DEA VETERAN IS NAMED ACTING CHIEF

Attorney General John Ashcroft yesterday named William B. Simpkins to
serve as acting administrator of the U.S. Drug Enforcement
Administration, replacing outgoing Director Donnie R. Marshall, who
retired.

"I look forward to working with William as we continue in our efforts to
help protect America's children from drugs," Mr. Ashcroft said in a
statement.

"I also want to thank Donnie Marshall for his outstanding leadership at
the DEA. He has been a public servant of the highest caliber. I truly
appreciate his efforts and thank him for his service to our country," he
said.

Mr. Simpkins, a veteran of the DEA, is currently the agency's deputy
administrator. He will take charge of the DEA until Rep. Asa Hutchinson,
Arkansas Republican, is confirmed by the Senate.

Mr. Hutchinson, nominated in May by President Bush, helped the former
Texas governor win Arkansas in the 2000 presidential election.

He also served as a House manager during President Clinton's impeachment
trial in the Senate.

His involvement in the 2000 campaign and his role as a House manager
during the impeachment are both expected to be raised during
confirmation hearings, as yet unscheduled. The Senate is now controlled
by Democrats.

Mr. Hutchinson, a three-term congressman, is a former federal prosecutor
who has actively been involved in DEA issues as a member of the House
Judiciary subcommittee on crime.

In 1997, he joined with DEA officials on a fact-finding mission to
Colombia to review joint U.S.-Colombian anti-drug operations.

Mr. Marshall is the first DEA agent ever to rise through the ranks to
lead the agency. In a memo to agents, he confirmed that he had been
asked by the Bush administration to step down after 32 years with the
DEA.

In the memo, Mr. Marshall praised the "dedicated, talented and
courageous men and women" of the DEA and said their efforts had made a
"dramatic impact" on drug organizations around the world.

He also encouraged the agents to "maintain their faith in our mission,"
adding that his appointment as administrator had been the "highest honor
I could ever hope to achieve."