STAY THE COURSE

Concerned that President-elect George W. Bush will "drop" the Cabinet-level
status of the Office of National Drug Control Policy (ONDCP), eight
high-ranking members of Congress have appealed to Mr. Bush to "re-energize"
the commitment to fighting the national drug epidemic.

"We believe that any downgrade of the drug czar position below Cabinet
status at the outset of your administration would be a political misstep,"
says the letter, obtained yesterday by Inside the Beltway and signed by
Republican Reps. John L. Mica of Florida, chairman of the House Government
Reform criminal justice, drug policy and human resources subcommittee and
co-chairman of the Speaker's Working Group for a Drug Free America; Dan
Burton of Indiana, chairman of the House Government Reform Committee; Cass
Ballenger of North Carolina, vice chairman of the International Relations
Western Hemisphere subcommittee; and Benjamin A. Gilman of New York, past
chairman of the House International Relations Committee.

"Early on, President Clinton's misguided efforts to severely reduce the
ONDCP staff was met with strong public and congressional condemnation and
eventually reversed," say the congressmen, who tell Mr. Bush they want a
"nationally prominent figure" appointed as drug czar.

Leading contender for the post, we're told: former Florida Rep. Bill McCollum.