The thorny issue of drug testing for welfare recipients is back again and this time at the federal level.  Louisiana Congressman Charles Boustany believes his bill might work because it takes a different approach.

Boustany said before any testing is done, welfare officials would be taught to spot recipients who could be using drugs in a screening process.

''The issue here is that taxpayer dollars should not be going to subsidize drug abuse,'' said Boustany.

Boustany said working people have to stay clean to keep a job, and eligibility for welfare benefits should be no different.

"The whole point of the welfare program is to get people back to work,'' he explained.

Boustany said recipients who test positive for drugs would have benefits suspended, with provisions to provide for their dependent children.  In the past there have been several attempts to pass similar bills on the state level but each time they failed.