Counterpunching Bob Dole's claim that he's soft on drugs, President Clinton says Congress will stymie the war on narcotics unless it quickly provides all the money "to get the job done."
In a letter to House Speaker Newt Gingrich, the president said House action to date falls more than $640 million short of paying for his anti-drug priorities, and he urged action before Congress recesses."In particular, the House once again is attempting to cut my request for the Safe and Drug Free School program, the only federal program fully dedicated to helping schools combat alcohol and drug use, as well as violent behavior," Clinton said in the letter dated Saturday.
The president recalled he vetoed legislation last year because it cut that program by 50 percent. "We should not slash funding for a program that gives parents the security that their children are receiving the same anti-drug message in school that they receive at home," he said.
Gingrich spokesman Tony Blankley strongly criticized the president for "making demands on a Saturday afternoon of the Republican Party" when many members of Congress, including Gingrich, were out of town.
"It is impertinence," Blankley said Sunday in an interview. He added that most of Clinton's anti-crime and drug programs that aren't fully funded are "designed to strengthen government rather than to fight the problems."
Overall, Clinton said that while the $15.3 billion he requested for the 1997 fiscal year represents the largest anti-drug budget ever, House action so far on 1997 appropriations bills has fallen short by $640 million.
GOP presidential nominee Dole contends Clinton is not serious about fighting illegal drug use. Republicans have latched onto the issue ever since the release of statistics showing the use of marijuana, LSD and cocaine more than doubled since 1992 among young people aged 12 to 17.
"They have absolutely dropped the ball with regard to stopping drugs in this country," Dole running mate Jack Kemp said Saturday in Atlanta.
But White House chief of staff Leon Panetta contends that despite the upswing of young people using drugs, overall drug use has declined since Clinton took office. "We are making gains . . . This ought not to be a partisan issue," Panetta said Sunday on CNN's "Late Edition."