HOUSE OKS $3.2-BILLION MEASURE TO BOLSTER THE FIGHT AGAINST DRUGS

Congress: Bill opposed administration as too costly earmarks funds,
equipment for Coast Guard, Customs Service and Latin American nations.

The House on Wednesday turned aside Clinton administration objections and
overwhelmingly passed a $3.2-billion bill to bolster the Coast Guard, the
Customs Service and Latin American governments in their struggle to stop
drugs from reaching this country's borders.

The House of Representatives passed the bill, 384 to 39, just hours after
White House drug czar Barry R.

McCaffrey testified in the Senate that a similar measure awaiting action
there would be too expensive and would represent "micro-management of drug
tactics based on a shallow analysis of the problem and our available
tools." In the House, Republican leaders insisted that they were boosting
the budget for drug interdiction because they believe that President
Clinton has failed to stem the flow of drugs into the country.

"By the summer of 1992," House Speaker Newt Gingrich (R-Ga.) said, "we were
winning the war on drugs." But he charged that after Clinton took office in
1993, "for a variety of reasons, the war on drugs went off track." The bulk
of the bill's funds would be spent during the next three years on the
purchase and maintenance of airplanes for the U.S. government--$917 million
for the Coast Guard and $889 million for the Customs Service. The money
would be in addition to $1.67 billion the administration has set aside for
drug interdiction during each of the next three years.

Despite some grumbling over Gingrich's decision to allow the bill to reach
the House floor without committee hearings or approval, Democrats joined
Republicans in supporting it.

Latin America specialists were troubled by provisions that would increase
funding for foreign military units engaged in drug interdiction. The bill
earmarks $177 million for helicopters and planes for Colombia and $18
million for helicopters for Mexico. Bolivia and Peru also would receive
extra funds.

The Washington Office on Latin America, a private, nonprofit think tank
that has often fretted over increased military assistance to the region,
warned that the bill would "undermine U.S. policy goals of supporting
democracy and human rights around the world." Rep. Maxine Waters (D-Los
Angeles) sought to delete the funding for Colombia and Mexico, urging
Congress to "stop dumping our dollars on corrupt police" in those two
countries. But her amendment eliminating these funds was defeated, 354 to 67.

McCaffrey, in his testimony before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee,
said the bill "proposes authorizations that are far in excess of expected
appropriations and the president's budget without specifying where these
funds will come from." He seemed most upset by the congressional attempt
to, in his eyes, exert excessive control over administration drug policy.
As an example, he cited a provision that set aside $1.25 million for
"concertina wire and tunneling detection systems at the La Picota prison"
in Colombia.

Copyright 1998 Los Angeles Times. All Rights Reserved

Checked-by: Pat Dolan