The Nation - News from Sept. 27, 1989

Senate negotiators agreed to boost the war on drugs to $9.4 billion, capping a week of talks with the White House and lifting a Republican blockade that stalled four money bills. As part of their deal, Republicans and Democrats agreed that the Senate would consider elements of a crime-fighting package unveiled by President Bush in June. The new package funds the Bush Administration’s initial $7.9-billion war on drugs plus $400 million in other crime-fighting moneys requested by the President in June, $200 million for juvenile justice programs and the $900 million boost that had been the center of negotiations.