mr. chairman , i yield myself such time as i may consume . 
a `` dear colleague '' went out today , and i will share it with my colleagues . 
it says : `` the coble amendment attacks tribal sovereignty . 
the coble amendment reverses two statutes of federal indian policy . 
oppose the coble amendment. '' well , oftentimes in this body , mr. chairman , we engage in semantical wars , and i disagree with the choice of these words ; but in any event , we have resolved the differences . 
mr. chairman , i urge the support of the modified amendment before us to strengthen the contraband cigarette trafficking act , commonly known as ccta . 
why should this provision be included in the patriot act , one may ask ? 
criminal organizations , including terrorist groups , are using contraband cigarettes to fund their organizations . 
the scam is relatively easy and extremely lucrative . 
the criminals purchase cigarettes in a state with a low excise tax and then transport them to a high-tax state to sell . 
many times they even counterfeit the tax stamps to ensure that the cigarettes appear legitimate . 
criminals can make as much as $ 30 per carton for relatively little effort and risk . 
a scheme that was uncovered illustrates the magnitude of this problem . 
in 2003 , a group of hezbollah operatives were convicted of buying cigarettes in my home state of north carolina and selling them in michigan . 
they were using the proceeds of their operation to fund the activities of hezbollah . 
law enforcement authorities across the nation believe these types of smuggling operations are a fast-growing problem . 
mr. chairman , my amendment would enhance the provisions of the ccta to enable law enforcement to prosecute more of these schemes . 
first , the amendment would lower the threshold requirements for a violation of the ccta from 60 , 000 to 10 , 000 cigarettes . 
it would apply the ccta to smokeless tobacco as well , and impose reporting requirements on those engaging in delivery sales of more than 10 , 000 cigarettes , or 500 cans of packages of smokeless tobacco within a period of 1 month . 
finally , it would authorize state and local governments and certain persons holding federal tobacco permits to bring causes of action against violators of the ccta . 
we must do everything we can to choke off this source of funding for criminal organizations which , in turn , subsidize terrorist organizations ; and i urge adoption of the amendment . 
