Pubdate: Mon, 27 Mar 2000
Source: Washington Post (DC)
Copyright: 2000 The Washington Post Company
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Author: Eric Pianin, Washington Post Staff Writer

DRUG WAR FUNDING FACES DELAY

The Clinton administration's drive for emergency funds to combat Colombia
drug traffickers and to cover military costs in Kosovo was apparently
thwarted yesterday, after House Speaker J. Dennis Hastert (R-Ill.) said he
agreed with Senate leaders that a final decision on such financing should
be put off until later this year.

The House Appropriations Committee recently approved a $9 billion package
of emergency spending, including about $3.8 billion more than Clinton
requested. Senate Majority Leader Trent Lott (R-Miss.) has complained
repeatedly that the package is "bloated" and that Congress should consider
the funding requests as part of next year's regular appropriations bills.

Hastert and the White House until now have argued for swift action on
Colombian aid, to help reduce the flow of illegal drugs to this country.
But on "Fox News Sunday" yesterday, the speaker acknowledged, "We may have
to break it up and move it into the regular order."

"If it becomes the fact that the supplemental [package] weighs us down and
slows us down so that we can't get our work done, then we have to change
our tactics," he said.

The administration yesterday voiced concern over Hastert's change of heart
and said it still was not too late to pass the emergency spending measure
this spring.

"Our view is that it's important that this move now because the needs are
critical," said Linda Ricci, an administration spokeswoman.

Hastert also said that House Republicans likely would support a Senate GOP
plan to address soaring gasoline prices by cutting the federal gas tax by
4.3 cents a gallon--and suspending the entire 18.4 cent gas tax if gasoline
prices hit $2 per gallon. While Senate leaders insist that a reduction in
the gasoline tax would help mitigate some of the economic burden of soaring
gas prices, House leaders until now have opposed that approach, arguing
that it would do little to affect prices at the pump.

"I think if the Senate moves that forward, that is something that could
happen," Hastert said. "I think we will support it. But the problem is,
that doesn't solve the problem."

Last week, the House passed a largely symbolic measure critical of the
administration's energy policies and urging aggressive action against oil
producing countries if the administration determines there was collusion to
fix prices.

White House chief economics adviser Gene Sperling said he was troubled by
Hastert's "flip-flopping" and said the House could better spend its time
reauthorizing the president's use of the strategic petroleum reserve to
respond to energy crises.

The Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries is meeting this week in
Vienna to consider whether to increase oil production by as much as 2.5
million barrels a day, which U.S. officials believe would stabilize or
reduce skyrocketing oil prices.

Lott, on NBC's "Meet the Press," sought to assure House Transportation
Committee Chairman Bud Shuster (R-Pa.) and other GOP leaders that a
gasoline tax cut would not jeopardize the trust fund that finances highway
and bridge construction. Lott said Congress would use part of the
non-Social Security surplus to replace revenue lost by a cut in the tax.

The controversy over the $9 billion emergency spending bill threatens the
leadership's goal of finishing work well before the fall elections. Hastert
had championed the spending, in the face of criticism from Republican
conservatives, arguing that anti-drug efforts should be a GOP priority.

There are "14,000 people a year that die either because of drugs or drug
violence on our streets," he said yesterday. "We need to do everything we
can to stop and to stanch that flow of drugs that come in across our
borders into this country. And if we can help the Colombians help us, I
think we ought to do that."

The bill approved two weeks ago would use part of this year's surplus to
provide $1.7 billion to help Colombia and its South American neighbors step
up their anti-drug efforts. It also includes $2 billion to cover the costs
of U.S. forces in Kosovo, $1.6 billion to meet the Pentagon's soaring fuel
costs, $2.2 billion to assist communities and farms ravaged by last fall's
Hurricane Floyd and $600 million to replenish funds for emergency heating
and cooling assistance to low-income households.

Hastert said the House may still pass the emergency bill this week,
expecting it to be put on indefinite hold in the Senate.

Hastert also continued his ongoing feud with House Minority Leader Richard
A. Gephardt (D-Mo.), charging him with obstructionist tactics that have
undermined trust between the two parties. "He wants to see the Congress do
as little as possible so that he can label us ... a 'do-nothing Congress,'
" Hastert said.

Laura Nichols, a spokesman for Gephardt, replied that "trust is a two-way
street" and that Hastert "has done very little to try to foster a
relationship of trust" with Gephardt and the Democrats.
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