SENATE CONFIRMS WOMAN AS HEAD OF D.E.A.

The Senate has confirmed a longtime Justice Department official to become
the first woman to lead the Drug Enforcement Administration. The official,
Karen Tandy, a former federal prosecutor who currently heads the Justice
Department task force on drug trafficking, was confirmed by the Senate
without dissent late Thursday night. Senator Orrin G. Hatch, the Utah
Republican who is chairman of the Judiciary Committee, praised Ms. Tandy for
"a long and impressive 25-year career with the Department of Justice." She
succeeds Asa Hutchinson, who left the D.E.A. this year to become
undersecretary of homeland security.