"DRUG TSAR" LEGISLATION: A PROPOSED ADMINISTRATION RESPONSE

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP85M00364R001903660005-5
• Release Decision: RIFPUB
• Original Classification: K
• Document Page Count: 2
• Document Creation Date: December 20, 2016
• Document Release Date: April 1, 2008
• Sequence Number: 5
• Publication Date: October 13, 1983
• Content Type: MEMO

:.. Office of the Deputy Attorney General
U.S. Department of Justice
'';T t 3 I9R~
MEMORANDUM TO: Craig Fuller
Assistant to the President for
Cabinet Affairs
FROM: Edward C. Schmults
RE; "Drug Tsar" Legislation: A Proposed
Administration Response
Deputy Attorney Genera
Background: For more than a year, there have been calls
in the Congress for creation of a "drug tsar" to oversee and
coordinate all federal drug enforcement efforts. We have
consistently resisted these proposals, first'on the Floor of
the Senate last year where a Biden "drug tsar" amendment to
the Violent Crime and Drug Enforcement Improvements Act was
accepted by a 2-1 margin despite Chairman Thurmond's efforts
on our behalf. During the "lame-duck" session of the 97th
Congress, the "drug tsar" proposal was attached to the "mini-
crime bill." As you will recall, the Biden bill would have
created a "super Cabinet-level" drug tsar with vague and
sweeping powers to "direct" departments and agencies to
carry out the policies he establishes including the power to
reach down into departments and agencies and reassign enforce-
ment personnel. The President disapproved it primarily
because of this "drug tsar" provision.
Despite our continuing opposition to the "drug tsar"
concept, Senator Biden has succeeded in having his new "drug
tsar" bill (S. 1787) reported by the Senate Judiciary Committee
by a vote * of 12 to 5 (3 of the 5 votes against were proxies
voted by Chairman Thurmond; in at least one case the proxy
was from a Senator who favors the tsar concept). The Biden
bill is substantially identical to the "tsar" provision of
the mini-crime bill pocket vetoed in January.
On the House side, Congressman Hughes has had his version
of a "drug tsar" proposal (H.R. 3664) reported by the House
Judiciary Committee. The Hughes' bill builds upon an
existing structure (the White House Drug Abuse Policy Office)
rather than creating an entirely new structure.
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Senator Biden will, as part of his agreement with Chairman
Thurmond, be able to bring his bill to the Senate Floor as a
separate bill upon completion of Senate consideration of the
President's crime package, possibly within a few weeks.
Congressman Hughes can be expected to try to get his bill
approved by the House before the Senate acts on the Biden
bill-.-
Pro nosis: House and Senate Floor action on "drug tsar"
legislation is imminent and the result will almost certainly
be overwhelming approval by both bodies. The simplistic
and superficial appeal of the "drug tsar" concept appears
irresistible. Even if the President was to veto a "drug
tsar" proposal we must recognize that the vote we anticipate,
on initial passage would be so strong as to suggest concern
about a veto override. The Administration would suffer from
the public's confusion of vetoing a "crime" bill.
Moreover, the Democrat strategy may be to secure
Congressional approval of a bail, sentencing, forfeiture and
"drug tsar" package leaving the balance of the President's
anti-crime package to gather dust in the House Judiciary
Committee.
A Revised Biden Bill. 'Despite the shortcomings of the
Biden "drug tsar bill, t ere' is reason to believe that Biden
may be willing to make a number of changes to accommodate our
concerns. In this regard, Biden has held out the intelligence
community as a model of a coordinated multidepartmental
effort. We believe his bill can be modified, therefore, to
make it.more consistent with the organization of the intelli-
gence community while at the same time bringing it more into
line with our current cabinet system.
Recommendation: We recommend that the Department of
Justice Be authorized to approach Senators Thurmond and
Biden. We believe that a version patterned after the
Director of Central Intelligence model can be structured in
such a way as to provide a single witness to appear before
-Congressional committees to. testify on anti-drug efforts and
accommodate-certain other concerns without unnecessarily
infringing on the important operational programs of the
several departments. In summary, an alternative approach
could be to establish a Drug Policy and Operations Board
chaired by the Attorney General and made up of members of the
Cabinet Council on Legal Policy. Such a board would set -
drug policy and oversee drug enforcement operations through a
participatory process that respects the powers of Cabinet
officers to supervise the internal affairs of their departments.
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