Senators Work to Pin Down Drug War Plan

WASHINGTON —  Senators who want the U.S. military to enter the war against illegal drugs were nearing agreement today on a wide-ranging plan that would include having Navy ships stop drug-running boats on the high seas and make arrests.

“We’ve still got to pin down some of the details, but we’ll have something worked out,” said Sen. Ted Stevens (R-Alaska). “The public wants this done.”

Sen. Pete Wilson (R-Calif.) said the plan “substantially increases the military’s role in drug interdiction.”

Sen. Sam Nunn (D-Ga.), chairman of the Armed Services Committee, said, “We’re making progress, but we still have some differences.”

The Pentagon has resisted a larger role in the war against drugs, saying the military is not trained or equipped for the assignment.

The anti-drug provision was the main unresolved issue as the Senate worked toward approval of a bill authorizing defense spending for the fiscal year starting Oct. 1.

Passage by the Democratic-controlled chamber will send the bill to a House-Senate conference committee to reconcile differences between it and the separate Pentagon bill approved Wednesday by the House. Both measures authorize $299.5 billion for the Pentagon.

Differ on Drugs

One major difference will be the anti-drug provision. The House measure directs President Reagan to have the military “substantially halt” the flow of illegal drugs into the United States.

Two different plans were proposed in the Senate, one by Republicans including Stevens and Wilson, and the other by Nunn.

Both measures would provide more military help in tracking drug-carrying boats and planes, using military equipment such as Air Force AWACS radar planes and Navy warships. They also give additional training and authority for National Guard units to enter the anti-drug effort.

The main difference is whether to grant arrest powers. Nunn’s proposal does not allow arrests by the military, while Wilson’s plan would allow the military to make arrests outside the three-mile territorial limit of U.S. waters.

An 1878 law, the Posse Comitatus Act, prohibits the military from enforcing civilian laws, although it was amended in 1981 to permit the military to provide more help to civilian anti-drug agencies. Military planes and ships now pass along surveillance information on suspected drug traffickers to law enforcement officials.

“This issue of arrest powers is a very tricky and involved issue,” Stevens said. “The military is very worried about the implications of this and just how it would work.”