Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: FRIDAY, March 12, 1993 TAG: 9303120170
SECTION: NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL PAGE: A-1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: Los Angeles Times
DATELINE: LINTHICUM, MD. LENGTH: Medium
DEFENSE-CONVERSION PLAN UNVEILED
President Clinton unveiled a $19.5 billion long-range plan Thursday to help the defense industry adjust to cutbacks in the military budget, saying the plan would help the economy bounce back and bring "a new century of strength, growth and opportunity."As expected, however, the program would provide little immediate relief for laid-off defense workers and companies affected by cuts and base closings.
Under the plan, Clinton will release $1.4 billion in unspent defense conversion funds approved by Congress last year and rechannel another $300 million from other programs. But only a fraction of that money will be used for worker retraining.
Instead, the White House plans to contend with the defense-conversion problem mainly by seeking to foster the expansion of high-technology jobs in future years - proposing that $19.5 billion in grants be spent between now and fiscal 1997 to help defense industry firms develop new technology and manufacture products that can be sold commercially.
Clinton attempted to underscore his concern for the defense industry and its workers by traveling to this suburb of Baltimore to visit the Westinghouse Electronic Systems Group - a defense firm that recently has begun manufacturing such commercial products as airline radar and home-security equipment.
"What you have done here is what I wish to do nationally - take some of the most talented people in the world who've produced some of the most sophisticated military technology and put that to work in the civilian economy," he told several hundred workers and guests.
The president also announced that effective immediately, the Defense Advanced Research Products Agency, which previously had provided grants to defense contractors to help finance development of weapons systems, would begin underwriting some commercial research as well.
Few of the proposals that Clinton described were new. The president announced his plans to release the $1.7 billion in unspent funds on Feb. 22.
Rather, the thrust behind Thursday's effort appeared to be political, designed to divert attention from an announcement expected today outlining the administration's recommendations for military base-closings in 1993.