WAR PLANS

House Speaker Newt Gingrich (R-Ga.) announced last week that he wants to
"win" the war on drugs within three years.

Just how to do that is a challenge left to U.S. Rep. Dennis Hastert
(R-Ill.) who will head a Republican task force on the issue.

The ambitious but surely popular task has been enthusiastically embraced by
Hastert, who has long made increased interdiction of narcotics a focus of
his legislative efforts.

Hastert of Yorkville said to look for a rollout of anti-drug legislation, a
shift in federal spending to place a higher priority on the drug war and
more congressional pressure for results from Clinton administration.

Among the ideas under consideration is a triple row of fences along the
Mexican border to reduce smuggling, a measure that the U.S. neighbor is
sure to view as an insult.

"I'm sorry," he said, "There are good relations with Mexico. But there are
14,000 to 15,000 people dying in emergency rooms every year. We need to do
something."

Other ideas under consideration include "drug-free loans" legislation that
would ban federally subsidized loans to twice-convicted drug offenders.

A "drug-free athletics" bill would ban from play professional athletes
convicted of a drug offense unless they "at least identify the dealer who
sold them the drugs," Hastert said.

And, of course, "drug-free Congress" legislation is planned. It would
subject congressional representatives and their employees to random drug
tests.