DOLE PROMISES RENEWED WAR ON ILLEGAL DRUGS

She Denies Remarks Aimed At George W. Bush

PASADENA (AP) - While her rival in the race to head the GOP ticket in 2000
battles questions over whether he ever used illegal drugs, Elizabeth Dole
promised on Sunday to "lead a crusade" against illegal drugs if elected
president.

Dole told attendants at the National Foundation for Women Legislators'
annual convention that, although polls show the issue of illegal drug use is
"not very high on people's priority list," as president, she would push a
campaign "that's comprehensive and fully funded where drugs are concerned.

"With leadership and the use of that bully pulpit, I think we can have a
crusade across this country to remove and rid America of illegal drugs that
are poisoning our children today," Dole said.

She later denied that the announcement of the crusade had anything to do
with George W. Bush's campaign crisis last week over whether he used drugs,
saying she has been pushing this since she left the American Red Cross.

Bush, the Republican presidential front-runner, was pounded last week with
questions over whether he used cocaine while he was in his 20s.

Dole told the group of bipartisan women leaders, who greeted her
enthusiastically, that she was encouraged by her "close to No. 2" finish in
the Aug. 14 straw poll in Iowa. Dole pulled in 3,410 votes, while Steve
Forbes was second with 4,921 votes. Bush was No. 1 with 7,418 votes.

"I didn't spend millions of dollars doing it," she said. Dole spend $250,000
in Iowa, less than a third of what Bush spent.

"We're on our way to making history," she said.

Dole said her 30 years of management experience, with the federal
transportation and labor departments, then as president of the American Red
Cross, adequately prepared her for the job of steering the country to a
better place.

Although the economic indicators are strong, she said, they are giving the
nation a false sense of security. The country has seen record highs on the
stock market, it is also experiencing an unraveling of American values, she
said.

"The health of our economy is not the barometer of the state of our
society," she said. "We've been able to eliminate the deficit, but there is
a deficit, but there is a deficit that we've virtually been ignoring in
basic American values like honesty, integrity, respect for our fellow man,
personal responsibility, civility."

Dole promised to rebuild the military by advancing its equipment, training
and salaries for the men and women serving in the armed forces.