Attorneys General Ask Bush for More Money to Fight Drugs

President Bush claimed progress Monday in the war on drugs and asked a group of state attorneys general for suggestions on how to do better. Some suggested that he send more money.

Bush agreed that there is a need for additional federal support but blamed Congress for dragging its feet on his anti-crime and anti-drug efforts.

“We’ve gotten some of what we’ve asked for--new agents, new prosecutors, new prison space. . . . But I must confess to a certain frustration,” he said.

He told the National Assn. of Attorneys General that it is important to recognize “that this problem is national and that nobody’s going to make it by dealing just at the federal level.”

“I would ask your support, this much horsepower in town, to work . . . with us on getting this crime package through,” Bush said to the attorneys general from 37 states.

Bush said he sensed “a certain turning around, at least in terms of public opinion,” on the issue of drugs, mentioning that anti-drug messages are being worked into some Saturday morning cartoon shows.

Pennsylvania Atty. Gen. Ernest D. Preate Jr. told reporters that the money earmarked to help the states is not enough.