Rangel Responds

When I saw the column by Bill Buckley (“Say Anything at All, but Say It Emphatically and With Conviction,” Opinion, April 1) alleging I used phony treaties and made-up facts, I said to myself, “Gotcha again, Bill Buckley.” I would have thought after Buckley demanded of me that I cite the treaty as I proceeded to do in the debate that he would at least be professional enough to research whether the treaty ever existed before writing that it does not.

In fact, I stated on the program that there were several treaties the U.S. was a signatory to. On Nov. 21, 1989, the United States ratified the 1988 United Nations Convention Against Illicit Traffic in Narcotic and Psychotropic Substances. It was signed by 68 nations. This treaty is commonly referred to as the Vienna Convention, and I attended the U.N. sessions that resulted in this treaty. Other treaties include the Single Convention on Narcotic Drugs of 1961; the 1972 Amendments by Protocol to the Single Convention on Narcotic Drugs, and the 1971 Convention on Psychotropic Substances. It is too bad Bill Buckley did not do his homework, either prior to our debate or before writing a column trying to question my facts.

Rep. CHARLES B. RANGEL

New York

William Buckley replies:

Congressman Rangel is a consummate tease. He as much confessed to me, in the presence of others, that he had made up the treaty he had been challenged to name. I apologize for taking him seriously.