ASHCROFT OUTLINES TOP THREE PRIORITIES

WASHINGTON (AP) -- Attorney General John Ashcroft intends to increase gun
prosecutions, renew the war on drugs and reach out to minorities as his
three top priorities, a spokeswoman said yesterday.

After his civil rights record was bitterly attacked during a stormy Senate
confirmation battle, Ashcroft is inviting the Justice Department's civil
rights division officials to a brown-bag lunch in his private department
dining room next week, chief spokeswoman Mindy Tucker said. Civil rights
will be first, but he plans to hold these lunches with each division.

Ashcroft has three main civil rights issues in mind: racial profiling,
voting rights and hate crimes.