European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - September 16, 1989, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Page 10 the stars and stripes Walter Mears reducing free mail will Aid drug fight fund now that there s a War on. Politicians who want to Cut Federal programs or change priorities Are going to be trying to wrap their proposals in the Banner of the tight against drugs. That worked first time out with sen ate approval of an amendment to Cut spending for postage free mailings to constituents. The gop already was on that Case complaining about the steady expansion of the free mail franking privilege which works to the advantage of incumbents seeking new terms. The amendment passed the Senate easily. 83 to 9. But it will be a hard sell in negotiations with the House where re publicans arc trying to make incumbency an Issue against the majority democrats who have dominated the place for 35 years. Republican sen. Pete Wilson of California who is running for governor next year sponsored the amendment shifting $45 million from free mail to a program for drug addicted mothers and their babies. That would leave about $35 million for franked congressional mail if the House went along. The numbers Don t make a Dent in the $7.9 billion president Bush wants spent on the drug War a sum democratic Lead ers argue is top Low. Wilson said it was almost symbolic. Democrats will be Back with their own arguments in favor of cuts and shifts in administration proposed spending especially on defense contending the Money should be used against drugs. The administration proposes to get additional funds for the drug War by shifting $751 million from other pro Grams most of them Domestic. Demo cratic leaders have said the drug crisis could increase pressures for a tax in crease a step Bush rejects. I Don t think we have to think of the War on drugs As a War on the taxpayer said drug policy adviser William j. Bennett. 09 0 of Kansas said the Cut in free mail privileges would Send a signal that we Are not going to be hypocrites on the drug Issue. Wilson s amendment would eliminate financing for mass congressional mail Ings to constituents. Senators and representatives now can Send newsletters and the like to every address in their state or District two limes a year for senators four limes for House members. There s no limit on the size of each missive. Members of Congress would still be permitted to Send free mail addressed by name but could t Send franked mail addressed to an occupant or postal Patron. Senate Republican Leader Bob Dole said the measure was a Way i or David Broder Congress to enlist in the War on drugs and do it with a sacrifice these funds will come out of our budgets out of our pockets for a change he said. While it was a Republican Amend ment stiffest opposition came from sen. Ted Stevens a Alaska who argued that a lot of his constituents Are isolated can t get daily newspapers and get their information about Washington from his newsletter and others. But it was a losing argument not Only because of the drug War but also against the complaints of reformers about con Gressional mass mailing and Senate resentment against the House which spends a lot More Money on them. The House had voted $124.5 million for free mailings in its version of the legislative appropriations Bill. A conference com Mittee will have to negotiate a settlement Between the two Bills. It is not Likely to Settle on a Cut nearly As drastic As the Wilson amendment. In the House rep. John g. Rowland a Republican opponent of the b-2 stealth bomber said he will propose a Bill to cancel More than $1 billion in appropriations for the costly warplane and put that Money into the drug War. That won t be done but it is the kind of Cut that will be proposed often in the weeks ahead As evidence of a commit ment to the drug War. C associated press United Effort helped reduce infant mortality As the nation prepares for yet another assault on the malignant drug problem the greatest Barrier to Success is not obvious. It is not the colombian drug Cartel the shortage of treatment centers or the Scarcity of prison cells serious As those obstacles arc. The biggest hurdle to overcome is the cynical belief that the problem is beyond remedy. Too Many americans think that the people who Are caught in the drug trap Are Loo far gone to be saved. Essentially inc fear is thai social problems of this dimension arc insoluble thai you can Linker around the edges and Walc a lol of Money in the process bul you re not going to be Able to do much to help people who Don t want to be helped. You often find the same do Calist Altitude when it comes to discussions Aboul improving inc Quality of schools and the performance of students aiding inc homeless or for Hal Mailer improving inc productivity and competitiveness of the american Economy. The tendency in every Case is to shrug and say that s too big a problem. We just have to be patient and wait for it to cure itself. There s no justification for that attitude. As evidence consider the report just published by the Southern regional project on infant mortality. Four years ago the Southern governors association and the Southern legislative conference formed a task Force under than gov. Richard Riley of South Carolina to attack the Region s frighteningly High infant mortality Rales. When the pro Cal started the Lales available figures for 1983, showed none of the 17 participating Stales was losing fewer than 10 of every 1,000 infants during i hair first year of life. The death rate which topped 15 in some Siales. Was closer to third world standards than to the advanced Industrial nations of Europe. Many of the deaths were the result of the mothers malnutrition Caus ing Low birth weight babies. In too Many cases the Len age parcels lacked even rudimentary knowledge of How to care for their infants. And in Loo Many places prenatal and postnatal care were not available or Noi being used. The state officials decided that the human tragedy and economic waste was intolerable and icy pledged to improve the Silva lion. How Well they have begun to do is indicated in their Ripon a bold step the South acts to reduce infant  by 1987, 16 of the 17 slates Delaware being the exception reported thai they had significantly reduced their infant mortality Rales. The death rate for the unit cd Stales As a whole declined in that four year period but nine of the Southern states achieved greater reductions than inc National average. Among those thai started off with relatively Low death Rales. West Virginia. Kentucky Oklahoma and Texas have reduced their rates below the current National aver age of 10 per thousand. Mississippi and South Carolina which began with the highest Dalh rates among inc 17siales, made notable gains with South Carolina leading All the others in the absolute size of the reduction. They did it by attacking All phases of the problem not trying to find a single magic Bullet cure. At the outset the pro Cal Siam came up with a checklist 9f 27 programs that plausibly could contribute to reducing the infant death rate. Most of the states have made Good use of the recommendations. Bul inc report also shows intelligent adaptations and innovations to meet local needs. South Carolina for example established a High risk changeling pro Cal which screened medicaid eligible pregnant women to ensure that they were sent to an appropriate facility at the time of delivery. The pro Cal has succeeded nol Only in saving lives bul also in reducing emergency transportation and medical costs. Georgia has established an effective counselling pro Gram using teen agers trained in schools churches and Community organizations to work with i hair contemporaries on understanding the responsibilities and prob lems of pregnancy. The state also has trained nurses As midwives and placed them in Public health clinics. North Carolina set up a program to subsidize medical liability insurance premiums for doctors who agree to provide obstetrical and infant care service i Rural counties where that kind of help is hard to find. A West Virginia University doctor developed a simple birth score system that hospitals can use to identify High risk infants and Sec thai they Are referred for fre quent doctor visits during their first year of life. The list goes on with Many examples of foundation business and Community support of the governmental and medical services. The Point is that when the officials of these states identified a serious problem and made the commitment to attack it they did t Stop with a Declara Tion of Good intentions. They took up every possible venue mat looked hopeful committed resources to the task and evaluated what  is what inc nation has to do about the drug crisis. If National leaders will do that there is no reason to throw up our hands in despair