House Rejects Extra $2.6 Billion to Fight Drugs

Resisting the political appeal of an election-year war on drugs, the House on Wednesday vowed to stick by the spending limits set in a White House-Congress agreement on the budget last fall and spurned a Senate plan to allocate an extra $2.6 billion to expand anti-drug efforts.

The 412-0 vote against the proposed breach in the ceiling on domestic spending represented a dramatic rebuff for the Senate in the debate over a congressional budget for the year starting Oct. 1. The action left little chance that the extra funding will survive.

The House, although voting to continue a “high priority” for enforcing drug laws, said it must be achieved within the spending and revenue limits adopted last November to end the bitter, partisan struggle with President Reagan over budget priorities.

Senate Approved $2.6 Billion

The Senate voted, 93 to 0, last week to approve an additional $2.6 billion for drug enforcement on the condition that additional revenue be raised to prevent any rise in the estimated $136-billion deficit.

Proponents argued that the additional funds would not break the agreement with the Administration because a presidential declaration of a national narcotics abuse emergency would be required and the program would be financed by tightened enforcement of tax laws and collection of debts owed to the government.

The House, however, directed its negotiators not to accept the election-year package in the Senate-House conference to reconcile differences in their budget resolutions.

“Of course, it would be easier and more dramatic to follow the course of the other body and raise spending and taxes for the war on drugs without impinging on all the other competing priorities,” said Rep. William M. Thomas (R-Bakersfield) in proposing the House action. “But such a course violates the spirit of the summit agreement” with the White House.

Question of Future Actions

He said: “If we agree to bust the summit now, how will we be able to refuse other worthy and appealing causes later on?”

The House told its negotiators to keep total domestic spending within the agreed spending cap of $169 billion.

Wednesday’s vote represented the first shot in what could be a long war between the Senate and House on a spending blueprint. In addition to the Senate’s action on the anti-drug package, there are several major differences between the Senate and House budget resolutions. Congressional leaders hope, however, to get a compromise agreement approved by Congress by the middle of next month in view of the strong bipartisan backing for the basic outlines of a new spending blueprint.