UNFULFILLED DRUGWAR PROMISES

Deception has become an art form for the Clinton administration, and it
appears its State Department has been taking copious notes. It is clear to
Congress that Secretary of State Madeleine Albright' s agency cannot keep
its word. Time and time again, both written and oral agreements with
Congress have been tossed aside with reckless abandon. Just as the
credibility of President Clinton has come into question numerous times over
his tenure in office, the credibility of Foggy Bottom has been completely
lost. This has become Mrs. Albright' s scarlet letter, threatening to taint
her legacy as secretary of state.

Currently, the State Department is charged with addressing the source-
country eradication and counter-narcotics efforts. Colombia is the key
source nation for both the cocaine and heroin we see flooding American
streets and schoolyards. Heroin use has become an epidemic in almost every
town, big or small, in our country. It is cheaper, purer, and easier to get
than ever before. There have been 35 teen- age heroin overdose deaths in
the Orlando, Fla., area alone in the last two years.

The State Department is failing in this area. Worse than the failure is the
lack of will to even consider the problem and possible solutions. It is
time for Congress to restructure the War on Drugs and shift some
responsibility from the incompetent State Department to other agencies, as
proposed in H.R. 4300, The Western Hemisphere Drug Elimination Act. The
Republican Congress has outlined an initial strategy to stop heroin at the
source, before it reaches American shores. The bottom line is, the State
Department has no plan, and has spent countless hours attempting to evade
the will and direction of Congress instead of actually implementing
policies, producing nothing but hollow promises.

The results of the continual empty rhetoric are staggering. Twenty thousand
Americans die from drugs and drug-related violence each year. More than
4,000 of our allies in the Colombian National Police (CNP) have died
fighting our War on Drugs. Many died waiting on the delivery of equipment
promised by the Clinton State Department, the lack of which has also
resulted in a 50 percent reduction in opium eradication missions by the
CNP. The only reason any equipment has been delivered is due to
congressional pressure. It apparently has not been enough. Consider the
following:

In September 1996, the State Department, in a letter to Congress, promised
delivery of 12 upgraded Vietnam-era Huey helicopters. It is now August
1998, and not one of these helicopters has been delivered. Earlier this
year, State again promised the delivery of the same helicopters, starting
in October. Congress has since learned delivery will now be delayed again,
until 1999 at the earliest.

Congress was able to direct an aircraft seized from drug smugglers to the
State Department for use in counter-narcotics operations in Colombia. It
took more than three years to complete the deal, and State knew the reason
Congress intervened was to bolster the CNP air wing, yet State sent the
aircraft to Guatemala for its maiden deployment. Congress, attempting to
increase CNP counter-narcotics operations, appropriated $36 million for
three Black Hawk utility helicopters. State disagreed with Congress, and
produced a reprogramming request to use the money elsewhere. Congress
placed a hold on that request. State then negotiated a compromise, which
included sending six lesser helicopters to Colombia. However, State did not
have access to the helicopters it promised to deliver, creating the
impression that State may have intentionally misled Members of Congress.
Eerily similar to 1996, State has told Congress it will deliver similar
helicopters from the commercial market by October. We'll believe it when
the helicopters are on the tarmac in Bogota.

A recent remark by a high-ranking political appointee underscores the lack
of respect that the unchecked rampant bureaucracy at the State Department
has shown Congress, "It was only a Sense of Congress Resolution, it doesn't
mean anything," referring to a unanimous resolution supporting the delivery
of three Black Hawk utility helicopters to the CNP for counter-narcotics
missions. Despite a congressional inquiry, Mrs. Albright did nothing to
reel in this renegade appointee.

It is easy to see why Congress, and the American people take anything that
comes from the Clinton administration with a grain of salt. It is
impossible to determine if what is said is actually the truth. Recent
history has shown the Clinton State Department has a severe credibility
problem. Secretary Albright should reign-in those responsible, because -
even in Washington - you are only as good as your word.

Rep. Dan Burton, Indiana Republican, is chairman of the Government Reform
and Oversight Committee, and is a senior member of the International
Relations Committee.

Rep. J. Dennis Hastert, Illinois Republican, is chairman of the Government
Reform's National Security Subcommittee, chairman of the Speaker's Task
Force for a Drug Free America, and is chief deputy whip.

Copyright 1998 News World Communications, Inc.