PANEL BACK DRUG INTERDICTION, SNUBS TREATMENT

WASHINGTON - Backing President Clinton, House Republicans on a
powerful committee Thursday gave their prescription for the war on
drugs: yes for $2 billion to fight drugs at their source in Colombia,
no for $1.3 billion to treat addicts at home.

Brushing aside amendments by leading Democrats to delete funds for the
Colombian military and pour money into treatment of addicts, the votes
by the House Appropriations Committee boosted the White House's plan
to battle drug cultivation in Colombia.

The panel planned to vote on the entire $9 billion emergency
supplemental request, after which the measure goes to the full House.
"They want a military solution. We want a humanitarian solution to the
war on drugs," said Rep. Nancy Pelosi, the California Democrat who
introduced the $1.3 billion treatment amendment. "The discussion is
not over."

The amendments by Pelosi, the ranking Democrat on the subcommittee on
foreign operations, and Wisconsin Democrat David Obey underscored the
deep unease among Democrats and some Republicans of a foray into
Colombia that the administration estimates would last a minimum of
five years. The $2 billion funding, which the Republicans increased by
$428 million over Clinton's proposal, was for two years, but
administration officials say the final cost could be a few billion
dollars more. The partisan debate Thursday at times grew heated, with
Republicans finding themselves oddly in the same corner with a
Democratic president Some GOP members, who had pushed for intervention
in Colombia for years, chided Democrats for not standing with Clinton.

"I think you must have confidence in your president," said Rep. Sonny
Callahan, an Alabama Republican, speaking to Obey. "Your lack of
confidence in your president is stunning to me."

Obey replied: "I elect my president every four years to be my leader,
but I do not elect my president to do my thinking for me." He urged
the committee to at least temporarily remove $552 million from funds
for the Colombian military.

But Chairman C.W. Bill Young, R-Indian Rocks Beach, said, "It is
essential to eliminate the product where it is grown. Every day we
delay eliminating these drugs, another hundred or a thousands kids
could be addicted. We're not satisfied this is the best program, but
are we ever?"