed with a staggering array of battlefield weaponry. The
explosive, expensive lesson of the past year in New York is that the
rules of the game have dramatically changed.
Well, we've got to deliver some news to the bad guys.
The hunting season is over. The rules on our side have changed, too,
and we still need more change in those rules. But they're changing
fast, and it's about time.
The scales of justice are becoming more balanced because
of the newly-enacted federal drug laws. New York policemen and all
of you in this room deserve all the protection that tough laws can
offer. I've asked Bill Bennett to look into what can be done to
prevent these fully automatic assault weapons from falling into the
hands of the criminals that you face. Drug dealers need to
understand a simple fact -- you shoot a cop and you're going to be
life. severely punished --- fast. And if I had my way, I'd say with your
Drug traffickers used to know that, but it's been over 25
years since anyone has faced the death penalty in this state, and
they may have gotten a little forgetful. But I want you to know that
I have not changed my view. I strongly support the death penalty for
the crimes we're talking about here today. And I want to have it as
federal law, and I want to see it swiftly and firmly, fairly enacted.
(Applause.) The killing's got to stop.
I wish Senator D'Amato had come up with me today. He
couldn't leave the Senate, and it was legitimate Senate business.
He's been in the forefront though, down there, of the drug question.
A strong leader, a tough, no-nonsense fighter against drugs. And he
has been very helpful to me in having me understand the problems that
you face. I understand that this state is the home to an estimated
260,000 heroin addicts -- half of all those in the United States.
And in the city alone, another 600,000 people are believed dependent
on crack or cocaine.
And not surprisingly, the seizures that you've made are
correspondingly huge. DEA New York is responsible for 30 to 50
percent of all heroin seized by the DEA nationwide each year. And
- 3 -
And you in New York have done just that. And the names
are as familiar to you here as the battlefields of World War II are
to my generation. United States versus Torres. Monsanto. LIDO.
Based Balls. Bob was explaining this to me just a minute ago. The
Flying Dragons. Lai King Man. Reiter-Jackson. These are more than
buy-busts, more than just another news conference with powder on the
table, no matter how impressive those conferences are. Each of these
cases represents an entire organization put behind bars, out of
business.
And most importantly, each of these cases involved
sophisticated, long-term investigations -- and several were among the
first cases in the entire country to make use of the new drug kingpin
statutes. Nearly all involved Task Force cooperation and the
pioneering use of forfeiture laws, in some cases to spectacular
effect: the forfeitures from the Torres brothers, I'm told, may
ultimately total $30 to $50 million.
And just as the death penalty for cop killers helps even
the odds, stripping the enemy of their ill-gotten gains turns the
tables in a dramatic and highly effective way. Perhaps you heard
Woody Allen's wry observation: "Organized crime in America takes in
over $40 billion a year and spends very little on office supplies."
Philosopher that he is.
Experts have estimated that today drugs alone count for
$110 billion. An industry right here in our own country. We're
hurting the drug kingpins where they live when we take their money
and we're going to get even better at taking it. We've got to be.
Ladies and gentlemen, we do intend to prevail. The scourge will end.
I will lead the fight. Bill Bennett, our nation's first drug czar --
tenacious, unafraid -- is going to be right there at my side.
And although we meet on a crucial battlefield of this
war, you might say, it is a war that is being waged on many fronts.
Last month, I spoke to Congress about four areas: rehabilitation,
education, interdiction, and enforcement. And in a time of budget
constraints --- and regrettably, we are living in such a time -- I
asked for an increase of $1 billion in budget outlays to fund these
new efforts.
And for you in federal law enforcement, our proposal
budgets a record $4.1 billion, fully 70 percent of the total. By
1995, we also intend to reduce present prison overcrowding by 50
percent.
And beyond enforcement, other monies will go to expanded
treatment for the innocent and the poor, like the over 5,000 babies
born in New York last year already addicted to drugs.
Other new funds will go to cut the waiting time for the
treatment programs, perhaps along the lines of the innovative oral
methadone program at New York's Beth Israel Hospital, designed to get
the addicts off the needles as well as heroin.
- 4 -
programs. They happen because attitudes are beginning to change, and
they are changing --- because the American people are behind your
efforts all the way.
Attitudes are beginning to change overseas, as well.
Your boss, the Attorney General, returns today from meetings with
officials in Colombia, Bolivia, and Peru. And Bill and I will meet
with him as soon as he gets back. I think we're having lunch
tomorrow at the White House to be briefed on this trip. And I know
that some of you have also served or will serve your own tours in
South America, a tribute to our increased cooperation there.
When I first became Vice President eight years ago,
several South American presidents told me, "It's your problem.
You're the consumer. If it weren't for the rich gringos to the
north, we wouldn't have the problem." But now they see that the
narcotics have affected their own kids, their own society. Look at
Colombia, where the Supreme Court justices were mowed down like
tenpins.
Obviously, the race is far from won. But there is power
in us yet. And we in Washington will continue to understand, to
learn -- but certainly to support your work here. The Adamita trial,
the Johnny Kon and Brooks Davis cases, the new seizure program in
which whole apartment buildings are wrested back from the crack lords
who control them -- they're all important to this fight.
But first and foremost, the killing must stop. And we
must repeat it until we're hoarse, repeat it until we're heard. From
the Apollo Theatre to the halls of Congress to anyone who doesn't
seem to understand what it is you are up against out there on the
street -- the killing must stop.
And what happened on the streets of Staten Island last
week was a horrible tragedy which means -- you knew it all along --
that you have an important task ahead.
The cowards who murdered Everett Hatcher should be given
no rest. But be careful out there. Remember the tearful salute of
nine-year-old Zachery. And find these criminals. Bring them to
justice. Nobody -- nobody but nobody is going to beat the DEA.
May God bless you all, and thanks for what you're doing
for the United States. (Applause.)
END
4:36 P.M. EST
REMARKS: DEA NEW YORK FIELD OFFICE
MARCH 9, 1989
MR. STUTMAN, COMMISSIONER WARD -- TO ALL THE
PROSECUTORS AND EACH OF YOU ON THE FRONTLINE WITH US TODAY
-- THANK YOU FOR HONORING ME WITH YOUR PRESENCE. You HAVE
IMPORTANT WORK TO DO, AND I WILL NOT KEEP YOU LONG.
IN THE EMPTY STREETS OF AN ISLAND BOROUGH, THE LIFE
OF EVERETT HATCHER WAS ENDED BY FOUR COWARDLY SHOTS.
2
THE ECHOES OF THOSE FOUR SHOTS WERE HEARD IN WASHINGTON
AND ACROSS AN AMERICA WHERE DECENT MEN AND WOMEN SHARE
YOUR SENSE OF LOSS, AND OF OUTRAGE.
HERE IN NEW YORK CITY, AS IN OTHER CITIES ACROSS THE
COUNTRY, THE WAR ON DRUGS IS NO METAPHOR. BEFORE WE COULD
BURY EVERETT HATCHER LAST WEEK ANOTHER OFFICER WAS GUNNED
DOWN, FELLED BY A SINGLE SHOT FIRED POINT BLANK BENEATH
HIS BULLET-PROOF VEST. As WE SPEAK, THOSE ACCUSED OF
AMBUSHING EDDIE BYRNE, ONE OF NEW YORK'S FINEST, ARE
STANDING TRIAL IN THIS CITY.
3
AND THIS WEEK THE DEA GROUP THAT HELPED HANDLE SECURITY
FOR EVERETT'S FUNERAL IS IN YET ANOTHER NEW YORK
COURTROOM, TESTIFYING ABOUT THE ATTEMPTED MURDER OF
SPECIAL AGENT BRUCE TRAVERS.
You KNOW THAT MY PERSONAL INTEREST, AND THE INTEREST
OF THE NATION, GOES BEYOND TODAY'S VISIT. As VICE
PRESIDENT, I WROTE TO BRUCE WHILE HE WAS IN THE HOSPITAL.
BRUCE, ALL OF US HERE ARE GLAD THAT YOU'RE RECOVERING so
WELL. LAST WEEK, MATTHEW BYRNE JOINED US FOR A PRIVATE
DINNER AT THE WHITE HOUSE.
4
AND EARLIER TODAY, I WAS PRIVILEGED TO VISIT WITH MARY
JANE HATCHER, A WOMAN OF ENORMOUS DIGNITY AND STRENGTH.
IT HAS BEEN QUITE AN EDUCATION. I UNDERSTAND THE
SPECIAL AND DANGEROUS CHALLENGES THAT ALL NEW YORK DRUG
ENFORCEMENT OFFICERS FACE. THIS AREA LEADS THE NATION IN
OVERALL CONSUMPTION, DISTRIBUTION AND IMPORTATION OF
NARCOTICS, RUN BY A WELL-ARMED CROSS-SECTION OF DRUG
TRAFFICKERS AS DIVERSE AS THE CITY ITSELF. YOUR ROLE IN
THIS BATTLE IS VERY SPECIAL. You PUT YOUR LIFE ON THE
LINE EVERY DAY.
5
IF THE LEGIONS OF STATE AND LOCAL PATROLMEN REPRESENT THE
INFANTRYMEN IN THIS EFFORT, THEN YOU ARE SOMETHING LIKE
OUR SPECIAL FORCES, THE GREEN BERETS OF NARCOTICS
ENFORCEMENT.
LIKE EVERETT HATCHER, MANY OF YOU HAVE WORKED
UNDERCOVER, IN EFFECT OPERATING BEHIND ENEMY LINES. I
ADMIRE YOUR COURAGE. IN MY OWN WAR, I WAS BEHIND ENEMY
LINES ONLY BRIEFLY, SICK AND PADDLING WITH MY HANDS IN
JAPANESE WATERS AND AS SCARED AS I EVER EXPECT TO BE.
6
EACH OF YOU HAS BEEN THERE, AND KNOW THE DRY MOUTH, THE
MOIST PALMS, THE BALL OF ICE THAT GRIPS YOUR STOMACH HIGH
UP UNDER THE RIBS.
You KNOW, IT USED TO BE UNTHINKABLE TO SHOOT A COP.
No LONGER. TODAY NARCOTICS AGENTS ARE SOMETIMES THE
FIRST ONES SHOT, TARGETED BY CRIMINALS ARMED WITH A
STAGGERING ARRAY OF BATTLEFIELD WEAPONRY. THE EXPLOSIVE,
EXPENSIVE LESSON OF THE PAST YEAR IN NEW YORK IS THAT THE
RULES OF THE GAME HAVE DRAMATICALLY CHANGED.
7
WELL, I HAVE SOME BAD NEWS FOR THE BAD GUYS: HUNTING
SEASON IS OVER. THE RULES ON OUR SIDE HAVE CHANGED, TOO.
IT'S ABOUT TIME.
THE SCALES OF JUSTICE ARE BECOMING MORE BALANCED
BECAUSE OF THE NEWLY ENACTED FEDERAL DRUG LAWS.
NEW YORK POLICEMEN -- ALL OF YOU -- DESERVE ALL THE
PROTECTION THAT TOUGH LAWS CAN OFFER. I'VE ASKED BILL
BENNETT TO LOOK INTO WHAT CAN BE DONE TO PREVENT FULLY
AUTOMATIC ASSAULT WEAPONS FROM FALLING INTO THE HANDS OF
THE CRIMINALS YOU FACE.
8
DRUG DEALERS NEED TO UNDERSTAND A SIMPLE FACT: You
SHOOT A COP, AND YOU WILL BE SEVERELY PUNISHED, FAST, AND
QUITE POSSIBLY WITH YOUR LIFE.
DRUG TRAFFICKERS USED TO KNOW THAT. BUT IT'S BEEN
OVER 25 YEARS SINCE ANYONE HAS FACED THE DEATH PENALTY IN
THIS STATE, AND THEY MAY HAVE GOTTEN A LITTLE FORGETFUL.
LET'S REMIND THEM.
ULTIMATELY, WE ALL MUST CHOOSE BETWEEN EVIL AND GOOD.
OUR NEW WEAPONS AND OUR NEW LAWS MEAN THAT ANY DRUG
TRAFFICKERS HOLDING GUNS BETTER CHOOSE FAST.
9
AND THEY DAMNED WELL BETTER CHOOSE RIGHT. THE KILLING
MUST STOP.
OF COURSE, GUNS AREN'T THE ONLY WAY DRUG DEALERS TAKE
LIVES. THIS STATE IS HOME To AN ESTIMATED 260,000 HEROIN
ADDICTS, HALF OF ALL THOSE IN THE UNITED STATES. IN THE
CITY ALONE ANOTHER 600,000 PEOPLE ARE BELIEVED DEPENDENT
ON CRACK OR COCAINE.
NOT SURPRISINGLY, THE SEIZURES YOU HAVE MADE ARE
CORRESPONDINGLY HUGE.
10
DEA NEW YORK IS RESPONSIBLE FOR 30 TO 50 PERCENT OF ALL
HEROIN SEIZED BY DEA NATIONWIDE EACH YEAR. LAST YEAR, YOU
SEIZED MORE THAN 10,000 KILOGRAMS OF COCAINE IN OR
DESTINED FOR NEW YORK, ALMOST 20 PERCENT OF THE NATIONWIDE
DEA TOTAL. IN JANUARY YOU RECOVERED NEARLY $20 MILLION
FROM A FURNITURE STORE DELIVERY VAN, SAID TO BE THE
LARGEST CASH SEIZURE IN THE WORLD.
11
THESE IMPRESSIVE FIGURES ARE A CREDIT TO YOUR TALENT
AND DEDICATION AND TO THE EFFECTIVE WORKING RELATIONS YOU
HAVE FORGED WITH YOUR FEDERAL, STATE AND LOCAL
COUNTERPARTS.
STILL, WE IN WASHINGTON UNDERSTAND THAT THE
IMPORTANCE OF A CASE CANNOT BE MEASURED MERELY BY THE SIZE
OF THE SEIZURES OR THE NUMBERS OF ARRESTS. STATISTICS IN
THE DRUG WAR HAVE BECOME MIND-NUMBING; AS WELL AS
MIND-BOGGLING.
12
WARS AREN'T WON BY STATISTICS. WE KNOW WARS ARE WON BY
WINNING BATTLES, AND IN THIS WAR, BATTLES ARE WON BY
PUTTING PARTICULAR DRUG ORGANIZATIONS OUT OF BUSINESS.
It's DONE THE OLD-FASHIONED WAY, ONE GROUP AT A TIME.
You IN NEW YORK HAVE DONE JUST THAT. AND THE NAMES
ARE AS FAMILIAR TO YOU HERE AS THE BATTLEFIELDS OF WORLD
WAR II ARE TO MY GENERATION. UNITED STATES VERSUS TORRES.
MONSANTO. LIDO [LEE-DOE]. BASED BALLS. THE FLYING
DRAGONS. LAI KING MAN. REITER/JACKSON.
13
THESE ARE MORE THAN BUY/BUSTS, MORE THAN JUST ANOTHER
NEWS CONFERENCE WITH POWDER ON THE TABLE. EACH OF THESE
CASES REPRESENTS AN ENTIRE ORGANIZATION PUT BEHIND BARS
AND OUT OF BUSINESS.
MOST IMPORTANTLY, EACH OF THESE CASES INVOLVED
SOPHISTICATED, LONG-TERM INVESTIGATIONS AND SEVERAL WERE
AMONG THE FIRST CASES IN THE COUNTRY TO MAKE USE OF THE
NEW DRUG KINGPIN STATUTES.
14
NEARLY ALL INVOLVED TASK FORCE COOPERATION AND THE
PIONEERING USE OF FORFEITURE LAWS, IN SOME CASES TO
SPECTACULAR EFFECT: THE FORFEITURES FROM THE TORRES
BROTHERS MAY ULTIMATELY TOTAL $30 - 50 MILLION.
JUST AS THE DEATH PENALTY FOR COP KILLERS HELPS EVEN
THE ODDS, STRIPPING OUR ENEMIES OF THEIR ILL-GOTTEN GAINS
TURNS THE TABLES IN A DRAMATIC AND HIGHLY EFFECTIVE WAY.
PERHAPS YOU'VE HEARD WOODY ALLEN'S WRY OBSERVATION:
"ORGANIZED CRIME IN AMERICA TAKES IN OVER FORTY BILLION
DOLLARS A YEAR AND SPENDS VERY LITTLE ON OFFICE SUPPLIES." "
15
EXPERTS HAVE ESTIMATED THAT TODAY DRUGS ALONE ACCOUNT
FOR A $110 BILLION INDUSTRY IN OUR COUNTRY. WE ARE
HURTING THE DRUG KINGPINS WHERE THEY LIVE WHEN WE TAKE
THEIR MONEY, AND WE ARE GOING TO GET EVEN BETTER AT IT.
LADIES AND GENTLEMEN: WE DO INTEND TO PREVAIL. THIS
SCOURGE WILL END. I MEAN TO LEAD THE FIGHT, WITH BILL
BENNETT, OUR NATION'S FIRST DRUG CZAR, AT MY SIDE.
AND ALTHOUGH WE "MEET ON A CRUCIAL BATTLEFIELD OF
THIS WAR, IT IS A WAR THAT IS BEING WAGED ON MANY FRONTS.
16
LAST MONTH, I SPOKE TO CONGRESS ABOUT FOUR AREAS:
REHABILITATION, EDUCATION, INTERDICTION, AND ENFORCEMENT.
AND, IN A TIME OF BUDGET CONSTRAINTS, I ASKED FOR AN
INCREASE OF $1 BILLION IN BUDGET OUTLAYS TO FUND THESE NEW
EFFORTS.
FOR YOU IN FEDERAL LAW ENFORCEMENT, OUR PROPOSAL
BUDGETS A RECORD $4.1 BILLION, FULLY 70 PERCENT OF THE
TOTAL. BY 1995, WE ALSO INTEND TO REDUCE PRISON
OVERCROWDING BY 50%.
17
BEYOND ENFORCEMENT, OTHER MONIES WILL GO TO EXPANDED
TREATMENT FOR THE INNOCENT AND THE POOR, LIKE THE OVER
5,000 BABIES BORN IN NEW YORK LAST YEAR ALREADY ADDICTED
TO DRUGS.
OTHER NEW FUNDS WILL GO TO CUT THE WAITING TIME FOR
TREATMENT PROGRAMS, PERHAPS ALONG THE LINES OF THE
INNOVATIVE ORAL METHADONE PROGRAM AT NEW YORK'S BETH
ISRAEL HOSPITAL, DESIGNED TO GET THE ADDICTS OFF NEEDLES
AS WELL AS HEROIN.
18
MARY JANE HATCHER SPOKE WITH ELOQUENCE LAST WEEK
ABOUT THE RESPONSIBILITY MAINSTREAM AMERICA AND SO-CALLED
"CASUAL" COCAINE USERS MUST BEAR FOR HER HUSBAND'S DEATH.
WELL, $1.1 BILLION OF MY REQUEST WILL GO FOR PREVENTION
AND EDUCATION, TO LET THE CASUAL USERS KNOW THE RISKS THEY
TAKE AND THE PRICE THEY MAY HAVE TO PAY. AND TO TELL OUR
CHILDREN THAT DRUGS ARE WRONG.
WHILE THERE MAY NOT BE LIGHT AT THE END OF THE
TUNNEL, THERE DOES SEEM TO BE SOME LIGHT COMING IN UNDER
THE DOOR.
19
AT THE APOLLO THEATRE IN HARLEM ONE WEDNESDAY LAST MONTH,
THE AMATEUR NIGHT PERFORMANCES WERE INTERRUPTED BY
SPONTANEOUS ANTI-DRUG MESSAGES FROM THE STAGE AND CHANTS
FROM THE CROWD.
THINGS LIKE THIS DON'T HAPPEN BECAUSE OF GOVERNMENT
PROGRAMS. THEY HAPPEN BECAUSE ATTITUDES ARE BEGINNING TO
CHANGE, BECAUSE THE AMERICAN PEOPLE ARE BEHIND YOUR
EFFORTS ALL THE WAY.
ATTITUDES ARE BEGINNING TO CHANGE OVERSEAS AS WELL.
20
YOUR BOSS THE ATTORNEY GENERAL RETURNS TODAY FROM MEETINGS
WITH OFFICIALS IN COLOMBIA, BOLIVIA AND PERU, AND BILL
BENNETT AND I WILL BE BRIEFED BY HIM TOMORROW. I KNOW
THAT SOME OF YOU HAVE ALSO SERVED OR WILL SERVE YOUR OWN
TOURS IN SOUTH AMERICA, A TRIBUTE TO OUR INCREASED
COOPERATION.
OBVIOUSLY, THE RACE IS FAR FROM WON. BUT THERE IS
POWER IN US YET. WE IN WASHINGTON WILL CONTINUE TO WATCH
AND SUPPORT YOUR WORK HERE.
21
THE ADAMITA TRIAL, THE JOHNNY KON [KAHN] AND BROOKS DAVIS
CASES, THE NEW SEIZURE PROGRAM IN WHICH WHOLE APARTMENT
BUILDINGS ARE WRESTED BACK FROM THE CRACK LORDS WHO
CONTROL THEM -- ALL ARE IMPORTANT TO THE FIGHT.
BUT FIRST AND FOREMOST, THE KILLING MUST STOP. WE
MUST REPEAT IT UNTIL WE ARE HOARSE, REPEAT IT UNTIL WE ARE
HEARD. FROM THE APOLLO THEATRE To THE HALLS OF CONGRESS
TO ANYONE WHO DOESN'T SEEM TO UNDERSTAND WHAT IT IS YOU
ARE UP AGAINST OUT THERE ON THE STREET: THE KILLING MUST
STOP.
22
WHAT HAPPENED ON THE STREETS OF STATEN ISLAND LAST
WEEK WAS A HORRIBLE TRAGEDY. WHICH MEANS YOU HAVE AN
IMPORTANT TASK AHEAD.
THE COWARDS WHO MURDERED EVERETT HATCHER SHOULD BE
GIVEN NO REST. BUT BE CAREFUL OUT THERE. REMEMBER THE
TEARFUL SALUTE OF BRAVE NINE-YEAR-OLD ZACHARY. AND FIND
THESE CRIMINALS. BRING THEM TO JUSTICE. NOBODY, BUT
NOBODY, IS GOING TO BEAT THE DEA.
MAY GOD LOOK AFTER YOU, AND GOD BLESS THE UNITED
STATES.
MASTER III
01425155
Document No.
WHITE HOUSE STAFFING MEMORANDUM
3/8/89
DATE:
ACTION/CONCURRENCE/COMMENT DUE BY:
PRESIDENTIAL REMARKS: DEA NEW YORK FIELD OFFICE
SUBJECT:
ACTION FYI
ACTION FYI
VICE PRESIDENT
MCCLURE
SUNUNU
NEWMAN
SCOWCROFT
PORTER
DARMAN
STUDDERT
BATES
UNTERMEYER
ROGERS
BREEDEN
WINSTON
CARD
PINKERTON
CICCONI
DEMAREST
GRIFFITH
FITZWATER
BENNETT
GRAY
HAGIN
REMARKS:
The attached has been forwarded to the President.
RESPONSE:
James W. Cicconi
Assistant to the President
and Deputy to the Chief of Staff
Cut
(McNally)
1389
HAR
March 8, 1989
-8
30
11:00 a.m.
REMARKS: DEA NEW YORK FIELD OFFICE
MARCH 9, 1989
Mr. Stutman, Mr. Gallagher -- to all the prosecutors and
each of you on the frontline with us today -- thank you for
honoring me with your presence. You have important work to do,
and I will not keep you long.
In the empty streets of an island borough, the shots that
ended Everett Hatcher's life were heard only by the cowards who
fired them. n But the echoes of those four shots were heard in
Washington and across an America where decent men and women share
your sense of loss, and of outrage.
Here in New York city, as in other cities across the
country, the war on drugs is no metaphor. Before we could bury
Everett Hatcher last week another officer was gunned down, felled
by a single shot fired point blank beneath his bullet-proof vest.
As we speak, those accused of ambushing Eddie Byrne, one of New
York's finest, are standing trial in this city. And this week
the DEA group that helped handle security for Everett's funeral
is in yet another New York courtroom, testifying about the
attempted murder of Special Agent Bruce Travers.
You know that my personal interest, and the interest of the
nation, goes beyond today's visit. As Vice President, I
telephoned Bruce while he was in the hospital. Bruce, all of us
here are glad that you're recovering so well. Last week, Matthew
Byrne joined us for a private dinner at the White House. And
earlier today, I was privileged to visit with Mary Jane Hatcher,
2
It has been quite an education. I understand the special
and dangerous challenges that all New York drug enforcement
officers face. This area leads the nation in overall
consumption, distribution and importation of narcotics, run by a
well-armed cross-section of drug traffickers as diverse as the
city itself. Your role in this battle is very special. You put
your life on the line every day. If the legions of state and
local patrolmen represent the infantrymen in this effort, then
you are something like our Special Forces, the Green Berets of
narcotics enforcement.
Like Everett Hatcher, many of you have worked undercover, in
effect operating behind enemy lines. I admire your courage. In
my own war, I was behind enemy lines only briefly, sick and
paddling with my hands in Japanese waters and as scared as I ever
expect to be. Each of you has been there, and know the dry
mouth, the moist palms, the ball of ice that grips your stomach
high up under the ribs.
You know, it used to be unthinkable to shoot a cop.
No longer. Today narcotics agents are sometimes the first
ones shot, targeted by criminals armed with a staggering array of
battlefield weaponry. The explosive, expensive lesson of the
past year in New York is that the rules of the game have
dramatically changed.
Well, I have some bad news for the bad guys: Hunting season
is over. The rules on our side have changed, too. It's about
time.
3
The scales of justice are becoming more balanced because of
the newly enacted federal drug laws. Twelve times in twelve
years the New York State Legislature has voted to restore the
death penalty for cop killers. Twelve times in twelve years that
legislation has been vetoed.
That's not right. New York policemen -- all of you --
deserve all the protection that tough laws can offer. I've asked
Bill Bennett to look into what can be done to prevent fully
automatic assault weapons from falling into the hands of the
criminals you face.
Drug dealers need to understand a simple fact: You shoot a
cop, and you will be severely punished, fast, and quite possibly
with your life.
Drug traffickers used to know that. But it's been 25 years
since anyone has faced the death penalty in this state, and they
may have gotten a little forgetful. Let's remind them.
Ultimately, we all must choose between evil and good. Our
new weapons and our new laws mean that any drug traffickers
holding guns better choose fast. And they damned well better
choose right. The killing must stop.
of course, guns aren't the only way drug dealers take lives.
This state is home to an estimated 250,000 heroin addicts, half
of all those in the United States. In the city alone another
600,000 people are believed dependent on crack or cocaine.
Not surprisingly, the seizures you have made are
correspondingly huge. DEA New York is responsible for 30 to 50
nationwide
4
seized more than 10,000 kilograms of cocaine in or destined for
New York, almost 20 percent of the nationwide DEA total. In
January you recovered nearly $20 million from a furniture store
delivery van, said to be the largest cash seizure in the world.
These impressive figures are a credit to your talent and
dedication and to the effective working relations you have forged
with your federal, state and local counterparts.
Still, we in Washington understand that the importance of a
case cannot be measured merely by the size of the seizures or the
numbers of arrests. Statistics in the drug war have become
mind-numbing; as well as mind-boggling. Wars aren't won by
statistics. We know wars are won by winning battles, and in this
war, battles are won by putting particular drug organizations out
of business. It's done the old-fashioned way, one group at a
time.
You in New York have done just that. And the names are as
familiar to you here as the battlefields of World War II are to
my generation. United States versus Torres. Monsanto. LIDO.
Based Balls. The Flying Dragons. Lai King Man. Reiter/Jackson.
These are more than buy/busts, more than just another news
conference with powder on the table. Each of these cases
represents an entire organization put behind bars and out of
business.
Most importantly, each of these cases involved
sophisticated, long-term investigations and several were among
the first cases in the country to make use of the new drug
kingpin statutes. Nearly all involved Task Force cooperation and
5
the pioneering use of forfeiture laws, in some cases to
spectacular effect: The forfeitures from the Torres brothers may
ultimately total $30 - 50 million.
Just as the death penalty for cop killers helps even the
odds, stripping our enemies of their ill-gotten gains turns the
tables in a dramatic and highly effective way. Perhaps you've
heard Woody Allen's wry observation: "Organized crime in America
takes in over forty billion dollars a year and spends very little
on office supplies."
Experts have estimated that today drugs alone account for a
$110 billion industry in our country. We are hurting the drug
kingpins where they live when we take their money, and we are
going to get even better at it.
Ladies and gentlemen: We do intend to win this war on
drugs. This scourge will end. I mean to lead the fight, with
Bill Bennett, our nation's first Drug Czar, at my side.
And although we "meet on a crucial battlefield of this war,"
it is a war that is being waged on many fronts. Last month, I
spoke to Congress about four areas: rehabilitation, education,
interdiction, and enforcement. And, in a time of budget
constraints, I asked for an increase of $1 billion in budget
outlays to fund these new efforts.
For you in federal law enforcement, our proposal budgets a
record $4.1 billion, fully 70 percent of the total. By 1995, we
also intend to reduce prison overcrowding by 50%.
6
Beyond enforcement, other monies will go to expanded
treatment for the innocent and the poor, like the over 5,000
babies born in New York last year already addicted to drugs.
Other new funds will go to cut the waiting time for
treatment programs, perhaps along the lines of the innovative
oral methadone program at New York's Beth Israel Hospital,
designed to get the addicts off needles as well as heroin.
Mary Jane Hatcher spoke with eloquence last week about the
responsibility mainstream America and so-called "casual" cocaine
users must bear for her husband's death. Well, $1.1 billion of
my request will go for prevention and education, to let that
casual user know the risks they take and the price they may have
to pay. And to tell our children that drugs are wrong.
While there may not be light at the end of the tunnel, there
does seem to be some light coming in under the door. At the
Apollo Theatre in Harlem one Wednesday last month, the amateur
night performances were interrupted by spontaneous anti-drug
messages from the stage and chants from the crowd.
Things like this don't happen because of government
programs. They happen because attitudes are beginning to change,
because the American people are behind your efforts all the way.
Attitudes are beginning to change overseas as well. Your
boss the Attorney General returns today from meetings with
officials in Colombia, Bolivia and Peru, and Bill Bennett and I
will be briefed by him tomorrow. I know that many of you have
also served or will serve your own tours in South America, a
tribute to our increased cooperation.
7
Obviously, the race is far from won. But there is power in
us yet. We in Washington will continue to watch and support your
work here. The Pizza Connection II trial, the Johnny Kahn and
Brooks Davis cases, the new seizure program in which whole
apartment buildings are wrested back from the crack lords who
control them -- all are important to the fight.
But first and foremost, the killing must stop. We must
repeat it until we are hoarse, repeat it until we are heard.
From the Apollo Theatre to the halls of Congress to anyone who
doesn't seem to understand what it is you are up against out
there on the street: The killing must stop.
What happened on the streets of Staten Island last week was
a horrible tragedy. Which means you have an important task
ahead.
The cowards who murdered Everett Hatcher should be given no
rest. But be careful out there. Remember the tearful salute of
brave nine-year-old Zachery. And find these criminals. Bring
them to justice. Nobody, but nobody, is going to beat the DEA.
May God look after you, and God bless the United States.
MASTER. II
(McNally)
March 6, 1989
Draft One
REMARKS: DEA NEW YORK FIELD OFFICE
MARCH 9, 1989
Mr. Stutman, Mr. Gallagher -- to all the Assistant and
Associate SAC's (("SACKS")) Group Supervisors, Special Agents,
Task Force officers and prosecutors gathered here today -- thank
you for honoring me with your presence. You have important work
Keep
to do, and I will not stay you long.
In the empty streets of an island borough, the shots that
ended Everett Hatcher's life were heard only by the cowards who
fired them. But the echoes of those four shots were heard in
Washington and across an America where decent men and women share
your sense of loss, and of outrage.
other cities across the country)
Here in New York City, the war on drugs is no metaphor.
Before we could bury Everett Hatcher last week another officer
was gunned down, felled by a single shot fired point blank
beneath his bullet-proof vest. As we speak, those accused of
me of New Yours finest,
ambushing Eddie Byrne are standing trial in this city. And this
week the DEA group that helped handle security for Everett's
funeral is in yet another New York courtroom, testifying about
the attempted murder of Special Agent Bruce Travers.
You know that my personal interest, and the interest of the
nation, goes beyond today's visit. As Vice President, I
telephoned Bruce while he was in the hospital, and share your
relief that he's recovering so well. Last week, Matthew Byrne
joined us for a private dinner at the White House. And earlier
today, I was privileged to visit with Mary Jane Hatcher, a woman
enormous
of considerable dignity and strength.
PINK)
L
special
It has been quite an education. I understand the unique and
all law enforcement officers
dangerous challenges that DEA face in New York. This area leads
the nation in overall consumption, distribution and importation
aug haffickers
of narcotics, run by a well-armed cross-section of ethnic groups
as diverse as the city itself. Your role in this battle is very
You put your life on the line every cl and
special. If the legions of state and local police officers
represent the infantrymen in this effort, then the DEA is
something like our Special Forces, the Green Berets of narcotics
enforcement
Like Everett Hatcher, many most of you have worked undercover, in
effect operating behind enemy lines. I admire your courage. In
my own war, I was behind enemy lines only briefly, sick and
paddling with my hands in Japanese waters and as scared as I ever
expect to be. Each of you has been there, and know the dry
mouth, the moist palms, the ball of ice that grips your stomach
high up under the ribs.
pugros)
Let's talk about the terror.
you know, It used to be unthinkable to shoot a federal agent or local policemon
No longer. Today narcotics agents are sometimes the first
ones shot, targeted by criminals armed with a staggering array of
battlefield weaponry. The explosive, expensive lesson of the
past year in New York is that the rules of the game have
dramatically changed.
Well, I have some bad news for the bad guys: Hunting season
?
is over. The rules on our side have changed, too, and the
(Gray)
killers of Everett Hatcher may well become the first New York
criminals to face execution in over 25 years It's about time.
Z
The scales of justice are becoming more balanced because of
the newly enacted federal drug laws. Twelve times in twelve
years the New York State Legislature has voted to restore the
death penalty for cop killers. Twelve times in twelve years that
legislation has been vetoed.
That's not right. New York policemen deserve all the
protection that tough laws can offer.
They -- and you -- also deserve to be better armed and
better armored than the bad guys you must face. As one DEA agent
summarized his simple rule of street survival: "Walk softly, and
carry a big, mean SMG." ((DEA jargon for new "Sub-Machine
Guns") )
In a moment I want to tell you something about Bill
Roper)
prevention
Bennett's drug education program. But first, I'd like to ask
your help in a little remedial education program of our own. Its
need to 10/d understand a simple fact
target is drug dealers The message is simple:
K
You shoot a cop, and you will be severely punished, fast,
and quite possibly with your life.
(Beninth)
Druggies used to know that. But with Vitbeen 25 years since
traffickers
(Damon)
has
anyone S faced the death penalty in this state, they may have
gotten a little forgetful. Let's remind them.
Ultimately we all must choose between evil and good. Our
trafficiers
new weapons and our new laws mean that any druggies holding guns
better choose fast. And they damned well better choose right.
The killing must stop.
Of course, guns aren't the only way drug dealers take lives.
This state is home to an estimated 250,000 heroin addicts, half
34
of all those in the United States. In the city alone another
600,000 people are believed dependant on crack or cocaine.
Not surprisingly, the seizures you have made are
correspondingly huge. DEA New York is responsible for 30 to 50
percent of all heroin seized by DEA nationwide. Last year, you
seized more than 10,000 kilograms of cocaine in or destined for
New York, almost 20 percent of the nationwide DEA total. In
January you recovered nearly $20 million from a furniture store
delivery van, said to be the largest cash seizure in the world.
These impressive figures are a credit to your talent and
dedication and to the effective working relations you have forged
Acting with you today.
with your federal, state and local counterparts
Still, we in Washington understand that the importance of a
case cannot be measured merely by the size of the seizures or the
numbers of arrests. Statistics in the drug war have become
mind-numbing, at times meaningless, like the body counts in
and we all know as well as mind - boggling.
Vietnam. And as we learned in Southeast Asia, wars aren't won
by
by
we know
statistics. or body counts. Wars are won by winning battles, and
in this war, battles are won by putting particular drug
organizations our of business. It's done the old-fashioned way,
one group at a time.
You in New York have done just that. And the names are as
familiar to you here as the battlefields of World War II are to
my generation. United States versus Torres. Monsanto. LIDO.
Based Balls. The Flying Dragons. Lai King Man. Reiter/Jackson.
These are more than buy/busts, more than just another news
conference with powder on the table. Each of these cases
4
represents an entire organization put behind bars and out of
business.
Most importantly, each of these cases involved the kind of
sophisticated, long-term investigation and several were among the
first cases in the country to make use of the new drug kingpin
statutes. Nearly all involved Task Force cooperation and the
pioneering use of forfeiture laws, in some cases to spectacular
effect: The forfeitures from the Torres brothers may ultimately
total $30 - 50 million.
Just as the death penalty for cop killers helps make the
odds more even, stripping our enemies of their ill-gotten gains
turns the tables in a dramatic and highly effective way. Perhaps
you've heard Woody Allen's wry observation: "Organized crime in
America takes in over forty billion dollars a year and spends
very little on office supplies."
91
Sometime during the years following our withdrawal from
usert
Southeast Asia, the American people made a solemn, unspoken
A
pledge to the troops like you who defend our freedom on the front
lines: We will never again ask you to fight in an action we do
not intend to win.
this was andress.
Ladies and gentlemen: We do intend to win. This scourge
will end. I mean to lead the fight WITH Bill Bennett, our mations
first Drug Czan at my side.
And although we meet on a crucial battlefield of this war,
it is a war that is being waged on many fronts. Last month, I
rehabilitation
(Paman)
spoke to Congress about four areas: Treatment, education,
interdiction, and enforcement. And, in a time of cutbacks and constiont
be to budget
Insert A
Experts have estima ted that
today drugo a Come account for a
$ 110 billion industry in our
Country. We are hurting the drug
King Pens where there live when we
take their money and we are going
to getto even better at it.
freezes, I asked for an increase of $1 billion in budget outlays
to fund these new efforts.
For you in federal law enforcement, our proposal budgets a
Douman
record $4.1 billion, fully 70 percent of the total. We also
By 1995, be also intend to reduce preson overcrowding Lu 30%.
intend to double the funding for federal prisons by 1995. Simply
put, prison overcrowding and weak judges have caused too many
criminals to go free after little or no punishment. Indeed,
neither of the suspects in last week's killings had any business
being out on the street in the first place one was a paroled
(Gray)
killer, and the other had twice been arrested for assaulting
policemen. It's outrageous. And it must stop.
Beyond enforcement, other moneys will go to expanded
treatment for the innocent and the poor, like the over 5,000
babies born in New York last year already addicted to drugs.
Other new funds will go to cut the waiting time for
treatment programs, perhaps along the lines of the innovative
oral methadone program at New York's Beth Israel Hospital,
designed to get the addicts off needles as well as heroin.
Mary Jane Hatcher spoke with eloquence last week about the
responsibility mainstream America and so-called "casual" cocaine
users must bear for her husband's death. Well, $1.1 billion of
Prevention and)
to ensure that our message
my request will go for education in an initiative led by Bill
reaches everyone to let that Casual uses know the resks they take
Bennett, who I hope will soon be the nation's first drug czar.
and the price they mall have to pacf. and to tell our cheldren
While there may not be light at the end of the tunnel, there
does seem to be some light coming in under the door. Earlier
this week I visited successful education programs in Pennsylvania
and Delaware At the Apollo Theatre in Harlem one Wednesday last
that drugs are rong.
47
month, the amateur night performances were interrupted by
spontaneous anti-drug messages from the stage and chants from the
crowd.
Things like this don't happen because of government
programs. They happen because attitudes are beginning to change,
because the American people are behind your efforts all the way.
Attitudes are beginning to change overseas as well. Your
boss the Attorney General returns today from meetings with
Bill Bennettand):
officials in Colombia, Bolivia and Peru, and I will be briefed by
him tomorrow. I know that many of you have also served or will
serve your own tours in South America, a tribute to our increased
cooperation.
Obviously, the race is far from won. But there is power in
us yet. We in Washington will continue to watch and support your
work here. The Pizza Connection II trial, the Johnny Kahn and
Brooks Davis cases, the new seizure program in which whole
apartment buildings are wrested back from the crack lords who
control them -- all are important to the fight.
But first and foremost, the killing must stop. We must
repeat it until we are hoarse, repeat it until we are heard.
to everyone
From the Apollo Theatre to the halls of Congress to the
doesn't Stet
weak-kneed judges who don t seem to understand what it is you are
up against out there on the street: The killing must stop.
There is no higher horror than what happened on the streets
of Staten Island last week. Which means you have an important
task ahead.
was, a horrible tragedy.
8
The cowards who murdered Everett Hatcher should be given no
rest. But be careful out there. Remember the tearful salute of
brave nine-year-old Zachery. And find these criminals. Bring
them to justice. Nobody, but nobody, is going to beat the DEA.
May God look after you, and God bless the United States.
this me your team.
014251ss
MASTERI
Document No.
WHITE HOUSE STAFFING MEMORANDUM
3/7/89
DATE:
ACTION/CONCURRENCE/COMMENT DUE BY: 3/7/89 5:00 PM
PRESIDENTIAL REMARKS: DEA NEW YORK FIELD OFFICE
SUBJECT:
ACTION FYI
ACTION FYI
VICE PRESIDENT
MCCLURE no comment
SUNUNU
NEWMAN
SCOWCROFT
PORTER
DARMAN minor
STUDDERT Docomment
BATES minor
UNTERMEYER
BREEDEN nocomment
ROGERS
CARD
WINSTON
CICCONI
PINKERTON
DEMAREST
BENNETT on masterI
FITZWATER
GRIFFITH nocomment
GRAY
HAGIN
REMARKS:
Please forward any comments directly to Chriss Winston, Rm.
122, x2930, by 5:00 PM TODAY, Tuesday, March 7, 1989, with
an info copy to my office. Sorry about the short turnaround.
Thank you.
RESPONSE:
James W. Cicconi
Assistant to the President
and Deputy to the Chief of Staff
Ext. 2702
(McNally)
March 6, 1989
Draft One
REMARKS: DEA NEW YORK FIELD OFFICE
MARCH 9, 1989
Mr. Stutman, Mr. Gallagher - -- to all the Assistant and
Associate SAC's (("SACKS")), Group Supervisors, Special Agents,
Task Force officers and prosecutors gathered here today -- thank
you for honoring me with your presence. You have important work
to do, and I will not stay you long.
In the empty streets of an island borough, the shots that
ended Everett Hatcher's life were heard only by the cowards who
fired them. But the echoes of those four shots were heard in
Washington and across an America where decent men and women share
your sense of loss, and of outrage.
Here in New York City, the war on drugs is no metaphor.
Before we could bury Everett Hatcher last week another officer
was gunned down, felled by a single shot fired point blank
beneath his bullet-proof vest. As we speak, those accused of
ambushing Eddie Byrne are standing trial in this city. And this
week the DEA group that helped handle security for Everett's
funeral is in yet another New York courtroom, testifying about
the attempted murder of Special Agent Bruce Travers.
You know that my personal interest, and the interest of the
nation, goes beyond today's visit. As Vice President, I
telephoned Bruce while he was in the hospital, and share your
relief that he's recovering so well. Last week, Matthew Byrne
joined us for a private dinner at the White House. And earlier
today, I was privileged to visit with Mary Jane Hatcher, a woman
of considerable dignity and strength.
It has been quite an education. I understand the unique and
dangerous challenges that DEA faces in New York. This area leads
the nation in overall consumption, distribution and importation
of narcotics, run by a well-armed cross-section of ethnic groups
as diverse as the city itself. Your role in this battle is very
special. If the legions of state and local police officers
represent the infantrymen in this effort, then the DEA is
something like our Special Forces, the Green Berets of narcotics
enforcement.
Like Everett Hatcher, most of you have worked undercover, in
effect operating behind enemy lines. I admire your courage. In
my own war, I was behind enemy lines only briefly, sick and
paddling with my hands in Japanese waters and as scared as I ever
expect to be. Each of you has been there, and know the dry
mouth, the moist palms, the ball of ice that grips your stomach
high up under the ribs.
Let's talk about the terror.
It used to be unthinkable to shoot a federal agent.
No longer. Today narcotics agents are sometimes the first
ones shot, targeted by criminals armed with a staggering array of
battlefield weaponry. The explosive, expensive lesson of the
past year in New York is that the rules of the game have
dramatically changed.
Well, I have some bad news for the bad guys: Hunting season-
is over. The rules on our side have changed, too and the
Benneff
killers of Everett Hatcher may well become the first New York
criminals to face execution in over 25 years. It's about time.
The scales of justice are becoming more balanced because of
the newly enacted federal drug laws. Twelve times in twelve
years the New York State Legislature has voted to restore the
death penalty for cop killers. Twelve times in twelve years that
legislation has been vetoed.
That's not right. New York policemen deserve all the
protection that tough laws can offer.
They -- and you -- also deserve to be better armed and
better armored than the bad guys you must face. As one DEA agent
summarized his simple rule of street survival: "Walk softly, and
carry a big, mean SMG." ((DEA jargon for new "Sub-Machine
Guns"))
In a moment I want to tell you something about Bill
Bennett's drug education program. But first, I'd like to ask
your help in a little remedial education program of our own. Its
target is drug dealers. The message is simple:
You shoot a cop, and you will be severely punished, fast,
and quite possibly with your life.
new word not Presidential!
Bennett
Druggies used to know that. But with 25 years since
anyone's faced the death penalty in this state, they may have
gotten a little forgetful. Let's remind them.
Ultimately we all must choose between evil and good. Our
new weapons and our new laws mean that any druggies holding guns Same
better choose fast. And they damned well better choose right.
The killing must stop.
of course, guns aren't the only way drug dealers take lives.
This state is home to an estimated 250,000 heroin addicts, half
of all those in the United States. In the city alone another
600,000 people are believed dependant on crack or cocaine.
Not surprisingly, the seizures you have made are
correspondingly huge. DEA New York is responsible for 30 to 50
percent of all heroin seized by DEA nationwide. Last year, you
seized more than 10,000 kilograms of cocaine in or destined for
New York, almost 20 percent of the nationwide DEA total. In
January you recovered nearly $20 million from a furniture store
delivery van, said to be the largest cash seizure in the world.
These impressive figures are a credit to your talent and
dedication and to the effective working relations you have forged
with your federal, state and local counterparts.
Still, we in Washington understand that the importance of a
case cannot be measured merely by the size of the seizures or the
numbers of arrests. Statistics in the drug war have become
mind-numbing, at times meaningless, like the body counts in
Vietnam. And as we learned in Southeast Asia, wars aren't won by
statistics or body counts. Wars are won by winning battles, and
in this war, battles are won by putting particular drug
organizations our of business. It's done the old-fashioned way,
one group at a time.
You in New York have done just that. And the names are as
familiar to you here as the battlefields of World War II are to
my generation. United States versus Torres. Monsanto. LIDO.
Based Balls. The Flying Dragons. Lai King Man. Reiter/Jackson.
These are more than buy/busts, more than just another news
conference with powder on the table. Each of these cases
represents an entire organization put behind bars and out of
business.
incomplete sentence
Kill
Bennett
Most importantly, each of these cases involved, the kind of
sophisticated, long-term investigation several were among the
first cases in the country to make use of the new drug kingpin
statutes. Nearly all involved Task Force cooperation and the
pioneering use of forfeiture laws, in some cases to spectacular
effect: The forfeitures from the Torres brothers may ultimately
total $30 - 50 million. [
J
make thisthe Just as the death penalty for cop killers helps make the
last sentence
odds more even, stripping our enemies of their ill-gotten gains
Bennatt
ofthe previous
P
turns the tables in a dramatic and highly effective way.
Perhaps
you've heard Woody Allen's wry observation: "Organized crime in
America takes in over forty billion dollars a year and spends
akesitappear
Bennett very little on office supplies." Cut Woody A.quote Presiisn't serious W. Ais
Sometime during the years following our withdrawal from
no expert
Southeast Asia, the American people made a solemn, unspoken ondrugo.
pledge to the troops like you who defend our freedom on the front
lines: We will never again ask you to fight in an action we do
not intend to win.
will end. I mean to lead the fight, with Bill Bennett, ournations first
Ladies and gentlemen: We do intend to win. This scourge
Bennett
And although we meet on a crucial battlefield of this war, Druglzar
it is a war that is being waged on many fronts. Last month, I atmy
spoke to Congress about four areas: Treatment, education,
side.
interdiction, and enforcement. And, in a time of cutbacks and
freezes, I asked for an increase of $1 billion in budget outlays
to fund these new efforts.
For you in federal law enforcement, our proposal budgets a
record $4.1 billion, fully 70 percent of the total. We also
intend to double the funding for federal prisons by 1995. Simply
put, prison overcrowding and weak judges have caused too many
criminals to go free after little or no punishment. Indeed,
neither of the suspects in last week's killings had any business
being out on the street in the first place -- one was a paroled
killer, and the other had twice been arrested for assaulting
policemen. It's outrageous. And it must stop.
nded
* they want this sentence cut
tre
r 5,000
bal
because we are getting criticism
drugs.
that Bennett is only dering the
for
tr
education end of drugs and
novative
or
Thornberg the rest. so Lets not play
into oor enemises hands and make
ital,
de
eroin.
make Bennett look like his Sec. ofed,
5 about the
all over again.
re
al" cocaine
users must bear for her husband's death. Well, $1.1 billion of
my request will go for education, in an initiative led by Bill
Bennett Bennett, who I hope will soon be the nation's first drug czar. See
Sticki
While there may not be light at the end of the tunnel, there
does seem to be some light coming in under the door. Earlier
Bennett
this week I visited successful education programs in Pennsylvania
and Delaware. At the Apollo Theatre in Harlem one Wednesday last
month, the amateur night performances were interrupted by
spontaneous anti-drug messages from the stage and chants from the
crowd.
Things like this don't happen because of government
programs. They happen because attitudes are beginning to change,
because the American people are behind your efforts all the way.
Attitudes are beginning to change overseas as well.
Your
forsame
boss the Attorney General returns today from meetings with
reasonas
Bill Bennettandli
previous
officials in Colombia, Bolivia and Peru, and I will be briefed by page
Bennett
him tomorrow. I know that many of you have also served or will - sticky:
serve your own tours in South America, a tribute to our increased
cooperation.
Obviously, the race is far from won. But there is power in
us yet. We in Washington will continue to watch and support your
work here. The Pizza Connection II trial, the Johnny Kahn and
Brooks Davis cases, the new seizure program in which whole
apartment buildings are wrested back from the crack
make lords 1st who sentence II
control them -- all are important to the fight.
of next
But first and foremost, the killing must stop. We must
repeat it until we are hoarse, repeat it until we are heard.
From the Apollo Theatre to the halls of Congress to the
and
Delate
looklike like all lattifilled has talle
weak-kneed judges who don't seem to understand what it is you are
up against out there on the street: The killing must stop.
yt'm
There is no higher horror than what happened on the streets
&
filled
of Staten Island last week. Which means you have an important
task ahead.
action.
and
goaffa
Do not go after Judges, most are
Reaaan appointees.
The cowards who murdered Everett Hatcher should be given no
rest. But be careful out there. Remember the tearful salute of
brave nine-year-old Zachery. And find these criminals. Bring
them to justice. Nobody, but nobody, is going to beat the DEA.
May God look after you, and God bless the United States.
how
to
warb
some
and ma MA my mig W
-shouled anotnut Bush can't limb not 20 promise DEA, outon this for Pat
Chuss Waston
THE WHITE HOUSE
WASHINGTON
CABINET AFFAIRS STAFFING MEMORANDUM
Date: 3/7
Number:
Due By: 5:00
Subject:
DEA New YORK
Action
FYI
Action
FYI
ALL CABINET MEMBERS
CEA
Vice President
CEQ
OSTP
Treasury State comments attached
Defense
Justice no comments
Interior
Agriculture
Commerce
Labor
Scowcroft
HHS
Porter
HUD
Breeden
Transportation
Cicconi (For WH Staffing)
Energy
Education
Veterans
OMB
USTR
Chief of Staff
UN
Executive Secretary for:
CIA
DPC
National Drug Policy
EPC
EPA
GSA
NASA
OPM
SBA
REMARKS:
RETURN TO:
David Q. Bates
Associate Director
Cabinet Secretary
Office of Cabinet Affairs
456-2174
456-2800
(1st Floor, West Wing)
(Room 235, OEOB)
014251ss
Document No.
WHITE HOUSE STAFFING MEMORANDUM
3/7/89
DATE:
ACTION/CONCURRENCE/COMMENT DUE BY: 3/7/89 5:00 PM
PRESIDENTIAL REMARKS: DEA NEW YORK FIELD OFFICE
SUBJECT:
ACTION FYI
ACTIONFYI
VICE PRESIDENT
MCCLURE
SUNUNU
NEWMAN
SCOWCROFT
PORTER
DARMAN
STUDDERT
BATES
UNTERMEYER
BREEDEN
ROGERS
CARD
WINSTON
CICCONI
PINKERTON
BENNETT
DEMAREST
GRIFFITH
FITZWATER
GRAY
HAGIN
REMARKS:
Please forward any comments directly to Chriss Winston, Rm.
122, x2930, by 5:00 PM TODAY, Tuesday, March 7, 1989, with
an info copy to my office. Sorry about the short turnaround.
Thank you.
RESPONSE:
James W. Cicconi
Assistant to the President
and Deputy to the Chief of Staff
Ext. 2702
(McNally)
March 6, 1989
Draft One MAR -7
REMARKS: DEA NEW YORK FIELD OFFICE
MARCH 9, 1989
Mr. Stutman, Mr. Gallagher -- to all the Assistant and
Associate SAC's (("SACKS")), Group Supervisors, Special Agents,
Task Force officers and prosecutors gathered here today -- thank
you for honoring me with your presence. You have important work
to do, and I will not stay you long.
In the empty streets of an island borough, the shots that
ended Everett Hatcher's life were heard only by the cowards who
fired them. But the echoes of those four shots were heard in
Washington and across an America where decent men and women share
your sense of loss, and of outrage.
Here in New York city, the war on drugs is no metaphor.
Before we could bury Everett Hatcher last week another officer
was gunned down, felled by a single shot fired point blank
beneath his bullet-proof vest. As we speak, those accused of
ambushing Eddie Byrne are standing trial in this city. And this
week the DEA group that helped handle security for Everett's
funeral is in yet another New York courtroom, testifying about
the attempted murder of Special Agent Bruce Travers.
You know that my personal interest, and the interest of the
nation, goes beyond today's visit. As Vice President, I
telephoned Bruce while he was in the hospital, and share your
relief that he's recovering so well. Last week, Matthew Byrne
joined us for a private dinner at the White House. And earlier
today, I was privileged to visit with Mary Jane Hatcher, a woman
of considerable dignity and strength.
It has been quite an education. I understand the unique and
dangerous challenges that DEA faces in New York. This area leads
the nation in overall consumption, distribution and importation
of narcotics, run by a well-armed cross-section of ethnic groups
as diverse as the city itself. Your role in this battle is very
special. If the legions of state and local police officers
represent the infantrymen in this effort, then the DEA is
something like our Special Forces, the Green Berets of narcotics
enforcement.
Like Everett Hatcher, most of you have worked undercover, in
effect operating behind enemy lines. I admire your courage. In
my own war, I was behind enemy lines only briefly, sick and
paddling with my hands in Japanese waters and as scared as I ever
expect to be. Each of you has been there, and know the dry
mouth, the moist palms, the ball of ice that grips your stomach
high up under the ribs.
Let's talk about the terror.
It used to be unthinkable to shoot a federal agent.
No longer. Today narcotics agents are sometimes the first
ones shot, targeted by criminals armed with a staggering array of
battlefield weaponry. The explosive, expensive lesson of the
past year in New York is that the rules of the game have
dramatically changed.
Well, I have some bad news for the bad guys: Hunting season
is over. The rules on our side have changed, too, and the
killers of Everett Hatcher may well become the first New York
criminals to face execution in over 25 years. It's about time.
The scales of justice are becoming more balanced because of
the newly enacted federal drug laws. Twelve times in twelve
years the New York State Legislature has voted to restore the
death penalty for cop killers. Twelve times in twelve years that
legislation has been vetoed.
That's not right. New York policemen deserve all the
protection that tough laws can offer.
They -- and you -- also deserve to be better armed and
better armored than the bad guys you must face. As one DEA agent
summarized his simple rule of street survival: "Walk softly, and
carry a big, mean SMG.' ((DEA jargon for new "Sub-Machine
Guns"))
In a moment I want to tell you something about Bill
Bennett's drug education program. But first, I'd like to ask
your help in a little remedial education program of our own. Its
target is drug dealers. The message is simple:
You shoot a cop, and you will be severely punished, fast,
and quite possibly with your life.
Druggies used to know that. But with 25 years since
anyone's faced the death penalty in this state, they may have
gotten a little forgetful. Let's remind them.
Ultimately we all must choose between evil and good. Our
new weapons and our new laws mean that any druggies holding guns
better choose fast. And they damned well better choose right.
The killing must stop.
of course, guns aren't the only way drug dealers take lives.
This state is home to an estimated 250,000 heroin addicts, half
of all those in the United States. In the city alone another
600,000 people are believed dependant on crack or cocaine.
Not surprisingly, the seizures you have made are
correspondingly huge. DEA New York is responsible for 30 to 50
percent of all heroin seized by DEA nationwide. Last year, you
seized more than 10,000 kilograms of cocaine in or destined for
New York, almost 20 percent of the nationwide DEA total. In
January you recovered nearly $20 million from a furniture store
delivery van, said to be the largest cash seizure in the world.
These impressive figures are a credit to your talent and
dedication and to the effective working relations you have forged
with your federal, state and local counterparts.
Still, we in Washington understand that the importance of a
case cannot be measured merely by the size of the seizures-or the
numbers of arrests. Statistics in the drug war have become
mind-numbing, at times meaningless, like the body counts in
Vietnam. And as we learned in Southeast Asia, wars aren't won by
statistics or body counts. Wars are won by winning battles, and
in this war, battles are won by putting particular drug
organizations our of business. It's done the old-fashioned way,
one group at a time.
You in New York have done just that. And the names are as
familiar to you here as the battlefields of World War II are to
my generation. United States versus Torres. Monsanto. LIDO.
Based Balls. The Flying Dragons. Lai King Man. Reiter/Jackson.
These are more than buy/busts, more than just another news
conference with powder on the table. Each of these cases
represents an entire organization put behind bars and out of
business.
Most importantly, each of these cases involved the kind of
sophisticated, long-term investigation several were among the Treasury
m.Sullivan
first cases in the country to make use of the new drug kingpin
7
statutes. Nearly all involved Task Force cooperation and the
and targeting the financial support mechanisms,
pioneering use of forfeiture laws, in some cases to spectacular
Tom
effect: The forfeitures from the Torres brothers may ultimately Sullivm
total $30 - 50 million.
Just as the death penalty for cop killers helps make the
odds more even, stripping our enemies of their ill-gotten gains
turns the tables in a dramatic and highly effective way. Perhaps
you've heard Woody Allen's wry observation: "Organized crime in
ment
America takes in over forty billion dollars a year and spends
very little on office supplies."
That might be comedy today to Mr Dillen, but Experts
have estmaled that drugs alone account for
$1100 industry now in our country. we are hur
Sometime during the years following our withdrawal from
the druggies
Southeast Asia, the American people made a solemn, unspoken
where they /12
when we take then
pledge to the troops like you who defend our freedom on the front
money, + we
are going
lines: We will never again ask you to fight in an action we do to get much
better atit.
not intend to win.
Ladies and gentlemen: We do intend to win. This scourge
will end.
And although we meet on a crucial battlefield of this war,
it is a war that is being waged on many fronts. Last month, I
spoke to Congress about four areas: Treatment, education,
interdiction, and enforcement. And, in a time of cutbacks and
freezes, I asked for an increase of $1 billion in budget outlays
to fund these new efforts.
For you in federal law enforcement, our proposal budgets a
record $4.1 billion, fully 70 percent of the total. We also
intend to double the funding for federal prisons by 1995. Simply
put, prison overcrowding and weak judges have caused too many
criminals to go free after little or no punishment. Indeed,
neither of the suspects in last week's killings had any business
being out on the street in the first place -- one was a paroled
killer, and the other had twice been arrested for assaulting
policemen. It's outrageous. And it must stop.
Beyond enforcement, other moneys will go to expanded
treatment for the innocent and the poor, like the over 5,000
babies born in New York last year already addicted to drugs.
Other new funds will go to cut the waiting time for
treatment programs, perhaps along the lines of the innovative
oral methadone program at New York's Beth Israel Hospital,
designed to get the addicts off needles as well as heroin.
Mary Jane Hatcher spoke with eloquence last week about the
responsibility mainstream America and so-called "casual" cocaine
users must bear for her husband's death. Well, $1.1 billion of
my request will go for education, in an initiative led by Bill
Bennett, who I hope will soon be the nation's first drug czar.
While there may not be light at the end of the tunnel, there
does seem to be some light coming in under the door. Earlier
this week I visited successful education programs in Pennsylvania
and Delaware. At the Apollo Theatre in Harlem one Wednesday last
month, the amateur night performances were interrupted by
spontaneous anti-drug messages from the stage and chants from the
crowd.
Things like this don't happen because of government
programs. They happen because attitudes are beginning to change,
because the American people are behind your efforts all the way.
Attitudes are beginning to change overseas as well. Your
boss the Attorney General returns today from meetings with
officials in Colombia, Bolivia and Peru, and I will be briefed by
him tomorrow. I know that many of you have also served or will
serve your own tours in South America, a tribute to our increased
cooperation.
Obviously, the race is far from won. But there is power in
us yet. We in Washington will continue to watch and support your
work here. The Pizza Connection II trial, the Johnny Kahn and
financial enforement
Brooks Davis cases, the new seizure programs in which whole
apartment buildings are wrested back from the crack lords who
control them -- all are important to the fight.
But first and foremost, the killing must stop. We must
repeat it until we are hoarse, repeat it until we are heard.
From the Apollo Theatre to the halls of Congress to the
weak-kneed judges who don't seem to understand what it is you are
up against out there on the street: The killing must stop.
There is no higher horror than what happened on the streets
of Staten Island last week. Which means you have an important
task ahead.
The cowards who murdered Everett Hatcher should be given no
rest. But be careful out there. Remember the tearful salute of
brave nine-year-old Zachery. And find these criminals. Bring
them to justice. Nobody, but nobody, is going to beat the DEA.
May God look after you, and God bless the United States.
014251ss
OK
Document No.
Paly
1467
WHITE HOUSE STAFFING MEMORANDUM
3/7/89
DATE:
ACTION/CONCURRENCE/COMMENT DUE BY: 3/7/89 5:00 PM
PRESIDENTIAL REMARKS: DEA NEW YORK FIELD OFFICE
SUBJECT:
ACTION FYI
ACTION FYI
VICE PRESIDENT
MCCLURE
SUNUNU
NEWMAN
SCOWCROFT
PORTER
DARMAN
STUDDERT
BATES
UNTERMEYER
BREEDEN
ROGERS
CARD
WINSTON
CICCONI
PINKERTON
BENNETT
DEMAREST
GRIFFITH
FITZWATER
GRAY
HAGIN
REMARKS:
Please forward any comments directly to Chriss Winston, Rm.
122, x2930, by 5:00 PM TODAY, Tuesday, March 7, 1989, with
an info copy to my office. Sorry about the short turnaround.
Thank you.
RESPONSE:
March 8, 1989
To: Chriss Winston
NSC concurs with attached Presidential remarks with the noted comments.
B
James W. Cicconi
Brent Scowcroft
Assistant to the President
CC: James W. Cicconi
and Deputy to the Chief of Staff
Ext. 2702
89 MAR 7 P 2: 28
(McNally)
March 6, 1989
Draft One MAR Fill
REMARKS: DEA NEW YORK FIELD OFFICE
MARCH 9, 1989
Mr. Stutman, Mr. Gallagher . -- to all the Assistant and
Associate SAC's (("SACKS")), Group Supervisors, Special Agents,
Task Force officers and prosecutors gathered here today -- thank
you for honoring me with your presence. You have important work
to do, and I will not stay you long.
In the empty streets of an island borough, the shots that
ended Everett Hatcher's life were heard only by the cowards who
note: The office shot last week and
Eddre Byrne are NYPD not DEA.
fired them. But the echoes of those four shots were heard in
Washington and across an America where decent men and women share
your sense of loss, and of outrage.
Here in New York City, the war on drugs is no metaphor.
law inforcement
Before we could bury Everett Hatcher last week another, officer
was gunned down, felled by a single shot fired point blank
beneath his bullet-proof vest. As we speak, those accused of
ambushing Eddie Byrne are standing trial in this city. And this
week the DEA group that helped handle security for Everett's
funeral is in yet another New York courtroom, testifying about
the attempted murder of Special Agent Bruce Travers.
You know that my personal interest, and the interest of the
nation, goes beyond today's visit. As Vice President, I
telephoned Bruce while he was in the hospital, and share your
relief that he's recovering so well. Last week, Matthew Byrne
joined us for a private dinner at the White House. And earlier
today, I was privileged to visit with Mary Jane Hatcher, a woman
great
of considerable dignity and strength.
It has been quite an education. I understand the unique and
dangerous challenges that DEA faces in New York. This area leads
the nation in overall consumption, distribution and importation
of narcotics, run by a well-armed cross-section of ethnic groups
as diverse as the city itself. Your role in this battle is very
special. If the legions of state and local police officers
represent the infantrymen in this effort, then the DEA is
something like our Special Forces, the Green Berets of narcotics
enforcement.
Like Everett Hatcher, most of you have worked undercover, in
effect operating behind enemy lines. I admire your courage. In
my own war, I was behind enemy lines only briefly, sick and
paddling with my hands in Japanese waters and as scared as I ever
expect to be. Each of you has been there, and know the dry
mouth, the moist palms, the ball of ice that grips your stomach
high up under the ribs.
Let's talk about the terror.
It used to be unthinkable to shoot a federal agent.
No longer. Today narcotics agents are sometimes the first
ones shot, targeted by criminals armed with a staggering array of
battlefield weaponry. The explosive, expensive lesson of the
past year in New York is that the rules of the game have
dramatically changed.
Well, I have some bad news for the bad guys: Hunting season
is over. The rules on our side have changed, too, and the
killers of Everett Hatcher may well become the first New York
criminals to face execution in over 25 years. It's about time.
The scales of justice are becoming more balanced because of
blarring
distinction between
the newly enacted federal drug laws. Twelve times in twelve
note: Again
federal DEA agents and
state city policemen.
years the New York State Legislature has voted to restore the
death penalty for cop killers. Twelve times in twelve years that
legislation has been vetoed.
That's not right. New York policemen deserve all the
protection that tough laws can offer.
They -- and you -- also deserve to be better armed and
better armored than the bad guys you must face. As one DEA agent
summarized his simple rule of street survival: "Walk softly, and
carry a big, mean SMG." ((DEA jargon for new "Sub-Machine
Guns") )
In a moment I want to tell you something about Bill
Bennett's drug education program. But first, I'd like to ask
note: intracement personal
to the be word "drugsie"
your help in a little remedial education program of our own. Its
target is drug dealers. The message is simple:
You shoot a cop, and you will be severely punished, fast,
and quite possibly with your life.
tra fickers
Druggies used to know that. But with 25 years since
anyone's faced the death penalty in this state, they may have
gotten a little forgetful. Let's remind them.
Ultimately we all must choose between evil and good. Our
ffichers
new weapons and our new laws mean that any druggies holding guns
better choose fast. And they damned well better choose right.
The killing must stop.
of course, guns aren't the only way drug dealers take lives.
This state is home to an estimated 250,000 heroin addicts, half
of all those in the United States. In the city alone another
600,000 people are believed dependant on crack or cocaine.
Not surprisingly, the seizures you have made are
correspondingly huge. DEA New York is responsible for 30 to 50
percent of all heroin seized by DEA nationwide. Last year, you
seized more than 10,000 kilograms of cocaine in or destined for
New York, almost 20 percent of the nationwide DEA total. In
January you recovered nearly $20 million from a furniture store
delivery van, said to be the largest cash seizure in the world.
These impressive figures are a credit to your talent and
dedication and to the effective working relations you have forged
with your federal, state and local counterparts.
Still, we in Washington understand that the importance of a
Vote LIDO and Based Balls are brands
types drugs. The remaining names are of trafficture
case cannot be measured merely by the size of the seizures or the
numbers of arrests. Statistics in the drug war have become
mind-numbing, at times meaningless, like the body counts in
Vietnam. And as we learned in Southeast Asia, wars aren't won by
statistics or body counts. Wars are won by winning battles, and
in this war, battles are won by putting particular drug
organizations our of business. It's done the old-fashioned way,
one group at a time.
You in New York have done just that. And the names are as
familiar to you here as the battlefields of World War II are to
my generation. United States versus Torres. Monsanto. LIDO.
fratficking
Based Balls. The Flying Dragons. Lai King Man. Reiter/Jackson.
These are more than buy/busts, more than just another news
conference with powder on the table. Each of these cases
represents an entire organization put behind bars and out of
business.
Most importantly, each of these cases involved the kind of
and
sophisticated, long-term investigation several were among the
first cases in the country to make use of the new drug kingpin
statutes. Nearly all involved Task Force cooperation and the
pioneering use of forfeiture laws, in some cases to spectacular
effect: The forfeitures from the Torres brothers may ultimately
total $30 - 50 million.
Just as the death penalty for cop killers helps make the
odds more even, stripping our enemies of their ill-gotten gains
turns the tables in a dramatic and highly effective way. Perhaps
you've heard Woody Allen's wry observation: "Organized crime in
America takes in over forty billion dollars a year and spends
very little on office supplies."
Sometime during the years following our withdrawal from
Southeast Asia, the American people made a solemn, unspoken
pledge to the troops like you who defend our freedom on the front
lines: We will never again ask you to fight in an action we do
not intend to win.
Ladies and gentlemen: We do intend to win. This scourge
will end.
And although we meet on a crucial battlefield of this war,
it is a war that is being waged on many fronts. Last month, I
spoke to Congress about four areas: Treatment, education,
interdiction, and enforcement. And, in a time of cutbacks and
freezes, I asked for an increase of $1 billion in budget outlays
to fund these new efforts.
For you in federal law enforcement, our proposal budgets a
record $4.1 billion, fully 70 percent of the total. We also
intend to double the funding for federal prisons by 1995. Simply
put, prison overcrowding and weak judges have caused too many
criminals to go free after little or no punishment. Indeed,
neither of the suspects in last week's killings had any business
being out on the street in the first place -- one was a paroled
killer, and the other had twice been arrested for assaulting
policemen. It's outrageous. And it must stop.
Beyond enforcement, other moneys will go to expanded
treatment for the innocent and the poor, like the over 5,000
babies born in New York last year already addicted to drugs.
Other new funds will go to cut the waiting time for
treatment programs, perhaps along the lines of the innovative
oral methadone program at New York's Beth Israel Hospital,
designed to get the addicts off needles as well as heroin.
Mary Jane Hatcher spoke with eloquence last week about the
responsibility mainstream America and so-called "casual" cocaine
users must bear for her husband's death. Well, $1.1 billion of
my request will go for education, in an initiative led by Bill
Bennett, who I hope will soon be the nation's first drug czar.
While there may not be light at the end of the tunnel, there
does seem to be some light coming in under the door.
Earlier
this week I visited successful education programs in Pennsylvania
and Delaware.
At the Apollo Theatre in Harlem one Wednesday last
month, the amateur night performances were interrupted by
spontaneous anti-drug messages from the stage and chants from the
crowd.
Things like this don't happen because of government
programs. They happen because attitudes are beginning to change,
because the American people are behind your efforts all the way.
Attitudes are beginning to change overseas as well. Your
boss the Attorney General returns today from meetings with
officials in Colombia, Bolivia and Peru, and I will be briefed by
him tomorrow. I know that many of you have also served or will
serve your own tours in South America, a tribute to our increased
cooperation.
Obviously, the race is far from won. But there is power in
us yet. We in Washington will continue to watch and support your
Kon
work here. The Pizza Connection II trial, the Johnny Kahn and
Brooks Davis cases, the new seizure program in which whole
apartment buildings are wrested back from the crack lords who
control them -- all are important to the fight.
But first and foremost, the killing must stop. We must
repeat it until we are hoarse, repeat it until we are heard.
From the Apollo Theatre to the halls of Congress to the
weak-kneed judges who don't seem to understand what it is you are
up against out there on the street: The killing must stop.
There is no higher horror than what happened on the streets
of Staten Island last week. Which means you have an important
task ahead.
The cowards who murdered Everett Hatcher should be given no
rest. But be careful out there. Remember the tearful salute of
brave nine-year-old Zachery. And find these criminals. Bring
them to justice. Nobody, but nobody, is going to beat the DEA.
/
May God look after you, and God bless the United States.
THE WASHINGT NGTON HOUSE
Tom
- Mr. Sollivan
535- 4170 in enfor ament
the refers urgst to operation Blac 11
caugh money launding operation cap
they watchid the money
flow through
$ system
3 then
trapped
them.
3
The scales of justice are becoming more balanced because of
the newly enacted federal drug laws. Twelve times in welve
year the New York State Legislature has voted to restore the
death penalty for cop killers. Twelve times in twelve years that
legislation has been vatoed.
That'
right. New York policemen -- all of you --
deserve all the protection that tough laws can offer. I've asked
Bill Bennett to look into what can be done to prevent fully
automatic assault WE
nds of the
criminals you face. John-
be sme
Drug dealers ne
Chrise pls makes this
: You shoot a
cop, and you will be
per Pres - his -
quite possibly
with your life.
Drug traffickers
Patty change will get
other edits to Thanks us
been 25 years
since anyone has face
ate, and they
shorthy
may have gotten a lit
fin
hem.
Ultimately, we a
d good. Our
new weapons and our new laws mean that any drug traffickers
holding guns better choose fast. And they damned well better
choose right. The killing must stop.
Of course, guns aren't the only way drug dealers take lives.
This state is home to an estimated 250,000 heroin addicts, half
of all those in the United States. In the city alone another
600,000 people are believed dependent on crack or cocaine.
Not surprisingly, the seizures you have made are
correspondingly huge. DEA New York is responsible for 30 to 50
percent of all heroin seized by DEA nationwide. Last year, you
4
seized more than 10,000 kilograms of cocaine in or destined for
New York, almost 20 percent of the nationwide DEA total. In
January you recovered nearly $20 million from a furniture store
delivery van, said to be the largest cash seizure in the world.
These impressive figures are a credit to your talent and
dedication and to the effective working relations you have forged
with your federal, state and local counterparts.
still, we in Washington understand that the importance of a
case cannot be measured merely by the size of the seizures or the
numbers of arrests. Statistics in the drug war have become
mind-numbing; as well as mind-boggling. Wars aren't won by
statistics. We know wars are won by winning battles, and in this
war, battles are won by putting particular drug organizations out
of business. It's done the old-fashioned way, one group at a
time.
You in New York have done just that. And the names are as
time
familiar to you here as the battlefields of World War II are to
my generation. United States versus Torres. Monsanto. LIDO.
Based Balls. The Flying Dragons. Lai King Man. Reiter/Jackson.
These are more than buy/busts, more than just another news
conference with powder on the table. Each of these cases
represents an entire organization put behind bars and out of
business.
Most importantly, each of these cases involved
sophisticated, long-term investigations and several were among
the first cases in the country to make use of the new drug
kingpin statutes. Nearly all involved Task Force cooperation and
5
the pioneering use of forfeiture laws, in some cases to
spectacular effect: The forfeitures from the Torres brothers may
ultimately total $30 - 50 million.
Just as the death penalty for cop killers helps even the
odds, stripping our enemies of their ill-gotten gains turns the
tables in a dramatic and highly effective way. Perhaps you've
heard Woody Allen's wry observation: "Organized crime in America
takes in over forty billion dollars a year and spends very little
on office supplies."
Experts have estimated that today drugs alone account for a
$110 billion industry in our country. We are hurting the drug
kingpins where they live when we take their money, and we are
going to get even better at it.
to prevail
Ladies and gentlemen: We do intend to win this war on
drugs. This scourge will end. I mean to lead the fight, with
Bill Bennett, our nation's first Drug Czar, at my side.
And although we "meet on a crucial battlefield of this war," "
it is a war that is being waged on many fronts. Last month, I
spoke to Congress about four areas: rehabilitation, education,
interdiction, and enforcement. And, in a time of budget
constraints, I asked for an increase of $1 billion in budget
outlays to fund these new efforts.
For you in federal law enforcement, our proposal budgets a
record $4.1 billion, fully 70 percent of the total. By 1995, we
also intend to reduce prison overcrowding by 50%.
Fact-checking Fact-
(McNally)
changes
March 8, 1989
7:15 p.m.
REMARKS: DEA NEW YORK FIELD OFFICE
MARCH 9, 1989
Mr. Stutman, Mr. Gallagher -- to all the prosecutors and
each of you on the frontline with us today -- thank you for
honoring me with your presence. You have important work to do,
and I will not keep you long.
In the empty streets of an island borough, the shots that
ended Everett Hatcher's life were heard by the cowards who fired
them. But the echoes of those four shots were heard in
Washington and across an America where decent men and women share
your sense of loss, and of outrage.
Here in New York City, as in other cities across the
country, the war on drugs is no metaphor. Before we could bury
Everett Hatcher last week another officer was gunned down, felled
by a single shot fired point blank beneath his bullet-proof vest.
As we speak, those accused of ambushing Eddie Byrne, one of New
York's finest, are standing trial in this city. And this week
the DEA group that helped handle security for Everett's funeral
is in yet another New York courtroom, testifying about the
attempted murder of Special Agent Bruce Travers.
You know that my personal interest, and the interest of the
nation, goes beyond today's visit. As Vice President, I wrote to
Bruce while he was in the hospital. Bruce, all of us here are
glad that you're recovering so well. Last week, Matthew Byrne
joined us for a private dinner at the White House. And earlier
today, I was privileged to visit with Mary Jane Hatcher, a woman
2
of enormous dignity and strength, and members of the Hatcher
family.
It has been quite an education. I understand the special
and dangerous challenges that all New York drug enforcement
officers face. This area leads the nation in overall
consumption, distribution and importation of narcotics, run by a
well-armed cross-section of drug traffickers as diverse as the
city itself. Your role in this battle is very special. You put
your life on the line every day. If the legions of state and
local patrolmen represent the infantrymen in this effort, then
you are something like our Special Forces, the Green Berets of
narcotics enforcement.
Like Everett Hatcher, many of you have worked undercover, in
effect operating behind enemy lines. I admire your courage. In
my own war, I was behind enemy lines only briefly, sick and
paddling with my hands in Japanese waters and as scared as I ever
expect to be. Each of you has been there, and know the dry
mouth, the moist palms, the ball of ice that grips your stomach
high up under the ribs.
You know, it used to be unthinkable to shoot a cop.
No longer. Today narcotics agents are sometimes the first
ones shot, targeted by criminals armed with a staggering array of
battlefield weaponry. The explosive, expensive lesson of the
past year in New York is that the rules of the game have
dramatically changed.
3
Well, I have some bad news for the bad guys: Hunting season
is over. The rules on our side have changed, too. It's about
time.
The scales of justice are becoming more balanced because of
the newly enacted federal drug laws. Twelve times in twelve
years the New York State Legislature has voted to restore the
death penalty for cop killers. Twelve times in twelve years that
legislation has been vetoed.
That's not right. New York policemen -- all of you --
deserve all the protection that tough laws can offer. I've asked
Bill Bennett to look into what can be done to prevent fully
automatic assault weapons from falling into the hands of the
criminals you face.
Drug dealers need to understand a simple fact: You shoot a
cop, and you will be severely punished, fast, and quite possibly
with your life.
Drug traffickers used to know that. But it's been over 25
years since anyone has faced the death penalty in this state, and
they may have gotten a little forgetful. Let's remind them.
Ultimately, we all must choose between evil and good. Our
new weapons and our new laws mean that any drug traffickers
holding guns better choose fast. And they damned well better
choose right. The killing must stop.
Of course, guns aren't the only way drug dealers take lives.
This state is home to an estimated 260,000 heroin addicts, half
of all those in the United States. In the city alone another
600,000 people are believed dependent on crack or cocaine.
4
Not surprisingly, the seizures you have made are
correspondingly huge. DEA New York is responsible for 30 to 50
percent of all heroin seized by DEA nationwide each year. Last
year, you seized more than 10,000 kilograms of cocaine in or
destined for New York, almost 20 percent of the nationwide DEA
total. In January you recovered nearly $20 million from a
furniture store delivery van, said to be the largest cash seizure
in the world.
These impressive figures are a credit to your talent and
dedication and to the effective working relations you have forged
with your federal, state and local counterparts.
Still, we in Washington understand that the importance of a
case cannot be measured merely by the size of the seizures or the
numbers of arrests. Statistics in the drug war have become
mind-numbing; as well as mind-boggling. Wars aren't won by
statistics. We know wars are won by winning battles, and in this
war, battles are won by putting particular drug organizations out
of business. It's done the old-fashioned way, one group at a
time.
You in New York have done just that. And the names are as
familiar to you here as the battlefields of World War II are to
my generation. United States versus Torres. Monsanto. LIDO.
Based Balls. The Flying Dragons. Lai King Man. Reiter/Jackson.
These are more than buy/busts, more than just another news
conference with powder on the table. Each of these cases
represents an entire organization put behind bars and out of
business.
5
Most importantly, each of these cases involved
sophisticated, long-term investigations and several were among
the first cases in the country to make use of the new drug
kingpin statutes. Nearly all involved Task Force cooperation and
the pioneering use of forfeiture laws, in some cases to
spectacular effect: The forfeitures from the Torres brothers may
ultimately total $30 - 50 million.
Just as the death penalty for cop killers helps even the
odds, stripping our enemies of their ill-gotten gains turns the
tables in a dramatic and highly effective way. Perhaps you've
heard Woody Allen's wry observation: "Organized crime in America
takes in over forty billion dollars a year and spends very little
on office supplies."
Experts have estimated that today drugs alone account for a
$110 billion industry in our country. We are hurting the drug
kingpins where they live when we take their money, and we are
going to get even better at it.
Ladies and gentlemen: We do intend to win this war on
drugs. This scourge will end. I mean to lead the fight, with
Bill Bennett, our nation's first Drug Czar, at my side.
And although we "meet on a crucial battlefield of this war," "
it is a war that is being waged on many fronts. Last month, I
spoke to Congress about four areas: rehabilitation, education,
interdiction, and enforcement. And, in a time of budget
constraints, I asked for an increase of $1 billion in budget
outlays to fund these new efforts.
6
For you in federal law enforcement, our proposal budgets a
record $4.1 billion, fully 70 percent of the total. By 1995, we
also intend to reduce prison overcrowding by 50%.
Beyond enforcement, other monies will go to expanded
treatment for the innocent and the poor, like the over 5,000
babies born in New York last year already addicted to drugs.
Other new funds will go to cut the waiting time for
treatment programs, perhaps along the lines of the innovative
oral methadone program at New York's Beth Israel Hospital,
designed to get the addicts off needles as well as heroin.
Mary Jane Hatcher spoke with eloquence last week about the
responsibility mainstream America and so-called "casual" cocaine
users must bear for her husband's death. Well, $1.1 billion of
my request will go for prevention and education, to let that
casual user know the risks they take and the price they may have
to pay. And to tell our children that drugs are wrong.
While there may not be light at the end of the tunnel, there
does seem to be some light coming in under the door. At the
Apollo Theatre in Harlem one Wednesday last month, the amateur
night performances were interrupted by spontaneous anti-drug
messages from the stage and chants from the crowd.
Things like this don't happen because of government
programs. They happen because attitudes are beginning to change,
because the American people are behind your efforts all the way.
Attitudes are beginning to change overseas as well. Your
boss the Attorney General returns today from meetings with
officials in Colombia, Bolivia and Peru, and Bill Bennett and I
7
will be briefed by him tomorrow. I know that some of you have
also served or will serve your own tours in South America, a
tribute to our increased cooperation.
Obviously, the race is far from won. But there is power in
us yet. We in Washington will continue to watch and support your
work here. The Adamita trial, the Johnny Kon and Brooks Davis
cases, the new seizure program in which whole apartment buildings
are wrested back from the crack lords who control them -- all are
important to the fight.
But first and foremost, the killing must stop. We must
repeat it until we are hoarse, repeat it until we are heard.
From the Apollo Theatre to the halls of Congress to anyone who
doesn't seem to understand what it is you are up against out
there on the street: The killing must stop.
What happened on the streets of Staten Island last week was
a horrible tragedy. Which means you have an important task
ahead.
The cowards who murdered Everett Hatcher should be given no
rest. But be careful out there. Remember the tearful salute of
brave nine-year-old Zachery. And find these criminals. Bring
them to justice. Nobody, but nobody, is going to beat the DEA.
May God look after you, and God bless the United States.
FACT-CHACKING
(McNally)
March 8, 1989
11:00 a.m.
REMARKS: DEA NEW YORK FIELD OFFICE
MARCH 9, 1989
Mr. Stutman, Mr. Gallagher -- to all the prosecutors and
each of you on the frontline with us today -- thank you for
honoring me with your presence. You have important work to do,
and I will not keep you long.
In the empty streets of an island borough, the shots that
ended Everett Hatcher's life were heard only by the cowards who
X
fired them. But the echoes of those four shots were heard in
Washington and across an America where decent men and women share
your sense of loss, and of outrage.
Here in New York City, as in other cities across the
country, the war on drugs is no metaphor. Before we could bury
Everett Hatcher last week another officer was gunned down, felled
by a single shot fired point blank beneath his bullet-proof vest.
As we speak, those accused of ambushing Eddie Byrne, one of New
York's finest, are standing trial in this city. And this week
the DEA group that helped handle security for Everett's funeral
is in yet another New York courtroom, testifying about the
attempted murder of Special Agent Bruce Travers.
You know that my personal interest, and the interest of the
nation, goes beyond today's visit. As Vice President, I
X
letter
telephoned Bruce while he was in the hospital. Bruce, all of us
here are glad that you're recovering so well. Last week, Matthew
Byrne joined us for a private dinner at the White House. And
earlier today, I was privileged to visit with Mary Jane Hatcher,
X
a woman of enormous dignity and strength.
family?
2
It has been quite an education. I understand the special
and dangerous challenges that all New York drug enforcement
officers face. This area leads the nation in overall
consumption, distribution and importation of narcotics, run by a
well-armed cross-section of drug traffickers as diverse as the
city itself. Your role in this battle is very special. You put
your life on the line every day. If the legions of state and
local patrolmen represent the infantrymen in this effort, then
you are something like our Special Forces, the Green Berets of
narcotics enforcement.
Like Everett Hatcher, many of you have worked undercover, in
effect operating behind enemy lines. I admire your courage. In
my own war, I was behind enemy lines only briefly, sick and
paddling with my hands in Japanese waters and as scared as I ever
expect to be. Each of you has been there, and know the dry
mouth, the moist palms, the ball of ice that grips your stomach
high up under the ribs.
You know, it used to be unthinkable to shoot a cop.
No longer. Today narcotics agents are sometimes the first
ones shot, targeted by criminals armed with a staggering array of
battlefield weaponry. The explosive, expensive lesson of the
past year in New York is that the rules of the game have
dramatically changed.
Well, I have some bad news for the bad guys: Hunting season
is over. The rules on our side have changed, too. It's about
time.
3
The scales of justice are becoming more balanced because of
the newly enacted federal drug laws. Twelve times in twelve
years the New York State Legislature has voted to restore the
death penalty for cop killers. Twelve times in twelve years that
legislation has been vetoed.
That's not right. New York policemen -- all of you --
deserve all the protection that tough laws can offer. I've asked
Bill Bennett to look into what can be done to prevent fully
automatic assault weapons from falling into the hands of the
criminals you face.
Drug dealers need to understand a simple fact: You shoot a
cop, and you will be severely punished, fast, and quite possibly
with your life.
over
Drug traffickers used to know that. But it's been 25 years
X
since anyone has faced the death penalty in this state, and they
may have gotten a little forgetful. Let's remind them.
Ultimately, we all must choose between evil and good. Our
new weapons and our new laws mean that any drug traffickers
holding guns better choose fast. And they damned well better
choose right. The killing must stop.
of course, guns aren't the only way drug dealers take lives.
This state is home to an estimated 250,000 heroin addicts, half
of all those in the United States. In the city alone another
600,000 people are believed dependent on crack or cocaine.
Not surprisingly, the seizures you have made are
correspondingly huge. DEA New York is responsible for 30 to 50
percent of all heroin seized by DEA nationwide
f
each year
Last year, you
4
seized more than 10,000 kilograms of cocaine in or destined for
New York, almost 20 percent of the nationwide DEA total. In
January you recovered nearly $20 million from a furniture store
delivery van, said to be the largest cash seizure in the world.
These impressive figures are a credit to your talent and
dedication and to the effective working relations you have forged
with your federal, state and local counterparts.
still, we in Washington understand that the importance of a
case cannot be measured merely by the size of the seizures or the
numbers of arrests. Statistics in the drug war have become
mind-numbing; as well as mind-boggling. Wars aren't won by
statistics. We know wars are won by winning battles, and in this
war, battles are won by putting particular drug organizations out
of business. It's done the old-fashioned way, one group at a
time.
You in New York have done just that. And the names are as
familiar to you here as the battlefields of World War II are to
my generation. United States versus Torres. Monsanto. LIDO.
Based Balls. The Flying Dragons. Lai King Man. Reiter/Jackson.
These are more than buy/busts, more than just another news
conference with powder on the table. Each of these cases
represents an entire organization put behind bars and out of
business.
Most importantly, each of these cases involved
sophisticated, long-term investigations and several were among
the first cases in the country to make use of the new drug
kingpin statutes. Nearly all involved Task Force cooperation and
5
the pioneering use of forfeiture laws, in some cases to
spectacular effect: The forfeitures from the Torres brothers may
ultimately total $30 - 50 million.
Just as the death penalty for cop killers helps even the
odds, stripping our enemies of their ill-gotten gains turns the
tables in a dramatic and highly effective way. Perhaps you've
heard Woody Allen's wry observation: "Organized crime in America
takes in over forty billion dollars a year and spends very little
on office supplies."
Experts have estimated that today drugs alone account for a
$110 billion industry in our country. We are hurting the drug
kingpins where they live when we take their money, and we are
going to get even better at it.
Ladies and gentlemen: We do intend to win this war on
drugs. This scourge will end. I mean to lead the fight, with
Bill Bennett, our nation's first Drug Czar, at my side.
And although we "meet on a crucial battlefield of this war,"
it is a war that is being waged on many fronts. Last month, I
spoke to Congress about four areas: rehabilitation, education,
interdiction, and enforcement. And, in a time of budget
constraints, I asked for an increase of $1 billion in budget
outlays to fund these new efforts.
For you in federal law enforcement, our proposal budgets a
record $4.1 billion, fully 70 percent of the total. By 1995, we
also intend to reduce prison overcrowding by 50%.
6
Beyond enforcement, other monies will go to expanded
treatment for the innocent and the poor, like the over 5,000
babies born in New York last year already addicted to drugs.
Other new funds will go to cut the waiting time for
treatment programs, perhaps along the lines of the innovative
oral methadone program at New York's Beth Israel Hospital,
designed to get the addicts off needles as well as heroin.
Mary Jane Hatcher spoke with eloquence last week about the
responsibility mainstream America and so-called "casual" cocaine
users must bear for her husband's death. Well, $1.1 billion of
my request will go for prevention and education, to let that
casual user know the risks they take and the price they may have
to pay. And to tell our children that drugs are wrong.
While there may not be light at the end of the tunnel, there
does seem to be some light coming in under the door. At the
Apollo Theatre in Harlem one Wednesday last month, the amateur
night performances were interrupted by spontaneous anti-drug
messages from the stage and chants from the crowd.
Things like this don't happen because of government
programs. They happen because attitudes are beginning to change,
because the American people are behind your efforts all the way.
Attitudes are beginning to change overseas as well. Your
boss the Attorney General returns today from meetings with
officials in Colombia, Bolivia and Peru, and Bill Bennett and I
some
will be briefed by him tomorrow. I know that many of you have
also served or will serve your own tours in South America, a
tribute to our increased cooperation.
7
Obviously, the race is far from won. But there is power in
us yet. We in Washington will continue to watch and support your
work here. The Pizza Adamita Connection II trial, the Johnny Kahn and
Kon
Brooks Davis cases, the new seizure program in which whole
apartment buildings are wrested back from the crack lords who
control them -- all are important to the fight.
But first and foremost, the killing must stop. We must
repeat it until we are hoarse, repeat it until we are heard.
From the Apollo Theatre to the halls of Congress to anyone who
doesn't seem to understand what it is you are up against out
there on the street: The killing must stop.
What happened on the streets of Staten Island last week was
a horrible tragedy. Which means you have an important task
ahead.
The cowards who murdered Everett Hatcher should be given no
rest. But be careful out there. Remember the tearful salute of
brave nine-year-old Zachery. And find these criminals. Bring
them to justice. Nobody, but nobody, is going to beat the DEA.
May God look after you, and God bless the United States.