
                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: TUESDAY, July 24, 1990                   TAG: 9007240197
SECTION: NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL                    PAGE: A-8   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: Associated Press
DATELINE: WASHINGTON                                LENGTH: Short

HOUSE CHAIRMAN OPPOSES B-2

The chairman of the House Armed Services Committee said Monday he'll join an effort to kill the B-2 bomber, dealing a serious blow to President Bush's effort to build the stealth aircraft that cost more than $800 million apiece.

"If the threats we face internationally were greater and the deficits we face at home were smaller, we might continue to hedge on the B-2. But they aren't and we can't," Rep. Les Aspin, D-Wis., told reporters before a speech on the House floor announcing his decision.

Aspin's announcement comes on the eve of his committee's crafting later this week of a $283 billion defense bill for the fiscal year beginning Oct. 1 and is certain to give impetus to House efforts to cancel the B-2 program.

Legislation sponsored by three members of the Armed Services panel - Reps. Ron Dellums, D-Calif., John Rowland, R-Conn., and John Kasich, R-Ohio, - would terminate the program at the 15 planes in development.

by CNB