Sen. Chuck Grassley is working to expand the role of the National Guard in the country's war against drugs.
Already, the National Guard operates regional schools in Pennsylvania, Florida, Mississippi, and California, where it trains local law enforcement officials and community anti-drug coalitions fighting illegal drugs.
Grassley, who chairs the U.S. Senate Caucus on International Narcotics Control, wants to see the Defense Department set up a National Guard counter-drug school to serve the Midwest and locate the training center in Iowa. "Our state's central location makes it ideal for reaching other states in the region, and within Iowa the fiber-optic ICN is well-suited to help the Guard reach out and assist local law enforcement," Grassley said in a letter he sent yesterday to the nation's drug czar, Gen. Barry McCaffrey.
In addition to establishing a National Guard school in Iowa, Grassley said changes need to be made to the way in which the President goes about funding existing counter-drug schools. He said the Guard must look to the President's budget each February when it makes plans for the schools' next fiscal year, which starts in October.
Grassley said the problem is, "in recent years the President specified less than would be needed knowing that Congress would increase the funding level." Because the appropriations process typically continues into the fall, this approach makes it difficult for the Guard to make cost-effective plans for its training programs.
Grassley said he has successfully worked to increase funding level's for the Guard's counter-drug programs in each of the last four fiscal year budgets. In addition, he has sponsored legislation that would require the Defense Department to set multi-year spending plans that would be included each year in the President's budget.
"Consistent and reliable funding will make the Guard even more effective in helping local law enforcement and community anti-drug coalitions by making the Guard better equipped to plan ahead and guarantee assistance to those on the front lines of the drug war," Grassley said.
In addition to the letter sent this week to McCaffrey, earlier this year Grassley introduced S.2527, the Drug Training and Research Enhancement Act of 2000, which included language to provide a steady funding for the National Guard to assist local law enforcement and prevention efforts.
This week's initiative continues an effort Grassley started last year to increase the ability of federal law enforcement agencies to help local officials crack down on illegal drug trafficking and use. In addition to seeking extra support for the National Guard, Grassley introduced a bill, S.1220, the Rural Methamphetamine Use Response Act of 1999, to expand the regional training capability of the federal Drug Enforcement Agency.