Bill Young to an appropriations bill. President George W. Bush appointed Sembler to serve on the Honorary Delegation to accompany him to Jerusalem for the celebration of the 60th anniversary of the State of Israel in May 2008. He received the America Award from the Italy-USA Foundation in 2014. Straight, Incorporated In 1976, Sembler and his wife, Betty, founded Straight, Incorporated, an adolescent drug treatment program which has treated more than 12,000 young people who were labeled as addicts. The group now operates as the Drug Free America Foundation. In May 1983, Straight, Inc was convicted of false imprisonment after being sued by then 20-year-old Fred Collins Jr., who alleged he had been held captive by the program against his will. The program was ordered to pay $40,000 in compensatory and $180,000 in punitive damages. In 1990, a jury awarded Karen Norton $721,000 in damages due to mistreatment by Straight. In 1982, while a patient in Straight's Florida facility, Norton alleged that staff members assaulted her, and denied her health care. It has been suggested that licensing for Straight's Florida-based programs had been renewed under pressure from Sembler on state senators. Sembler's Drug Free America Foundation continues to campaign for hard-line drug policy. Former Governor Jeb Bush of Florida, the brother of President George W. Bush, former Drug Enforcement Administration Administrator Karen Tandy, and Congressman Dan Lungren of California are on the advisory board. Personal history Sembler and his wife Betty () were married in 1953. They had three sons, Steve, Brent, and Greg plus eleven grandchildren. Betty died on February 16, 2022. References External links United States Department of State profile Sembler Company bio of Mel Sembler 1930 births Living people People from St. Joseph, Missouri 20th-century American Jews Ambassadors of the United States to Australia Ambassadors of the United States to Italy Florida Republicans Northwestern University alumni Honorary Officers of the Order of Australia 21st-century American Jews 20th-century American diplomats 21st-century American diplomats