DISTRICT'S U.S. ATTORNEY SWORN IN

Warner Focuses On Homeland Defense, Drugs

Southern West Virginia's U.S. Attorney will focus his new office's sizeable
resources on drug use among teens, gun-wielding criminals and any possible
aftermath of Sept. 11, he pledged at his swearing-in Monday.

Fresh from U.S. Special Operations Command, Kasey Warner singled out
homeland defense as the top priority of his new post.

"The terrorist knows he will not be successful unless he reaches the
heartland and the common people," Warner told the large crowd that gathered
for his ceremony at the Robert C. Byrd U.S. Courthouse in Charleston.

The attacks on the Pentagon and the World Trade Center may only be the
first, Warner said, citing his decades of military experience. He retired
last week as a U.S. Army colonel in the judge advocate general corps.

Warner, 49, said he fears terrorists will slink into places like West
Virginia to convince citizens "to doubt their government's ability to
protect them."

Warner promised also to combat drugs and the peer pressure exerted on youth
to experiment with them.

"I have no use whatsoever for those who violate well-known laws against
drugs," he said.

As a firm believer in the Second Amendment, Warner said he plans to wield
federal firearms laws against gun-toting offenders.

"Whenever someone uses a firearm in the commission of a crime, they have
endangered the constitutional rights of all of us," Warner told the crowd.

The afternoon ceremony packed two courtrooms with judicial, political and
military brass. U.S. District Chief Judge Charles H. Haden presided over
the swearing-in at the building's ceremonial courtroom, with the spillover
crowd watching via closed-circuit television two floors down.

Southern West Virginia federal judges, including its two on the 4th U.S.
Circuit Court of Appeals, attended the event. Several of Warner's
predecessors, including Rebecca Betts and Mike Carey, were also on hand.

The array of Army colonels, majors and other officers included two of
Warner's brothers, a daughter and a brother-in-law. Several of Warner's
former superiors, including two generals and an admiral, also attended.

Haden introduced many of the dignitaries, including several state
Republican Party officials and stalwarts. As an appointee of President
Bush, Warner was backed by attendees James "Buck" Harless, White House aide
John McCutcheon and state GOP Chairman David Tyson.

One of Warner's civilian brothers, GOP executive committee Vice Chairman
Kris Warner, and their father, former legislator George "Brud" Warner, were
also considered influential in securing the appointment. Haden pointed out
their attendance as well.

Judge John T. Copenhaver Jr. administered the oath to Warner. As U.S.
Attorney, Warner is the top Justice Department official for the state's
southern federal court district. His office handles both criminal and civil
cases, and works with a wide array of law enforcement and regulatory agencies.

A 1974 West Point grad, Warner attended high school in Charleston but has
spent his military career out-of-state or abroad.

After law school at West Virginia University, Warner served with the Joint
Chiefs of Staff in Washington, D.C. His last post, with U.S. Special
Operations Command in Tampa, Fla., involved the elite and commando-type
units of three of the nation's four military branches. Some of those
special forces are now deployed in Afghanistan and elsewhere as part of
Operation Enduring Freedom.