BILL AIMS TO REDUCE DRUG FLOW TO USA

WASHINGTON - Two Republican members of Congress plan to introduce a bill
Wednesday to spend $2.6 billion over the next three years to reduce the
amount of illegal drugs coming into the country by 80%.

The bill, by Sen. Mike DeWine, R-Ohio, and Rep. Bill McCollum, R-Fla.,
includes $430 million for 10 radar aircraft to monitor airspace over the
three major cocaine-producing countries - Peru, Bolivia and Colombia.

The Western Hemisphere Drug Elimination Act also would set aside $300
million for a new U.S. airbase to support counternarcotics efforts in the
Caribbean, northern South America and the Pacific coast of Central and South
America. No site has been chosen for the proposed facility.

The money, if approved by Congress, would be added to $51 billion to be
spent on the drug war over the next three years.

"Our objective is not to take away from other areas," DeWine said. "We're
not here saying we should do less in treatment and education."

The USA will also buy equipment and aircraft for other countries. For
example: $72 million for six helicopters for the Colombian National Police,
and $7 million for X-ray machines to scan for vehicles carrying drugs on the
main highway out of Bolivia's cocaine-producing region.

McCollum and DeWine say financing is needed because lower priority has been
given to stopping drugs from leaving producing countries and the destruction
of crops.

While the amount of money spent for eradication and interdiction has
remained steady, it has fallen as a percentage of total anti-drug spending.

DeWine said interdiction efforts throughout the years "have been off and on."

As part of the drug war, the U.S. Defense Department earmarked $504.5
million for interdiction in 1992, but that fell to $214.7 million in 1995.

That cut led to a reduction in flying hours by AWACS aircraft from 38,100
hours in 1992, to 17,713 in 1996, DeWine said.

At the same time, "there's not a ship, there's not a plane" patrolling the
Pacific coast of Central and South America, McCollum said. The Drug
Enforcement Administration says that 57% of the estimated 291 metric tons of
cocaine smuggled into the USA each year comes from that area.

Bob Weiner, spokesman for the Office of Drug Control Policy, said, "The
administration strongly supports interdiction and that's why there's a 9%
increase in the budget for interdiction this year." President Clinton has
asked for a 12% increase in interdiction funding next year.

Weiner said a second issue is "where is the money coming from for this
proposal. We haven't seen a specific answer on that and we need to find out.
. . . In addition, we have to be sure we're getting the biggest bang for the
buck."

By The Associated Press

Checked-by: Melodi Cornett