Beebe camp attacks Hutchinson’s record
Posted on Friday, September 22, 2006
The campaign of Democratic gubernatorial nominee Mike Beebe accused Asa Hutchinson, the Republican candidate, of wanting a “second try” at fighting illegal immigration and illegal drugs, “the same issues he failed at in Washington.” Beebe, the state attorney general, was responding to an ad by Hutchinson, a former head of the U. S. Drug Enforcement Administration and former undersecretary of the U. S. Department of Homeland Security.
The ad touts Hutchinson’s plans to fight methamphetamine and his plan to get state police to enforce immigration laws.
Hutchinson says in the ad: “As governor, I’ll fight meth with more enforcement, treatment and education. And I’ll crack down on illegal immigration by training state troopers to enforce immigration laws and making sure the state doesn’t hire illegal workers. Leadership means taking on the tough challenges, especially when it comes to the security of our families.” To rebut that, the Beebe campaign cited national reports showing an increase in drug use while Hutchinson was at the DEA and a White House Office of Management and Budget analysis that described the DEA during Hutchinson’s tenure as “unable to demonstrate progress in reducing the availability of illegal drugs in the United States.” Hutchinson was DEA head from August 2001 to January 2003.
According to the federal Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration illegal drug use in 2000 was among 6. 3 percent of the people in the United States. That rose to 8. 3 percent in 2002. In 2005, it was 8. 1 percent.
The Office of Management and Budget report was cited in a 2003 Washington Times article. It said Hutchinson criticized the report by saying it only measured the budget office’s standard of effectiveness, and said the office needed to better define “success.” The article also said that “some senior agency executives and rank-and-file agents,” whom it didn’t name, criticized Hutchinson for a “lack of leadership. They said he used his position to promote himself and presided over declines in enforcement operations and agency morale.” Hutchinson spokesman David Kinkade said Thursday, “ Any position of leadership and public service will open you up to some criticism. “ He added that Beebe officials “ ignore clear accomplishments [at the DEA ] like reductions in youth drug use; the dismantling of the Arellano Felix drug cartel, one of Mexico’s most powerful and violent drug smuggling operations; and the first national crackdown on methamphetamine. “ Federal figures show that illegal drug use among youth went up during Hutchinson’s tenure at the DEA but dropped the year he left.
In 2000, illegal drug use among 12- to 17-year-olds was at 9. 7 percent and rose to 11. 6 percent in 2002. In 2003, it dipped to 11. 2 percent and decreased to 9. 9 percent in 2005.
Kinkade said there is often a lag time before programs to fight drugs show success.
Hutchinson left the DEA to take the job at the Homeland Security Department, where he stayed until March 2005. In that role, he was in charge of federal efforts to battle illegal immigration.
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