Dole Assails Clinton Record On Narcotics

WASHINGTON (AllPolitics, March 29) -- Sen. Robert Dole (R-Kan.), the presumptive GOP presidential nominee, announced a new Republican drug-fighting strategy, and sharply criticized President Bill Clinton's record on the issue at a news conference Thursday.

"This administration has been AWOL -- absent without leave -- for the past three years," Dole said. Recent White House initiatives, including the appointment of former Army Gen. Barry McCaffrey as new drug czar, were praiseworthy, the Kansan acknowledged. But "two weeks of rhetoric don't come close to making up for three years of neglect," he charged (231K AIFF or WAV sound).

The White House fired back that GOP leaders "only ... find the time to talk and do anything on drugs is when it's politically convenient," presidential assistant Rahm Emanuel told the Associated Press. "When Senator Dole gave his response to the president's State of the Union address, he never once mentioned the word drugs."

Republicans say the Clinton administration's focus on treatment for hard-core users has come at the expense of interdiction efforts and is in part responsible for the increase in youth drug use. Their plan includes beefing up law enforcement, stiffer sentences, increased international commitment to fighting drugs and a crackdown on money-laundering.

"We have more convicted drug dealers in federal prison now than at any time in U.S. history," Justice Department spokesman Bert Brandenburg asserted. He defended the administration decision to go after "tougher cases, toughter guys, to dismantle the infrastructure of the trafficking orangizations." Other drug-policy analysts say that most efforts to stem the flow of drugs from outside the country have done little to reduce availability in the United States.

Clinton on Thursday signed an executive order, a "one-strike you're out" provision, to eject drug dealers from public housing. "This should send a clear signal to drug dealers and to gangs: If you break the law, you no longer have a home in public housing," Clinton said (215K AIFF or WAV sound) .

AllPolitics home page