Focus on ly asked Rep. WASHINGTON |<”: (D., Fla.) in an open-faced political reply to congres- sional Republican attacks on the Administration’s anti- crime program. Citing statistics showing an increase in organized crime, the Attorney General, who not too many weeks ago belittled use of national crime statistics, accused the GOP position of “partisan, political distor- tions.” Along with the President’s own letter-writing activities to Senate and House members, urging passage of his gun control and “safe streets” bill, Clark’s Mc- Namara-like political outburst is part of the LBJ-di- rected counterattack on what the President himself is said to consider the No.
“gut” issue of the coming campaign. Little has been done, however, to narrow the semantic gap between popular and Administrative un- derstanding of crime, its causes and effects. The Presi- dent’s address to the International Association of Chiefs of Police ignored law enforcement officials’ calls for legis- lation to plug loopholes created by recent federal court decisions. Thus, the first real test of White house bona fides on the crime issue may come within the next month, upon Senate approval of the Omnibus Crime Bill for the District of Columbia. The President vetoed a similar bill last year, heeding advisers who disliked its hardnosed approach to Washington’s rising crime rate. Congres- sional sponsors now feel that the President will not risk a veto of the
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