War On Drugs Faltering, Nancy Reagan Testifies She Blasts Lack Of Leadership For Her ‘Just Say No’ Campaign

Former first lady Nancy Reagan, receiving the royal treatment from a Republican Congress that reveres her husband, complained Thursday that the anti-drug crusade she once championed appeared to be fizzling because of a lack of national leadership.

Testifying before Congress for the first time, Reagan joined Republicans in criticizing Clinton administration policies that she said put too much emphasis on treating drug abuse and not enough on the preventive efforts she championed with her “Just Say No” campaign.

“How could we have forgotten so quickly,” Reagan said, citing evidence of rising drug use among youth. “Why is it we no longer hear the drumbeat of condemnation against against drugs coming from our leaders and our culture?’

It was an appearance touched with poignancy. Former President Reagan disclosed in November disclosed that he has Alzheimer’s disease. Nancy Reagan said she made the trip to Washington “only after much soul searching,” an apparent allusion to concerns about leaving her husband.

“As you can imagine, I have very pressing concerns keeping me busy in California right now, and I do not like to be away for long,” she told members of a House subcommittee of the Government Reform and Oversight Committee. “So I have not come here lightly.”

She was greeted warmly by congressional Republicans, who have pushed an agenda packed with the unfinished business of the Reagan revolution.

House Speaker Newt Gingrich, R-Ga., welcomed Reagan to the Capitol Thursday, escorted her to the hearing, and later joined her for lunch with Senate Majority Leader Bob Dole, R-Kan., and two other top GOP leaders.