REP. KENNEDY SAYS HE'LL SEEK DRUG TREATMENT

WASHINGTON -- U.S. Rep. Patrick Kennedy said Friday he is entering
treatment for an addiction to prescription pain medication, an
announcement that came as police investigated a car crash involving
the congressman near the Capitol.

Calling his addiction a "chronic disease," Kennedy said he did not
recall the accident, which occurred early Thursday and raised
questions about his behavior and how U.S. Capitol Police deal with
members of Congress.

The congressman's office has said Kennedy, D-R.I., was disoriented
because he had taken prescription medication to calm stomach
inflammation and to help him sleep. No one was injured, but Kennedy
almost hit a Capitol Police car head-on before slamming into a
security barrier, authorities said.

Kennedy, 38, said Friday that he has been battling problems with
addiction and depression since he was a teenager. He entered
treatment late Friday at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minn.

He was a patient there during Congress' winter break, he said, and
thought he had returned to Washington "reinvigorated and healthy."

"I am deeply concerned about my reaction to the medication and my
lack of knowledge of the accident that evening," he said during a
brief news conference. "But I do know enough that I know I need help."

Kennedy said he won't resign and will seek re-election in the fall.
"I need to stay in the fight," he said.

He did not reveal which "prescription pain medication" he has abused
or which drugs he used Thursday. In a statement to the media Thursday
night, Kennedy said he had taken Phenergan for an upset stomach and
Ambien to help him sleep.

Neither Phenergan nor Ambien are prescription pain medications.

He also denied drinking any alcohol.

As a high-school senior, Kennedy was treated at a drug-rehabilitation
clinic for cocaine and alcohol abuse before he went to Providence
College. He has been diagnosed with bipolar disorder, has chronic
asthma and while in his 20s, he had a 12-hour operation to remove a
tumor from his spinal column.

Mental-health professionals have praised him for being open about his
struggles with depression, alcoholism and substance abuse.

Kennedys have been prominent in U.S. politics for decades. Kennedy's
uncles included President John Kennedy, assassinated in 1963, and
Robert Kennedy, a former U.S. attorney general and New York senator,
who was assassinated in 1968 during his run for president.

His father, Sen. Edward Kennedy, D-Mass., is one of the Senate's
longest-serving members. He issued a statement saying he was proud of
his son for admitting his problem and taking steps to correct it.

"He has taken full responsibility for events that occurred ... and he
will continue to cooperate fully with any investigation," the elder
Kennedy said.

The union representing Capitol Police officers has said Kennedy
should have been given a sobriety test because officers at the scene
suspected he had been drinking. The union suggested Kennedy got
special treatment because supervisors took over and drove him home.

"I never asked for any preferential treatment," Kennedy said Thursday night.

Acting Capitol Police Chief Christopher McGaffin declined requests
for comment Friday. He told Roll Call, a newspaper that covers
Congress, that managers had made mistakes in judgment and that
"significant" administrative action has been taken.

Before Kennedy crashed his green 1997 Ford Mustang convertible into
the security barrier about 2:50 a.m. Thursday, an officer saw the car
speeding and swerving into and traveling in the wrong lane, according
to a police report made public Friday. The car's lights were off, and
the Mustang almost hit a police car before it smacked into the barrier.

In the report, an officer noted that Kennedy's eyes were "watery,
speech was slightly slurred ... and his balance was unsure."

Kennedy told the officer he was "headed to the Capitol to make a
vote," the report said. The House was not in session.

Although the report includes a notation that alcohol played a role in
the crash, police-union officials said supervisors did not allow
officers to administer field sobriety or Breathalyzer tests.

Kennedy was not charged with any crimes but received three traffic
citations: failure to keep in the proper lane, driving at an
unreasonable speed, and failure to give full time and attention to
his car. Police said they are contemplating other charges.

Authorities are trying to track Kennedy's activities before the
accident. Detectives were canvassing bars near the Capitol to
determine whether he had been seen in them in the hours leading up to
the crash, law-enforcement sources said.

For his part, Kennedy said he returned Wednesday night to his home on
Capitol Hill, took the medications and inexplicably wound up driving
to the Capitol in the belief he needed to vote. "I simply do not
remember getting out of bed, being pulled over by the police or being
cited for three driving infractions," he said.

It was Kennedy's second auto crash in three weeks. His car struck the
rear passenger door of a car while he was making a left turn into a
CVS pharmacy in Portsmouth, R.I., according to a police report on the
April 15 accident. No injuries were reported and Kennedy was not cited.

Material from The Associated Press and New York Daily News is
included in this report.