The World - News from April 29, 1988

New opposition developed on Capitol Hill to sending Coast Guard boats to the Persian Gulf, but the Coast Guard commandant defended the proposal by saying it wouldn’t hurt anti-drug efforts at home. Rep. Mike Lowry (D-Wash.) introduced a measure in the House that would ban use of the Coast Guard in the gulf. “The Reagan Administration should use the Coast Guard’s scarce resources to fight the war on drugs, not the Iran-Iraq War,” he said. But the commandant, Adm. Paul A. Yost, told a Senate Appropriations subcommittee: “I would be delighted to put them (six patrol boats) over there.” He said their use would have only minimal effect on drug interdiction.