CLINTON BUDGET IS SOFT ON CRIME, REPUBLICANS SAY

WASHINGTON - Republicans on Capitol Hill went on the attack yesterday over
President Clinton's commitment to fighting crime, saying that the White
House's newly released budget plan would mean deep cuts in the war on
drugs, money for local police and other key law-enforcement areas.

Administration officials quickly dismissed such claims, noting that since
1993, when Clinton took office, Justice Department funding has risen 88
percent.

"Our commitment to fighting crime remains as high as it has ever been,"
department spokesman Myron Marlin said.

The debate signals another bruising battle in Congress over Clinton's
budget, proposed earlier this week, as Republicans seek to portray
themselves as the law-and-order party and Clinton as soft on crime.

"Time and time again, this administration demonstrates a reluctance to be
serious about the drug war," said Sen. Paul Coverdell, R-Ga., flanked at a
media briefing by five other Republican members of Congress. "There's going
to have to be a major debate with the administration here."

Clinton wants to severely cut funding for new police officers nationwide
this year because he says his hiring program will have met its goal of
putting 100,000 new officers on the street. He is also moving to eliminate
$523 million in law-enforcement block grants.

Justice Department officials said Clinton's plan actually represents an
increase of about 1.6 percent in total department funding, but the proposal
seeks to redirect money to more narrowly targeted needs - such as new
technology, more prisons and the hiring of additional prosecutors and
probation officers - rather than doling out largely unrestricted money.

Republican critics "are focusing on what programs have been cut, rather
than on the new programs that we are funding, and those are the programs
that local law-enforcement officials tell us they need on a day-to-day
level," said a Justice Department budget official, who asked not to be
identified.

Sen. Orrin Hatch, R-Utah, chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee,
criticized Clinton for seeking money "to turn prosecutors into social
workers . . . and provide punishments such as recreational programs" for
young, violent offenders. This would come at the expense, he said, of
hundreds of millions of dollars for more worthy programs in such areas as
juvenile crime and violence against women.

The White House budget plan also calls for $17.8 billion to combat drugs,
with continued emphasis on curtailing demand. That total represents an
increase of about $800 million over Clinton's proposal last year, but a
slight decrease from what was ultimately appropriated by Congress.

Republicans said yesterday that they were particularly troubled by an
apparent shift away from intercepting drugs at the borders, with cuts in
such critical areas as the Coast Guard's drug-interdiction efforts.

"This is a serious war. This is not a war you `just say maybe' about," said
Rep. Porter Goss, R-Fla., chairman of the House Intelligence Committee.
"You win this war."