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Drug Agency Nominee Talks Tough Enforcement
Pubdate: Tue, 17 Jul 2001
Source: USA Today (US)
Copyright: 2001 USA TODAY, a division of Gannett Co. Inc
Contact: http://www.usatoday.com/news/nfront.htm
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/466
Author: Donna Leinwand, USA Today
DRUG AGENCY NOMINEE TALKS TOUGH ENFORCEMENT
Hutchinson Says Addicts Forced By A Court To Enter A Treatment Program Fare
Better Than Those Who Enter Voluntarily
Rep. Asa Hutchinson, a former federal prosecutor who's known as a "drug
warrior," is expected to win approval from the Senate Judiciary Committee
Tuesday as President Bush's nominee to head the Drug Enforcement
Administration.
Hutchinson, a conservative Republican from Arkansas who helped prosecute
President Clinton in the 1999 impeachment trial and sent Clinton's
half-brother Roger to prison in 1984 on cocaine charges, promises
aggressive and fair enforcement of drug laws.
If confirmed by the full Senate, he says he would run an agency that would
not use racial profiling, would seek long prison sentences for traffickers,
and would push for more money for air patrols over Latin American and
Caribbean drug-running routes.
Although a tough talker when it comes to enforcement, Hutchinson says he
supports education and treatment efforts to reduce demand in the USA for
illegal drugs.
Hutchinson will testify before the committee today. Although he is expected
to face some tough questioning, he is not expected to face serious opposition.
All but two of the 16 Democrats on the House Judiciary Committee, on which
Hutchinson serves, have signed a letter supporting his confirmation.
John Conyers, D-Mich., the ranking member of the House committee, will join
Hutchinson's brother, Tim, a Republican senator from Arkansas, in
testifying in his support.
"I think probably a lot of Asa's fervor on this issue developed from his
life experiences," his brother says. "We had a nephew who committed suicide
under the influence of drugs. Most families have been hit in some way by
drugs at some time."
Senate Judiciary Chairman Patrick Leahy, D-Vt., is likely to ask Hutchinson
if he will support redirecting U.S. drug policy from emphasizing law
enforcement to focusing on treatment and prevention. Leahy and the
committee's ranking Republican, Orrin Hatch of Utah, have introduced a bill
that would provide grants to establish drug-treatment alternatives to prison.
Hutchinson has taken a hard line on drug users. He says addicts who are
arrested and ordered to enter a treatment program by a court fare better
than those who enter treatment voluntarily.
More drug courts are needed "where the prison sentence is hanging over a
person's head -- an addict's head or a user's head," Hutchinson said a year
ago during an appearance on CNN's Crossfire. "Many of the addicts testify
that what made them confront their drug use was a police officer arresting
them."
As a congressman, Hutchinson sponsored legislation last year to spend more
money to shut down and clean up methamphetamine labs that had set up shop
throughout Arkansas, the Midwest and Texas. He voted last year to increase
the penalties for possessing so-called club drugs, including Ecstasy and
the "date-rape drug" GHB, gamma hydroxybutyrate. And he supported President
Clinton's $1.3 billion "Plan Colombia," an aid package that helped arm
Colombia's military to fight traffickers and to eradicate drug crops.
The Asa Hutchinson File
Age: 50; born Dec. 3, 1950, in Bentonville, Ark.
Education: B.S., Bob Jones University, 1972; J.D., University of Arkansas
School of Law, 1975.
Career: Bentonville, Ark., city attorney, 1977-78; U.S. Attorney, 1982-85;
private practice attorney with Karr & Hutchinson in Fort Smith, Ark.; first
elected to Congress in 1996. Served as a House manager during the
impeachment trial of President Clinton.
Family: Married to Susan Burrell Hutchinson. They have four children: Asa
III, Sarah, John, and Seth; and one grandchild, Asa IV. Brother is Sen. Tim
Hutchinson, R-Ark.
Key issues: Privacy protection, prohibitions on racial profiling, legal
assistance for victims of domestic violence; cleaning up illegal
methamphetamine labs.
Source: USA Today Research
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