WASHINGTON (BP)–Rep. Asa Hutchinson, R.-Ark., a member of a Southern Baptist church in his home state, has been nominated as the new administrator of the Drug Enforcement Administration.
President Bush selected Hutchinson for the post, which is in the Department of Justice. Hutchinson is a member of First Baptist Church in Fort Smith, Ark.
Hutchinson has been the representative from the third district of Arkansas since first being elected in 1996. In the House of Representatives, he has served on the speaker’s Task Force for a Drug Free America.
During the impeachment trial of President Clinton in 1999, Hutchinson was one of 13 managers of the House’s case against Clinton.
Bush also has announced his nomination of John Walters as the director of the Office of National Drug Control Policy. The person who holds the Cabinet-level position is normally referred to as the president’s drug czar. Walters was deputy director of the office during the administration of Bush’s father.
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