WASHINGTON IN BRIEF: OPPOSITION TO COLOMBIA AID

Senate Majority Leader Trent Lott (R-Miss.) yesterday stepped up his
opposition to passage of a $9 billion emergency package to help combat
Colombian drug traffickers and cover military costs in Kosovo, saying
that "the window for a supplemental has already passed."

"I had indicated early on that I thought if we were going to do a
supplemental that it should be done quickly and cleanly, and that has
not occurred," Lott told reporters.

The House Appropriations Committee recently approved the emergency
measure sought by President Clinton and House Speaker J. Dennis
Hastert (R-Ill.), but Lott said the bill was too costly and that the
essential spending could be handled through the appropriations process
for fiscal 2001.