Pubdate: Thu, 18 Mar 1999
Source: Associated Press
Copyright: 1999 Associated Press
Author: Laurie Kellman  

SENATE GOP UVEILS CRIME AGENDA

WASHINGTON (AP)   Senate Republicans are unveiling an anti-crime
agenda that would protect programs the Clinton administration wants to
eliminate and impose  harsher sentences on illegal drug users.

Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Orrin Hatch, R-Utah, clashed with
Attorney General Janet Reno last week on her proposal to cut several
anti-crime grants from her budget. Reno said crime was down
significantly nationwide, and she wanted to shift money to other
priorities that need boosting.

Among the programs she proposes cutting, which Hatch vows to
protect:

A grant used for equipment and technology for state and local law
enforcement crime-fighting.

Federal assistance to states for prison-building and incarceration of
violent and repeat offenders for at least 85 percent of their sentences.

Juvenile crime block grants for youth detention centers, drug testing
and  improved record-keeping.

Hatch and other Republican senators also are proposing increasing
penalties for the most serious drugs, including powder cocaine and
methamphetamines.

The GOP senators also are calling for the ratification of a
constitutional amendment that would improve restitution laws and steer
federal money toward efforts to fight violence against women and children.

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