Gore Says Elian Case Is a Distraction

Congress should focus on problems besetting middle-class Americans and the elderly instead of investigating the Clinton administration’s actions in the Elian Gonzalez case, Vice President Al Gore said Wednesday.

Gore delivered his implicit criticism of the Republican-controlled Congress during a news conference here as he said again that he disagrees with how the White House has handled the international child custody dispute.

The vice president has been dogged by criticism for his various comments on the case, including from congressional Democrats, particularly when he urged Congress to grant the child and several family members permanent residency status.

When asked specifically, Gore declined Wednesday to say if he believes that law enforcement officials had used excessive force in Saturday’s predawn raid at the Little Havana home of Elian’s Miami relatives, which led to the child’s reunion with his father.

“I don’t know the answer to that,” said the vice president. “I don’t know the legal questions the various [congressional] committees want to explore there.”

Then Gore added: “I personally think the Congress would be better off focusing on passing a prescription drug benefit for seniors and on passing a budget plan that keeps our prosperity going instead of threatening us with a flood of red ink,” the latter a reference to a large GOP-sought tax cut.

At the same time, however, the vice president declined to speculate on the motives of those calling for hearings. “I’m not going to make a blanket judgment.”

Gore was in East Hartford to visit a seniors’ day center, where he touted his proposal to add Medicare coverage for prescription drugs.

Asked about the Associated Press photograph taken during the raid, which showed a government agent seemingly confronting Elian and an adult, Gore said that he felt “a mixture of reactions” but added: “I don’t think you can reach an easy judgment about every detail of what the law enforcement officers . . . did.”

Asked further whether he believes that the Miami relatives should have access to Elian, Gore demurred, saying that such a question must be dictated by the child’s best interest--and that such an issue is best left to the family courts.

“I don’t pretend to have expertise on this.”

Gore added: “I said five months ago--days after this child’s rescue--that I thought it should have gone to a family court. . . . That’s been my position for five months. That’s my position now.