NATIONAL GUARD TO SEE CUTS

Drug-War Programs Get Less Funding

The New Mexico National Guard will have fewer soldiers and airmen fighting
the drug war under the military spending plan President Bush has approved.

Signed into law Thursday, the $317.2 billion defense bill for fiscal year
2002 scales back spending on the National Guard's counter-drug programs by
nearly a quarter of the funding previously received. The defense plan
dedicates $156.5 million nationwide to drug programs for the current fiscal
year, down from $204.1 million budgeted for last year, said Maj. Ellen
Krenke of the National Guard Bureau in Arlington, Va.

In all, Bush's first defense appropriation is $29.6 billion more than the
one President Clinton approved in his last term. Bush's plan includes an
additional $20 billion for response to the Sept. 11 attacks, said Sen. Pete
Domenici, R-N.M.

"This bill reflects our multi-faceted need to improve national security in
terms of America's role in the world and right here at home," Domenici said
in a news statement.

The bill dedicates millions of dollars for military projects in New Mexico.

Among them: $63.9 million for energy research at the Joint Technology
Office in Albuquerque, $27 million for the laser weapon development at the
High Energy Laser Systems Test Facility at White Sands Missile Range; and
$330 million for the Airborne Laser program, an undertaking that would
mount a missile-destroying laser on the nose of a 747 cargo airplane, at
Kirtland Air Force Base.

Less money for the drug war means cuts for New Mexico's National Guard,
said Lt. Col. Andrew Salas.

The state received $5.1 million in fiscal year 2001, compared with $4.6
million for this year, officials said.

The Guard has 86 soldiers and airmen involved in the Guard's counter-drug
program. Under the smaller budget, 25 fewer Guard members will be involved,
Salas said.

New Mexico's National Guard has various involvements in the drug war, from
monitoring the Mexican border by aircraft to talking to students in
classrooms statewide, Salas said.