    [Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States: William J. Clinton (1993, Book I)]
    [April 28, 1993]
    [Pages 527-530]
    [From the U.S. Government Publishing Office www.gpo.gov]

    Remarks Announcing the Appointment of the Director of the Office of
    National Drug Control Policy and an Exchange With Reporters
    April 28, 1993

        The President. Thank you very much, ladies and gentlemen. Please be
    seated. I want to thank the members of the Cabinet who are here and the
    Members of the Congress who are here and express my apologies for the
    Attorney General who is with the Congress. And that's why some of them
    and why she is not here.
        I want to thank the representatives of law enforcement, people who
    are involved in drug treatment and drug education, and other citizens
    who are here with us today, as well as those who have been working in
    the office of drug policy who are here.
        It is a great pleasure and honor for me today to announce the
    appointment of Lee Brown, the first police officer ever to hold the job
    of Director of the Office of National Drug Control Policy.
        A few weeks ago I elevated this office to Cabinet-level status
    because I believe drug abuse is as serious a problem as we have in
    America and because I believe that this office cannot work effectively
    on its own, no matter how many people it might have. The real ability of
    this office to make a difference in the lives of the American people is
    the ability to work with all the Departments of the National Government
    and with others who care about this issue to maximize our resources, to
    focus our efforts, and to make sure we're all working together. Lee
    Brown shares that view, and I am proud that he has agreed to join us in
    this administration.
        As Americans who care about our future, we can't let drugs and drug-
    related crimes continue to ruin communities, threaten our children even
    in schools, and fill up our prisons with wrecked and wasted lives. We
    have to do a better job of preventing drug use and treating those who
    seek treatment, and we must do more to protect law-abiding citizens from
    those who victimize them in the pursuit of drugs or profits from drugs.
    I'm committed to winning this struggle, as all Americans are, and I'm
    convinced that there is no better American to lead this effort than Lee
    Brown. He's been the chief law enforcement officer in Atlanta, in
    Houston, and New York. He's a policeman with a Ph.D. in

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    criminology who brings to this tough job a truly extraordinary record of
    innovation in crime reduction and a sensitivity to the problems of real
    people who want to walk home safe at night and who want to be free of
    the problems that we're trying to combat.
        To reduce drug use and drug-related crimes we have to do many things
    at the same time. It has to start with community policing, with more
    police at the local level working with our neighbors and the children
    and the friends to prevent crime and to quickly punish criminals. There
    must be better education and prevention efforts starting at the earliest
    ages. These work; I know that. And there must be treatment for those who
    want to get better.
        Dr. Brown knows a little something about community policing. It's
    nearly his invention. He turned the Houston police force into a model of
    community policing. And for many serious crimes, the crime rate there
    dropped. In New York he added thousands of officers to foot patrols; men
    and women whom he empowered to solve problems, not with the Federal
    program but with a commitment to a better life in a particular
    neighborhood. And reports of serious crime fell where that was done in
    New York. He's had the vision to seek conditions clearly and the courage
    to change what doesn't work. Most importantly, he gets results. And this
    is exactly what we need in the war against drugs.
        I pledge to him and to the American people an exceptionally focused
    and carefully executed antidrug effort from the National Government. At
    the heart of our efforts will be more funds for local police officers,
    more for treatment and more for prevention. We will continue to work
    with other nations who have shown the political will to fight illegal
    drugs. They will continue to get our full support and our cooperation.
        But it's time we turned our attention home and built a strategy to
    make the neighborhoods of America safer and more drug-free. We want to
    close the gap between those who want treatment and available treatment.
    Treating addiction is good urban policy and good anticrime policy and
    good health policy. We ask for a 10-percent increase in treatment funds
    for 1994. And we'll make drug treatment an important part of the
    national health care plan that will be presented to the Congress and the
    American people. Our goal is to work toward treatment on demand.
        I believe the parents of America want and deserve more help in
    educating their children about drugs. We can prevent drug abuse. School
    programs work. Public service programs work. But they aren't miracles.
    They require a commitment and a consistency year in and year out. We've
    asked for a 16-percent increase in drug prevention funding.
        Finally, we're determined to put more police officers on the street
    and to expand community policing. It's a local program, old-fashioned
    law enforcement, but it works. It means less crime. I think it's time to
    go back to the basics. I asked the Congress to approve $200 million in
    the jobs stimulus package for community policing. And I proposed almost
    $600 million in policing and other initiatives similar to that in 1994.
        The most basic responsibility of the Government is to protect the
    American people. It's our sacred duty to do our best. I believe we have
    a good program. It can be a great program if it can come alive in
    America in every community in this country. It's basic: more officers,
    more education, more treatment. And with the leadership of Lee Brown it
    promises to be effective.
        I look forward to working with him and with the other members of our
    Cabinet, administration to meet and to master the challenges ahead.

    [At this point, Dr. Brown expressed his appreciation to the President
    and his commitment to develop a national drug control strategy.]

    Drug Control Policy Director

        Q. Mr. President, you talked about the need to give resources to
    education and treatment from some of the law enforcement efforts. Why
    then did you pick someone with a background in law enforcement?
        The President. Because I don't think it's an either-or thing. I
    think having the right kind of community-based education and treatment
    programs, if they work, also requires having the right kind of community
    law enforcement strategy. One of the things that I have learned in the
    many years I served as attorney general and Governor, and talking to
    other people who have been involved in that, is that if you do it right,
    all these things go hand in hand.
        I wish the Attorney General were here today to talk about the drug
    courts she started in Miami, and what the relationship of law
    enforcement there is to integrating a treatment and education program.

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        That's why I wanted someone who had a background in law enforcement
    and credibility on that issue, but who believed in innovation and
    education and treatment to do this job. I wanted someone who could put
    together a policy that makes sense. If you try to pick one or the other,
    you're never going to get the job done.
        Wolf [Wolf Blitzer, CNN News]?

    Bosnia

        Q. Mr. President, you met last night with a bipartisan group of
    congressional leaders on the situation in Bosnia. And by all accounts,
    they seem to have given you some conflicting advice. Many of them appear
    to be more moved by the lessons of Vietnam than they are by the
    Holocaust. Did you emerge from that session more confused about what the
    United States should do as far as the situation in Bosnia is concerned?
        The President. No, I didn't. I still believe the United States has
    to strengthen its response. But the meeting was helpful because of the
    practical issues which were raised and the specific suggestions I got
    from people, many of whom have different views. But some who were there
    last night are here today; they can make their own comments. But I think
    it was a very helpful meeting and there were a lot of very specific
    things that came out of that, and that I think will come out of our
    consultations over the next couple of days.
        Andrea [Andrea Mitchell, NBC News]?
        Q. Do you feel that you can continue, though, to consider military
    options now that so many Members of Congress have strongly expressed
    their objections? Would you proceed if you felt it was still the right
    thing to do and if you had allied support?
        The President. Well, I will decide what I think the right thing to
    do is, and then see if I can persuade the Congress and the allies to go
    along. Right now, what I want to do is to hear what they think the right
    thing to do is, and the people with whom I consulted last night were
    good enough to tell me. And we agreed that they would set in motion a
    process to go back to their committees and try to solicit some more
    views.
        Q. Mr. President, is it accurate----

    Drug Control Policy

        Q. [Inaudible]--plan to continue with the policy of hot pursuit like
    in the Machain case, or how are you going to deal with cases like that?
    Are you going to come to other countries and kidnap or bring to justice
    in this country a person suspected of a crime in a drug situation, like
    in the Machain case? How are you going to deal with that situation?
        The President. I'm not sure I heard you--the plane flew over. But
    you asked about the abduction out of Mexico? Is that what you asked
    about?
        Q. That's right--if you are going to continue with that type of
    policy.
        The President. I think I've made my position clear on that. I think
    the present ruling of law is too broad there. I don't believe that the
    United States should be involved in that unless there is a clear and
    deliberate attempt by a government in another country to undermine
    extradition or undermine the enforcement of its own laws and our laws on
    that. So that's been my position for months and months; I haven't
    changed that.
        Q. Mr. President, do you expect to get bipartisan support from
    Congress for the money you're going to need? The two predecessors of Mr.
    Brown accomplished certain things, but not much. How will you make sure
    that Mr. Brown has the money to accomplish----
        The President. Well, I think there will be bipartisan support. Keep
    in mind this is partly a money problem and partly a resource problem.
    We're going to try to do some different things and attract people who
    have thought about this issue. I don't think this is a Republican or a
    Democratic issue. There's hardly a family in America that hasn't been
    touched directly or indirectly by this problem. So I feel very hopeful
    about it.
        Q. [Inaudible]--in the budget, sir?
        The President. Well, we recommended more funds in the budget, and
    it's very critical to the whole health reform area. I mean, a big part
    of our strategy in this is embodied in the proposals we'll make on
    health care to deal with the whole treatment issue.
        Helen [Helen Thomas, United Press International]?

    Bosnia

        Q. When do you think you will have a decision? Do you have Yeltsin
    on board now to do more? And do you think the American people will
    support a military--[inaudible]--use of

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    military force?
        The President. Well, you asked me three questions. I think there
    will be a decision soon. We are working very hard on it. There are a lot
    of very practical questions that have to be asked and answered. As you
    know, it is a very difficult matter.
        I believe that when we do make a decision, we will be, as we have
    been all along, consulting with our allies in the United Nations. And I
    think there is a fair chance that we'll be able to get the U.N. to go
    along with what we decide to do if we have some consultations as we go
    along; as we have.
        I think President Yeltsin--I don't know what he will say. It depends
    in part, obviously, on what we recommend. But I'll tell you this: I've
    been very pleased by the positions that he has taken both publicly and
    privately recently. And even in the midst of his own election, when it
    might have hurt him politically, Russia did not veto our attempts to get
    much tougher sanctions. And I think he's been pretty clear since the
    election that he's not at all happy about the continuation of Serbian
    aggression and the refusal to negotiate in good faith and try to settle
    this war and stop the ethnic cleansing. So I feel pretty good about
    that.
        Q. Mr. President, how are you going to tell the American people----

    Drug Control Policy

        Q. Mr. President, a former drug czar, Bill Bennett, said today that
    you have gutted the Office by cutting it down, cutting the personnel.
    How do you answer that?
        The President. Well, my answer to that--maybe I should refer you to
    Congressman Rangel. I spoke with him when we were trying to figure out
    what to do about this budget. And what I perceived happened in that
    office before is that it was a large office that operated basically
    separate from the rest of the Government. It has no legal authority to
    compel the behavior of any law enforcement officials, and it obviously
    has no legal authority over all the State and local people and the
    nonprofit people who are involved in drug education and treatment. So
    the real issue is whether it has the mechanisms necessary to pull all
    the levers in the Federal Government and pull people together.
        And I think by putting the Office in the Cabinet, by coordinating
    all of our national policies throughout the Federal Government, and by
    having a staff that can support that function, it's much more likely
    that we're going to be effective.
        And I also would tell you that I believe in rhetoric in the war
    against drugs. I know that works. I think the education programs work,
    the prevention programs work, but it needs to be more than rhetoric. And
    I think it will also be perceived that I have appointed the most
    experienced person with the best record and the least political person
    who ever held this job. And I think that will count for something, too,
    with the Republicans and the Democrats.

    Take Our Daughters to Work Day

        Q. Where's Chelsea?
        The President. Well, we discussed it this morning and she said,
    ``You know, it's easier for me; you work where you live. I know what
    it's like.'' She said, ``I missed a lot of school last month, so I'm
    going to school.''
        Q. Would she have gone to work with you or Hillary?
        The President. Actually, she thought it was just for mothers to take
    their daughters. I said, ``No, no, fathers can, too.'' She said, ``Well,
    you both work where you live. I'm going to school.'' But she's spent
    some time with us over here.

    Health Care Reform

        Q. Have you firmly decided not to delay health care because it might
    risk your budget proposal, sir?
        The President. I think what we're talking about is not a risk.
        Thank you very much.

    Note: The President spoke at 12:30 p.m. in the Rose Garden at the White
    House. A biography of the nominee was made available by the Office of
    the Press Secretary. A portion of the exchange could not be verified
    because the tape was incomplete.