WASHINGTON INSIGHT

SAVE MY EMULSIFIED RHINO TUSKS: The No. 1 issue in Washington now, at least as measured by congressional mail, is not crime or health care, it’s dietary supplements. Things like shark cartilage, sea cucumbers and vitamins. On Dec. 15, food supplements came under the control of the Food and Drug Administration, and the FDA plans to treat the supplements like food and drugs: Any claims on the labels will have to be supported by “significant scientific agreement.” . . . In terror, the $3-billion food supplement industry has launched a retaliatory public relations assault, claiming the rules will kill the industry. “Kiss your supplements goodby,” one brochure says. It’s also backing a bill by Sen. Orrin G. Hatch (R-Utah) that would scuttle the FDA rules. . . . The campaign makes heavy use of Hollywood stars describing how various concoctions saved their lives and artistic spark. That approach seems to work; Sen. Barbara Boxer (D-Calif.) co-signed Hatch’s bill, Senate aides admit, after getting a personal letter from Cher. . . . “It’s nuts that the biggest issue here is emulsified rhinoceros tusks,” said one Senate aide. “Most members of Congress don’t know the details. They only know they have gotten like 6,000 letters.” Hatch’s bill suddenly has 50 Senate co-sponsors.

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BOTTLENECK: As the new year approaches, several thousand senior federal civil servants are eyeing the exits and hoping to collect extra cash on the way out. Three years ago, a congressional pay raise automatically boosted the wage ceiling for top government bureaucrats. . . . Because federal pensions are indexed to a person’s last three years’ pay, many of those federal workers also decided to defer retiring until early next year to take full advantage of the increase. And now many are waiting a few months longer, expecting Congress to offer buyouts to federal workers as part of President Clinton’s plan to reduce the government work force by 250,000 people. . . . The delay has created a serious bottleneck, particularly in the State Department, where hundreds of foreign service veterans are vying for a handful of top jobs. Many have spent much of the last year doing nothing: “hall walkers” in State Department parlance.

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A LAST CUT: One of the earliest news stories of 1994 may be the long-awaited final report of independent counsel Lawrence E. Walsh on the Iran-Contra scandal. Though the document was completed in August, a panel of three federal appellate judges has entertained objections to parts of it by defense lawyers representing some key figures in the affair. . . . The judges--the same panel that appointed Walsh seven years ago--reportedly are considering deleting some parts before sending it to government printers. The report is expected to sharply criticize former Presidents Ronald Reagan and George Bush, who was Reagan’s vice president at the time of the secret U.S. arms sales to Iran and the diversion of the proceeds to the Nicaraguan Contras.

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WHITE HOUSE CHRISTMAS: White House officials estimate that during the three weeks from early December through Christmas, the President and First Lady Hillary Rodham Clinton shook hands with 100,000 White House visitors. Many were supporters from across the country, Washington-area children, White House press and staff who were favored at more than a dozen receptions. . . . All got a photo taken during their 11 seconds with the First Family. It works out to about 5,000 hands per day. Though Clinton survived with the help of Secret Service instructions on low-pressure handshakes, the President has been noticeably hoarse and red-eyed as a result of his seasonal allergy to evergreen wreaths and other holiday cheer.