[Congressional Record Volume 142, Number 29 (Wednesday, March 6, 1996)]
[Senate]
[Pages S1595-S1596]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




 GEN. BARRY McCAFFREY, DIRECTOR OF THE OFFICE OF NATIONAL DRUG CONTROL 
                                 POLICY

  Mr. WARNER. Mr. President, in today's Washington Post there is a 
remarkable article. I commend all to read it. It is about the 
President's appointment of Gen. Barry McCaffrey, a four-star general, 
to the position of drug czar. It has been my privilege to know this 
fine American for some many years. I recall on one occasion, together 
with other colleagues in this body--it may well have been the 
distinguished whip was on that trip, the Senator from Kentucky, when we 
visited the gulf region. We visited a number of the U.S. commanders who 
had taken an active participation in the war in the gulf. General 
McCaffrey was the general who spearheaded the tank column which crushed 
Saddam Hussein's armor.
  From that experience and many other chapters of complete heroism as a 
soldier, he now takes on another assignment and immediately goes into

[[Page S1596]]

battle, this time a battle to counter the threat of illegal drugs and 
drug abuse to this Nation. It is a threat as serious as any that has 
ever faced this Nation in our history from any foreign military power 
or terrorist organization. I congratulate the President of the United 
States. Indeed, he had awesome powers of persuasion, to get this 
American to step aside, to promptly retire as a four-star officer, a 
man who may well have been destined to become Chief of Staff of the 
U.S. Army. He will take on a new challenge and enter another battle in 
a life which, although this man is quiet and humble, is filled with 
heroism.
  But General McCaffrey's appointment is timely, Mr. President. As 
today's Washington Post article opens up--and I will quote the article 
and I ask unanimous consent that it be printed in full at the end of my 
statement.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.
  (See exhibit 1.)
  Mr. WARNER [reading]: ``By moving full circle in this election year, 
President Clinton plans an ambitious upgrading of the White House drug 
control policy office three years after virtually wiping out that 
office in order to fulfill a campaign pledge to reduce White House 
staff.''
  How tragic, Mr. President. Just look what happened statistically 
since the Clinton administration has been in office.
  The statistics over the past 2\1/2\ years are astonishing and 
alarming. The number of 12- to 17-year-olds using marijuana in the 
United States increased from 1.6 million in 1992 to 2.9 million in 
1994.
  The category of recent marijuana use increased a staggering 200 
percent among the 14- to 15-year-olds in this same period of time.
  Since 1992 there has been a 52-percent jump in the number of high 
school seniors using drugs on a monthly basis.
  I spoke with a group of parents the other day. The principal theme of 
our meeting was education. Yes, we talked extensively about education, 
but in the course of an exchange between myself and this group they 
quickly turned to the threat that drug abuse poses to their children's 
safety. We all know that safety in the educational environment equates 
with the quality of education that these children hope to receive. We 
also know that a portion of the violence that occurs in our schools is 
related to illegal drugs and their sales and distribution.
  One in three high school seniors now smoke marijuana. The American 
people recognize the problems with drug abuse. A December 1995 Gallup 
Poll shows that 94 percent of Americans feel illegal drug abuse is 
either a crisis, or a very serious problem.
  So, Mr. President, I am glad the President of the United States has 
responded. He has gone to general quarters, as well he should. He is 
providing General McCaffrey considerable support, and I am glad General 
McCaffrey's conditions are being met.
  Just look at the record. The Clinton administration has virtually 
wiped out the Drug Control Policy office reducing the staff from 146 in 
1993 to just 25 as of today. This decision to staff up, made in 
conjunction with the appointment of General McCaffrey, comes at a time 
when numerous articles and television programs about the terrible 
increase in substance abuse are appearing throughout our country.
  Mr. President, thank you for getting the message from the American 
people.
  I pledge to this fine general and his staff my full cooperation so 
long as I am privileged to be a Member of the U.S. Senate. I daresay my 
colleagues likewise will support him.
  I yield the floor. I thank the Chair.

                               Exhibit 1

                               About-Face

                            (By Ann Devroy)

       Moving full circle in this election year, President Clinton 
     plans an ambitious upgrading of the White House drug control 
     policy office three years after virtually wiping out that 
     office in order to fulfill a campaign pledge to reduce White 
     House staff.
       According to requests submitted yesterday to Congress and 
     sources at the White House, the president is seeking to 
     increase drug policy staffing from 40 to 150 slots, reversing 
     steps he took in 1993 to reduce the office from 146 workers 
     to 25.
       In addition, the White House has agreed to requests by its 
     new drug policy chief, retired Gen. Barry R. McCaffrey, to 
     move the operation from a relatively distant office near the 
     New Executive Office Building back into the Old Executive 
     Office Building, where it was located under its first and 
     most high-profile director, William J. Bennett. McCaffrey, 
     also at his request, will be a given a slot on the National 
     Security Council, a new power perk, and the job will continue 
     to hold Cabinet rank.
       One White House official explained the reversal this way: 
     ``The general wants some troops to command, and Clinton 
     wanted the general.'' But White House aide Rahm Emanuel, who 
     handled the upgrading of the operation, said the new staffing 
     levels and access for McCaffrey signal Clinton's confidence 
     in the former head of the military's Southern Command and his 
     commitment to an expanded fight against drugs.
       ``This is what he needs to get the president's policy 
     implemented,'' Emanuel said. ``It is what the president 
     believes will help us improve on our record.''
       While the new staff and spending are likely to consign 
     Clinton's staff-cut efforts to history, it will help him with 
     what may be a more potent political issue: his commitment to 
     drug control at a time when drug use among young people has 
     risen every year he has been in office.
       Clinton yesterday sent to Congress a request for $3.4 
     million in supplemental spending for the Office of National 
     Drug Control Policy. That request will pay for 80 new jobs, 
     according to the White House submission. In addition, 
     McCaffrey has gotten White House approval to take 30 
     ``detailees'' from the Pentagon to his new operation. 
     Detailees are paid by their home agencies, so their cost is 
     not reflected in the White House budget.
       The White House also has given McCaffrey the go-ahead to 
     formulate a plan for spending an additional $250 million this 
     year on the anti-drug effort, much of it reprogrammed 
     Pentagon funds.
       In all, the new Clinton drug policy office will have 
     funding for 150 employees, four more than its high point 
     in the Bush administration. It was these workers that 
     Clinton turned to in large measure when he had to make the 
     cuts in White House operations to meet his campaign pledge 
     to shave the staff by 25 percent.
       Despite significant misgivings from his own staff and many 
     outsiders, Clinton argued during the campaign that the White 
     House should operate with 25 percent fewer workers than in 
     the Bush era. The pledge was meant to symbolize the 
     president's commitment to make sacrifices himself before he 
     asked other parts of government and the American people to 
     sacrifice in the name of deficit reduction and more efficient 
     government.
       On taking office, the Clinton team used some creative 
     accounting to readjust the baseline of what is normally 
     considered White House staff so that fewer cuts would produce 
     the 25 percent goal. But they still had to cut 350 slots from 
     a total of 1,394, and the drug office took by far the biggest 
     hit. White House officials argued that other parts of the 
     government, including the Pentagon and the State Department, 
     could pick up the slack.
       White House officials now say they will try to keep the 
     staff level down for the full year to meet the 25 percent 
     reduction, even with the rush of new workers.
       And they reject any link between the election year and 
     staffing up anti-drug efforts.
       ``Our policy has been strong throughout. The president has 
     emphasized anti-drug efforts throughout his administration. 
     It has been an important priority,'' Barry Toiv, a deputy to 
     White House Chief of Staff Leon E. Panetta, said yesterday. 
     ``The president obviously has tremendous respect for General 
     McCaffrey's ability, and the general feels that with 
     additional resources he can do an even better job. The 
     president wants him to have those resources.''

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