MAYORS URGE FUNDING FOR NEEDLE EXCHANGES

The mayors of five big U.S. cities urged the Clinton administration Friday
to allow federal funds to be used for needle exchange programs for drug
abusers, but a key congressman said he would act to stop it.

The mayors of San Francisco, Detroit, Seattle, Baltimore and New Haven,
Conn., said in a joint letter to Health and Human Services Secretary Donna
Shalala that 33 Americans become infected with the AIDS virus every day as
a result of injecting illegal drugs.

But Rep. Jerry Solomon, R-N.Y., chairman of the House Rules Committee, said
in a statement that he would work to pass legislation permanently banning
such payments, arguing that they would subsidize the habits of drug
addicts.

The Republican-led Congress had imposed a six-month moratorium, which ended
March 31, on the use of federal funds for needle programs.