Newspaper clipping headlined, "Wiretap bill will pass in coming Legislature, Clements tells officials," August 30, 1980, by Bruce Hight, Austin American-Statesman. The article describes legislation supported by Governor William P. Clements, Jr., to counter drug trafficking in Texas, from a presentation at the
Electric Reliability Council of Texas.
-q-177- IA/ IrPqr •11 •rh. 4—‘ o p t 3 in comm,cr Lie,gisiature, CIement • tellsofficials% Als AtjG 3 0 ,80 By BRUCE HIGHT American•Statesmen St,:ff Gov. Bill Clements told a group of electric utility executive: Friday that he was net concerned about "bleeding hearts" whc erry that his proposed wiretap program against drug pusher ' would lead to invasions of privacy. Texans are "sick to death of the drug traffic," Clements said. "Bleeding hearts that talk to me about invasion of privacy don'i 'really impress me." The governor said he did not worry about invading the pri vacy of drug pushers, but that he did want to "lock 'em up" ani: stop a $3 billion-a-year drug traffic in Texas. Critics of the governor's proposal to wiretap suspected drug dealer:, have said it could lead to abuse of police powers. Nevertheless, Clements predicted that wiretap legislation would be adopted by the next session of the Legislature, which convenes in January. Speaking to about. SO top officials of utilities that make up the Electric Reliability Council of Texas, Clements also talked about energy, electricity and his campaign to reduce the num- ber of state employees. The demand for electricity will expand rapidly, in the next 2C years, the governor said, noting population projections that the state could add another 8 million people by the end of the cen- tury. That means, he said, that nuclear power and coal will be needed more than ever as natural gas is phased out as a iler fuel for generating electricity. "We must realize our direction and move away from conser- vation per so and start thinking about producing energy," he de- Clements reiterated his support for commercial nuclear power plants, saying he wished there were "twice as many" nu- clear plants being built. Two are under construction in Texas and a third is on the drawing boards. The electric council composed of interconnecting Texas utili- ties was holding its 10th annual meeting. •